The Master of the House – I have prayed for some time now trying to better understand why there is continual erosion of Christians falling away from their faith and the church. There are many experts providing various statistics and reasons behind it all, all of which is very frustrating to me. If I am frustrated how must the Lord feel about His creation and the current state of affairs. I believe that the good news is that there are still many saints in our world who do make a difference and I know God calls us to be those saints who continue to do His work. But I have experienced an Epiphany.
With all the attention to sports and careers and acquiring and paying for new homes and new cars and the best of sports equipment for the kids and on and on and on, the real issue is, who is the master of the house?
We took a parenting class many years ago and the rights of the child, and discipline, and the dignity of the child were all discussed. But the bottom line question presented to us was, “who lives in whose house?” The rules were to be defined by the parent, not the child.
But I believe the answer was a bit distorted in that class. If we are truly believers in God and we believe that He is the creator and we are the created, then the real answer is that God should be the Master of our house. Do we truly believe that our ultimate goal in life is to join God in heaven and to eternally live in peace and joy with Him? That peace and joy only comes from one source, God. If we truly believe that then we must refocus!
Make no mistake that our families and our children who make up the domestic church are clearly under attack. How to use our time, how to interface with each other, technology, methods of obtaining success… are being hurled at our domestic church, the family and they falter because they need more of our support, encouragement, direction and love. They need God’s grace through the sacraments which they are not receiving.
We took that parenting class many years ago because we knew we were struggling and could use help. We have attended many marriage programs over the years because the continual reinforcement was much appreciated and needed. Fortunately in each of those events we found ourselves drawn closer to God not just because of the information we received but because of the models we observed and the interaction with believers in our God.
Who is the Master of the House?
The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God, and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will man find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for… God should be Master of the House. Only pain and suffering will result if we do not understand and believe that.
“FATHER, …this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”
“God our Savior desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. There is not another name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” than the name of Jesus.”