Matthew 7:21,24-27

Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew… plenty of warnings in our Gospel reading today to encourage us to build a rock solid prayer life and aim for great spiritual depth. Our painting today illustrates such rain and gales that can at times surround us. Our hyperrealist painting by Gregory Thielker depicts a rainy landscape through the front windshield of a car. Yes, this is a painting, and not a photograph! The rain distorts the view; the rain makes the landscape or the traffic hard to see. That’s is what storms do deep inside us: they twist things, they upset us, they blur things. Jesus prompts us to be firm in our resolve and our faith, so that we can always see clearly.

But reading the Gospel today made me think especially of our Church which has been going through quite some storms through her two thousand year history. The storms of the child abuse scandals are still howling as we speak. Jesus recognises that difficult times are part of our journey and the Church’s journey. So the question is, how do we equip ourselves, individually and as a Church, to withstand those storms? Not equipping ourselves would just mean that we would be at the complete mercy of the storm and be tossed about hopelessly. Prayer provides that rock. And today we are invited not just to pray for ourselves but also for our Church.

Our hyper-realist painting is very poignant for today’s reading: the rain on the windshield obscures the view: colours blend; colours (such as the rear lights of the cars) are out of place;  the bridge is distorted; flatness becomes three dimensional; perspectives slip. The personal turmoils we go through can do the same and distort our views on reality and what really matters. Prayer is the best protection, offering stability in any storm we may face.