Christ Has a Blueprint for You
Pastor’s Column
6th Sunday of Easter
May 26, 2019
"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 the scriptures and praying the Divine Office this morning in the backyard of the rectory, bulldozers could be heard working on the school addition next door. It then occurred to me that six years ago, our own new church was rising at this same time. So too the Holy Spirit has a blueprint and “building project” that is within each of our lives, but this home is meant to last forever. Each moment of our brief earthly existence offers us a chance to build using the Word of God, church teaching, or an act of charity, and indeed in all the circumstances life offers us all.
A Christian who doesn’t listen to the Lord is in danger of building his life and actions according to his own building plan, that which he alone thinks is best; but when the inevitable earthquakes of life come, unless God helps build the house, this can lead to a collapse. However, following Christ’s building plan, listening to his word and allowing him to place the beams and design the building which is our soul, faith and our actions, will lead to a secure structure that Jesus and his Holy Spirit can truly make their home in. The Holy Spirit, the Father and the Son will build such a structure in our lives if we allow him to do so.
Jesus was a carpenter by trade, so he is anxious to be about your own unique building project, one that is designed to last forever. Remember always that no matter how much we may have or where we live, everyone on earth is in rental housing. 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 my life. 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 just my own blueprint for this day, just 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 daily life, in my duties and responsibilities, in what happens to me and what doesn't. Help me to follow your plans so that you will dwell within me, bringing your Father and the Holy Spirit and constructing a place for me in heaven. AMEN
