Building on rock? or sand?

A Gospel Enquiry

Introduction

The Gospel Enquiry is a simple tool intended for the purposes of double transformation, meaning that those who engage in the practice of reflecting on the Gospel and acting on that reflection will be transformed through putting their faith into action … and so will the world around them.

The focus must always be on transforming the world, not on self-fulfilment. Consider, for a moment, the Great Commission, that is, the mission given by Jesus to his followers:

Jesus said, “Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, 20 and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).

The apostolic mission of Christians is faith in action, which is directed outwards, in the world. To think that this applies to major changes is to misunderstand the Good News. The followers of Jesus live their faith in “the ordinary acts of their daily life in their natural environment” as Fr Joseph Cardijn explained in 1949 to the leaders of the YCW movement he had helped to form. Transformation happens through the little things done in God’s name.

The key to this transformation lies in the Judge section of the Enquiry. It is there that we engage with the Gospel and become theologians. At the same time, we have to be humble; we have to be open to having our assumptions and our prejudices exposed, and to confront our unconscious tendencies which threaten to derail our efforts to transform the world.

The Gospel

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘It is not those who say to me, “Lord, Lord,” who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven. Therefore, everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and hurled themselves against that house, and it did not fall: it was founded on rock. But everyone who listens to these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and struck that house, and it fell; and what a fall it had!’ (Matthew 7:21,​24-27)

The Enquiry

See

• What happens in this Gospel story? List the elements of the story. What is the context of this story? What has happened to cause Jesus to speak in this way?

• What can you identify as being like building your house on rock? And what is represented by building your house on sand?

• What is the outcome for people who take his message to heart? And what will happen to those who ignore him?

Judge

• What do you think about Jesus’ message in this part of the Gospel?

• What does your faith say about how to live in the world? Is there anything in what Jesus teaches that supports or challenges what you believe?

• Ideally, what should happen if Jesus’ teaching is taken to heart?

Act

• What change do you want to make to the world we live in so that people can build their lives on rock?

• What action can you carry out this week that will contribute to the change you would like to see?

• Who can you involve in your action, when, how often and how?

Image source: Maksim Orlianskii (creator): House on Rock on Lake, Pexels. Public domain image.

Worth reading: The Young Worker Faces Life, by Fr Joseph Cardijn

Discovering God through Action and Reflection, by Fr Mike Deeb, OP.