12/4/2014 – Thursday of the first week of Advent – Matthew 7:21, 24-27

      When I was in Rome a few years ago, I heard an interesting story.  St Paul’s Basilica is one of the 4 major basilicas in Rome.  Nicknamed – St Paul’s Outside the Walls – because it is located outside the walls of the ancient city of Rome.  Tradition had it that St Paul was buried there where the basilica was built – but over time this became a legend and no one remembered exactly where he was buried on the grounds. Tradition had it that he was buried right beneath the altar. However, when they tried to excavate there, it seemed like they hit a hard layer of rock, so they abandoned their efforts to dig under the altar.  They searched other places on the grounds of the basilica, but could not find his remains.  Finally, they went back to right below the altar, realizing that what they thought was a layer of rock was really just very hard soil.  They excavated their, finding the remains of St Paul.  They are on display today in the basilica. 

     We can build our lives in different ways, can't we?  There are different messages and values that cry out to us in this world – and we can build our lives on those things.  However, we are called to build our lives on the Gospel – on our relationship with Christ – that is the solid ground that Jesus talks about in the Gospel.  That is what we are called to examine during our journey during Advent: to look at the ground on which our lives are built and to renew the foundation that is built on Christ.