20140818 WHOLE HEARTED DEVOTION TO THE LORD

20140818 WHOLE HEARTED DEVOTION TO THE LORD  

Reading 1, Ezekiel 24:15-24

15 The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows,

16 'Son of man, at a blow I am about to deprive you of the delight of your eyes. But you are not to lament, not to weep, not to let your tears run down.

17 Groan in silence, do not go into mourning for the dead, knot your turban round your head, put your sandals on your feet, do not cover your beard, do not eat the usual food.'

18 I told this to the people in the morning, and my wife died in the evening, and the next morning I did as I had been ordered.

19 The people then said to me, 'Will you not explain what meaning these actions have for us?'

20 I replied, 'The word of Yahweh has been addressed to me as follows,

21 "Say to the House of Israel, the Lord Yahweh says this: I am about to profane my sanctuary, the pride of your strength, the delight of your eyes, the joy of your hearts. Your sons and daughters whom you have left behind will fall by the sword.

22 Then you will do as I have done: you will not cover your beards or eat the usual food;

23 you will keep your turbans on your heads and your sandals on your feet; you will not lament or weep but will waste away for your crimes, groaning among yourselves.

24 Thus Ezekiel is a sign for you. You will do exactly what he has done. And when this happens, you will know that I am Lord Yahweh!"

Responsorial Psalm, Deuteronomy 32:18-19, 20, 21

18 (You forget the Rock who fathered you, the God who made you, you no longer remember.)

19 Yahweh saw it and, in anger, he spurned his sons and daughters.

20 'I shall hide my face from them,' he said, 'and see what will become of them. For they are a deceitful brood, children with no loyalty in them.

21 They have roused me to jealousy with a non-god, they have exasperated me with their idols. In my turn I shall rouse them to jealousy with a non-people, I shall exasperate them with a stupid nation.

Gospel, Matthew 19:16-22

16 And now a man came to him and asked, 'Master, what good deed must I do to possess eternal life?'

17 Jesus said to him, 'Why do you ask me about what is good? There is one alone who is good. But if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.'

18 He said, 'Which ones?' Jesus replied, 'These: You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false witness.

19 Honour your father and your mother. You shall love your neighbour as yourself.'

20 The young man said to him, 'I have kept all these. What more do I need to do?'

21 Jesus said, 'If you wish to be perfect, go and sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.'

22 But when the young man heard these words he went away sad, for he was a man of great wealth.

WHOLE HEARTED DEVOTION TO THE LORD  

SCRIPTURE READINGS: EZ 24:15-24; DT 32:18-21; MT 19:16-22
http://www.universalis.com/20140818/mass.htm

Are you a happy Catholic?  In truth, many Catholics are not happy because of legalism. Those who are unable to keep the commandments feel rather discouraged and even condemn themselves as incorrigible and hopeless sinners rejected by God.  On the other hand, those so-called good Catholics who manage to at least keep the prohibitive laws of “do not” as in the Ten Commandments might feel great about themselves and even self-righteous.  But deep down inside, they are resentful of God that they are unable to do what others could do.   No wonder when they see others sinning, they condemn them harshly as underlying their anger is their own lack of fulfillment.  Otherwise, they would never condemn sinners but would instead react with compassion for them as they would see them choosing a life that is self-destructive instead of living a wholesome and liberated life of love and service.

Either way, sinners or self-righteous sinners, we are just like the rich young man in today’s gospel.  He thought that he had found the secret to happiness in life, namely, by keeping the commandments which he did.  Yet, he knew that something was still missing.  So he asked Jesus, “”Master, what good deed must I do to possess eternal life.”  And indeed, perhaps, some of you have tried to be faithful to the commandments and do what you are supposed to do, and yet have not found peace and happiness.  So like the young man, we ask, “What more do I need to do?”

And the answer of Jesus is revealing, “If you wish to be perfect, go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”  In other words, if you wish to perfect your happiness and joy in living, you must first go beyond doing things and following rules.  These are necessary.  But in themselves, you cannot find happiness and fulfillment.  Christian life is not simply about doing work for Jesus and the Church.  When we reduce Christian life to doing, we fall into activism and reduce ministry to ambition, faith to religion.

No, happiness comes from following Jesus.  Following Jesus of course is more than just obeying His teachings.  Following Jesus is to be with Jesus.  To follow requires more than mere imitation but a relationship.  If Jesus invited the rich young man to follow Him, He was simply offering Him a relationship.  One cannot relate with the laws as they are too legalistic.  What gives life is not obedience to the law, but obedience to the only law which is the law of love.  So only by following Jesus in love and in relationship can one find happiness!

Indeed, there is always a real danger that we may reduce our Christian life, especially those in ministry, to administration, or doing things for others.  Ministry and evangelization of course are important.  But ultimately, the objective of all that we do in ministry is to foster a personal relationship with Jesus and with each other, which is what love is all about.

However, unless we know how to relate to Jesus, we would not be able to relate to others with the same compassion and love we have received.  That is why a relationship with Jesus is fundamental to our happiness.  If we have a deep relationship with the Lord and a conscious experience of His presence and love, we will always be happy and at peace, whether we are doing anything or nothing, or whether we are fruitful in ministry or facing failures.  Our joy must be founded on the Lord, not on our achievements or what we can do for Him, but rather what He is for us and doing with us and in us.

But to follow Jesus completely and have a deep relationship with Him, we need to let go.  Are we willing to let go of our pride and our insecurities in life?  Are we willing to sacrifice our TV, recreation, studies, etc for Jesus and make time for prayer and quiet time with the Lord?  The truth is that we feel more secure working, socialising and planning our activities than seeking an audience with the Lord.  As a result, because we are not willing to let go, then like the young man, we go away sad because we rely more on ourselves than on Him.

Consequently, the gospel invites us to reflect on what is holding us back from letting go completely.  If we examine our hearts, we will realize that if there is a reservation still, it is because of some attachment that we cannot surrender to the Lord.  We place obstacles on ourselves.   It could be a relationship, a sin, un-forgiveness or even attachment to something that is good.   A possessive heart cannot be free for love and for service.  So long as one is not free, one can never find real happiness and peace.

For this reason, the Church has always spoken and exhorted the practice of the evangelical counsels.  Only those who can live out the counsels of obedience, poverty and chastity can find real happiness and fulfillment.  Without obedience to legitimate authority, the heart will not be free as we are in bondage to our self-will.  Without poverty, we will always cling to our intellectual and material wealth; without chastity, we cannot follow Jesus totally because a conditional or lustful form of human love will prevent us from making Jesus the center of our lives.

Today, like the Israelites in the first reading; we are invited to imitate the example of the Prophet Ezekiel.  He was asked to be detached and not mourn when his wife died.  This prophetic act of Ezekiel was to remind his people and therefore us as well, that we can be so immune to sin that we no longer see goodness as good.  On the other hand, there is also a need to be detached from even lovely things because God is to be worshipped above all.  Unless God is our true possession and joy, how can anything or anyone or any activity in this world bring us true fulfillment?

WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOH


ARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE
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