20150519
COMPLETING YOUR JOURNEY WITH A CLEAR CONSCIENCE
Readings at Mass
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First reading
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Acts 20:17-27 ©
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From Miletus Paul
sent for the elders of the church of Ephesus. When they arrived he addressed
these words to them:
‘You know
what my way of life has been ever since the first day I set foot among you in
Asia, how I have served the Lord in all humility, with all the sorrows and
trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews. I have not hesitated to
do anything that would be helpful to you; I have preached to you, and
instructed you both in public and in your homes, urging both Jews and Greeks to
turn to God and to believe in our Lord Jesus.
‘And now
you see me a prisoner already in spirit; I am on my way to Jerusalem, but have
no idea what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit, in town
after town, has made it clear enough that imprisonment and persecution await
me. But life to me is not a thing to waste words on, provided that when I
finish my race I have carried out the mission the Lord Jesus gave me – and
that was to bear witness to the Good News of God’s grace.
‘I now
feel sure that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom
will ever see my face again. And so here and now I swear that my conscience is clear
as far as all of you are concerned, for I have without faltering put before you
the whole of God’s purpose.’
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Psalm
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Psalm
67:10-11,20-21 ©
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Kingdoms of the
earth, sing to God.
or
Alleluia!
You poured down, O
God, a generous rain:
when your
people were starved you gave them new life.
It was there that
your people found a home,
prepared
in your goodness, O God, for the poor.
Kingdoms of the
earth, sing to God.
or
Alleluia!
May the Lord be
blessed day after day.
He bears
our burdens, God our saviour.
This God of ours is a
God who saves.
The Lord
our God holds the keys of death.
Kingdoms of the
earth, sing to God.
or
Alleluia!
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Gospel
Acclamation
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cf.Jn14:18
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Alleluia, alleluia!
I will not leave you
orphans, says the Lord;
I go, but I will come
back to you,
and your hearts will
be full of joy.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Jn14:16
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Alleluia, alleluia!
I shall ask the
Father,
and he will give you
another Advocate
to be with you for
ever.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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John 17:1-11 ©
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Jesus raised his eyes
to heaven and said:
‘Father, the hour has
come:
glorify your Son
so that your Son may
glorify you;
and, through the
power over all mankind that you have given him,
let him give eternal
life to all those you have entrusted to him.
And eternal life is
this:
to know you,
the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom
you have sent.
I have glorified you
on earth
and finished the work
that you gave me to do.
Now, Father, it is
time for you to glorify me
with that glory I had
with you
before ever the world
was.
I have made your name
known
to the men you took
from the world to give me.
They were yours and
you gave them to me,
and they have kept
your word.
Now at last they know
that all you have
given me comes indeed from you;
for I have given them
the teaching you gave to me,
and they have truly
accepted this, that I came from you,
and have believed
that it was you who sent me.
I pray for them;
I am not praying for
the world
but for those you
have given me,
because they belong
to you:
all I have is yours
and all you have is
mine,
and in them I am
glorified.
I am not in the world
any longer,
but they are in the
world,
and
I am coming to you.’
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COMPLETING YOUR JOURNEY WITH A CLEAR CONSCIENCE
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If you
were called to the Lord this evening, would you be ready to face Him? We
would be if only we have a clear conscience that we have discharged all the
responsibilities that have been entrusted to us in life in an honourable
way. Indeed, this was the case of St Paul and Jesus in today’s scripture
readings. Both of them knew that their end was near. Both of them
examined their conscience in all honesty before God as to whether they had been
faithful to their responsibilities in life. St Paul said, “You know what
my way of life has been ever since the first day I set foot among you in Asia,
how I have served the Lord in all humility, with all the sorrows and trials
that came to me through the plots of the Jews. I have not hesitated to do
anything that would be helpful to you; I have preached to you, and instructed
you both in public and in your homes, urging both Jews and Greeks to turn to
God and to believe in our Lord Jesus.” In a similar vein, Jesus also declared,
“I have glorified you on earth and finished the work that you gave me to
do.” Truly, they have every reason to feel confident in meeting their
Heavenly Father.
In both
cases, we see their total commitment to their vocation and mission right to the
end, even in the face of trials and tribulations. How inspiring indeed,
when we read of St Paul’s single-mindedness in his determination to finish the
task he was appointed to do. He not only did not flinch in the face of
threats or imminent suffering and death, but instead he confidently said, “But
life to me is not a thing to waste words on, provided that when I finish my
race I have carried out the mission the Lord Jesus gave me – and that was to
bear witness to the Good News of God’s grace.” So, too, Jesus resolutely
took the road to Jerusalem when He realized that the only way to give glory to
the Father was to give His life for Him and for humanity on the cross.
Neither did He regret, knowing that His mission would apparently end in failure
on the cross. His desire was only to do the Father’s will and to show the
world that He loved His Father.
What
about us? Can we in all honesty say that we have done our best in
whichever vocation the Lord has appointed us to? If you are married, can
you truthfully say that you have been faithful to your marriage vows; that you
have loved your spouse more than yourself, to the extent of even giving up your
freedom and self-interests for the happiness of your spouse? If you have
not, then you have failed in your commitment to love your spouse the way the
Lord loves His Church and sacrificed His life for us to make us pure and
spotless. (cf Eph 5:26-27)
When you appear before the Lord, He will ask you, “Did you love like me?”
As for
those of us who are parents, teachers and leaders, the Lord will also ask us
whether we have been true guardians of the souls of those entrusted to our
care. Have we put the interests of our children and subordinates before
ours? We must never forget that when God appoints us to be parents and
leaders or superiors, whether at home, in Church or at the office, we are given
the task of looking after the welfare of those given to our care. A
leader is a minister, one who makes himself or herself small so that he or she
can serve as a servant-leader. A leader must have the interests of those
whom he leads before his own. When we put our convenience, pleasure,
comfort and interests before them, we are self-serving. If anyone wishes
to assume leadership in order to gain more wealth, power, privileges and
status, he or she would have to account for the abuses of authority before the
Lord.
We can
never die in peace when the time comes for us to leave this world, when we know
that we have been negligent and irresponsible in many things. When we
fail to live up to the vocation the Lord has chosen for us, we fail as
persons. Real failure is not determined by worldly estimation of success
but whether we have been faithful to our office and vocation. Blessed
Mother Teresa constantly reminded us that we are called to be faithful, not
successful. If we are faithful even if we have not been successful, we
can depart from this world and return to the Lord in peace. But even if
we have been successful and have brought results, insofar as we have not given
ourselves completely to our tasks and responsibilities and to the people
entrusted to our care, we are true failures.
Like St
Paul and Jesus, we are called to glorify God by our lives. In everything
we do, we must seek to make the Father’s love known and experienced in our
words and deeds. In a certain sense, all of us represent not just Jesus
in the world, especially to all those whom we serve and meet, but we are called
to manifest the compassionate and loving face of the Father. God is known
and loved when we show forth His glory in us by acting out His love for us.
Nevertheless,
we must also qualify that just because we have been faithful to our vocation
and responsibilities in life, it does not mean that we are not fearful of the
future. Jesus was certainly filled with anguish and fear at the Garden of
Gethsemane. So, too, was St Paul, knowing the trials ahead of him!
And this is true for all of us in positions of responsibility. By
undertaking an office or choosing a path in life, let us not pretend that the
journey is going to be smooth. On the contrary, the path will be rocky
and at times unbearable. Being a loving and selfless spouse is not
easy. So too, being a priest called to be a man totally for others, serving
humbly, selflessly with compassion and living a life of purity, obedience and
poverty is a tall order.
For
this reason, we must never think that we can accomplish the work of God and the
responsibilities given to us by our own strength. We need the grace of
God and His mercy. St Paul knew that he had to depend totally on
the Lord. Jesus prayed to His Father for Himself and for us all. He
said, “I pray for them; I am not praying for the world but for those you have
given me, because they belong to you: all I have is yours and all you have is
mine and in them I am glorified.” We must turn to the Lord, for as the
psalmist says, “Blessed day by day be the Lord, who bears our burdens; God, who
is our salvation. God is a saving God for us; the Lord, my Lord, controls the
passageways of death.” When we know that God is on our side, then even
when we suffer, we can also say with St Paul, “life to me is not a thing to
waste words on, provided that when I finish my race I have carried out the
mission the Lord Jesus gave me.”
So let
us persevere right to the end. Let us fight the good fight and finish the
race so that when we arrive at our death-bed, death need not be met with fear,
guilt and regret. How sad to come to the end of our lives and regret that
we have not done what we should and could have done! Only those who have
given themselves totally and died to themselves in this life for God and their
fellowmen, will face death with joy, surrender and liberation, because they
know that they did not live in vain and that they will share the glory of God
as Jesus did.
Life is
short, eternity is forever. So choose your end! Why not consider
writing out your own eulogy because the eulogy given to us by others is not the
full truth about ourselves. When you leave this world, don’t just be
concerned what others will say of you but what you will say of yourself and
most of all, what God would say to you! Would you be able to declare
before God that you had been the person that God had always intended you to be and
that you had lived out your being in your doing so completely that your
existence is identified with your existent? As for St Paul, he said, “And so
here and now I swear that my conscience is clear as far as all of you are
concerned, for I have without faltering put before you the whole of God’s
purpose.” Is your conscience as clear as St Paul’s? Are you
confident to appear before the judgment seat of God?
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh
Roman
Catholic Archbishop of Singapore
©
All Rights Reserved
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