20150107 DRIVEN BY FEAR OR BY LOVE
Readings
at Mass
1John
4 : 11-18
My dear
friends, if God
loved us so much, we too should love one another.
No one
has ever seen God, but as long as we love one another God
remains in us and his love comes to its perfection in us.
This is
the proof
that we remain in him and he in us, that he has given us a share in his Spirit.
We
ourselves have seen and testify that the Father sent his Son as Saviour of the
world.
We have
recognised for ourselves, and put our faith
in, the love God
has for us. God
is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God
and God
in him.
Love
comes to its perfection in us when we can face the Day of Judgement fearlessly,
because even in this world we have become as he is.
In love there is no room for fear, but perfect love drives out
fear, because fear implies punishment and no one who is afraid has come to
perfection in love.
Psalms 72 : 1-2, 10, 12-13
[Of
Solomon] God, endow the king with your own fair judgement, the son of the king
with your own saving justice,
that he
may rule your people with justice, and your poor with fair judgement.
the kings
of Tarshish and the islands will
pay him tribute. The kings
of Sheba and Saba will
offer gifts;
For he
rescues the needy who calls to him, and the poor who has no one to help.
He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the needy from
death.
Mark 6 : 45-52
And at
once he made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side
near Bethsaida, while he himself sent the crowd away.
After
saying goodbye to them he went off into the hills to pray.
When evening
came, the boat was far out on the sea, and he was alone on the land.
He
could see that they were hard pressed in their rowing, for the wind was against
them; and about the fourth watch of the night he came towards them, walking on
the sea. He was going to pass them by,
but
when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost and cried out;
for
they had all seen him and were terrified. But at once he spoke to them and
said, 'Courage! It's me! Don't be afraid.'
Then he
got into the boat with them and the wind dropped. They were utterly and
completely dumbfounded,
because they had not seen what the miracle
of the loaves meant; their minds were closed.
DRIVEN
BY FEAR OR BY LOVE
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: 1 JN 4:11-18; MK 6:45-52
What is it that
motivates us in life?
What is it that makes us do what we do? There are basically two driving
forces; one is fear and the other, love. If one is propelled by fear,
then the outcome might appear to be desirable but the person is not
transformed. In fact, one can become more insecure and broken. If
one was motivated by love, then the outcome can even exceed those motivated by
fear because one does it willingly and happily. Best of all, one lives a
life of peace and true happiness.
Unfortunately, because we
live in a meritocratic society, most of what we do is motivated by fear, as
the yardstick for reward is productivity and good behavior.
This is true not only for society but in all levels of human relationships,
including parent-child and spousal relationships. We tell our children to
study hard because of fear for the future. So we study hard not because
we like to study but out of fear that we would be left behind in society if we
don’t. Many of us who seek to do well in our studies and career do so
because we want prestige, status, recognition and honour on one hand; and
wealth and power on another. We do well so that we are loved and accepted
and thought of highly by others. That is why some are so ambitious and
career-minded, even putting relationships and family after our career.
This is true especially true for some priests and those who are single.
Because they lack relationship and love, they invest their entire energy into
their career as a form of escapism from confronting their loneliness in life.
They exchange authentic friendship with superficial recognition from admirers,
fans and society. Of course, they also replace love of people with love
of things, a life of love with a life of comfort.
We observe the laws
because we fear going to jail or be punished. Laws are our enemies. We do not see them as the
wisdom of society or, if they are divine laws, the wisdom of God to guide us to
live harmonious, safe and happy lives. So given the opportunity, we will break
the laws when the lawgiver is not around. We break civil laws and traffic
laws hoping we won’t get caught. St John remarks, “In love there can be
no fear, but fear is driven out by perfect love: because to fear is to expect
punishment, and anyone who is afraid still is imperfect in love.”
We fear suffering,
hunger and privation, hence we hoard and are selfish. We want to have more to feel
secure about our future. Greed is often rooted in exaggerated fear.
Many relationships do not work out because of fear. Children fear
when their parents are not on good terms, or when neglected, or when parents
are judgemental and rule by fear, punishment and rejection. People fear
death too because of an unknown future. We fear punishment when we
die. We fear hell. We fear we are not worthy before God.
Hence St John says, we fear judgment because our conscience is not clear.
“Love will come to its perfection in us when we can face the day of Judgment
without fear; because even in this world we have become as he is.”
Fear therefore cannot
set us free for life and love. God comes to cast out all fear. This is the meaning of the
incarnation. This explains why Jesus, the Son of God, the King of kings
came as a baby and as a servant or even slave. He emptied Himself of His
divinity and power. He appeared to us in an ordinary manner. He was
not born in the palace but in a stable. He was raised in a carpenter’s
house at Nazareth. He was anything but extraordinary, or rather, He was
extra-ordinary. He was gentle, meek and humble of heart. He did not
display His power or majesty but assumed human lowliness. This was the
fundamental experience of the early Christians with respect to their encounter
and relationship with Jesus. “We ourselves saw and we testify that the
Father sent his Son as saviour of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus
is the Son of God, God lives in him, and he in God.”
The beginning of the
mission of the Church was never motivated by fame, power, money or the need to
control. It was
motivated by the love of God. It was faith in God’s love towards us, as
St John says, “We ourselves have known and put our faith in God’s love towards
ourselves. God is love and anyone who lives in love lives in God, and God lives
in him.” Because His love was in the early Christians, they were
inspired by Christ to love others as well. This love was experienced
concretely in Christ, in His life, passion and death and resurrection.
This love was completed in the indwelling of God’s love in His Spirit in our
hearts. This explains why the early Christians had no fear of death and
were ready to suffer with Christ for love and in love, even to the extent of
being martyred. They knew Jesus was with them, saying to them as they
went through the storms of life, “Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.”
This, too, is the basis
for Christian vocation, especially to the priesthood and religious life. This, too, accounts for Christian
missionaries who are willing to give up their lives for the mission.
Otherwise it is unthinkable for one to give up comfort and convenience for work
that is demanding and often unappreciated even rejected. Love for God and
humanity is the only motivation for what we do. When motivated by love,
we do all things well, whether in study or work, or mundane duties like cooking
and washing and cleaning. Without the love of God in our hearts,
missionary work will become merely a propagation of an ideology or an ambition;
not an act of love offered as a gift to the world.
However, like the
disciples, we do not understand or believe in His love for us. Like them, we have experienced the
miracle of the bread and yet we are still ignorant. “They were utterly
and completely dumbfounded, because they had not seen what the miracle of the
loaves meant; their minds were closed.” God has looked after us all and
provided for us all these years and we still doubt His love. We don’t
experience His love, hence we don’t trust Him. The fact of life is that
unless we know someone loves us, we will not hand over our lives to that
person. We listen to those whom we trust; and we trust those whom we
love. Jesus was able to walk on the sea because He knew His Father’s love.
He could perform the miracles especially in the multiplication of loaves
because He knew His Father loves us all and would not fail us.
How, then, do we
strengthen our trust and love in Christ? Since trust is as strong as
love, there is no way to improve trust except through a strengthening of
relationship. This
relationship can only be built in and through prayer, like Jesus who would go
up to the hills by Himself to pray. “After saying good-bye to them he
went off into the hills to pray.” Without a fervent prayer life, we cannot
build a real relationship with God. Without prayer we cannot discern His
presence like the disciples, especially in times of trials. “He could see
they were worn out with rowing, for the wind was against them; and about the
fourth watch of the night he came towards them, walking on the lake. He was
going to pass them by, but when they saw him walking on the lake they thought
it was a ghost and cried out, for they had all seen him and were terrified.”
Secondly, we can encounter
Christ’s love by reaching out to others, especially the poor. Through the poor, we see
the face of God because they have much to teach us about life and love.
Pope Francis reminds us that we have much to learn from the poor.
We must never think that our service to the poor is driven by our generosity.
Rather it is out of the generosity of God towards us that we could love and
help them. Most of all, in reaching out to them, we are participating in
God’s love and we experience His love through them.
The capacity to love
means that we share in His Spirit. In this way, we could say that God lives in us because His
love is in us. Then the cycle of love is complete. St John wrote,
“My dear people, since God has loved us so much, we too should love one
another. No one has ever seen God; but as long as we love one another God will
live in us and his love will be complete in us. We can know that we are living
in him and he is living in us because he lets us share his Spirit.” Love
has come to perfection. He loves us and we share in His love and life. In
turn, we pass on His love to others. When all are in love with God, we
have the capacity to love each other.
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV
WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP
OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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