Thursday, 1st Week of Advent
Catholic Business Network of Baltimore
St. Francis Xavier Church, Hunt Valley
December 4, 2025
I am delighted to be with you this morning in the holy season of Advent when our hearts are filled with joy and expectation. Thank you for inviting me and thank you for your presence and for your leadership in the Church and in the broader business community of Baltimore.
During Advent, the Church presents Scripture readings that help prepare our hearts to celebrate anew the birth of Christ and to welcome Christ when he comes in glory as our Judge. Today’s Gospel is a case in point, with special application to you as Catholic business leaders in the greater Baltimore region. Let me share two points drawn from that sacred text.
First, in the Gospel, Jesus teaches that it is not those who say, “Lord, Lord,” who enter the Kingdom of God but only those who do the Father’s will. We are to be doers, not talkers . . . and you know how right this is from experience. If the owner of a business or a CEO or CFO has great ideas, and can explain them articulately, and can show that the highest authorities support those ideas – if he or she can do all of that but is incapable of or uninterested in implementing these ideas – then the business enterprise is likely to fall apart. Those who are merely talkers and not doers end up frittering away their advantages and opportunities. Such is the road to failure.
The same is true in our life of faith. Our faith is rich and beautiful. The wisdom of its teaching, the splendor of its truth, the warmth of its love – all this can never be fully plumbed nor can it be exhausted. And surely God’s grace is abundant and powerful. As the Lord said to St. Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Cor 12:9). Surely also we routinely address Jesus as Lord. Yes, the Lord’s grace and gifts to us are superabundant. But that does not mean we’re off the hook from making strenuous to know, to love, and to live our holy faith. We cannot appeal to God’s grace, then put our spiritual lives on autopilot. In God’s grace we must decide to put our faith into practice, to resolve intently to live different, to keep the commandments, to love the Lord by loving those in need . . . doers, not talkers!
A second point is Jesus’ advice to build our house on solid rock. Today’s Gospel tells the tale of what happens to a house built on sand as opposed to a house that is built on solid rock. Your experience confirms the truth of the Lord’s words. If an enterprise is built on a shaky business model or unethical practices, sooner or later the house will collapse and the piper will be paid. Every reasonable businessperson knows the importance of following best business practices, a code of ethics, and all relevant laws.
This you understand as you seek to model what integrity in business is meant to be. Yet you are building your business enterprises on an even more solid foundation — you are building them on solid rock . . . ‘and the rock [is] Christ’ (1 Cor 10:4). And how do you do this? Your daily encounter with Christ – listening to his Word in Scripture, participating in his life through the Mass and the Sacraments, spending time each day in private prayer – in these and other was you root your works of heart and hand in the Lord Jesus in whom all things are made new.
Building our lives and our businesses on the solid rock that is Christ surely gives us the strength, insight, and courage we need to do the right thing for the right reason, even when the going gets rough – when ‘when the rain falls, the floods come, and the winds blow’ – buffeting what we have striven to build and buffeting our very lives. Contrast that with building our lives merely on ambition and desire. The latter does not stand the test of time.
When we are doers, not talkers, when we build on solid rock, we experience over time a growth in intimacy with the Lord, a greater sense of communion with his Church, and a greater affinity with the poor with whom Jesus identifies. When that happens, then are our hearts prepared to celebrate the birth of Christ and to await his coming at the end of time with joyful hope. May God bless us and keep us always in his love!