Monday, 8 June 2015

FIDELITY TO OUR CHRISTIAN IDENTITY

20150609 FIDELITY TO OUR CHRISTIAN IDENTITY

Readings at Mass

First reading
2 Corinthians 1:18-22 ©
I swear by God’s truth, there is no Yes and No about what we say to you. The Son of God, the Christ Jesus that we proclaimed among you – I mean Silvanus and Timothy and I – was never Yes and No: with him it was always Yes, and however many the promises God made, the Yes to them all is in him. That is why it is ‘through him’ that we answer Amen to the praise of God. Remember it is God himself who assures us all, and you, of our standing in Christ, and has anointed us, marking us with his seal and giving us the pledge, the Spirit, that we carry in our hearts.

Psalm
Psalm 118:129-133,135 ©
Let your face shine on your servant.
Your will is wonderful indeed;
  therefore I obey it.
The unfolding of your word gives light
  and teaches the simple.
Let your face shine on your servant.
I open my mouth and I sigh
  as I yearn for your commands.
Turn and show me your mercy;
  show justice to your friends.
Let your face shine on your servant.
Let my steps be guided by your promise;
  let no evil rule me.
Let your face shine on your servant
  and teach me your decrees.
Let your face shine on your servant.

Gospel Acclamation
Ph2:15-16
Alleluia, alleluia!
You will shine in the world like bright stars
because you are offering it the word of life.
Alleluia!
Or
Mt5:16
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your light must shine in the sight of men,
so that, seeing your good works,
they may give the praise to your Father in heaven.
Alleluia!

Gospel
Matthew 5:13-16 ©
Jesus said to his disciples, ‘You are the salt of the earth. But if salt becomes tasteless, what can make it salty again? It is good for nothing, and can only be thrown out to be trampled underfoot by men.
  ‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house. In the same way your light must shine in the sight of men, so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven.’

FIDELITY TO OUR CHRISTIAN IDENTITY


SCRIPTURE READINGS: 2 Cor 1:18-22; Ps 118:129-133,135; Mt 5:13-16
In the gospel, we are called to be salt of the earth and light of the world.   We do not become Christian simply for our salvation but for the salvation of the whole world.  As Christians, we are called to evangelize and to mission.   Sharing the faith is an obligation of all Christians because the nature of the Church is missionary.
How can we be effective evangelizers of Christ?   In the first place, we must avoid being secularized by the world.  To be salt of the earth means that we are to protect ourselves from being contaminated by the world with its selfish and negative values of life.  To be salted with the gospel means that we will use the gospel as a weapon to fight against moral decadence.  This is all the more important today because we are allowing the world, rather than the gospel, to dictate to us the values of life.  Sadly, even though many call themselves Catholics, they no longer subscribe or obey the Word of God in their lives, especially in the areas of morality, in marriage, family life or in bioethics.  Many Catholics are not taking direction from the magisterium with regard to ethics and morality but according to what the world says.
Jesus warns us not to hide the light we have received.  “You are the light of the world.  A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden.  No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house.”  We hide the light when we are reticent about our being known as Christians.   We hide the light when we do not speak out for the truth, for justice and for Jesus.  Some of us just follow the crowd, secularized by the world instead of being a beacon to society.  Often, Catholics are quiet instead of speaking up and helping society to understand the truth about life and love.   The worst of course are those who not only dim the light by living a sinful life but deny the light because they never practice their faith.
Positively, to be salt of the earth is to show that we make a difference in the lives of our people, contributing positively to society in the promotion of life, fostering love and unity in the world.  Like salt, we are to enrich the lives of our fellowmen by adding flavor to their lives.   We can influence them positively by sharing with them the gospel that offers us the fullness of life.  This is done not only through words but by our examples.  Through our conduct and Christian living, we are to give glory to God, “so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven.”
To be the light of the world is to enlighten others about our beliefs.  We must be ready to give an account for our belief in Christ.  It is our duty to help the world understand what we believe and why we believe.  In the work of the New Evangelization, it is not sufficient to present or explain our faith to the world but we must do it in a way that is beautiful, attractive and relevant.  Through our good works, examples and our teaching, the world can then come to appreciate our faith in Christ.
To help us to be faithful to our calling as Christ’s salt and light of the world, we must imitate Christ’s fidelity to His Father, His mission and to us. He was faithful to His mission until death.  He remained faithful to us in the Church and when He interceded for us.  That is why St Paul called him the Great “Amen.”  St John wrote, “The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin of God’s creation.”  (Rev 3:14)  To address Jesus our great Amen is to say that we trust Him completely in His promises, His love and mercy for us.  St Paul, when accused of being unfaithful and untrustworthy, claimed his worthiness from Christ Himself.  He said that he had been faithful to Christ.
Indeed, without fidelity to Christ and the gospel, we cannot proclaim the Good News effectively.  Whether we like it or not, the credibility of the message is linked to the credibility of the messenger.  In Jesus, the message and the person are one.  Jesus is the Word of God in person.  What Jesus said is who He is.  There is no dichotomy between His words and His actions.  This is what St Paul meant when he said, “I swear by God’s truth, there is no Yes and No about what we say to you.  The Son of God, the Christ Jesus that we proclaimed among you – I mean Silvanus and Timothy and I – was never Yes and No: with him it was always Yes, and however many the promises God made, the Yes to them all is in him.”  Christ was faithful to Himself and He was always trustworthy.  In the same way too, St Paul defended his actions and accusations that he was not reliable or unfaithful to the promises he had made.  It is therefore of utmost importance that if we were to be accepted as true messengers of God and believed in our words, then in our conduct and words, we must not make empty promises or say things that we do not do or cannot do.  Otherwise, if we are not trusted, they will not trust our message as well. To be an effective witness, we must walk the talk and not just talk. 
What is the secret of their fidelity to their vocation?  They knew their identity.  Through the Holy Spirit, St Paul says, we also know our identity. He wrote, “Remember it is God himself who assures us all, and you, of our standing in Christ, and has anointed us marking us with his seal and giving us the pledge, the Spirit, that we carry in our hearts.”  Indeed, if the fervor for evangelization is lost, it is because we have lost the consciousness of our identity as the disciples of Christ and the sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father.  If we are like St Paul who spoke of being sealed with the mark of Christ, then we will know that we belong to Christ and He is our master.  Not only do we belong to Christ but we also share in the foretaste of the benefits of being His adopted brothers and sisters.  As Christians, because of the Holy Spirit, we already have a share of our experience as sons and daughters of God.
The truth is that if we belong to Christ, then we must identify ourselves as His faithful servant.  Who is not proud to let the world know who he belongs to?  Won’t a person be proud to let the world know if the Pope were his relative?  We want the world to know that we are related to someone important and famous.  How is it that as Catholics we do not seem to want the world to know that we are Christians?  Like what Christ said, we want to hide the lamp.   So if we are afraid to let Jesus be known in us or that we are related to Jesus, we are no better than Peter who denied Christ three times before the cock crew.
That is why, with the psalmist, we must pray, “Let your face shine on your servant.  Your will is wonderful indeed; therefore I obey it.  The unfolding of your word gives light and teaches the simple. Let my steps be guided by your promise; let no evil rule me. Let your face shine on your servant and teach me your decrees.”
Finally, there is also a warning to those who have lost their saltiness or stow the lamp away.  In the book of Revelation, the Lord says, “I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot.  So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” (Rev 3:15f)  Indeed, if we do not grow, we must be stunted.  So it is important that we be more mindful of the need to withdraw and pray so that we can recover our Christian experience of sonship and the experience of Christ.  Otherwise, we will see our families and country trampled on as Jesus said, “It is good for nothing, and can only be thrown out to be trampled underfoot by men.”  Indeed, when we allow the ungodly values of society to replace the values of the gospel, we will eventually be trampled upon by the world, and we lose our direction in life. Today, many Catholics would subscribe to euthanasia, abortion, surrogate motherhood and same sex union even though these practices blatantly go against the teachings of the scriptures.  By so doing, it would be a matter of time when our families and marriage institution become desacralized.  Indeed, then we will say that advocating such values would be a defeat for humanity.


Written by The Most Rev William Goh
Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore

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