20141013 TAKING OUR PRIVILEGES FOR GRANTED
First
reading
Galatians
4:22-24,26-27,31-5:1 ©
The
Law says, if you remember, that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave-girl,
and one by his free-born wife. The child of the slave-girl was born in the
ordinary way; the child of the free woman was born as the result of a promise.
This can be regarded as an allegory: the women stand for the two covenants. The
first who comes from Mount Sinai, and whose children are slaves, is Hagar – The
Jerusalem above, however, is free and is our mother, since scripture says:
Shout for joy, you barren women who bore no children! Break into shouts of joy
and gladness, you who were never in labour. For there are more sons of the
forsaken one than sons of the wedded wife. So, my brothers, we are the
children, not of the slave-girl, but of the free-born wife.
When Christ freed us, he meant us to remain
free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.
Psalm Psalm 112:1-7 ©
May
the name of the Lord be blessed for evermore!
or
Alleluia!
Praise,
O servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord!
May
the name of the Lord be blessed
both now and for evermore!
May
the name of the Lord be blessed for evermore!
or
Alleluia!
From
the rising of the sun to its setting
praised be the name of the Lord!
High
above all nations is the Lord,
above the heavens his glory.
May
the name of the Lord be blessed for evermore!
or
Alleluia!
Who
is like the Lord, our God,
who has risen on high to his throne
yet
stoops from the heights to look down,
to look down upon heaven and earth?
From
the dust he lifts up the lowly,
from the dungheap he raises the poor
May
the name of the Lord be blessed for evermore!
or
Alleluia!
Gospel
Acclamation Ps118:88
Alleluia,
alleluia!
Because
of your love give me life,
and
I will do your will.
Alleluia!
Or Ps94:8
Alleluia,
alleluia!
Harden
not your hearts today,
but
listen to the voice of the Lord.
Alleluia!
Gospel Luke 11:29-32 ©
The
crowds got even bigger and Jesus addressed them, ‘This is a wicked generation;
it is asking for a sign The only sign it will be given is the sign of Jonah.
For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to
this generation. On Judgement day the Queen of the South will rise up with the
men of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the
earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than
Solomon here. On Judgement day the men of Nineveh will stand up with this
generation and condemn it, because when Jonah preached they repented; and there
is something greater than Jonah here.’
TAKING
OUR PRIVILEGES FOR GRANTED
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: GAL 4:22-24, 26-27, 31-5:1; LK 11:29-32
http://www.universalis.com/20141013/mass.htm
The first reading from the
letter of St Paul to the Galatians is basically concerned with the observance
of the Jewish laws and the new-found freedom for Christians in
Christ. Paul was disturbed that some Jewish converts were imposing their
Jewish customs and traditions on the newly converted in Galatia. There
were two polarised groups, those who insisted on a slavish observance of the
laws and those who felt that they had been liberated by the laws and thus could
do whatever they liked, disregarding the laws completely.
This message was
highlighted last Saturday when the gospel from Luke reminded us that this new
relationship with God is rooted not so much in our physical relationship
with a race or even blood ties, but in our spiritual relationship with Him.
Once again the freedom from
the laws is reiterated in today’s reading when St Paul gives the allegory
between the child of the slave-girl, Hagar and that of Sarah, the free-born
wife of Abraham. St Paul insists that Christians “are the children, not
of the slave-girl, but of the free-born wife. When Christ freed us, He
meant us to remain free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again
to the yoke of slavery.”
On the other extreme end of
the pendulum were some Christians who were simply relying on their privilege of
being set free by Christ. Like the Jews, they claimed their salvation
simply on the basis of their being the chosen people of God, or the adopted
sons and daughters of Christ. Whilst salvation is certainly not through
good works, yet the other extreme danger is that we can abuse our privilege
as God’s Chosen people by not living in accordance to our identity as His
chosen people. Accordingly, when the woman praised the mother of Jesus, the
response of Jesus was that if His mother were blessed it was because she was
the one who heard the Word of God and put it into practice. In a similar
vein, Luke would later record Jesus declaring that anyone who does the will of
God is His relative.
Thus, we must be careful
that as Christians, we do not behave like the Jews during the time of
Jesus. They were so caught up by their privilege of being the chosen race
and their traditions that they were closed to the revelation of God in Jesus.
Jesus reprimanded them for being so blind to the signs of the times. They
were looking for signs but Jesus pointed out that the Sign from God was right
before them and yet they were still living in darkness. They were
unappreciative of Jesus.
In contrast, the pagans,
as in the case of the Ninevites and the Queen from the South, were more
receptive to the Word of God. Even though Jonah did not care for the
Ninevites very much, yet his preaching brought them to repentance.
Similarly, Queen Sheba would travel from afar just to listen to the wisdom of
King Solomon. Of course Prophet Jonah cannot be compared to Jesus, the
eschatological prophet, the Word of God in person. Neither could the
wisdom of Solomon, although renowned, be compared to the wisdom of Jesus.
What would have happened if they knew Jesus in person as the Word of God?
What about us baptized
Catholics? We too, like the Jews, have received privileges. We are
privileged to be the chosen people of God in the new covenant. We have
the signs that help us to confess in Christ as the Son of God. We have
seen the power of the Risen Lord, the sign that Jonah gave. We have
access to the wisdom of the Holy Spirit given to us and the Church. We
have witnessed again and again the work of the Holy Spirit in our midst.
Although gentiles and sinners, we are now called to share in the divine sonship
of Christ, enjoying all His privileges. The Church also provides us the opportunities
to deepen our spiritual life through study, retreats and prayers.
In a nutshell, we have
been given all that we need to deepen our relationship and love for the Lord so
that we can live a Christ-like life. But have we? Are we
converted and transformed to be more like Jesus? Many of us, especially
active church volunteers, have taken our privileges for granted. Many
people would envy the kind of religious knowledge we have. Instead of
using our talents and spiritual experience for the humble service of the people
of God, we use them to exert our authority and control over others. When
we use our spiritual gifts and powers to seek control over others’ lives, we
have abused what we have been given. All gifts that have
been received must be used to empower people for love and free people from
slavery to their sins. By behaving in the contrary, in
the words of St Paul, we have returned to our former state of slavery.
We are not acting as mature and free people.
This is particularly applicable
to leaders in the Church, whether priests, religious or laity. We too
have been privileged to serve in key positions in the Church. Many of us
have our experience of encountering God in our lives. One of the
greatest obstacles for church leaders to deepen their spiritual life is pride.
We are so used to ministering to those under our charge, we find it hard to
humble ourselves to be ministered by others, especially when we perceive people
to look up to us for spiritual guidance. We are so used to counseling and
teaching people so much so that it is too painful to admit that we too need
counseling, ministering and to be taught ourselves. Indeed, it seems
beyond our dignity to have others telling us that we do not know about God or
something about the Holy Spirit, or some Church doctrines and religious
experiences. Hence, when we have been leaders for too long,
allowing others to minister to us can be quite humiliating and the feeling too
painful to acknowledge. This explains why the religious leaders during
the time of Jesus could not accept Him as the Messiah. They were too
proud to give Jesus the recognition simply because of jealousy and envy.
If we are in that situation
of complacency or pride in receiving help from others, alas, the words of Jesus
would surely apply to us. And the warning of Jesus as well that,
“On judgement day the men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation and
condemn it, because when Jonah preached they repented; and there is something
greater than Jonah here.” Yes, more than those who are not Christians, we
will be judged more heavily before God at judgment. God will bring us to
accountability for abusing our office, our position and all the gifts he has
given to us. For those who have been given more, more will be demanded of
them. The guilt and punishment will certainly be more severe than others
because we have been given all that is necessary for our spiritual
growth. Others can claim ignorance but we cannot.
Hence, it behooves us to take
the warning of Jesus seriously so that we will be faithful to our
calling. Let us heed the exhortation of St Paul, “Stand firm, therefore,
and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.” Indeed, let not the
grace of God given to us be in vain.
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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