5 December.  A strong House.  Father had always said, “a strong family needs a strong house.” Mom would laugh and reply “A strong house needs a strong family.”  They hadn’t always had a decent house and at one stage had lived in a shack and it had taken their strong relationship, their faith and commitment to hard work that had been the resource they needed to progress in life practically and spiritually.  Mom wondered, “I don’t know why so many people still build their shacks on the edge of a river. With the weather we’re having these days, heavy rains, big storms and flash floods, they are likely to lose their house and everything in it. They do get warned, but do they listen?” Scripture:  Jesus said, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell, and great was its fall.  Matt 7:24-27.  Pope Francis:  The Judaeo-Christian vision of the cosmos defends the unique and central value of the human being amid the marvelous concert of all God’s creatures., but today we are forced to realize that it is only possible to recognize that human life is incomprehensible and unsustainable without other creatures.  Together we form a kind of universal family, a sublime communion that fills us with a sacred, affectionate and humble respect. LD 67 Reflect, share, and pray:  Pray for wisdom to use this time to build strong and sustainable families and homes.    Pray a special Advent prayer for peace.