20250701 LETTING GO IN FAITH
01 July 2025, Tuesday, 13th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
Genesis 19:15-29 |
The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
The angels urged Lot, ‘Come, take your wife and these two daughters of yours, or you will be overwhelmed in the punishment of the town.’ And as he hesitated, the men took him by the hand, and his wife and his two daughters, because of the pity the Lord felt for him. They led him out and left him outside the town.
As they were leading him out he said, ‘Run for your life. Neither look behind you nor stop anywhere on the plain. Make for the hills if you would not be overwhelmed.’ ‘No, I beg you, my lord,’ Lot said to them ‘your servant has won your favour and you have shown great kindness to me in saving my life. But I could not reach the hills before this calamity overtook me, and death with it. The town over there is near enough to flee to, and is a little one. Let me make for that – is it not little? – and my life will be saved.’ He answered, ‘I grant you this favour too, and will not destroy the town you speak of. Hurry, escape to it, for I can do nothing until you reach it.’ That is why the town is named Zoar.
As the sun rose over the land and Lot entered Zoar, the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord. He overthrew these towns and the whole plain, with all the inhabitants of the towns, and everything that grew there. But the wife of Lot looked back, and was turned into a pillar of salt.
Rising early in the morning Abraham went to the place where he had stood before the Lord, and looking towards Sodom and Gomorrah, and across all the plain, he saw the smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.
Thus it was that when God destroyed the towns of the plain, he kept Abraham in mind and rescued Lot out of disaster when he overwhelmed the towns where Lot lived.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 25(26):2-3,9-12 |
Your love, O Lord, is before my eyes.
Examine me, Lord, and try me;
O test my heart and my mind,
for your love is before my eyes
and I walk according to your truth.
Your love, O Lord, is before my eyes.
Do not sweep me away with sinners,
nor my life with bloodthirsty men
in whose hands are evil plots,
whose right hands are filled with gold.
Your love, O Lord, is before my eyes.
As for me, I walk the path of perfection.
Redeem me and show me your mercy.
My foot stands on level ground:
I will bless the Lord in the assembly.
Your love, O Lord, is before my eyes.
Gospel Acclamation | Ps147:12,15 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
He sends out his word to the earth.
Alleluia!
Or: | Ps129:5 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
My soul is waiting for the Lord,
I count on his word.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Matthew 8:23-27 |
Jesus rebuked the winds and the seas, and all was calm
Jesus got into the boat followed by his disciples. Without warning a storm broke over the lake, so violent that the waves were breaking right over the boat. But he was asleep. So they went to him and woke him saying, ‘Save us, Lord, we are going down!’ And he said to them, ‘Why are you so frightened, you men of little faith?’ And with that he stood up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and all was calm again. The men were astounded and said, ‘Whatever kind of man is this? Even the winds and the sea obey him.’
LETTING GO IN FAITH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Gn 19:15-29; Ps 26:2-3, 9-12; Mt 8:23-27]
Most of us are driven more by fear than by faith and love. It is the fear of being left behind that drives us to succeed in life. It is fear that compels us to compete with others and see them as our enemies or opponents. It is fear of not having enough to live comfortably that makes us cling to our wealth. It is fear that, without power, people will control our lives, which causes us to cling to our power, position and office. It is fear that makes us want to possess our loved ones because we are scared that without them, we will be alone and have no one to support us. It is fear that prevents many from letting go of their sinful way of life, because they do not know whether there is a better life after this. As the proverb says, “a bird in hand is worth two in the bush.”
Indeed, we can identify ourselves with Lot in the first reading. Lot was a wealthy man and so was unable to detach himself from his wealth. When he separated from Abraham, “Lot looked about him, and saw that the plain of the Jordan was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar; this was before the Lord had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.” (Gn 13:10) He had built his business in Sodom and Gomorrah. He had property and his wealth was there. Hence, when he heard that God was about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, he was rather reluctant to leave the place. He was so attached to his wealth that he could not let go of them. He hesitated and the angels “took him by the hand, and his wife and his two daughters.” Even though the danger was ahead of him, he tried to delay leaving the town. When asked to run for the hills to save his life, he gave all kinds of excuses why he could not make it there. When forced to decide, he pleaded with the Lord to at least let him take refuge in Zoar.
This is true for us as well. Many of us are not willing to let go of our wealth and our sins, even when we know that they are making us miserable, robbing us of our peace and joy. We cannot let go of the hurts that people have inflicted on us, and we continue to bear resentment in our hearts even though we know that keeping grudges against our enemies make us more miserable than ever. Even those who have had a conversion experience find themselves unable to make a clean break from their attachments in life, whether to money, power, status, friends or self-indulgences. We keep looking back, like Lot’s wife, even though we are told, “Run for your life. Neither look behind you nor stop anywhere on the plain. Make for the hills if you would not be overwhelmed.” But we would not listen.
Indeed, like the apostles, even when we have Jesus with us, we still fear letting go. Our so-called faith in Christ does not seem to give us the power to be liberated from our fears, our attachments, and our sins. The apostles had lived and walked with Jesus. They saw the miracles and the powers of healing and exorcism the Lord had worked. They should have been the most secure of all people as long as the Lord was with them. Yet, when they encountered the storm – even though they were experienced fishermen – they became afraid. They cried out to Him, “Save us, Lord, we are going down!”
Why is it that we cannot let go even when we know that what we are holding on to are illusions that offer no guarantee of real security? Whether it is money, wealth, power, status or health, all these will pass. There is no security or peace, even when we possess these things, because having them makes us afraid of losing them. As a result, we spend all our time and energy trying to protect what we have – and ironically, we have no time to enjoy our wealth and freedom. Why is it that, even though we know Jesus is our Saviour and in Him we find strength and security, we still do not trust Him?
The answer is simple. Because we are men of little faith! This was what the Lord said to the disciples. “Why are you so frightened, you men of little faith?’ And with that he rebuked the winds and the sea; and all was calm again.” We do not want to trust God and His divine providence. We want to trust only in ourselves. Although we say we believe in our Lord, we do not trust that He will look after us and protect us. That is why, like the rich man in the gospel, we are unable to let go and come with Jesus.
This lack of faith in our heavenly Father is largely due to the fact that we do not know Him. In the gospel we read, “The men were astounded and said, ‘Whatever kind of man is this? Even the winds and the seas obey him.'” The fact that they did not believe Jesus would save them, even though He was with them, revealed that they still did not truly know who He was. The answer to their question took time to unfold. They still had a long way to go to know the true identity of Jesus as the Son of God, the Eternal Word of the Father. The miracle of the calming of the storm nevertheless stirred their hearts to ponder and wonder about His true identity. Only when we come to know who Jesus truly is can we have full confidence in His saving power.
Who, then, is Jesus? That Jesus had power over the storm means that Jesus is God, because in the scriptures only God has power over nature. Job asked, “who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb?” (Job 38:8-11) The psalmist says, “You silence the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples.” (Ps 65:7) “You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them.” (Ps 89:8f) Only because Jesus is Lord, can we turn to Him to find rest and strength in the midst of the storms of life. We need to have the gift of faith to come to know Jesus.
We have Jesus as our example of how a man of faith must behave. He was sound asleep in the boat, undisturbed by the storm. Earlier on, He had said to the scribe who wanted to follow Him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” (Mt 8:20) This was a clear expression of His total dependence on His heavenly Father. He did not have a proper bed or pillow but slept in the boat, tired and exhausted. In spite of the waves beating into the boat, Jesus was in deep sleep, very much at peace, until he was awakened. Jesus knew His Father and trusted completely in His love and fidelity. Indeed, a man of faith is tested not in good or peaceful times, but when things go wrong, yet he is able to remain calm and cool.
But God is patient with us, just as He was with the apostles. He allowed their faith to grow gradually but surely. While it is ideal – and a special grace, as seen in the life of St Paul – to let go of our fears and past completely and to give oneself to the Lord without reservation, most of us must go through a process of ups and downs, learning over time to entrust ourselves more and more to the Lord. Gaining confidence in Jesus and embracing Him as our Lord and Saviour takes time. Indeed, the Lord is merciful, as He was with Lot. He was patient with him – when he was reluctant to leave the town, the Lord took him by the hand and let him out. He was ready to compromise and allow him to stay in Zoar. This is what the psalmist says, “Your love, O Lord, is before my eyes. Do not sweep me away with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men in whose hands are evil plots, whose right hands are filled with gold.” But there is also a warning: the Lord can only do so much to lead us away from temptation. If we insist on looking back, like Lot’s wife, then we would have to face the possibility of being hardened by our sins, symbolized by the hardened pillar of salt.
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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