20250720 A WITNESS OF CHRIST
20 July 2025, Sunday, 16th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading | Genesis 18:1-10 |
'Next year your wife Sarah will have a son'
The Lord appeared to Abraham at the Oak of Mamre while he was sitting by the entrance of the tent during the hottest part of the day. He looked up, and there he saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them, and bowed to the ground. ‘My lord,’ he said, ‘I beg you, if I find favour with you, kindly do not pass your servant by. A little water shall be brought; you shall wash your feet and lie down under the tree. Let me fetch a little bread and you shall refresh yourselves before going further. That is why you have come in your servant’s direction.’ They replied, ‘Do as you say.’
Abraham hastened to the tent to find Sarah.’ ‘Hurry,’ he said ‘knead three bushels of flour and make loaves.’ Then running to the cattle Abraham took a fine and tender calf and gave it to the servant, who hurried to prepare it. Then taking cream, milk and the calf he had prepared, he laid all before them, and they ate while he remained standing near them under the tree.
‘Where is your wife Sarah?’ they asked him. ‘She is in the tent’ he replied. Then his guest said, ‘I shall visit you again next year without fail, and your wife will then have a son.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 14(15):2-5 |
The just will live in the presence of the Lord.
Lord, who shall dwell on your holy mountain?
He who walks without fault;
he who acts with justice
and speaks the truth from his heart;
he who does not slander with his tongue.
The just will live in the presence of the Lord.
He who does no wrong to his brother,
who casts no slur on his neighbour,
who holds the godless in disdain,
but honours those who fear the Lord.
The just will live in the presence of the Lord.
He who keeps his pledge, come what may;
who takes no interest on a loan
and accepts no bribes against the innocent.
Such a man will stand firm for ever.
The just will live in the presence of the Lord.
Second reading |
Colossians 1:24-28 |
A mystery hidden for generations has been revealed to God's saints
It makes me happy to suffer for you, as I am suffering now, and in my own body to do what I can to make up all that has still to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church. I became the servant of the Church when God made me responsible for delivering God’s message to you, the message which was a mystery hidden for generations and centuries and has now been revealed to his saints. It was God’s purpose to reveal it to them and to show all the rich glory of this mystery to pagans. The mystery is Christ among you, your hope of glory: this is the Christ we proclaim, this is the wisdom in which we thoroughly train everyone and instruct everyone, to make them all perfect in Christ.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Ac16:14 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O Lord,
to accept the words of your Son.
Alleluia!
Or: | cf.Lk8:15 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are those who,
with a noble and generous heart,
take the word of God to themselves
and yield a harvest through their perseverance.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 10:38-42 |
Martha works; Mary listens
Jesus came to a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. She had a sister called Mary, who sat down at the Lord’s feet and listened to him speaking. Now Martha who was distracted with all the serving said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me.’ But the Lord answered: ‘Martha, Martha,’ he said ‘you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part; it is not to be taken from her.’
A WITNESS OF CHRIST
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Gen 18:1-10; Ps 15:2-5; Col 1:24-28; Lk 10:38-42]
In the second reading, St Paul shared his calling to be a servant of the gospel and a servant of the Church because God made him responsible for delivering God’s message to the Gentiles, “the message which was a mystery hidden for generations and centuries and has now been revealed to his saints. It was God’s purpose to reveal it to them and to show all the rich glory of this mystery to pagans.” As Christians, we too are responsible to reveal Christ to the world and the wisdom that Christ has come to share with us so that we can live a joyful and meaningful life. St Paul said, “The mystery is Christ among you, your hope of glory: this is the Christ we proclaim, this is the wisdom in which we thoroughly train everyone and instruct everyone, to make them all perfect in Christ.”
What does it mean to be a witness of Christ? First and foremost, it means someone who has seen the Lord. It means sharing that vision of the Lord with others. Indeed, one cannot be a witness of Christ without first having seen or encountered Him in a special and significant way. Consequently, we cannot truly proclaim Christ or bear witness to His love and presence unless we have met Him in the first place. This personal encounter with the Lord is a pre-requisite, because we cannot testify to something – or someone – what we have not experienced. Only after we have seen the Lord can we joyfully go out and proclaim the Gospel.
We must be clear that seeing the Lord refers to an event, not merely a discourse. Pope Benedict XVI wrote, “We have come to believe in God’s love: in these words, the Christian can express the fundamental decision of his life. Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.” (Deus Caritas Est, 1) Encountering the Lord in a personal way gives rise to mission. This has been true throughout the entire history of Christianity – from the time of the early Church until today. Peter and the apostles encountered the Lord in their calling and in the resurrection. The women of Jerusalem met the Risen Lord and ran with joy to tell the apostles. St Paul was converted and became the apostle to the Gentiles after He saw the Lord on the way to Damascus.
Indeed, there is a grave danger in trying to be a witness of Christ without first having seen the Lord. Without a genuine encounter with Him, we risk becoming quickly drained or experiencing burnout. Some may even be theologically trained and possess knowledge of theology and Scripture, yet lack a personal relationship with the Lord – having only a cerebral understanding of the faith. I have known many such individuals who have left the Church because things did not turn out the way they had expected, or because they felt they had failed to achieve the changes they had hoped to bring about. Today, some of them identify as freethinkers, agnostics, or have joined other religions. This can even happen to priests and religious who work tirelessly for the Church and the spread of the Gospel. But if they are relying solely on their own strength and knowledge, without being rooted in a loving relationship with Christ, they may eventually lose their zeal – especially when they face trials, rejection, or disappointment in their ministry.
This is why in today’s gospel – in the story of Martha and Mary – we are invited to learn from Martha’s mistake. She became agitated with Mary for not helping her with the serving. Martha is not faulted for serving the Lord and doing the household chores, as these things are necessary and good. The issue lies in her focus; she focused on what she was doing to gain the Lord’s favour, rather than on the Lord Himself. She became envious of Mary who sat at the feet of our Lord, listening to Him attentively. Her joy of service was lost when she began comparing her laborious work, whilst Mary was enjoying herself, being present to the Lord. If Martha had focused on the Lord and found fulfillment in serving Him out of love, she would not have minded that Mary was not helping her. Obviously, she was seeking the Lord’s attention through her work for Him.
But what the Lord said to Martha is important for those in ministry. “‘Martha, Martha, you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part; it is not to be taken from her.” The Lord is not saying that Martha’s work is not important or necessary. But there is a priority in service. We must be willing to spend time with the Lord, in intimacy, listening to Him and basking in His love before we can find the strength and the joy to announce the love of Jesus to others. It is intimacy with the Lord, sharing His mind, His heart, and His soul, that we find strength and inspiration to follow Him in sharing the love and mercy of God.
Indeed, this was the secret of St Paul himself. Because of his radical encounter with the crucified Lord who appeared to him, asking, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4), he was now able to share in Christ’s suffering with joy in his ministry. “It makes me happy to suffer for you, as I am suffering now, and in my own body to do what I can to make up all that has still to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church.” St Paul was happy to suffer with Christ for the love of Him and for the love of His Church, His body. Indeed, unless we are able to suffer with Christ joyfully, our witnessing is not yet perfected. If service of our fellowmen is just to boost our ego or to feel good about ourselves because we have done something good for others or receive praise, that service is far from perfect. A true witness fundamentally is a martyr. This is the meaning of the word “martyr” – one who witnesses for Christ even unto death.
Once we have met the Lord, we will naturally reflect His love through acts of Christian charity. We learn from the example of Abraham’s hospitality. He was known to be a generous man and always hospitable to wayfarers. He would serve his guests well and even personally attend to them with reverence and enthusiasm. We see this in today’s reading when three men came by his tent. Unlike Martha, even in service, he remained humble. He regarded himself as a servant to the guests. Such was the charity and kindness flowed from his deep relationship with God – Abraham was a man who had encountered the Lord and enjoyed an intimate friendship with Him, as Scripture tells us that God spoke to him as a friend. The responsorial psalm describes what it means to be a just man, “walks without fault; he who acts with justice and speaks the truth from his heart; he who does not slander with his tongue” – and does good.
What is significant in such kind of services is that we encounter the face of God in those whom we serve. When we serve others as we would serve God – just as Abraham did – we not only reveal God’s love and compassion to them, becoming witnesses of His presence, but we also come to see the face of God in them. In Abraham’s story, the three visitors revealed themselves as messengers of God, sent to deliver a promise: that he and Sarah would bear a child the following year. So too, when our service is motivated by the love of God – whether through the explicit proclamation of Christ as the Wisdom of God, the Way, the Truth and the Life, or through the implicit witness of good works and humanitarian service – we encounter God in those we serve, just as they encounter God in us.
Indeed, there is a big difference between serving in humanitarian organizations and serving in the Church. One is driven simply by humanitarian concerns and one’s own capacity to give. This explains why many social workers often end up disillusioned and burnt out because they give without receiving. But for us who are Christians, our giving is possible only in Christ. We receive from Christ to give to others even if they do not respond in gratitude or appreciate what we do for them. Our giving is unconditional.
Hence, we must learn from Mary and Martha the importance of living a balanced life – one that holds together both prayer and ministry, with prayer having priority over ministry. It is through prayer and intimacy with the Lord that our ministry becomes truly fruitful, motivated not by the desire for human appreciation or recognition, but by faith and love for Christ. We are called to live by the principles of faith, and most of all, the love of Christ poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. We need to recharge ourselves all the time. What better way than to contemplate on the face of Christ in the Scriptures and in the Eucharist. Otherwise, how can we tell others that we have seen the Lord, or show in our faces that we have seen Him. Indeed, the responsorial psalm reminds us, “The just will live in the presence of the Lord.”
Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections
- Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
- Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
- It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.
Note: You may share this reflection with someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will they be available via email request.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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