THE ROCK OF SALVATION

Meditation for Thursday of the First Week of Advent

(Is 26: 1-6; Mt 7:21, 24-27)

Advent celebrates the past, present and future of our faith in Jesus Christ. We recall Israel’s expectation at the coming of the promised Messiah. He is with us now even as we pray for and await His divine touch of grace at every moment of our lives. And we look forward to His second coming, for the fullness of salvation. The influx of time through future, present and past leaves a ‘residue’ of actions that constitute ‘history’ or human behavior. For the dynamics of time to leave behind a predictable action implies that there is a CONSTANT that flows through and withstands the constant movement of time. The same applies to our faith! In the one season of Advent, we celebrate with a singular acclamation the past, present and future of our faith in Jesus Christ. There is a ‘constant’ that makes this possible.

The prophet Isaiah announced, “We have a strong city; he sets up salvation as walls and bulwarks.” Within the secure gates of this strong city, the righteous that enter in are kept in perfect peace. We know that peace is not easy to come by, and much more difficult to sustain. The prophet made us understand that the Lord is that strong wall of salvation that keeps His people in perfect peace. “Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.” 

Yes, it is obvious that there cannot be peace without STABILITY, durability or constancy. A faith that looks forward to its unfolding future but still stands secure in its present reality, while remaining true to its past must be standing on a solid rock that gives it such stability and constancy. In fulfillment to Isaiah’s prophecy, Jesus says in the gospel of today, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the wind blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.”

So, let the word of God be the rock on which we stand, and from which our every word and actions receive support. From this ‘rock’, our future is secure, our present is sustained and our past does not draw us backwards. And the word of God is given us as a solid rock of salvation in the Sacraments. From here flows the spiritual nourishment that gives our lives stability, durability and constancy, which the peace that endures, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R

Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,

Tedi-Muwo, Lagos.

Thursday December 2nd, 2021.

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