June 26, 2025 // Thursday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Matthew 7:21-29
Reflect on the Word //
We were dead center in it, a ferocious summer storm. Something like a mini tornado whipped down our street, ripping up thick oak trees that were one hundred years old, crashing power lines, tipping over the fifty-foot evergreen in our front yard, toppling it like it was no more than a toothpick. A neighbor’s car was smashed when a tree fell on it. Hail battered our windows and roof and the wind and rain roared so violently, I stood in kind of an awestruck stupor in our living room, watching it all with my hands raised, praying that the Blood of Jesus would cover our home and property.
Over the next days, as our street started to dig out, we all met up at a neighbor’s to pray and give thanks to the Lord that not a single person was injured. Many trees came down only damaging out-buildings and a chicken coop (the chickens went uninjured!), we lost power for days, several vehicles were damaged beyond repair, windows were broken and some had significant hail damage, but no human life was lost when it might have easily been otherwise.
I love a good storm, even when, like this one, it scares me. It reminds me in a visceral way that I want to build the house of my soul on the solid rock that is Jesus Christ. No fury can stand against Him.
It’s good to question myself from time to time: Is my heart set secure in God’s Word? Am I listening to His Word, allowing it to form me? Am I then acting on it as I am called to do (see Matthew 7:24)?
Life brings fury. Violent and unexpected. If you live long enough, you’ll see it: disaster, illness, temptation beyond imagining, scandal, unfettered pride and greed and the corrosive culture they foster. The rain will fall, the flood will come, and the wind will blow (see Matthew 7:25). They will threaten to rip you from your roots and destroy you. But the house of your soul will not be damaged if you build it on His Word.
Relate to the Lord // In prayer, have a walk around the house of your soul with Jesus and ask Him what needs to be built up.
Liz Kelly Stanchina is a jazz singer who met Jesus in late-night adoration. She is the community leader for women’s formation at the Word on Fire Institute and the author of more than a dozen award-winning books, including Jesus Approaches, Love Like a Saint, and the Blessed is She Advent devotional A Thrill of Hope. She holds advanced degrees in creative writing and Catholic studies. She is trained as a spiritual director, leading retreats and speaking around the world with a particular focus on helping women to flourish in their faith. Visit her website at LizK.org or follow her on Instagram at LizKToday.
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