Following Christ’s Blueprint
Pastor’s Column
6th Sunday of Easter
May 5, 2013
Jesus, who truly is the Word of God, will be the only thing standing at the end of our lives. Therefore, think of how important it is to trust the Lord God and to know his WORD. Jesus says, "If you love me you will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him." (John 14:23)
As I was meditating on Christ's word this morning outside my chapel in the rectory, one could hear hammering on the frame and walls and sheet rock on the new church. And it occurred to me that, just as our new church is rising in the parking lot, the Holy Spirit is building a home within us; only this home is meant to last forever. Each piece of wood or sheet rock or arch is like a verse of the Word of God or a piece of what the church teaches. A disobedient Christian will build according to his own building plan, that which he thinks is best; but when the inevitable earthquakes of life come this will lead to a collapse. Following Christ’s building plan, by listening to his words and allowing him to place the beams, will lead to a secure structure and Jesus will move in. The Holy Spirit, the Father and the Son will build such a structure in our lives if we allow him to do so.
Remember that Jesus was a carpenter by trade, so he is anxious to be about the building project within us, and our blueprint really is the Word of God and church teaching. So very many around us in this world are building what may appear on the surface to be beautiful and massive edifices, but without God. Many have predicted that the Catholic Church would not endure or have tried to destroy her over the last 2000 years; and yet she still stands, she will be here at the end, and so will we if Christ is our carpenter!
Lord, I know you have a blueprint for me today. You are a carpenter and you know how to build things, and you know how to build a home within me in which you want to dwell. Help me not to follow my own blueprint today, my own will. Instead, let me reflect on your Word and your will and what the church asks me to do. You will be speaking to me in the circumstances and events of my life, in my duties and responsibilities, in what happens to me and what doesn't. Help me to follow your blueprint for so that you will dwell within me, bringing your Father and the Holy Spirit and constructing a place for me in heaven. AMEN
Father Gary