THE PLACE OF THE LAW BEFORE JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH IN CHRIST

20241012 THE PLACE OF THE LAW BEFORE JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH IN CHRIST

 

First reading

Galatians 3:22-29

There are no more distinctions: all are one in Christ Jesus

Scripture makes no exceptions when it says that sin is master everywhere. In this way the promise can only be given through faith in Jesus Christ and can only be given to those who have this faith.

  Before faith came, we were allowed no freedom by the Law; we were being looked after till faith was revealed. The Law was to be our guardian until the Christ came and we could be justified by faith. Now that that time has come we are no longer under that guardian, and you are, all of you, sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. All baptised in Christ, you have all clothed yourselves in Christ, and there are no more distinctions between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female, but all of you are one in Christ Jesus. Merely by belonging to Christ you are the posterity of Abraham, the heirs he was promised.

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Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 104(105):2-7

The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.

or

Alleluia!

O sing to the Lord, sing his praise;

  tell all his wonderful works!

Be proud of his holy name,

  let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice.

The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.

or

Alleluia!

Consider the Lord and his strength;

  constantly seek his face.

Remember the wonders he has done,

  his miracles, the judgements he spoke.

The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.

or

Alleluia!

O children of Abraham, his servant,

  O sons of the Jacob he chose.

He, the Lord, is our God:

  his judgements prevail in all the earth.

The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.

or

Alleluia!

---

Gospel Acclamation

Jn14:23

Alleluia, alleluia!

If anyone loves me he will keep my word,

and my Father will love him, 

and we shall come to him.

Alleluia!

Or:

Lk11:28

Alleluia, alleluia!

Happy are those 

who hear the word of God

and keep it.

Alleluia!

---

Gospel

Luke 11:27-28

'Happy the womb that bore you and the breasts you sucked!'

As Jesus was speaking, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said, ‘Happy the womb that bore you and the breasts you sucked!’ But he replied, ‘Still happier those who hear the word of God and keep it!’

 

 

12 October 2024, Saturday, 27th Week in Ordinary Time

THE PLACE OF THE LAW BEFORE JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH IN CHRIST

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SCRIPTURE READINGS: [GALATIANS 3:22-29; LUKE 11:27-28]

What is the relationship between the law and faith?  We know that St Paul’s emphasis in his preaching is that we are justified by faith in Christ alone.  We cannot be saved by observance of the laws.  This doctrine of justification by faith alone is the primary doctrinal thesis of his writing in his letter to the Romans.  The letter to the Galatians is written to address the confusion among some Christians about the necessity of the law for salvation because some strict Jewish Christians unsettled the converts that they had to observe the Mosaic Law and be circumcised to be a member of the People of God.

This question is also pertinent for us as Catholics.  We have always given the impression that salvation is through good works rather than faith in Christ.  In fact, in our teaching and Catechism, we do not underscore the importance of faith in Christ as much as being obedient to the commandments as taught by the Church.  Catholics tend to be meticulous and obsessed about their sins, number and nature, as required of them to confess during the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  Some are over scrupulous for fear of forgetting to mention a sin that they had committed.  Others are afraid that if they do not do the necessary penance given by the confessor, they might have a longer stay in purgatory.  So, their relationship with God is one of fear and punishment for their failings.

Very little is given to the importance of faith in Christ, a personal relationship with Him, commending ourselves to His mercy and love; and most of all, like the Protestants, believing that the blood of Christ has saved us from our sins.  How many of us truly believe that salvation is through the grace of God and not by our efforts?  How many of us would be confident enough to claim salvation through faith in Christ?  Paul in his letter to the Romans stated in no uncertain terms that we “are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.”  (Rom 3:24-26) 

Hence, the question of the place of the Law is important if we were to appreciate the truth that we are justified by faith in Christ.  St Paul asked rhetorically, “Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.”  (Rom 3:31) There seems to be a contradiction or opposition between the law and faith.  For this reason, St Paul sought to explain to the Galatians that these two are not in opposition, but they work seamlessly to bring about our salvation in Christ.  How does he explain the unity between the law and faith?

Firstly, he stated the plain truth that “scripture makes no exceptions when it says that sin is master everywhere.”  As he wrote in Romans, “Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  (Rom 3:23) So we are all under sin and judgment.  This is because the law which serves as a guide and norm for us to recognize ourselves as sinners, also has a condemnatory function.  St Paul asked, “What then should we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet, if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’ But sin, seizing an opportunity in the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. Apart from the law sin lies dead.”  (Rom 7:7f) Hence, he told the Galatians, “Before faith came, we were allowed no freedom by the Law; we were being looked after till faith was revealed. The Law was to be our guardian until the Christ came and we could be justified by faith.”

So the Mosaic Law serves as a norm for us to judge ourselves.  It helps us to distinguish what is right and what is wrong.  But it also reveals our helplessness to obey the laws.  We are weak, and we are unable to fulfil the laws perfectly.  So we are all condemned by the law.  I think the real danger for Catholics is that we can fulfil the laws perfectly and therefore demand salvation from God.  Salvation is no more a gift from God but owed to us by our merits.  Even St Paul made it clear when he wrote to the Corinthians, “But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I do not even judge myself. I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive commendation from God.”  (1 Cor 4:3-5) St John also wrote, “by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.”  (1 Jn 3:19f) In other words, no one is perfect before God and so salvation is the free gift of God.

We should try to follow the law as an expression of our love for God, but we must never ever think that we are perfected by our own efforts.  We will always fall short of perfection.  At most, as St Paul wrote, “The Law was to be our guardian until the Christ came and we could be justified by faith.”  Indeed, as he said, “Before faith came, we were allowed no freedom by the Law; we were being looked after till faith was revealed.”  The law therefore has a temporary purpose, to help us walk the way of truth and love.  But the law does not give us the capacity to observe the law.  It only tells us where we have sinned.  St Paul shared his own struggles in seeking perfection through the law when he wrote, “For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.  So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.”  (Rom 7:18-23)

So what will give us the capacity to fulfil the laws perfectly if not through faith in Christ?  “In this way the promise can only be given through faith in Jesus Christ and can only be given to those who have this faith.”  The law reveals our hopelessness.  Faith in Christ gives us the capacity to live the laws perfectly because we transcend the laws by living a life of love and charity.  We go beyond obedience to the laws because we are motivated by love for Christ and His love, which is the Holy Spirit in our hearts.  This is why in John’s gospel, Jesus told us, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.  Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.  Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.”  (Jn 14:15f; 23f)

Mary in the gospel today teaches us how to love God and how to carry out perfectly His commandments.  The Lord praised His mother when “a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said, ‘Happy the womb that bore you and the breasts you sucked!’ But he replied, ‘Still happier those who hear the word of God and keep it!’  Mary has a deep relationship with God.  She has total faith in Him and so not only did she hear the Word of God, but she was obedient to it because of her love for the Lord.  Indeed, by her example, she reveals to us our true status as sons and daughters of God, with a personal relationship with Him as St Paul told the Galatians, “Now that that time has come we are no longer under that guardian, and you are, all of you, sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. All baptised in Christ, you have all clothed yourselves in Christ, and there are no more distinctions between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female, but all of you are one in Christ Jesus. Merely by belonging to Christ you are the posterity of Abraham, the heirs he was promised.”   Through faith in Christ, and a relationship of trust and love, we will all belong to Christ and put on His mind and heart.  Truly, it is faith that justifies us and makes us holy and acceptable to God because of His mercy.

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Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved. 

OUR CHRISTIAN IDENTITY

20241011 OUR CHRISTIAN IDENTITY

 

First reading

Galatians 3:7-14

The sons of Abraham are those who rely on faith

Don’t you see that it is those who rely on faith who are the sons of Abraham? Scripture foresaw that God was going to use faith to justify the pagans, and proclaimed the Good News long ago when Abraham was told: In you all the pagans will be blessed. Those therefore who rely on faith receive the same blessing as Abraham, the man of faith.

  On the other hand, those who rely on the keeping of the Law are under a curse, since scripture says: Cursed be everyone who does not persevere in observing everything prescribed in the book of the Law. The Law will not justify anyone in the sight of God, because we are told: the righteous man finds life through faith. The Law is not even based on faith, since we are told: The man who practises these precepts finds life through practising them. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law by being cursed for our sake, since scripture says: Cursed be everyone who is hanged on a tree. This was done so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might include the pagans, and so that through faith we might receive the promised Spirit.

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Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 110(111):1-6

The Lord keeps his covenant ever in mind.

or

Alleluia!

I will thank the Lord with all my heart

  in the meeting of the just and their assembly.

Great are the works of the Lord,

  to be pondered by all who love them.

The Lord keeps his covenant ever in mind.

or

Alleluia!

Majestic and glorious his work,

  his justice stands firm for ever.

He makes us remember his wonders.

  The Lord is compassion and love.

The Lord keeps his covenant ever in mind.

or

Alleluia!

He gives food to those who fear him;

  keeps his covenant ever in mind.

He has shown his might to his people

  by giving them the lands of the nations.

The Lord keeps his covenant ever in mind.

or

Alleluia!

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Gospel Acclamation

Jn10:27

Alleluia, alleluia!

The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice, 

says the Lord, 

I know them and they follow me.

Alleluia!

Or:	Jn12:31-32

Alleluia, alleluia!

Now the prince of this world is to be overthrown, 

says the Lord.

And when I am lifted up from the earth, 

I shall draw all men to myself.

Alleluia!

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Gospel

Luke 11:15-26

The finger of God has overtaken you

When Jesus had cast out a devil, some of the people said, ‘It is through Beelzebul, the prince of devils, that he casts out devils.’ Others asked him, as a test, for a sign from heaven; but, knowing what they were thinking, he said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is heading for ruin, and a household divided against itself collapses. So too with Satan: if he is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? – since you assert that it is through Beelzebul that I cast out devils. Now if it is through Beelzebul that I cast out devils, through whom do your own experts cast them out? Let them be your judges then. But if it is through the finger of God that I cast out devils, then know that the kingdom of God has overtaken you. So long as a strong man fully armed guards his own palace, his goods are undisturbed; but when someone stronger than he is attacks and defeats him, the stronger man takes away all the weapons he relied on and shares out his spoil.

  ‘He who is not with me is against me; and he who does not gather with me scatters.

  ‘When an unclean spirit goes out of a man it wanders through waterless country looking for a place to rest, and not finding one it says, “I will go back to the home I came from.” But on arrival, finding it swept and tidied, it then goes off and brings seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and set up house there, so that the man ends up by being worse than he was before.’

 

 

11 October 2024, Friday, 27th Week in Ordinary Time

OUR CHRISTIAN IDENTITY

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SCRIPTURE READINGS: [GALATIANS 3:7-14; LUKE 11:15-26]

Knowing our identity is important.  This is the theme of today’s scripture readings.  We must be clear of our identity, who we are.  This is especially true for those of us in Asia, Africa and Oceania who were converted from our ancestors’ faith.  The religions which our ancestors passed down to us are often embedded in the cultures that we were brought up with as well.  The greatest obstacle in conversion to Christianity is that Christianity is often perceived as a Western religion (even though it is not the case as it originated in the Middle East, not in Europe!)  Many converts had to give up not just their ancestral faith but also their culture to become Christians.  But this would be a denial of their origin and their cultural values that have preserved the communities together over the centuries, values that promoted filial piety, family life and loyalty and respect for the Sacred.  This is the consequence of a failure to distinguish faith from culture.  What many fail to realize is that faith transcends cultures and should be expressed through our cultures, just as Christianity, which was embraced by the Europeans introduced European culture into Christianity, which was a Middle East religion.

In the case of the Galatians, they too were unsure of their identity.  Many of them were converts from their pagan religions.  But having been converted to Christianity, they were not too sure where they belonged. They had abandoned their gods and pagan worship.  But they were not Jews either, and did not worship at the synagogues.  They might have read the Jewish scriptures and believed in Jesus.  But they did not have a clear identity, not knowing whether they were Jews or Christians.  At the same time, they were told by some ultra-Jewish Christians that unless they followed the Jewish laws, they could not be saved.  They were told that they had to belong to the Jewish family if they were to become members of the People of God. In other words, if they wanted to be God’s children, they would have to be Jewish first.  This was because circumcision and the law were necessary to for them to belong to the People of God so that they could enjoy God’s blessings given to Abraham and his people.

In the gospel too, Jesus was challenged on His identity.  When He cast out a devil, the people suggested that He was in league with “Beelzebul, the prince of devils, that he casts out devils.”  They were not disputing the fact that He had the power to exorcise the devil but that His authority came from the Evil One himself.  By challenging the source of His authority, they were in fact questioning His identity.  If Jesus was who He claimed to be, that “if it is through the finger of God that I cast out devils, then know that the kingdom of God has overtaken you.”  So, Jesus made it clear that His power came from His identity with God and that was why He had power over the Kingdom of Satan.  He is the strong man who could overcome the Evil One. “So long as a strong man fully armed guards his own palace, his goods are undisturbed; but when someone stronger than he is attacks and defeats him, the stronger man takes away all the weapons he relied on and shares out his spoil.”

It is within this context that Paul wanted to assure the Galatians that they too belonged to God.  They were children of Abraham by virtue of their sharing the same faith in God.  They did not have to belong to the Jewish race or observe the Jewish Law to be considered a member of the People of God.  “Don’t you see that it is those who rely on faith who are the sons of Abraham? Scripture foresaw that God was going to use faith to justify the pagans, and proclaimed the Good News long ago when Abraham was told: In you all the pagans will be blessed.  Those therefore who rely on faith receive the same blessing as Abraham, the man of faith.”  Since they believed as Abraham did on the promises of God, the Christians by believing in the Crucified Christ too received the blessing of the Spirit.

Paul drew the parallel between the faith of Abraham and that of the Galatians.  Both responded in faith and enjoyed the divine blessing because they believed.  This is a great assurance to those who said that the Galatian Christians were excluded from the family of God because they did not qualify to be the People of God due to the fact that they were not circumcised, and they did not observe the law of Moses.  Until then, entry to fellowship in the People of God was based on racial, social and religious requirements.  But Paul said, it was no longer so.  Quoting Genesis 15:6, “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness”, he taught that faith is the only criterion for entry to full membership in the family of God.  Ultimately, faith is one’s relationship with God and keeping the laws would not be required for membership.

What is the content of faith?  For Abraham, it was his faith in God’s promise of posterity.  The Lord told Abraham, “Look up at the sky and count the stars – if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”  (Gn 5:5). The faith of the Galatians was similar.  Faith is believing what they heard.  “So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ.”  (Rom 10:17).  The Galatians heard the preaching of the crucified Christ.  They believed and consequently, they received the Holy Spirit which is the pledge of our inheritance.  Paul, writing to the Ephesians wrote, “we who first hoped in Christ have been destined and appointed to live for the praise of his glory. In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”  (Eph 1:12-14).

The Holy Spirit is the divine blessing that Christians received.  Through the Holy Spirit, the Christians tangibly experienced being the sons and daughters of God just as Abraham and his people became members of the family of God through faith in God. “But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then an heir.”  (Gal 4:4-7) Secondly, the Christians witnessed for themselves the power of the Holy Spirit in the miracles that were worked among them. (Gal 3:5). Finally, the great blessings they received are the fruits of the Holy Spirit, namely, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Gal 5:22).

Consequently, today, we are called to affirm our identity as the heirs of God and heirs with Christ.  We are truly members of the New People of God.  As St Paul wrote in Romans, “you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”  (Rom 8:15-17).  This is what Jesus also asks of us when He said, “Every kingdom divided against itself is heading for ruin, and a household divided against itself collapses.”

We must stand together in the family of God and stand together with Christ.  For the Lord also said, “He who is not with me is against me; and he who does not gather with me scatters.”   We must be on the side of the Lord so that we too can share His blessings.  Only with Jesus, the strong man, can we overcome the temptations of the Evil One, which is to depend on ourselves, on our achievements and our efforts.  St Paul warns us, “those who rely on the keeping of the Law are under a curse.  The Law will not justify anyone in the sight of God, because we are told: the righteous man finds life through faith.”  Rather, for us, Christians, we rely on Christ by our faith in Him.  Indeed, the Lord assures us, “So long as a strong man fully armed guards his own palace, his goods are undisturbed; but when someone stronger than he is attacks and defeats him, the stronger man takes away all the weapons he relied on and shares out his spoil.”

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Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved. 

ACTING WITH MARY

20241007 ACTING WITH MARY

 

First reading

Acts 1:12-14

The apostles all joined in continuous prayer with Mary, the mother of Jesus

After Jesus was taken up into heaven the apostles went back from the Mount of Olives, as it is called, to Jerusalem, a short distance away, no more than a sabbath walk; and when they reached the city they went to the upper room where they were staying; there were Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Jude son of James. All these joined in continuous prayer, together with several women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

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Responsorial Psalm

Luke 1:46-55

The Almighty works marvels for me. Holy is his name!

or

Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who bore the Son of the eternal Father.

My soul glorifies the Lord,

  my spirit rejoices in God, my Saviour.

The Almighty works marvels for me. Holy is his name!

or

Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who bore the Son of the eternal Father.

He looks on his servant in her nothingness;

  henceforth all ages will call me blessed.

The Almighty works marvels for me.

  Holy his name!

The Almighty works marvels for me. Holy is his name!

or

Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who bore the Son of the eternal Father.

His mercy is from age to age,

  on those who fear him.

He puts forth his arm in strength

  and scatters the proud-hearted.

The Almighty works marvels for me. Holy is his name!

or

Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who bore the Son of the eternal Father.

He casts the mighty from their thrones

  and raises the lowly.

He fills the starving with good things,

  sends the rich away empty.

The Almighty works marvels for me. Holy is his name!

or

Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who bore the Son of the eternal Father.

He protects Israel, his servant,

  remembering his mercy,

the mercy promised to our fathers,

  to Abraham and his sons for ever.

The Almighty works marvels for me. Holy is his name!

or

Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who bore the Son of the eternal Father.

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Gospel Acclamation

cf.Lk1:28

Alleluia, alleluia!

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee!

Blessed art thou among women.

Alleluia!

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Gospel

Luke 1:26-38

'I am the handmaid of the Lord'

The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.

 

 

07 October 2024, Monday, Our Lady of the Rosary

ACTING WITH MARY

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SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS 1:12-14; LUKE 1:26-38]

The rosary is a contemplation on the saving events of the life of our Lord, in union with Mary and the Church as contained in the scriptures, particularly, the gospels. How should we pray the rosary effectively so that we can live out what we pray?

Since the reflection on the life and events of our Lord begins with His passion and resurrection, it might be more beneficial too that we follow the path of the evangelists in their reflection on the life of Christ.  We should pray the rosary backwards as well, beginning with the Glorious Mysteries where we contemplate on the joy of encountering the Risen Lord and the mission He had entrusted to His disciples to announce the Good News that He is risen and to believe in Him and be baptized.   We should seek to enter into the cause of their joy and their unimaginable discovery of the Risen Lord.  We should also consider how in the Ascension and at Pentecost, the Risen Lord prepared His disciples to go out to proclaim the gospel to the ends of the earth and establish His kingdom.  This work cannot be done without the Spirit of Jesus because only the Spirit of Jesus can help us to be aware of the living presence of the Risen Lord in our lives, demonstrated by the manifestation of His gifts, which include the charisms for ministering, leadership and service.  We too should enter into the joy of Mary, the women of Jerusalem and the disciples when they encountered the Risen Lord and when they were filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

From the Glorious Mysteries, we must then turn towards the Sorrowful Mysteries and deepen our wonder at the power of the resurrection considering how the Lord suffered much in His final days, in total humiliation, suffering and abandonment. The sorrowful mysteries should lead us to understand the unconditional love and humility of Jesus in suffering not just for us but with us.  Most of all, the sorrowful mysteries reveal to us the true humanity of Jesus.  When we consider His love and sacrifice for us, and His total surrender to the Father and His forgiveness for our sins, praying for His enemies on the cross, we cannot but also be moved and touched by His compassion for us.  We should ask ourselves how Mary and His disciples were feeling when our Lord was going through the passion.  We can imagine their guilt at betraying Him, their helplessness, their scandal and their sorrow.

In the light of the Glorious and Sorrowful mysteries, having seen the conclusion of the story of our Lord, we can now read more deeply the significance of the words and actions of our Lord.  Indeed, the gospel always showed how the disciples were ignorant about the teachings of our Lord. Most of them could not understand the depth of what Jesus spoke about because they had not yet encountered His glory.  This is what the Lord said to them, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”  (Jn 16:12f) Indeed, all the things that Jesus taught and did only became clear after His passion, death and resurrection.  They only make sense when we know the conclusion of the life of our Lord.   Even Jesus’ relatives could not understand Him.  St John told us, “not even his brothers believed in him.”  (Jn 7:5) And of course, St Mark recorded that “when his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, ‘He has gone out of his mind.'”  (cf Mk 3:21; 31-34) But one thing is clear, the gospel keeps repeating that Mary kept all these in her heart.  (cf Lk 2:19; 51) She was a contemplative and was always pondering all these events that were happening.

Finally, contemplation of the rosary will lead to reflection on the Infancy Narratives.  The childhood of Jesus only becomes clear when we understand who Jesus ultimately is.  This is why the last part of the gospel to be written is the infancy account of our Lord.  This part of the gospel can only be revealed by the brethren of our Lord, His relatives and friends, and of course, Mary.  Only with the hindsight of the resurrection, could they understand all the events in His childhood life, such as the event when the Lord was found in the Temple.  He said to His parents, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”  (Lk 2:49)

But the contemplation of Jesus’ early childhood life should also lead us to ponder over Jesus as the Eternal Son of God even before He was born.  This is why the mysteries of the life of Jesus in His birth and as a child should even go beyond His incarnation to His pre-existence, as what St Paul and St John did in their reflection. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.”  (Jn 1:1-3) St Paul said, “Though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.”  (Phil 2:6f)

Indeed, all these significant salvific events in the life of our Lord and our Blessed Mother are captured so beautifully in the Creed we pray at the beginning of the Rosary. The recitation of the creed is the basis for our contemplation on the mysteries of Christ as enumerated in the mysteries of the Rosary.   Putting the Creed at the beginning of the rosary gives us the direction and focus of what we intend to do when we pray the rosary, namely, to deepen our understanding and appreciation of the salvific events of Christ’s life in relationship to Mary, the Church and ours, so that our contemplation will gain for us insights that can help us to enter into the mind and heart of our Lord more closely.

The end result of contemplating on the Mysteries of the Rosary is really to live the life of Christ by imitating Mary, our exemplar of how a Christian should live.  This is why at the beginning of each decade of the rosary, it is prefaced with the Lord’s Prayer, then the 10 Hail Marys, concluding with the Doxology.   The Lord’s Prayer at the beginning of the rosary is placed as the pattern of all prayers.  It sums up how we should pray to God, for the disciples asked the Lord, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” (Lk 11:1) The Lord’s Prayer gives us the guidelines on what to pray and how to pray.  We are called to pray for the coming of God’s kingdom in our lives, by doing His holy will, and so become holy like Him.  We are asked to pray for what is necessary for our lives but most of all, the spirit of forgiveness.  In the final analysis, the Lord’s Prayer is a prayer that we might live in His kingdom as God’s sons and daughters, trusting in His divine providence and doing His will.

The Ten Hail Marys invite us to reflect on Mary’s response as an exemplar of a true Christian who in all humility and docility trusted in God completely even despite the great uncertainties and challenges ahead of her.   Mary was docile to God’s will, and being graced by God, and under the power of the Holy Spirit that overshadowed her, she became the dwelling place of God in her words and in her life.  She became a living tabernacle of our Lord, carrying Him to Elizabeth’s house and making Him reveal His glory by performing the miracle of changing water to wine at Cana.

Finally, the rosary ends with the Doxology because in all things, we are called to give glory to the Holy Trinity.  Mary encountered the Father in the Holy Spirit when she conceived Jesus in her womb.  She had a deep encounter with the Holy Trinity even before this was explicitly recognized at His death and resurrection.   To pray the rosary truly is to give glory to God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit for saving the world and for adopting us to be His children.  Indeed, like Mary, we are to give glory to God by our life.

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Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved. 

 

THE CRISIS IN FAMILY LIFE AND SOCIETY

20241006 THE CRISIS IN FAMILY LIFE AND SOCIETY

 

First reading

Genesis 2:18-24

A man and his wife become one body

The Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helpmate.’ So from the soil the Lord God fashioned all the wild beasts and all the birds of heaven. These he brought to the man to see what he would call them; each one was to bear the name the man would give it. The man gave names to all the cattle, all the birds of heaven and all the wild beasts. But no helpmate suitable for man was found for him. So the Lord God made the man fall into a deep sleep. And while he slept, he took one of his ribs and enclosed it in flesh. The Lord God built the rib he had taken from the man into a woman, and brought her to the man. The man exclaimed:

‘This at last is bone from my bones,

and flesh from my flesh!

This is to be called woman,

for this was taken from man.’

This is why a man leaves his father and mother and joins himself to his wife, and they become one body.

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Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 127(128)

May the Lord bless us all the days of our life.

O blessed are those who fear the Lord

  and walk in his ways!

By the labour of your hands you shall eat.

  You will be happy and prosper.

May the Lord bless us all the days of our life.

Your wife like a fruitful vine

  in the heart of your house;

your children like shoots of the olive,

  around your table.

May the Lord bless us all the days of our life.

Indeed thus shall be blessed

  the man who fears the Lord.

May the Lord bless you from Zion

  in a happy Jerusalem

  all the days of your life!

May you see your children’s children.

  On Israel, peace!

May the Lord bless us all the days of our life.

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Second reading

Hebrews 2:9-11

The one who sanctifies is the brother of those who are sanctified

We see in Jesus one who was for a short while made lower than the angels and is now crowned with glory and splendour because he submitted to death; by God’s grace he had to experience death for all mankind.

  As it was his purpose to bring a great many of his sons into glory, it was appropriate that God, for whom everything exists and through whom everything exists, should make perfect, through suffering, the leader who would take them to their salvation. For the one who sanctifies, and the ones who are sanctified, are of the same stock; that is why he openly calls them brothers.

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Gospel Acclamation

Jn17:17

Alleluia, alleluia!

Your word is truth, O Lord:

consecrate us in the truth.

Alleluia!

Or:

1Jn4:12

Alleluia, alleluia!

As long as we love one another

God will live in us

and his love will be complete in us.

Alleluia!

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Gospel

Mark 10:2-16

What God has united, man must not divide

Some Pharisees approached Jesus and asked, ‘Is it against the law for a man to divorce his wife?’ They were testing him. He answered them, ‘What did Moses command you?’ ‘Moses allowed us’ they said ‘to draw up a writ of dismissal and so to divorce.’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘It was because you were so unteachable that he wrote this commandment for you. But from the beginning of creation God made them male and female. This is why a man must leave father and mother, and the two become one body. They are no longer two, therefore, but one body. So then, what God has united, man must not divide.’ Back in the house the disciples questioned him again about this, and he said to them, ‘The man who divorces his wife and marries another is guilty of adultery against her. And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another she is guilty of adultery too.’

  People were bringing little children to him, for him to touch them. The disciples turned them away, but when Jesus saw this he was indignant and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. I tell you solemnly, anyone who does not welcome the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.’ Then he put his arms round them, laid his hands on them and gave them his blessing.

 

 

06 October 2024, Sunday, 27th Week in Ordinary Time

THE CRISIS IN FAMILY LIFE AND SOCIETY

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SCRIPTURE READINGS: [GN 2:18-24; HEB 2:9-11; MK 10:2-16]

The greatest threat to the world and humanity today is not terrorism but the destruction of the human family.  Once family life is destroyed and disintegrated, society would also be divided, since the family is the basic structure of society.  If the family and society are both under threat it is because the institution of marriage is no longer recognized as sacred.

What are the consequences for failing to observe the sacredness of marriage?  The result is disorder in family, society and humanity.  When we do not recognize the intrinsic unity and indissolubility of marriage, then adultery and divorce become the order of the day.  The introduction of contraceptives, test-tube babies etc have made the whole situation worse.  Indeed, today many of our families are dysfunctional because the family unit has broken down.  Broken families bring about a broken and sick society.

Dysfunctional families produce children who are no longer holistic in their upbringing.  Without the complementary love of a father and mother, children raised in single families or families where their parents are always fighting and abusing each other, will turn out to be dysfunctional.  For without the proper ambience, they cannot grow in love and trust.  Dysfunctional families produce children who are not capable of wholesome relationships when they grow up.  As adults in life, they are unable to sustain a proper relationship.  Hence history often repeats itself as their marriages will also end in divorce.

For these reasons, we must once again return to the wisdom of the Church, which is simply imparting the wisdom of God.  In order to appreciate the teaching of the Church on the unity of marriage, that is, one man, one wife or monogamy; and the indissolubility of marriage, negatively understood as the prohibition of divorce, we must understand the rationale behind the teachings so that we can be convinced of the truth of what is taught and revealed to us for the sake of our happiness and the perpetuation of the human race.

In the first place, we must remember that the moral laws of the Church are founded on natural laws, which means that they are universal laws rooted in human nature.  This is true for the unity and indissolubility of marriage.  Both the first reading and the gospel make it clear that the foundation for marriage is based on creation.  Jesus cited Genesis saying, “from the beginning of creation God made them male and female. This is why a man must leave father and mother, and the two become one body. They are no longer two, therefore, but one body. So then, what God has united, man must not divide.'”

From creation alone, that is, natural law, it is clear that men and women are made for each other.  As the first reading describes to us, “while he slept, he took one of his ribs and enclosed it in flesh. The Lord God built the rib he had taken from the man into a woman, and brought her to the man.”  So intimate and united are men and women that Adam exclaimed, “This at last is bone from my bones, and flesh from my flesh! This is to be called woman, for this was taken from man.”  So from the creation point of view, men and women complement each other.  For that is what it means to be created in the image of God for the fullness of God’s image is both masculine and feminine.

Hence, for a person to be complete, men and women need each other.  This explains why one of the purposes of marriage is in order that men and women can be helpmate to each other.  They are called to be one in each other.  Emotionally and psychologically, men are inclined to be more logical in thinking whereas women tend to be more feeling.  Physically and biologically, men and women are made for each other so that we can continue to multiply and procreate.  Hence, Genesis tells us, “It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helpmate. So from the soil the Lord God fashioned all the wild beasts and all the birds of heaven. … But no helpmate suitable for man was found for him.”  Indeed, the unity of marriage is underscored when the scriptures remind us, “This is why a man leaves his father and mother and joins himself to his wife, and they become one body.”

Secondly, marriage is also indissoluble.  Jesus makes it clear that “what God has united, man must not divide.”  Without unity and indissolubility in marriage, there would be no stability in marriage love and marriage life. The truth is that today many people are not ready for relationship in marriage.  When they encounter difficulties in married life, the first thought that comes to mind is divorce.  They fail to realize that love and relationship takes time to mature and grow.  It is through the quarrels, misunderstandings and difficulties that couples become more sensitive to the needs and weaknesses of each other.  To love means to give ourselves to the other person more and more each day.

Of course, in Christian marriage, it is not only seen on the level of creation.  Christian marriage is raised to the dignity of a sacrament, that is, a sign of God’s intimate, unconditional and faithful love for us.  A marriage is called a sacrament because it shares in the covenantal relationship that God has established with us.  This covenantal relationship that is founded in the Old Testament when God made the Covenant with Noah, Abraham, fulfilled in Moses and completed in Jesus, speaks of God’s love for us.  Only when marriage is permanent and indissoluble, can we speak of a total giving and total surrender.  The unity and indissolubility of marriage is God’s way of providing the ambience for such an unconditional relationship based on mutual self-giving because of the stability given to that relationship.

Hence, the sacrament of marriage is an invitation to share in the fullness of God’s love in a very real way.  What is the fullness of God’s love if not the call to unity in diversity!  This is what the Trinitarian love of God is all about, the love between the Father and the Son in the same Spirit.  Sharing in the love of God entails therefore that “a man leaves his father and mother and joins himself to his wife, and they become one body.”   Because marriage is a reflection of God’s love, it is called a Sacrament.

Of course, we know that unconditional and faithful love is very difficult.  Husband and wife experience tremendous difficulties because both persons have different characters and personalities.  To love unconditionally and faithfully implies death to self.  We cannot love the other person unless we die to our own needs and self-interests.

In the final analysis, marriage love is to share in the paschal mystery of Christ.  It is an invitation to join Him in His passion, death and resurrection. Marriage is a means of sanctification through love and sacrifices.  Husbands and wives are called to sanctify each other through selfless love.  Every day in marriage life we are called to die to ourselves a little more each day.  Spouses are called to be spiritual benefactors to each other.  Through gradual death to self, one is perfected in love and holiness in Christ.

The real reason why many marriages are not working well is because they are only married in church but they are not married in Christ.  To be married in church is simply to go through a wedding ceremony.  To be married in Christ is to make Christ the foundation of our relationship and marriage.  How many couples from the day of their wedding pray together and pray for each other?  Indeed, because couples love each other only with their human love, that relationship cannot last.  This is because human love alone is calculative, selfish, inward looking, insecure and conditional.  But if we place our love in Christ, then we would be able to surmount every difficulty in marriage life because the couple would try to become more like Christ in loving in an unconditional, total and faithful manner.  Through their common love for Christ, they will find the strength to forgive each other, to be humble and always seeing all difficulties as opportunities to be sanctified in holiness.

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Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.