20141118 REVIVING AND RENEWING OUR ZEAL FOR GOD AND FOR LIFE
First
reading
Apocalypse
3:1-6,14-22 ©
I,
John, heard the Lord saying to me: ‘Write to the angel of the church in Sardis
and say, “Here is the message of the one who holds the seven spirits of God and
the seven stars: I know all about you: how you are reputed to be alive and yet
are dead. Wake up; revive what little you have left: it is dying fast. So far I
have failed to notice anything in the way you live that my God could possibly
call perfect, and yet do you remember how eager you were. when you first heard
the message? Hold on to that. Repent. If you do not wake up, I shall come to
you like a thief, without telling you at what hour to expect me. There are a
few in Sardis, it is true, who have kept their robes from being dirtied, and
they are fit to come with me, dressed in white. Those who prove victorious will
be dressed, like these, in white robes; I shall not blot their names out of the
book of life, but acknowledge their names in the presence of my Father and his
angels. If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen to what the Spirit is saying
to the churches.”
‘Write to the angel of the church in Laodicea
and say, “Here is the message of the Amen, the faithful, the true witness, the
ultimate source of God’s creation: I know all about you: how you are neither
cold nor hot. I wish you were one or the other, but since you are neither, but
only lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth. You say to yourself, ‘I am
rich, I have made a fortune, and have everything I want’, never realising that
you are wretchedly and pitiably poor, and blind and naked too. I warn you, buy
from me the gold that has been tested in the fire to make you really rich, and
white robes to clothe you and cover your shameful nakedness, and eye ointment
to put on your eyes so that you are able to see. I am the one who reproves and
disciplines all those he loves: so repent in real earnest. Look, I am standing
at the door, knocking. If one of you hears me calling and opens the door, I
will come in to share his meal, side by side with him. Those who prove
victorious I will allow to share my throne, just as I was victorious myself and
took my place with my Father on his throne. If anyone has ears to hear, let him
listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”’
Psalm Psalm 14:2-5 ©
Those
who prove victorious I will allow to share my throne.
Lord,
who shall dwell on your holy mountain?
He
who walks without fault;
he
who acts with justice
and
speaks the truth from his heart;
he
who does not slander with his tongue.
Those
who prove victorious I will allow to share my throne.
He
who does no wrong to his brother,
who
casts no slur on his neighbour,
who
holds the godless in disdain,
but
honours those who fear the Lord.
Those
who prove victorious I will allow to share my throne.
He
who keeps his pledge, come what may;
who
takes no interest on a loan
and
accepts no bribes against the innocent.
Such
a man will stand firm for ever.
Those
who prove victorious I will allow to share my throne.
Gospel
Acclamation cf.Ps129:5
Alleluia,
alleluia!
My
soul is waiting for the Lord,
I
count on his word.
Alleluia!
Or 1Jn4:10
Alleluia,
alleluia!
God
so loved us that he sent his Son
to
be the sacrifice that takes our sins away.
Alleluia!
Gospel Luke 19:1-10 ©
Jesus
entered Jericho and was going through the town when a man whose name was
Zacchaeus made his appearance: he was one of the senior tax collectors and a
wealthy man. He was anxious to see what kind of man Jesus was, but he was too
short and could not see him for the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a
sycamore tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus who was to pass that way. When Jesus
reached the spot he looked up and spoke to him: ‘Zacchaeus, come down. Hurry,
because I must stay at your house today.’ And he hurried down and welcomed him
joyfully. They all complained when they saw what was happening. ‘He has gone to
stay at a sinner’s house’ they said. But Zacchaeus stood his ground and said to
the Lord, ‘Look, sir, I am going to give half my property to the poor, and if I
have cheated anybody I will pay him back four times the amount.’ And Jesus said
to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son
of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek out and save what was lost.’
REVIVING
AND RENEWING OUR ZEAL FOR GOD AND FOR LIFE
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: APOC 3:1-6, 14-22; LK 19:1-10
As we
come towards the end of the liturgical year, the liturgy invites us to evaluate
our faith, our zeal for holiness and the ministry. The reading from
Apocalypse is appropriate in helping us to examine our conscience and to take
stock of ourselves. Such regular assessment of oneself is
important. St John wrote: “If you do not wake up, I shall come to you
like a thief, without telling you at what hour to expect me.” Indeed, the
failure to pause and assess our state of life will result in regrettable
consequences.
The
truth is that the beginning of anything is always marked with zeal and
enthusiasm. Indeed, when we begin something new, whether it is a
relationship, a career, a spiritual life or a ministry, most of us begin with
hope and expectations. We are very passionate, excited and
committed. But over the months and years, we lose that passion and
desire. How often have we taken our relationships for granted?
Married couples fall into the routine of marriage life and get bored with each
other. Ministry members slack in their commitment to the apostolate and
the ministry. Those who have been touched by the Lord forget their first love
and their conversion experience. We lose our fidelity to our prayer life, the sacraments
and ongoing formation. Others become indifferent and
lukewarm. As a result, we just drift along in life, neither here
nor there, neither convinced nor excited but simply exist but with no real
life. Even if some of us still have apostolic zeal, we might not have grown in
spiritual maturity and holiness. If that is so, our so-called apostolic
zeal is but a cover-up for our human ambition. For this reason, the
liturgy invites us to reflect on our growth in holiness, our spiritual life and
commitment.
In such
a situation, we are like the Christians in Sardis. We look as if we
are physically alive and happy but deep within ourselves, we feel confused and
empty. We put on a happy front, serving actively in Church but we
know that we are rotting inside. St John wrote, “I know all about you:
how you are reputed to be alive and yet are dead. Wake up; revive what
little you have left: it is dying fast.” Yes, many of us go through life
instead of grow through life. We have no sense of direction, no vision
and no zeal. We live through each day aimlessly. We sleep, eat,
work and pray as a matter of routine. Like the Church in Laodicea as
well, we lack apostolic zeal. “I know all about you: how you are neither
cold nor hot. I wish you were one or the other, but since you are
neither, but only lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth.”
What are the reasons for
the loss of zeal in the mission and our growth in holiness? Firstly, it could
be because of persecution, misunderstandings, disappointments, unfulfilled
expectations and disillusionment. What are our
disappointments?
Things did not turn out the way we want them to. We feel
discriminated. There is a feeling of injustice and mismanagement. Some
are not responsible in their duties but want to enjoy the benefits of the
ministry. We are frustrated because others are not doing their part
and we end up doing their work. We have difficulty collaborating with our
colleagues and fellow members. We experience power struggles and
insincerity. We find so much hypocrisy and politicking around us. Consequently,
we become half dead, hardening our hearts to everything. We are angry, bitter
and resentful like the Christians in Sardis. As a consequence, we have lost our
sense of mission because we are disillusioned with everything.
The second reason for
the apathy could be due to our complacency. We are rich, wealthy and self-sufficient,
spiritually or materially. When things are going well, we forget about
God. We have a good life. We have a good job, a loving spouse and
well behaved children. Our heath is good and our relationships are doing
well. We do not seem to be lacking in anything. Our lives are
relatively easy and comfortable. The danger is that when life becomes too
comfortable, we tend to become lax in our spiritual life. We are too
absorbed by the world, enjoying ourselves and being with our friends that God
is left out of the relationship. From complacency, it leads to indifference and
eventually, we lose our relationship with the Lord and with it, the zeal and
passion. Without sufferings and without challenges, we can never go
beyond ourselves. This was what happened to the Church in Laodicea.
St John remarked, “You say to yourself, ‘I am rich, I have made a fortune, and
have everything I want,’ never realizing that you are wretchedly and pitiably
poor, and blind and naked too.”
There is another kind of
wealth more subtle than material wealth that prevents us from coming to God,
namely, our spiritual pride. Those of us who are supposedly active in Church or are
regular church-goers, often become too proud of our spiritual life. We
think highly of ourselves, as if we do not need conversion. We think we
know a lot about God and we are spiritually very mature. As a
consequence, we are no longer open to the Spirit of God and His grace at work
in our lives. Worse still, there are some of us who think that just
because we have given much to the Church or to our fellowmen, God is indebted
to us. Justification by good works will lead to perdition. God is
only pleased with us when we have faith in Him. Only He can save
us. God is not our debtor but we are. Good works only make us proud
unless our good works flow from a prior humbling experience of His love and
mercy for us. We cannot make demands on God’s love but in poverty, open
our hands to receive His love and mercy.
What must we do in the
light of our disenchantment and complacency? St John urges us, “So far I have failed to notice
anything in the way you live that my God could possibly call perfect, and yet
so you remember how eager you were when you first heard the message? Hold on to
that. Repent.” Indeed, we must wake up from our apathy and
complacency if we are to avoid greater disasters ahead of us.
The gospel provides us
the example of Zacchaeus,
a sinner, but deep in his heart, he wanted to live an authentic life. We
are told, “He was one of the senior tax collectors and a wealthy man.” As
a senior tax collector, he must have been marginalized, despised and rejected
by his peers and friends. However, such rebuffs from his fellowmen did
not make him bitter. He did not allow resentment and anger to blind him
to his own sins. Instead, he must have seen his being ostracized as a means
from God to purify him and wake him up to conversion. He knew that he was
simply paying the price for his betrayal of his people and compromising his
principles. How many of us would look within ourselves when things
are not right instead of finding scapegoats for our mistakes?
In spite of his wealth,
Zacchaeus was aware of his nakedness, blindness and poverty. He did not see his wealth as
leading him somewhere. He recognized his poverty and emptiness in spite
of the wealth he had amassed all these years. But upon encountering Jesus
and His love and acceptance of him, he was healed of his loneliness and
emptiness. As a consequence, he said, “’Look, sir, I am going to give
half my property to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody I will pay them
back four times the amount.”
Such conversion of heart
and transformation of life was only possible because he humbled himself and
made himself available to the Lord. We see his sincerity in opening the door of his heart and
not just his house to Jesus. He was planning and seeking to catch a
glimpse of Jesus even though he was at a disadvantage, both physically and
morally. The gospel says, “He was anxious to see what kind of man Jesus was,
but he was too short and could not see him for the crowd; so he ran ahead and
climbed a sycamore tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus who was to pass that
way.” Not afraid to be sneered at, Zacchaeus gave up his pride and
sought for Jesus by perching himself up on the tree.
God is always moved by
the humility of man.
This explains why Jesus chose to invite himself to Zacchaeus’ house to stay and
dine with him. He must have seen the heart of Zacchaeus.
Truly, Zacchaeus, was a
man who refused to allow wealth and bitterness to prevent him from living and
turning to the Lord. Only when we follow his example of turning back
to the Lord, letting go of our bitterness and our self-sufficiency, can we then
be filled with the love of Jesus again. If we desire to find our
lost love and be renewed again in our faith, let us open our hearts to the Lord
who is knocking at the door of our hearts. The Lord wants to share
His life with us but we must welcome Him joyfully like Zacchaeus.
Only then can He say those words to us, “Today salvation has come to this
house, because this man too is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to
seek out and save what was lost.”
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV
WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP
OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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