20140712 THE KEY TO FORTITUDE WHEN CHRISTIAN LIFE IS PUT ON
TRIAL
Reading 1, Isaiah 6:1-8
1 In the year of King Uzziah's death I saw the Lord seated on a
high and lofty throne; his train filled the sanctuary.
2 Above him stood seraphs, each one with six wings: two to
cover its face, two to cover its feet and two for flying;
3 and they were shouting these words to each other: Holy,
holy, holy is Yahweh Sabaoth.
His glory fills the
whole earth.
5 Then I said: 'Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean
lips and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King,
Yahweh Sabaoth.'
6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding in its hand
a live coal which it had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs.
7 With this it touched my mouth and said: 'Look, this has
touched your lips, your guilt has been removed and your sin forgiven.'
8 I then heard the voice of the Lord saying:
'Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?'
And I said, 'Here am I, send me.'
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 93:1, 1-2, 5
2 The world is indeed set firm, it can never be shaken;
your throne is set
firm from of old, from all eternity you
exist.
5 Your decrees stand firm, unshakeable, holiness is the
beauty of your house, Yahweh, for all time to come.
Gospel, Matthew 10:24-33
25 It is enough for disciple to grow
to be like teacher, and slave like master. If they have called the master of
the house "Beelzebul", how much more the members of his household?
26 'So do not be afraid of them. Everything now covered up
will be
uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made
clear.
27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the daylight;
what you hear in whispers, proclaim from the housetops.
28 'Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot
kill the soul; fear him rather who can destroy both body and soul in hell.
29 Can you not buy two sparrows for a penny? And yet not
one falls to the ground without your Father knowing.
30 Why, every hair on your head has been counted.
31 So there is no need to be afraid; you are worth more
than many sparrows.
32 'So if anyone declares himself for me in the presence
of human beings, I will declare
myself for him in the presence of my Father in heaven.
33 But the one who disowns me in the presence of human beings, I
will disown in
the presence of my Father in heaven
Scripture
Reflection
THE KEY TO FORTITUDE WHEN CHRISTIAN LIFE IS PUT ON
TRIAL
Many
people have happily chosen the Christian Faith and got themselves
baptized. But in the face of trials, especially in trying to live up
to the gospel life and the teachings of the Church, they give up, because
they cannot accept the moral demands of the gospel.
Similarly,
many good Christians choose to serve the Lord in the ministry, but in
the face of difficulty, especially in personal and working relationships, they
become resentful, bitter and disillusioned with the Church and give up not just
the ministry, but the Faith as well.
But
Jesus warns us that the disciple is no better than the master: “The
disciple is not superior to his teacher, nor the slave to his master.”
The fact is that if we want to be like our master, then we must carry the
cross after Him. It is a delusion to think that becoming a Christian
is the way to acquire the things that worldly people pursue, such as wealth,
power, status and pleasure. The values of the Kingdom, as Jesus taught us
in the Beatitudes, are entirely different from that of the world. This is
not to say that to be a Christian is to be miserable. On the contrary, by
giving our lives to Jesus and to others, we would already have a foretaste of
living heaven on earth in this life. Of course, this entails dying
to self, to our fears and our self-centeredness.
How
then can we be strong in our Faith when we are under trial and
persecution?
Firstly,
we take note that the apostles and martyrs did not choose Jesus or their
mission. They were called by the Lord. Being called is
therefore the first criterion. The problem with some of us is that our baptism
was not a response to Jesus’ call, but rather a choice we made of our own
volition, and because we chose to be baptized in Christ, we think that we are
doing Jesus a favour and therefore He should be grateful to us for having made
such a great sacrifice! When we are chosen however, the initiative is
from the Lord, not from us. Of course we have the freedom to respond
positively or negatively to the call, but the election of God requires
obedience, since it is a divine command. Happiness is ours if we choose Him,
and misery is ours when we seek to live without Him. Still, the choice is
ours to make.
But
where does the call come from and when does it begin? It begins with a vision.
We read in the first reading that Isaiah had a vision of “the Lord seated on a
high throne”, and he “heard the voice of the Lord saying: ‘Whom shall I send?
Who will be our messenger?’ I answered, ‘Here I am, send me.’“ So too,
the apostles had their transfiguration experience as well. It is significant
that Isaiah and all the apostles were sent out on mission only after their
vision. Hence there can be no mission unless we first have a vision of God,
which is our personal encounter with Him.
Why
is having a God-vision so important? It is the goal of life. When we know for certain
that the joy of being with God in glory is our goal in life, then we will do
everything to realize this goal. Clarity of vision brings about
conviction of mission and perseverance as well. Indeed, when we
think of the fullness of joy and life ahead of us, no price is too difficult to
pay.
Only
with this clarity of the joy of being with God, can we accept Jesus’ instructions: “What I say to you in the dark, tell
in the daylight; what you hear in whispers, proclaim from the house
tops.” We will not be afraid to declare and speak the truth about Jesus
and about morality if we know that the truth will set us free. To live in
the light means to live in freedom and liberation. That is why Jesus
asked us to proclaim the truth and not be afraid, for evil which hides the
truth will cripple us, especially our conscience and our hearts.
Indeed,
a person who has encountered God will no longer live for himself or only for
this life on earth; he will live for eternity and not just for this life.
Truly, happiness in life is more than material and social security, but it is
the personal security found only in God. So to keep our soul alive, we
must live a life of integrity and love. Otherwise, as Jesus says, not
only will we destroy our body but also our soul. This destruction of the
soul begins when we allow sin to grow until it eventually takes control of our
mind, emotions and feelings and we die, because we have lost all our freedom to
love and to be true to ourselves.
Furthermore,
in Christ we can have complete confidence in the Lord who will protect us. As He assured us, “Can you not buy two
sparrows for a penny? And yet not one falls to the ground without your
Father knowing. Why, every hair on your head has been counted. So
there is no need to be afraid; you are worth more than hundreds of sparrows.”
This
vision of God is also
important because it enables us to grow in holiness through the purification
of our souls. Upon seeing the vision of God, Isaiah became so
aware of his sinfulness that he exclaimed in horror, “What a wretched state I
am in! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of
unclean lips, and my eyes have looked at the King, the Lord of hosts.”
Holiness is something only the Lord can bestow on us. Only through His grace
can we become holy.
Holiness
is the pre-requisite of mission. Isaiah could be sent out for mission only because the angel
first purified his lips to proclaim the Word of God and his heart to feel with
God and for His sinful and rebellious people. If we want to fulfill the
mission given to us, then holiness is the pre-condition and the accompanying
factor that will ensure effectiveness in our mission. Without being first
purified from our sinful way of life and experiencing the forgiveness of God in
our hearts, we cannot be ready for mission.
What
is holiness if not identification with the life of Jesus? We are called to be sons
in the Son so that when God sees us, He sees us truly as His adopted sons
because we bear the likeness of Christ in us. This is what Jesus meant in the
gospel when He remarked, “It is enough for the disciple that he should grow to
be like his teacher, and the slave like his master.” If we identify
ourselves with Jesus, we will share in His glory, which is what He promised
when He said: “So if anyone declares himself for me in the presence of men, I
will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in heaven. But
the one who disowns me in the presence of men, I will disown in the presence of
my Father in heaven.” Aware of this great and awesome calling and gift of God
to us, we cannot but relentlessly strive to be faithful to Christ and our
Christian values by living an authentic Christian life with fortitude,
perseverance and passion.
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOHARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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