Firm foundation

About 10 years ago, the summer after we moved into our house, we hosted about 80 people for a barbecue and house blessing. Our backyard deck has two levels, so folks were spread out on both decks and in the house.

But for the actual blessing, performed by the priest who celebrated our wedding Mass, almost everyone gathered on the top deck. We were a little concerned about having that much weight on the deck, but all was fine.

Fast-forward a decade and we realized that the deck seemed to be slanting slightly – not a lot, but enough to call in an expert to check it out. It turns out that the 6-by-6 wooden posts holding up the deck look great above ground, but below ground is another story. Apparently, when the deck was built about 40 years ago while the previous owners had the house, the posts were not properly encased in concrete for support, and there was not sufficient drainage. One of the poles was nearly rotted through; another showed significant signs of wear.

The situation brought to mind the parable of the sower in Luke’s Gospel – not a perfect analogy, because we don’t want these in “rocky soil”; for this purpose, the “good soil” is actually solid concrete with metal reinforcement.

So, we’re heading into the new year with a crew working on restoring the foundation for the deck. After the work is done, the deck may not look all that different, but we will rest assured that it’s solid.

That’s a good way to look at resolutions for New Year’s. A lot of times people strive to exercise more, be kinder to others, drive less aggressively, go to church and the sacraments more often, or visit folks in your neighborhood who may be ill or lonely. All of those things – and so many other resolutions people make – are really about building a better foundation for life in Christ.

Some days, I’ve watched the men working on the repairs to see that they need to dig deep to get to the bottom of the support poles. And once there, they get rid of the stuff that is rotting or needs work.

Our souls are kind of like that, too. Sometimes, we must dig deep to get at the things that are troubling us. And we have to take time to get rid of the stuff that’s bad for us and figure out how to keep the good things and reinforce them.

The foundation upon which we want to build is Mass – the Sunday liturgy, where we find, in the Eucharist, the source and summit of Christian life. We start there, joining others in our community. We get concrete suggestions for how to live our lives from the Scripture readings, the Psalms and the homily. From holy Communion, we get nourishment we need to go through the week. And we are sent out to share the Good News.

We need support poles and decking to give our faith life some structure. Those are other sacraments, including reconciliation/confession, and devotionals such as praying the rosary, the Angelus, Divine Mercy chaplet or morning and evening prayer.

If you have a patio or deck at home, you know it is a place to relax, gather with friends and perhaps enjoy some food together. I can’t wait for barbecue season to come back. In a similar way, our faith deck should allow us to rest a while. As St. Augustine reminded us, “Our hearts are restless until we rest in you, Lord.” Setting aside time and space to enjoy the company of our brothers and sisters in the Lord is a good and necessary thing for a healthy faith life.

Perhaps our backyard deck won’t look all that different once the work is all complete, but at least we will know it will be ready to face the new year. I hope you will be, too.

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