20150507 FINDING JOY IN KEEPING THE COMMANDMENTS

20150507 FINDING JOY IN KEEPING THE COMMANDMENTS

Readings at Mass

First reading

Acts 15:7-21 ©

After the discussion had gone on a long time, Peter stood up and addressed the apostles and the elders.

  ‘My brothers,’ he said ‘you know perfectly well that in the early days God made his choice among you: the pagans were to learn the Good News from me and so become believers. In fact God, who can read everyone’s heart, showed his approval of them by giving the Holy Spirit to them just as he had to us. God made no distinction between them and us, since he purified their hearts by faith. It would only provoke God’s anger now, surely, if you imposed on the disciples the very burden that neither we nor our ancestors were strong enough to support? Remember, we believe that we are saved in the same way as they are: through the grace of the Lord Jesus.’

  This silenced the entire assembly, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul describing the signs and wonders God had worked through them among the pagans.

  When they had finished it was James who spoke. ‘My brothers,’ he said ‘listen to me. Simeon has described how God first arranged to enlist a people for his name out of the pagans. This is entirely in harmony with the words of the prophets, since the scriptures say:

After that I shall return

and rebuild the fallen House of David;

I shall rebuild it from its ruins

and restore it.

Then the rest of mankind,

all the pagans who are consecrated to my name,

will look for the Lord,

says the Lord who made this known so long ago.

‘I rule, then, that instead of making things more difficult for pagans who turn to God, we send them a letter telling them merely to abstain from anything polluted by idols, from fornication, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. For Moses has always had his preachers in every town, and is read aloud in the synagogues every sabbath.’

Psalm

Psalm 95:1-3,10 ©

Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among all the peoples.

or

Alleluia!

O sing a new song to the Lord,

  sing to the Lord all the earth.

  O sing to the Lord, bless his name.

Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among all the peoples.

or

Alleluia!

Proclaim his help day by day,

  tell among the nations his glory

  and his wonders among all the peoples.

Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among all the peoples.

or

Alleluia!

Proclaim to the nations: ‘God is king.’

  The world he made firm in its place;

  he will judge the peoples in fairness.

Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among all the peoples.

or

Alleluia!

Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia, alleluia!

Christ has risen, he who created all things,

and has granted his mercy to men.

Alleluia!

Or

Jn10:27

Alleluia, alleluia!

The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice,

says the Lord,

I know them and they follow me.

Alleluia!

Gospel

John 15:9-11 ©

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘As the Father has loved me,

so I have loved you.

Remain in my love.

If you keep my commandments

you will remain in my love,

just as I have kept my Father’s commandments

and remain in his love.

I have told you this

so that my own joy may be in you

and your joy be complete.’

FINDING JOY IN KEEPING THE COMMANDMENTS

SCRIPTURE READINGS: ACTS 15: 7-21; JN 15:9-11

“If you keep my commandments, you will live in my love, and then my joy may be yours and your joy be complete.”  Yes, according to Jesus in the gospel today, the way to complete joy is to keep the commandments of the Father.  But this claim of Jesus seems to contradict the experience of the early Christian Church in the first reading.  Indeed, what happened was that the Gentile converts were being compelled to follow the Mosaic Law by the Jewish Christians.  The Jews tried to impose their Jewish customs, practices and Mosaic practices on them. However, Paul and Barnabas argued for their freedom from such necessity as Christians are saved by faith in Christ.

Consequently, the Council of Jerusalem was called, with Peter arguing in the Gentiles’ favour by showing that the Jews and their fore-fathers themselves felt the burden of fulfilling the laws, so how could they try to impose it on non-Jews?  Most of all, his experience with the Centurion, Cornelius, demonstrated evidently that “the pagans were to learn the Good News from me and so become believers. In fact God, who can read everyone’s heart, showed his approval of them by giving the Holy Spirit to them just as he had to us. God made no distinction between them and us, since he purified their hearts by faith.” Still, at the end of the council, they had to make a compromise out of respect and consideration for the cultural and religious sensitivity of the Jews rather than for theological reasons.  So, although in truth they were not required to observe the dietary laws, they had to observe the minimum nonetheless, namely, “to abstain from anything polluted by idols, from fornication, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.”

On the experiential level too, we also have problems trying to fulfill the commandments, not of the Mosaic Laws but the new commandments given to us by Christ, such as living out the beatitudes or even the laws of the Church.  So we are no better off than the Jews who failed in the observance of the commandments of the Mosaic Law or that of the New Dispensation.  And we have all tried but failed, even though we try our best.  Such failures result in guilt and unhappiness.  More often than not, the Devil will manipulate our scrupulosity and guilt against us.  Self-condemnation and a troubled conscience lead to greater self-hatred, which only causes the person to sin even more.

On the other hand, even if some of us have fulfilled most of the laws, yet, it does not necessarily lead us to happiness. This is because we do it at a great expense and sacrifice.  Some might become sour-grapes and condemn those who seem to be enjoying life without the need to obey the commandments of God as they did. Fulfilling the commandments of God might bring peace, knowing that our conscience is clear, but it might not necessarily bring happiness because life becomes empty, since it is merely a fulfilling of the laws.  Legalism in religious life empties one of love, feelings and sensitivity.  It can make us inhumane towards others, living like robots as if life is a matter of fulfilling the laws.  The only pleasure or happiness left is to think that we are holier than the other guy down the road or at least feel assured that we will not go to hell.  Thus, we must say that on the experiential level, the fulfillment or non-fulfillment of God’s commandments does not really bring us happiness.

It seems that Catholics have forgotten what the Protestants underscored so often with St Paul that salvation is the free gift of God through faith in the death of Christ for us and not through the observance of the laws.  Justification is therefore by faith in Christ alone.  Cornelius and his household too received the gift of the Holy Spirit even before they were baptized.  They did not follow the rules.  God is sovereign.  He can also work outside the rules.  He gives the Holy Spirit to whomever He wishes.  So we must not think that the laws and rules of the Church can curtail the power of God.  The Spirit blows where He wishes.  The only difference is that the sacraments and rituals instituted by Christ and celebrated by the Church are the guaranteed means of salvation, but surely not the only means to receive the grace and love of God.  Hence, St Peter concludes, “It would only provoke God’s anger now, surely, if you imposed on the disciples the very burden that neither we nor our ancestors were strong enough to support? Remember, we believe that we are saved in the same way as they are: through the grace of the Lord Jesus.” We cannot practice double standards, one for the Gentiles and one for us.  Indeed, none of us can be held worthy before God based on our merits.  We all depend on His mercy and grace.

How then do we understand Jesus’ teaching in the gospel as it apparently contradicts our existential experience and that of the early Church?  To understand Jesus’ promise, we must first understand what Jesus meant when He says that we must keep the commandments.  We can be certain that commandments here do not mean the precise commandments of the Church, of men or human customs.  Nay, He himself broke the Sabbath law many times in His life-time.  So, keeping the commandments of the Father cannot mean this or else; Jesus would not be able to substantiate the claim that He has always kept the Father’s commandments and live in His love.

So what is the commandment that Jesus is referring to?  This commandment is none other than the commandment of love.  “A new commandment that I give, love one another as I have loved you,” so says Jesus.  This is the real commandment that Jesus is speaking about.  In similar ways, Jesus also spoke of the two real commandments in life on which all other commandments hang, namely, the love of God with our whole heart, mind and soul; and the love of our neighbour as ourselves.  Truly, there is only one commandment, the commandment of love.  What we do is not as important as why we do.   So, when Jesus tells us to keep the Father’s commandment, He is asking us to share in His Father’s vision of love for all humankind.  All other commandments are but means to serve this one commandment.  So if we follow the other commandments, it is because they help us to fulfill this one command of love. This means that at times, we might need to break the particular commandments so as to observe the one commandment of love, as Jesus did many times in the gospel.

That is why at the end of the session, the Jerusalem Council decided that for the sake of harmonious living with the Jews, the Gentile Christians need only refrain from practices especially abhorrent to the Jews. It was a compromise not carried out in resentment but in charity for others.  Unless these compromises were made in love, they would bring resentment.  But because of charity, the gentile converts were willing to observe the basic Jewish dietary customs.

In the final analysis, the observance of the commandments is only possible when there is love.  Jesus does not demand of us to observe the commandments unless He has first loved us.  The basis for carrying out the commandments is because of the prior love of God for us.  Jesus said, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Remain in my love.”  But in the same vein, He also said, “If you keep my commandments you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.” There is a close relationship between observing the commandments of the Father and that of love.  A man who truly loves the Father and his fellow human beings will necessarily keep the commandments.  But to love in that manner, it requires us to live in His love.  We need to be assuaged with the love of God first before we can love like Him.  We need to live on in His love.  Living on in His love is to share His vision of love.   When we live in this way like Jesus, then surely the words of Jesus makes sense; for our joy will indeed be complete.  Joy of course is different from happiness.  Jesus did not promise us happiness if we follow the commandments but joy.  The former implies the absence of suffering and sacrifice whereas there can be joy even when there is sacrifice and suffering.   Following the commandments need not always bring us happiness, as it involves dying to ourselves, but it will certainly give us joy knowing that we are capable of love and giving oneself to the other.

And the consequence of joy and freedom in the Lord is the further extension of the gospel as witnessed by the early Christians.   “This silenced the whole assembly, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul describing all the signs and wonders God had worked through them among the pagans.”  Only love, joy and freedom can make the proclamation of the Good News as truly Good News.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore

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