As I am sure I have mentioned ad nauseum, I spend a lot of my day driving around. Much of this is spent in the northern regions of Vermont and New Hampshire. In this part of New England as in others parts of the country I am sure, there are many old barns, some still standing proud, others collapsing as from an invisible weight. There is one noticeable difference between those that are strong and up right and those that are not, their foundations. Some of these barns were built on strong foundations while others weren’t.
Today’s Gospel reading is from Luke
“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Every one who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep, and laid the foundation upon rock; and when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house, and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But he who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation; against which the stream broke, and immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”
I have been working (sort of) on a book about what can go wrong with a marriage. When I was looking at those barns yesterday and thinking of the passage from Luke, I thought that besides needing a good foundation for our spiritual lives, we need good foundations for our marriages. I am referring to a good spiritual foundation, one thing I believe I was lacking.
If we build these strong foundations, we won’t be shaken from them no matter how hard the winds blow and the flood waters beat against us. Without the strong foundation it is very easy for us to be taken away in the flood, brought down river, tumbling over rocks in the tumult that is life. Like Jesus says “the stream broke and the ruin of that house was great.” Don’t take a chance of ruining your house, build a strong foundation and nothing will tear it down.
The Wayward Catholic 