Weekly HOMILY for June 1, 2008: On the Building of Sand Castles

9th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle A
Our Lady of Grace
June 1, 2008

On the Building of Sand Castles
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato


A Sand Castle

Few of us are stranger to the book by the title, “When Bad Things Happen to Good People.”

Its author is a Jewish rabbi named Harold Kushner and he has also written some lesser-known books. One of them is entitled, “When All You’ve Ever Wanted Isn’t Enough.”

In this book, Rabbi Kushner relates the following incident. He says: “I was sitting on a beach one summer day, watching two children, a boy and a girl, playing in the sand.

“They were building an elaborate sand castle near the water’s edge. When they had nearly finished their project, a big wave came along and leveled it, washing it into the shoreline.

“I expected the children to burst into tears, but they surprised me. Instead of tears, they joined hands and ran up the shore away from the water, laughing and talking.

“Surprised by their reaction to their loss, I fixed my eye on them and saw them finally sit down and begin with renewed to build another sand castle.

“That afternoon two small children taught me an important life lesson.

“Each and every thing in our daily lives, each complicated structure we spend so much time and energy creating, is rally built on sand. Only our relationships to other people endure.

“Sooner or later, one day a wave comes along and knocks down what we have worked so hard to build up or create. When that happens, only the person who has somebody’s hand to hold will be able to laugh.”

Sand versus Rock

That story and the insightful conclusion that Harold Kushner draws from it are precisely Jesus’ message for us today.

Jesus is wrapping up his core teaching – the Sermon on the Mount. He has taught the crowds things like: “Blessed are the merciful, the compassionate, and the peacemakers.”

Jesus has talked about the primacy of love of God and love of one another. And now, at the conclusion of his major teaching, he is clear that he wants us both to both listen to and to live out his Word.

In the Gospel he says: “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock” – and not on sand. It is important to put this statement into context with all that precedes it.

Putting it into context makes it clear that Jesus is calling us to build our lives around relationships and not the many things we’ve built or accomplished. He is urging us to find ourselves and our purpose for living in relationships.

This is how we build our house or our life “on rock.”

I have thought of three simple questions that can help us to look at ourselves and determine if we are doing this and I would like to share these with you.

Are We Building on Rock?

First, am I building on the “rock” of relationships. That is, do I intentionally make time for those who are important to me?

So for example, do I plan time just to be together and communicate with my husband or wife? Do I make it a point to call a friend on her birthday or to connect with my aging parents once a week?

Second, do I keep “things” in perspective?

Thus, do I live with the awareness that having certain clothes or cars or comforts is really secondary? Am I content with what I have and not allow myself to get trapped into the “more is better” mentality?

Third, do I see myself as one with others, even others whom I do not know?

By that I mean, do I listen to the names of the sick and deceased in the General Intercessions and consciously offer a pray for them? Do I see immigrants as persons with the human needs and aspirations that I also have?

Conclusion

So, Jesus calls us to build our house, our life, on rock and not on sand.

And this means, in the full context of his teaching, that we tend to our relationships well. I propose three questions to help us to see where we are with this.

1. Do I intentionally make time for those who are important to me?
2. Do I keep the “things” in my life in perspective?
3. Do I see myself as one with others, even others whom I do not know?

When our sandcastles are buffeted by ocean waves and all seems lost, it will be nice to have someone’s hand in order to run up the beach and begin to build anew!