20141230 CELEBRATE WITH THE LORD, AND NOT WITH THE WORLD
Readings at Mass
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First reading
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1 John 2:12-17 ©
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I am writing to you,
my own children,
whose sins have
already been forgiven through his name;
I am writing to you,
fathers,
who have come to know
the one
who has existed since
the beginning;
I am writing to you,
young men,
who have already
overcome the Evil One;
I have written to
you, children,
because you already
know the Father;
I have written to
you, fathers,
because you have come
to know the one
who has existed since
the beginning;
I have written to
you, young men,
because you are
strong and God’s word has made its home in you,
and you have overcome
the Evil One.
You must not love
this passing world
or anything that is
in the world.
The love of the
Father cannot be
in any man who loves
the world,
because nothing the
world has to offer
– the sensual body,
the lustful eye,
pride in
possessions –
could ever come from
the Father
but only from the
world;
and the world, with
all it craves for,
is coming to an end;
but anyone who does
the will of God
remains for ever.
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Psalm
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Psalm 95:7-10 ©
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Let the heavens
rejoice and earth be glad.
Give the Lord, you
families of peoples,
give the
Lord glory and power;
give the
Lord the glory of his name.
Let the heavens
rejoice and earth be glad.
Bring an offering and
enter his courts,
worship
the Lord in his temple.
O earth,
tremble before him.
Let the heavens
rejoice and earth be glad.
Proclaim to the
nations: ‘God is king.’
The world
he made firm in its place;
he will
judge the peoples in fairness.
Let the heavens
rejoice and earth be glad.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Heb1:1-2
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Alleluia, alleluia!
At various times in
the past
and in various
different ways,
God spoke to our
ancestors through the prophets;
but in our own time,
the last days,
he has spoken to us
through his Son.
Alleluia!
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Or
|
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Alleluia, alleluia!
A hallowed day has
dawned upon us.
Come, you nations,
worship the Lord,
for today a great
light has shone down upon the earth.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 2:36-40 ©
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There was a
prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was well
on in years. Her days of girlhood over, she had been married for seven years
before becoming a widow. She was now eighty-four years old and never left the
Temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer. She came by just at
that moment and began to praise God; and she spoke of the child to all who
looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.
When they
had done everything the Law of the Lord required, they went back to Galilee, to
their own town of Nazareth. Meanwhile the child grew to maturity, and he was
filled with wisdom; and God’s favour was with him.
CELEBRATE
WITH THE LORD, AND NOT WITH THE WORLD
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: 1 JOHN 2:12-17; LUKE 2:36-40
We are
into the sixth day of the Octave of Christmas. This means that the
celebration of Christmas is still in full swing. We are still
rejoicing and merrymaking because of the birth of Christ, our Saviour. We
are still having fun and basking in the company of our friends and loved
ones. Spiritually, we are more at peace with ourselves, having made our
peace with Him at the Sacrament of Reconciliation; and also in having received
Him in person in the Holy Eucharist.
But today’s
scripture readings seem to dampen the mood of our festivities. St
John appears to be a joy killer when he warns us about our love for the
world. He said, “You must not love this passing world or anything that is
in the world. The love of the Father cannot be in any man who loves the world,
because the world has nothing to offer.” And in the gospel, we read about
Anna “serving God night and day with fasting and prayer.”
Certainly,
St John is not trying to take away the joy of our celebration. Far from
denying our right to celebrate and make merry or condemn us for enjoying
ourselves, he wants to ensure that this joy would remain for a long time.
Conversely, the joy of this world is short-lived and can even be
destructive. True joy which flows from God is always enduring.
Indeed, in the Incarnation, the world and all of creation are now taken into
the being of God and sanctified by Christ. With the incarnation, God is
once again reminding us that all that He has created is good. The
Incarnation also means that God loves the world and He has not come to
destroy the world. Rather, He comes to restore the world to its proper
place. As Christians, we do not therefore hate or despise the world as
such, since God Himself so loved the world that He sent us His Son.
Hence, our response clearly sings with joy, “Let the heavens be glad and the
earth rejoice!” Christmas is to allow God to live in us.
There
is one condition though – that the world cannot be loved apart from God.
The created things of this world are meant for the service of humanity, for
their growth, well-being, happiness and love. Creatures must therefore be
treated with respect and created things of this world must be used rightly and
orientated to the good of humanity. However because of original sin and
our consequent fallen nature, we have substituted the world for God Himself
instead of using the world for the glory of God.
St John in the first
reading warns us of these attempts to replace God in our hearts with the
world. When he
speaks of the world, he is not condemning creation as such. The “world”
is not a reference to the physical world but the worldly culture of our society
that seeks to displace God. It leads us away from God and from the
ultimate values of life, which is love and freedom. This worldly life may
appear to be attractive but it leads one to misery. Ultimately it is
totally unsatisfying and unfulfilling because pleasures are passing whilst joy
in our heart is lasting. So it is timely that St John calls us to be
mindful in our celebration so that we do not lose focus and get sucked into the
snares of the world.
Of the temptations of the world, three
primary areas of our lives, namely, lust, greed and pride are singled
out. Most of our unhappiness and our sins spring from these three
capital sins. Pride, of course, is the most serious of all sins.
Because of pride, we reject God and His wisdom expressed in His will and in His
commandments. We think that we have the truth and that God must satisfy
our finite mind as if the finite can understand the infinite; the unspiritual
can grasp the spiritual. Pride too leads us to anger and envy.
Anger and envy can lead to violence, hatred of self and of course our enemies
and competitors. There is no peace in our hearts and our minds are always
restless.
Lust, too, is a powerful
sin because it manipulates our human basic drive. Lust is related to
pride. Man seeks to conquer women through sex and the women seek to
control men through their bodies. Lust therefore makes us use each
other’s bodies to satisfy one’s emotional needs. Finally, greed, which is
the desire to possess things will cause us to cheat, steal, gamble and even
kill. Because of avarice, we can become ambitious and money-minded to the
extent of destroying our health and relationships with our loved ones.
Instead of enjoying the creation of God, we become a slave to things.
How, then, can we in our
appreciation of God’s creation avoid being possessed by the world? Firstly, we must remember that our
“sins have already been forgiven through his name”. Through Christ, He
has reconciled us with God. Remembering how our sins were forgiven at the
price of His blood should teach us to be grateful for His love and not take His
forgiveness for granted. Secondly, St John tells us to remember who we
are. God is our Father and He existed from the very beginning with His
Son, Jesus Christ. To know our origin and our identity will help us to
avoid being too attached to the world. Finally, St John wants us to
remember that we have been given the strength to overcome the Evil One.
Of course, we can conquer the Evil One only when, as John instructs us, “God’s
word has made its home in you”. Only then can we be strong against all
temptations. Anyone who does not spend time in prayer and praying the
Word of God will very soon lose his focus and succumb to the enticement of the
Evil One, since our flesh seeks not only sexual pleasure but also material
things; the eyes are captivated by external things arousing our desire to
possess; and finally, our pride seeks achievements and success.
As John warns us, “The
world, with all it craves for, is coming to an end; but anyone who does the
will of God remains for ever.” Truly, human or worldly possessions
cannot last as such things are transient. What are enduring are the gifts
of the Spirit; joy, peace and love. What will endure are the virtues that
we cultivate, not the things of this world. Most of all, what can be
brought into the next life is our love for each other. Love never dies.
So let us learn to be
like Jesus who “grew to maturity, and he was filled with wisdom; and God’s
favour was with him.” When St John addressed the three groups of people,
namely, children, fathers and young men, he was not just referring to the age
groups but the three levels of spiritual maturity as well. Those who are
weak in their spiritual life are children in faith. Those who are strong
and resourceful in their faith are the young people. Finally those who
have reached maturity of faith are the fathers because they know God the Father
and the Son, “who has existed since the beginning.” When we know where we
come from and who we are, then we can fully claim our divine life in
Christ. Thus, whichever level we are at now, we must seek to arrive at
the full maturity of faith in Christ. It is not enough to be a
born-again Christian – we must grow in our faith as well!
To inspire us, we have Anna
as our model of growing in faith. She had a difficult life. At
a young age, she was already a widow and she had lived a long life. But
she lived in hope, never bitter for what was lost. Throughout her life,
even without her husband, she continued to look forward to God whom she
believed will see her through. Her name, Anna, which means “God is
gracious” and Phanuel which means “God is light”, serve to highlight God’s
graciousness to Anna by allowing her to see Christ the Light who has come into
the world. As the daughter of God the light, she never allowed that light
of hope to extinguish from her life in spite of her sufferings. If she
could remain firm in hope, it was because she “never left the Temple, serving
God night and day with fasting and prayer.” Instead of being preoccupied
with the world and with unspiritual things, her eyes were focused only on God
and the hope made to Israel. Only such an intense union with God in
prayer can sustain her throughout the long years of waiting for the
Saviour. Only such faith can help us to persevere in doing His will.
So let us grow up
together with Jesus during this Christmas period in faith and wisdom. Let us not allow the attractions of
this world, the sufferings of life and its tragedies to distract us from our
hope which is to be with God in the Spirit. In prayer, fasting, almsgiving and
all forms of ascetical practices, let grow in love for God and for
others. Let the old world, the world of sin, pass away. Let us
welcome the new world filled with the Spirit of Christ.
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV
WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP
OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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