20140926
EMBRACING THE MYSTERY OF LIFE IN CHRIST, THE
MYSTERY OF GOD
First
reading
Ecclesiastes
3:1-11 ©
There
is a season for everything, a time for every occupation under heaven:
A
time for giving birth,
a time for dying;
a time for planting,
a time for uprooting what has been planted.
A
time for killing,
a time for healing;
a time for knocking down,
a time for building.
A
time for tears,
a time for laughter;
a time for mourning,
a time for dancing.
A
time for throwing stones away,
a time
for gathering them up;
a time for embracing,
a time to refrain from embracing.
A
time for searching,
a time for losing;
a time for keeping,
a time for throwing away.
A
time for tearing,
a time for sewing;
a time for keeping silent,
a time for speaking.
A
time for loving,
a time for hating;
a time for war,
a time for peace.
What
does a man gain for the efforts that he makes? I contemplate the task that God
gives mankind to labour at. All that he does is apt for its time; but though he
has permitted man to consider time in its wholeness, man cannot comprehend the
work of God from beginning to end.
Psalm Psalm 143:1-4 ©
Blessed
be the Lord, my rock.
Blessed
be the Lord, my rock.
He
is my love, my fortress;
he is my stronghold, my saviour
my
shield, my place of refuge.
Blessed
be the Lord, my rock.
Lord,
what is man that you care for him,
mortal man, that you keep him in mind;
man,
who is merely a breath
whose life fades like a passing shadow?
Blessed
be the Lord, my rock.
Gospel
Acclamation cf.Ep1:17,18
Alleluia,
alleluia!
May
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
enlighten
the eyes of our mind,
so
that we can see what hope his call holds for us.
Alleluia!
Or Mk10:45
Alleluia,
alleluia!
The
Son of Man came to serve
and
to give his life as a ransom for many.
Alleluia!
Gospel Luke 9:18-22 ©
One
day when Jesus was praying alone in the presence of his disciples he put this
question to them, ‘Who do the crowds say I am?’ And they answered, ‘John the
Baptist; others Elijah; and others say one of the ancient prophets come back to
life.’ ‘But you,’ he said ‘who do you say I am?’ It was Peter who spoke up.
‘The Christ of God’ he said. But he gave them strict orders not to tell anyone
anything about this.
‘The Son of Man’ he said ‘is destined to
suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes
and to be put to death, and to be raised up on the third day.’
EMBRACING
THE MYSTERY OF LIFE IN CHRIST, THE MYSTERY OF GOD
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: ECCLESTIASTES 3:1-11; LK 9:18-22
http://www.universalis.com/20140926/mass.htm
“Lord, what is man, that
you notice him; the son of man, that you take thought of him? Man is like a
breath; his days, like a passing shadow.” Surely, there is much truth in
the psalmist’s words. Life is so fragile. We all have to go
through the vicissitudes of life, the ups and downs of daily
living. Nothing is definite in life and nothing lasts.
Everything is transient, even human life itself. Qoheleth in the first
reading sums up the changing nature of life by saying, “There is a season for
everything, a time for every occupation under heaven.” Indeed, there is a
time for birth and dying; healing and building; tears and laughter etc.
However, instead of
accepting the imperfections of this world and the unfolding of history, we
become impatient with the pace of growth. Living in this fast
speed world, where everything must be had within a click of the mouse or the
push of a button, we are intolerant of the slow speed of change in our life and
in society. We cannot wait for our promotion to a higher level of office,
the conversion of our loved ones, or the social and structural changes needed
in our society, in our office, and of course in the Church. So used to
speed and efficiency, we want a quick fix solution, a shortcut, the on-the-spot
solution. We want to hear a sermon, attend a seminar or have an experience that
will instantly resolve all our problems, remove our temptations, and release us
from growing pains. The danger is that when we get used to things done
the way we want, we begin to take things into our own hands.
The truth is that life
is a mystery. As Qoheleth says, “What does a man gain for the efforts
that he makes? I contemplate the task that God gives mankind to labour
at. All that he does is apt for its time; but though he has permitted man
to consider time in its wholeness, man cannot comprehend the work of God from
beginning to end.” Although a mystery, everything is in accordance with
the plan of God for humanity. Indeed, we must trust that God is in charge
of the world. Everything is in God’s time and in His wisdom, even though
it may not be comprehensible to us. That is why we must be patient.
Man proposes. God disposes! We cannot determine everything, even though
we should cooperate with His plan. But after doing all that we could, we
must wait for God to bring about His purpose.
Most of all, faith tells us
that Christ is the plan of God revealed to us in His incarnation,
passion, death and resurrection. This is what Jesus said in today’s
gospel, “The Son of Man is destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the
elders and chief priests and scribes and to be put to death, and to be raised
up on the third day.” Peter’s logical faith however could not allow him
to conceive how the Messiah could suffer and die for God’s work of redemption
to be accomplished. So we can imagine how scandalous the prophecy of Jesus’
death must have been for the apostles.
Indeed, how different
are God’s ways from ours! Who could ever imagine that the death
of Jesus would be the means by which sin and death is conquered? Who could ever
have thought that the way to conquer the world is not through power but powerlessness,
not wealth but poverty, not revenge but forgiveness, not hatred but love, not
wanting my way but obedience? Without faith we cannot accept the workings
of grace in daily life. Peter faced a mental block in his thinking and
hence could not accept Jesus’ suffering.
In the light of Christ’s
death for us, we who want to share His victory over death, must also
carry His cross, or rather, our crosses as well. The daily cross of
life refers to the inconveniences, the drudgery of life, the sacrifices we need
to make each day in work, at home or in relationships and the tolerance of each
other’s failures. But most of all, it is to accept the failures and the
success, the mistakes and the achievements, the pains and the joys of
life. We must understand that growth is a gradual process. No one
becomes a saint overnight. It is through struggles, mistakes and sins
that we prefect ourselves. So, accepting the crosses in life is to learn
obedience through suffering, love through sacrifice and trust through the
capriciousness of life.
Thus, the psalmist asks us
to place our total trust in God who in His mercy reveals Himself in
Christ. Yes, he prayed, “Blessed be the Lord, my rock, my mercy and my
fortress, my stronghold, my deliverer.” If we have faith in Jesus as the
Christ, then He will give us the strength to endure whatever comes. We need
to confess our faith in Jesus as the Christ of God, just as Peter did.
But we must also go beyond Peter in acknowledging Him as the Christ. We
must realize that the Christ we confess is a Crucified Christ, a scandal to the
Greeks and a folly to the Jews! So even if we find ourselves struggling,
have confidence that the outcome of the battle is certain. He will
overcome all things.
This is possible only if
our faith in Jesus is not from hearsay but a personal faith through divine
revelation and personal conviction. Jesus invites us to give a personal response of
faith in Him. He is not interested in what others think of Him. He
wants to know from each one of us what we think of Him. Without
hesitation, we must say, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”
This is the rock of faith that helped Peter to withstand the vicissitudes of
life and most of all, in defending the Church from the wiles of Satan and his
enemies. Let us therefore endeavor to deepen our faith in
Christ each day so that what we profess in faith and in doctrine will be
translated in the way we live our lives, a life that is lived in total trust
and surrender to the Father, knowing that He who raised Jesus from the dead
will also win the victory for us.
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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