In today’s first reading, Is. 26: 1-6, the prophet states
that the Lord keep in peace those nations who trust in Him. That also means
that the Lord keeps a family, a person, a parish, a city at peace when those
entities/persons trust in the Lord. When I go “bonkers,” when I lose my peace,
it is then that I am not trusting in the Lord but in myself, in other human
beings, in materials things that have no power to save or to right a wrong or
quell the opposition. The strength of my
trust may very well be in how I react when meeting opposition, encountering
difficulties, experiencing setbacks or glitches in my “armor.”
Isaiah, furthermore, states, of the Lord, that “[a] nation
of firm purpose, you keep in peace.” I might compare when my purpose is strong
and when it is weak. If my purpose is strong, I am then determined to find God,
to discern God’s will. I rely on God alone and am open to, humble about,
considering the opinion/input from others, knowing that each person has a
significant part of the truth. My purpose is weak when I am seeking
self-aggrandizement, power over others; when I am pursuing my will or relying on self apart from
God and when, pridefully, I discard the insight from others or avoid listening
to others altogether.
The consequence of operating from a weak purposed , in the
words of Isaiah, is that the Lord will humble me and tumble me from the “high
places” where pride leads me. I will be brought low, tumbled to the ground. My pride will be leveled “with the dust”; it
will “be trampled underfoot” (compare Isaiah 26: 1-6). In the words of today’s
Gospel, when my purpose is weak I am building my house on sand. When it is
strong, I am building upon a firm foundation, the Rock who is God.
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