A young woman talks frequently about her reasons for staying away from Church and not being a practising Catholic. Her reasons for justifying these actions are, “I cannot take these hypocrites who come to Church and pretend to be so goody-goody but are so disgusting to their families and friends outside.

They do not even want to shake the hands of people next to them in Church …..” among other reasons. Jesus' answer to those who say, “Lord, Lord….” is usually one that we use as an example of “everyone will be judged according to their actions…it is not for you to judge” and “get your house in order before you look at others”.

We can all picture in our minds the persons who fit the role of those who say, “ Lord, Lord…. ”

– Business people who are successful but exploit their workers

– Politicians who claim to make wrongs right then fall by the wayside and give in to temptation of corruption and greed

– Teachers who pretend to care for the young minds they are supposed to be nurturing

– Parents who do not practise what they preach

– Leaders who are supposed to be exemplars but lead their people on the wrong paths, e.g. doctors, lawyers, priests, etc…

– Supporters of the culture of death, abortion, euthanasia, etc…

Today's Gospel also brings to mind building contractors who build houses in areas prone to flooding. Some of these builders may relax on the strict building codes and not follow the codes to the letter. So that when the “ rain came down, floods rose ” and the “ gales blew ”, these houses fell.

In the aftermath, you would hear such builders saying, “did we not build these build these houses according to the code?” knowing full well that they had relaxed on some of the instructions. The builders who followed the code had their houses still standing.

An old aunt once said that the mind of a child was like a young tree. As the young sapling grows upwards and the top becomes heavy, you need to tie it to a solid piece of wood to allow it to grow upright or its straightness would be distorted.

The tree would become bent and shaped into an unrecognisable something that has no beauty.  In the same way, a young mind needs to be groomed and implanted with values, teachings and proper codes of behaviour so that it would mature into an adult who would become an exemplar in his/her community.

We all see this happening with families today. Parents have a value system by which to live and bring up their families in the teachings of Jesus.

They are distracted by the ways of the world clouding the key issues and end up basing their lives on the way of the world instead of following the truth. Families are built on the sands of television, media, liberalism instead of the value system in which our grandparents were raised.

It is easy for the rains and the storms of modern life to blow them away. We must keep our eyes and minds focussed on the way and the truth that is Jesus to ensure that our family life is based on rock that can withstand the rain and the floods.

Lord, we thank you for the people in our lives who have the conviction to stand firm and build their lives on the truth. We thank you for the business people who pay a fair day's wage for a day's work.

We thank you for the righteous and upright leaders in our communities and our country who lead by their example, the teachers and parents who strengthen the young minds and are not afraid to speak up when wrongs are perpetrated.

We thank you for families who continue to pray together and bring up their children grounded in the life of Jesus in the face of the trials and temptations that bombard us every day.

Lord, we are sorry for the times in our lives when we pay lip service to the truth.

We say all the right things but follow the ways of the world. We are sorry for the times when in the face of a battle concerning values and ethics we give in without a fight though we know it is wrong to do so – the times when we build our homes on the shifting sands of materialism, greed, and selfishness, and cause them to come tumbling down because we did not plan properly and allowed the floods and gales to strike our homes.

Lord, we ask for the grace to be strong in our convictions, to stand firm in our belief in You so that we may build our homes on rock and be like the sensible man whose house did not fall.

Help us to withstand the rains and the floods that may distract us from your word. Help us to be the people who listen to your words and always do the will of our Father in Heaven.

Najette Abraham and Lisa Araujo-Roberts are members of the St Finbar's parish community.