Daily Gospel Reflection
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June 26, 2025
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
will enter the Kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
Many will say to me on that day,
‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?
Did we not drive out demons in your name?
Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’
Then I will declare to them solemnly,
‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.’
“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.
And everyone who listens to these words of mine
but does not act on them
will be like a fool who built his house on sand.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”
When Jesus finished these words,
the crowds were astonished at his teaching,
for he taught them as one having authority,
and not as their scribes.
“It’s got good bones.” This common turn of phrase came up over and over again as my family toured the beachside townhouse that would become our first home. The place needed new paint, new carpet, and new appliances, but the foundation was solid. We put in an offer the next day, knowing that we would take good care of the house and make renovations over time.
In today’s gospel, Jesus similarly reminds us of the importance of a solid foundation through the parable of the builders. Perhaps “good bones” are the modern corollary to the parabolic house built on rock. (Admittedly, I’m not sure if our house is built on rock or sand, but rest assured, it is sturdy.) In any way we describe it, Jesus is telling us that a strong foundation is necessary to weather the storms of life that we will face.
Yet it can be easy to gloss over a key implication in Jesus’ parable: building a house with a strong foundation requires time, effort, and patience, as any good homeowner would know.
The “good bones” of our 50-year-old house have remained strong because of the time and attention my family spends caring for it. In the same way, a solid foundation in our faith is cultivated through regular contemplative practice, learning Jesus’ teachings, and acting on them. It takes time to build and maintain a strong foundation in faith.
We find a lyrical version of Jesus’ lesson in the 2019 hit by Maren Morris: “When the bones are good, the rest don’t matter. Yeah, the paint could peel, the glass could shatter…The house don’t fall when the bones are good.”
How will we take action to maintain our foundation and ensure our faith has “good bones”?
Prayer
Lord, you tell us to build a house on rock and not on sand. We need a strong foundation for our lives, or we will surely be blown away by the first gust of wind. In our hearts we know that we cannot survive without you, but still we are fearful. If we allow you to get too close what will we have to give up, what will we have to change? Give us courage, Lord. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Josemaria Escriva is known for founding Opus Dei, an organization of Catholics who seek holiness in daily life.
He was born in Spain in 1902 to a devout family. He had five siblings, but three of his sisters died as infants. His father owned a small business but struggled to stay afloat and finally filed for bankruptcy. These misfortunes seemed to have matured Josemaria at an early age.
As a teenager, he once discovered the footprints a monk left behind in the snow—the image struck him and awoke within him a desire to become a priest. He entered the seminary and was ordained in 1925.
In 1927, Josemaria moved to Madrid to begin graduate study in civil law. Because his father had died three years prior, his mother, sister, and brother joined him—Josemaria was the family provider and supported them by tutoring other law students.
During this time, he also took on pastoral care for people who were sick or poor, as well as manual laborers in Madrid. University students who came to know him joined him in this work. When he was on retreat in 1928, it became clear to him that he should formalize this way of life and organize a Catholic community under the name Opus Dei, or “work of God.”
The community included clergy and laypeople, married and single people, men and women. It involved people from all walks of life in the effort to follow Jesus and seek holiness in their daily experience. The idea of Opus Dei was not to find holiness by escaping the world, as monks did, but by entering it more deeply and sanctifying it in the way members fulfill their responsibilities in their occupations and families and communities.
Josemaria’s work was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War, which began in 1936 and included a violent persecution of the Catholic Church. Many priests were killed, but Josemaria escaped into a safe region of Spain. When the war ended in 1939, he returned to Madrid and finished his law degree. He began spreading the work of Opus Dei and gave many retreats for laypeople, religious, and clergy.
Opus Dei began spreading through Spain, and after World War II it became an international organization. Members established institutions to serve the Church and society, such as hospitals and schools. It was formally approved by the Vatican in 1950 and today claims more than 80,000 members in more than 60 countries.
Josemaria moved to Rome to assist the growing international expansion of Opus Dei and to be a part of the conversation that was changing the Church in the era of the Second Vatican Council. He died on this date in 1975, and was canonized in 2002 after a miracle was confirmed in which a surgeon’s hands were healed from a career-ending disease through his intercession.
“With supernatural intuition, Blessed Josemaria untiringly preached the universal call to holiness,” said Pope St. John Paul II in his homily at the beatification of St. Josemaria. “Christ calls everyone to become holy in the realities of everyday life. Hence, work, too, is a means of personal holiness and apostolate, when it is done in union with Jesus Christ.”
St. Josemaria Escriva, you founded Opus Dei and helped Christians find holiness in everyday life—pray for us!
Image Credit: Image by Notre Dame alumnus Matthew Alderman, who holds exclusive rights to the further distribution and publication of his art. Used here with permission.