Lord, Lord

Thursday of the First Week of Advent

Saint Francis Xavier

Matthew 7:21,24-27

“Not everyone who says Lord, Lord,

will enter the Kingdom of heaven,

but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.”

St. Francis Xavier was a “successful” missionary, making converts while fighting against the exploitation of native populations.  Many times, over the past 28 years, I have thought parenting was akin to missionary work.  Lord, Lord, doesn’t go very far in the formation of the young, UNLESS it is grounded in something real and expressed and lived with passion.  In fact the Lord, Lord really gets in the way.  Of late, I find myself using the word holy in a derogatory way…I know…that’s awful.  I might say to a colleague, “You remember Kate, she’s the holy one.”  In this sense holy means the same thing as Lord, Lord…not built on rock…not capable of weathering the storm.

That I may speak Lord, Lord with my being and in longing

That I may be a missionary-disciple

            firmly grounded and itinerant at the same time

That I may be holy…in a good way;)

St. Francis Xavier, Pray for me