20140903
GROWTH IN SPIRITUAL
MATURITY
Reading 1, First Corinthians 3:1-9
1 And so, brothers, I was not able to talk to you as
spiritual people; I had to talk to you as people still living by your natural
inclinations, still infants in Christ;
2 I fed you with milk and not solid food, for you were not
yet able to take it -- and even now, you are still not able to,
3 for you are still living by your natural inclinations.
As long as there are jealousy and rivalry among you, that surely means that you are
still living by your natural inclinations and by merely human principles.
4 While there is one that says, 'I belong to Paul' and
another that says, 'I belong to Apollos' are you not being only too human?
5 For what is Apollos and what is Paul? The servants
through whom you came to believe, and each has only what the Lord has given him.
6 I did the planting, Apollos did the watering, but God gave growth.
7 In this, neither the planter nor the waterer counts for
anything; only God, who gives growth.
8 It is all one who does the planting and who does the watering,
and each will have the proper pay for the work that he has done.
9 After all, we do share in God's work; you are God's
farm, God's building.
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 33:12-13, 14-15, 20-21
12 How blessed the nation whose God is Yahweh, the people he has chosen as his heritage.
14 from the place where he sits he watches all who dwell
on the earth;
15 he alone moulds their hearts, he understands all they
do.
20 We are waiting for Yahweh; he is our help and our
shield,
21 for in him our heart rejoices, in his holy name we
trust.
Gospel, Luke 4:38-44
38 Leaving the synagogue he went to Simon's house. Now Simon's mother-in-law was
in the grip of a high fever and they asked him to do something for her.
39 Standing over her he rebuked the fever and it left her.
And she immediately got up and began to serve them.
40 At sunset all those who had friends suffering from
diseases of one kind or another brought them to him, and laying his hands on
each he cured them.
41 Devils too came out of many people, shouting, 'You are
the Son of God.' But he warned them and would not allow them to speak because
they knew that he was the Christ.
42 When daylight came he left the house and made his way
to a lonely place. The crowds went to look for him, and when they had caught up
with him they wanted to prevent him leaving them,
43 but he answered, 'I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns too, because that is what I was sent
to do.'
44 And he continued his proclamation in the synagogues of
Judaea.
GROWTH
IN SPIRITUAL MATURITY
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: 1 Corinthians 3:1-9; Luke 4:38-44
http://www.universalis.com/20140903/mass.htm
The first reading hints at
the struggles in unity in the Christian community at Corinth. They
had been baptized but were having problems trying to live as a community of
love according to the gospel of Christ. They were divided because of
jealousy and competition among themselves. What they went through is also
very much what we are all going through as well. No community, even a
Christian one, regardless of whether it is in the parish or in religious life,
is exempted from difficulties in community living. We have our own fair
share of disagreements, quarrels, competition, jealousy and gossiping.
When we read of their struggles, we cannot but feel consoled that we are not
the only ones facing such human problems.
More importantly, we can
learn from them how to deal with selfishness and divisions in community living.
If not we can get disheartened or become disillusioned by the problems we are
facing. Tensions in community life cannot be avoided. Understanding
the reality of human imperfections will help us to accept and deal with them in
the right Christian perspective. Only by understanding the nature of
community life, can we learn to love the community we belong to with all its
defects and struggles.
How then do we look at
community living?
If we think that the Christian community is a perfect community, we are in for
a rude shock because we will see that all of us have our own weaknesses and imperfections.
That is why some people who enter religious life or who join Church
organizations become easily disillusioned when they find that there is no ideal
Christian community. They then become skeptical and cynical. When
hurt and wounded, they begin to think negatively and conclude that everyone is
a hypocrite and everything is only a pretense. This kind of attitude is
fatalistic and self-destructive. The truth remains that a loving
community is always an ideal to be reached.
Against such kinds of false
or one-sided perception, we need to see community life in a more realistic
manner. The reading from the letter of St Paul, which is in
continuity of yesterday’s reading, will give us some clues as to what a real
community entails. According to St Paul, we must recognize that there are
three different levels of spiritual growth. We are not all on the same
level in our spiritual life. There is the level of infancy, childhood or
adulthood in our faith. In saying this, it does not mean that we all
belong to any one of them exclusively, but only predominantly. So we can
be in any one or even all the three levels in different situations of our
lives.
What then is the first
level of spiritual life?
It is the level of being infants in faith. This is the state of
one who lives an unspiritual life, which St Paul mentions in today’s reading.
He told the Corinthians, “Brothers, I myself was unable to speak to you as
people of the Spirit: I treated you as sensual men, still infants in Christ.”
To live such a life is to live a life of the psyche, that is, a natural and
earthly life. Such a person lives an unenlightened life because he lives
only for this life. Being unspiritual, he cannot see beyond this world or
the eternal values of life. Such people are actually good people.
They are humanists or even atheists. Because they do not see beyond the
earthly life, they do not understand the greater values of generosity,
forgiveness, poverty and sacrifice. For them, life is to be famous, rich
and powerful; to accumulate more and more. They will fight for their
rights. They are therefore materialistic people and can see nothing
beyond this physical life. They only live for this world.
The second level of
spiritual life is to live like children in faith. This is the stage of
discipleship whereby the person takes action in disciplining himself to walk in
the footsteps of our Lord and live the life of the Spirit. This is the
stage of believers, those who have just discovered God in their lives and have
just been initiated in the faith. This is the state of the sensual man as
St Paul labels it. To be children in faith is to live on the level of the
flesh, that is, to live a worldly life. Note that St Paul is not
reprimanding the Corinthians for simply being made of flesh but for being
dominated by the flesh, that is, by their desires and passions. So to
live on the level of the flesh is to live a life apart from God and apart from
others. It is to live a selfish life, catering only to our pursuits and
our selfish interests. As a result, we become troublesome, quarrelsome,
argumentative, jealous and competitive people. This was certainly the situation
of the Corinthians and those who have just discovered God in their lives.
This is because the Old Adam has not yet died completely. Again and
again, they tend to fall back to their old way of life and their worldly
attachments and self-centered behavior. The temptation to live in the flesh is
still very strong, despite their desire to live the life of Christ.
Then, we have the third
level of spiritual growth. It is the level of becoming adults in our
faith, which is to live the life of the Spirit. In this stage of
spiritual growth, we live a spiritual and enlightened life. Such people
do not live life superficially but in its deepest reality. They are not
concerned with the externals, nor with the sensual or the material, but with
the real values of life. Because they see life beyond this worldly and
earthly perspective, they seek for the more aesthetic and spiritual realities
of life, such as love, peace, joy and unity. Such people are not
contented simply with a physical or materialistic life because they seek for
meaning and fulfillment. Hence, they do not seek for glory or success but
for the highest form of life, which is to live a life of true freedom in
love. Such people treasure values like poverty, obedience, simplicity,
chastity, forgiveness and generosity.
In the gospel today we have
Jesus living this kind of spiritual life. We read of how Jesus
overcame evil with goodness. He rebuked the fever in Peter’s
mother-in-law because for Jesus, all sicknesses are manifestations of the evil
force. He also exorcised those who were possessed by evil spirits. But
even in His good works, Jesus did not seek publicity, notwithstanding the
devils’ attempts at exposing Him; nor for glory, when the people tried to hold
Him back. No, Jesus was only concerned about the Kingdom and the Good
News that His Father wanted Him to proclaim. He could have been tempted
to stay back and build His kingdom around the people who adored Him. But
Jesus remained unattached. He was a man totally free from the need of
attention, power and glory. He was certainly an enlightened person, a man
who lived by the Spirit. But that is not all; Jesus was also a man of
compassion. Although He lived a life of the Spirit Himself, He empathized
with those who were struggling against the sin of the flesh. This explains why
He could be so forgiving, tolerant and compassionate towards sinners.
We too are called in a
special way to live the life of the Spirit like Jesus. We are called to live beyond
the worldly or even earthly levels because such a life cannot lead us to true
happiness. We must strive for the real and eternal values that can make
us truly liberated. We must also be compassionate with those who
are still living on the first or second levels in their spiritual life.
Hence, if we are intolerant of those who have not yet arrived at the third
level, it means that we ourselves cannot claim to have the life of the Spirit
in us yet. For only a truly spiritual person would be able to understand
the struggles of his fellow human beings. While not imitating their
foolish way of life, they also do not condemn them but seek to help them in due
time to live that life of the Spirit.
There is still a fourth
level of spiritual growth which is to be a missionary or an apostle for
Christ. Like St
Paul and the early Christian disciples, they felt called to labour in the
vineyard of the Lord for the extension of the Kingdom of God. Even whilst
working in the mission, they were conscious that it is God’s glory that should
be proclaimed and not theirs. St Paul wrote, “After all, what is Apollos
and what is Paul? They are servants who brought the faith to you …..It is all
one who does the planting and who does the watering, and each will duly be paid
according to his share in the work. We are fellow workers with God; you are
God’s farm, God’s building.” Such too was the attitude of Jesus, for when
“the crowds went to look for him, and when they had caught up with him they
wanted to prevent him leaving them, but he answered, ‘I must proclaim the Good
News of the kingdom of God to the other towns too, because that is what I was
sent to do.’ And he continued his preaching in the synagogues of
Judaea.” A truly mature Christian is one who lives in the life of
the Spirit, and in the power of the Spirit proclaims the gospel by his words
and deeds. And he does this not by himself but in union and communion
with his fellow Christians without claiming any credit for himself. His
only motive is to bring Christ to all so that they will encounter the Good
News.
So how can we attain
this level of spiritual growth? Today, the gospel tells us that like Jesus, we need to
make our way to a lonely place to pray. Only when we are people of
prayer, can we have the grace to discern what are the truly important matters
and values of life. Only a man filled with the Spirit can see the deeper
realities of life. For this reason, we need to pray and be in touch with
the Spirit of God, if we are to live a truly spiritual life. Without
being in constant relationship with God, the values of the world will overwhelm
us and we will lose our sense of direction and priorities. Hence, the
secret to community living is to cultivate a spirit of prayer in the members,
both on the individual and community levels. Unless, we are praying and
prayerful people, we will not be able to grow in maturity in our faith, nor
have the compassion to walk with our fellow human beings in their pilgrimage of
growth in the life of the Spirit.
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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