20141124 SINGULAR AND TOTAL DEVOTION TO CHRIST THE KING
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First reading
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Apocalypse
14:1-5 ©
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In my vision I, John,
saw Mount Zion, and standing on it a Lamb who had with him a hundred and
forty-four thousand people, all with his name and his Father’s name written on
their foreheads. I heard a sound coming out of the sky like the sound of the
ocean or the roar of thunder; it seemed to be the sound of harpists playing
their harps. There in front of the throne they were singing a new hymn in the
presence of the four animals and the elders, a hymn that could only be learnt
by the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been redeemed from the world;
they follow the Lamb wherever he goes; they have been redeemed from amongst men
to be the first-fruits for God and for the Lamb. They never allowed a lie to
pass their lips and no fault can be found in them.
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Psalm
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Psalm 23:1-6 ©
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Such are the men
who seek your face, O Lord.
The Lord’s is the
earth and its fullness,
the world
and all its peoples.
It is he who set it
on the seas;
on the
waters he made it firm.
Such are the men
who seek your face, O Lord.
Who shall climb the
mountain of the Lord?
Who shall
stand in his holy place?
The man with clean
hands and pure heart,
who
desires not worthless things.
Such are the men
who seek your face, O Lord.
He shall receive
blessings from the Lord
and
reward from the God who saves him.
Such are the men who
seek him,
seek the
face of the God of Jacob.
Such are the men
who seek your face, O Lord.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Rv2:10
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Even if you have to
die, says the Lord,
keep faithful, and I
will give you
the crown of life.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Mt24:42,44
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Stay awake and stand
ready,
because you do not
know the hour
when the Son of Man
is coming.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 21:1-4 ©
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As
Jesus looked up, he saw rich people putting their offerings into the treasury;
then he happened to notice a poverty-stricken widow putting in two small coins,
and he said, ‘I tell you truly, this poor widow has put in more than any of
them; for these have all contributed money they had over, but she from the
little she had has put in all she had to live on.’
SINGULAR
AND TOTAL DEVOTION TO CHRIST THE KING
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: REV 14:1-5; LK 21:1-4
We have
just celebrated the Feast of Christ the King when we profess our loyalty and
devotion to Jesus. We proclaim Him as our Lord and King of the
universe. In today’s first reading, we read how the saints in heaven
would glorify God day and night and bow down in adoration. Their devotion
to Christ was manifested in their fidelity to their virginity, following the
Lamb wherever he went and “never allowed a lie to pass their lips and no fault
could be found in them.” In other words, they lived a life of purity,
holiness in their total devotion to Christ. This is the meaning of
virginity, total consecration to Christ who is the bridegroom of the Church.
The responsorial
psalm also speaks of a people who long to see the face of God and stand on
the Holy Mountain. They know that the condition for seeing the face of
God is one “whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what
is vain.” Only such people can ascend the mountain of the Lord or stand
in His holy place. This is because those who have kept themselves
entirely for the Lord make themselves available for Him to dwell in them just
as the psalmist says, “The Lord’s are the earth and its fullness; the world and
those who dwell in it.”
Finally,
the gospel speaks of the exemplary devotion of the poverty-stricken widow
who gave everything she had to the temple, indeed, from the little she had “all
that she had to live on” unlike the rich people who gave what they had
over. She gave all that she possessed so that she could possess
God. She gave away temporal goods for what is eternal. Although
poor, she was wealthier than all the rich people because she was rich in the
love of God. She exemplifies the saints in heaven who have given
themselves without reservation to Christ. Hence, she was praised by
Christ as the one who had given everything and therefore was most pleasing to
the Lord.
What about us? Do we give ourselves so
generously and totally to the Lord like the virgins and the widow? Do we
really long to see the face of God and are we prepared to do everything to see
His face, which means keeping ourselves pure, free from known sins and living a
life of integrity and honesty? Indeed, would we do everything and
anything for the Lord? Isn’t this what we mean when we speak of Sentire
Cum Ecclesia, loving, living, praying and feeling with the Church because the
Church is our own mother and the bride of Christ? By extension, do we
love Christ above everything else in this life?
I remember someone once
shared with me how when he was a convert, he was scandalized during a
Chinese New Year mass. As you know in Chinese religions, believers always
give the best offerings to God. They would never think of giving a second
class offering to the gods lest they insult the deities. However as this
person shared, the offerings that were prepared for the celebration were not of
the best grade. The fruits that were offered during the Mass were
not of the best quality. The reason given was that it was only a symbol
and therefore it was acceptable. Moreover, the priests would be eating
them, not God.
Such a situation would
never happen in other religions. The Jews, like other religions, also celebrate the
harvest festival in which they give the first and best fruits of their labour
to God in order to acknowledge that God is the Lord of the harvest. Yes, in all
religions, money is spent first on God before people. This accounts for
the beautiful, magnificent and majestic mosques, Chinese temples, churches,
basilicas that we see in Asia and Europe. In those days, when man had
great reverence and devotion to God, they would sacrifice everything for the
glory of God, even if they were poor.
Even we Catholics used
to give such kind of reverence to God. On Sundays, we would always
wear our Sunday best to go to Church. In our liturgical celebrations, we
take great pains to ensure only the best is used for worship. Hence, the
instructions from Rome governing vessels and vestments are meant to preserve
the dignity and solemnity of the celebration e.g. golden chalice, clean
vessels, linens and intricately embroidered chasubles and vestments. We
were also taught from young to give donations to the Church. In fact,
Christians still give 10% of their salary as tithing to the church as a
symbolic reminder that all they have come from God alone. What about us?
Do we give anything that we have materially back to God? How generous are
you in your contribution towards the maintenance of the Church and the work of
evangelization?
But today after Vatican
II, the situation seems to have changed. In the name of simplicity
and poverty, we have stripped our altars of practically all ornaments. We
rationalize and convince ourselves that the externals are not important. What
is important is the interior disposition. So we need not pay
attention to the external signs. God judges our hearts not our
actions. We tend to denigrate the importance of sacramentals, of signs
and gestures in worship. We focus on meditation and the inner life.
But honestly, are we
really sincere in what we are saying? Is the lack of external
devotion truly a reflection of simplicity in our lifestyle or more a manifestation
of a heart that has grown cold, a lack of love, generosity, reverence and awe
before God the Almighty? When our exterior disposition lacks fervour, can
we believe that we are deeply in love with God? Then why is it that we are
dressed much better when we go for a dinner than when we come for the heavenly
banquet? Sometimes, familiarity breeds contempt.
Yes, today, we must truly examine
ourselves with regard to the depth of our love for God, especially those of
us who are serving full time in the Church or even as volunteers. Simply
because we are serving in church, we tend to presume we have already dedicated
our lives to God and so there is nothing else for us to give. But have we
really given ourselves to God completely? Have we so given ourselves that
there is nothing else that we have reserved from the Lord?
Indeed, the way we live
our life does not seem that it belongs to God but that it is ours still.
There is a danger that sometimes ministry in the Church is seen more like
another profession where we work for a certain number of hours and once that is
done, the rest of the time is ours to do what we like. No, serving Christ
is more than doing Church work or being involved in church ministry, but to
consecrate our entire life, our words, thoughts and deeds for the glory of God,
whether we are at work, in the office, at home, in schools or in Church.
In the final analysis, it is not about giving donations or the use of
sacramentals and external manifestations of our faith. What is important
is whether what we do express the interior devotion we have for God.
Indeed, today, we are
invited to imitate the saints in heaven in their fidelity, singular
devotion and selfless commitment and loyalty to Christ our king. Like the
psalmist, we pray for purity and growth in holiness through a life of love and
honesty. Most of all, let us be inspired by the widow in today’s
gospel who gave herself totally to God even at the expense of her own
needs. If Christ is our King and our all, then let us give Him all we
have and all we are. Like St Ignatius of Loyola, he prayed the prayer of
surrender thus, “Take, O Lord, and receive my entire liberty, my memory, my
understanding and my whole will. All that I am and all that I possess You have
given me: I surrender it all to You to be disposed of according to Your will.
Give me only Your love and Your grace; with these I will be rich enough, and
will desire nothing more.” We can also learn from him to pray the prayer
of generosity as well. “Lord, teach me to be generous. Teach me to serve
you as you deserve; to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to
heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and not to ask for
reward, save that of knowing that I do your will.”
What is necessary for this
generosity to take root in our lives? It is this; faith. Only faith
in God’s providential love for us will enable us to let go of our protectionist
attitude and make us depend on Him alone who is the source of all good and the
giver of all our needs. If the saints and the widow could let go of their
lives and their resources, it was because they knew what they have came from
the Lord and that by returning everything to the Lord, somehow the Lord would
continue to bless and look after them. Let us pray for this faith in
God’s providential love.
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV
WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP
OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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