Tuesday, 16 June 2015

CHARITY ORIGINATES FROM OUR REALIZATION OF OUR SONSHIP

20150616 CHARITY ORIGINATES FROM OUR REALIZATION OF OUR SONSHIP
Readings at Mass

First reading
2 Corinthians 8:1-9 ©
Now here, brothers, is the news of the grace of God which was given in the churches in Macedonia; and of how, throughout great trials by suffering, their constant cheerfulness and their intense poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity. I can swear that they gave not only as much as they could afford, but far more, and quite spontaneously, begging and begging us for the favour of sharing in this service to the saints and, what was quite unexpected, they offered their own selves first to God and, under God, to us.
  Because of this, we have asked Titus, since he has already made a beginning, to bring this work of mercy to the same point of success among you. You always have the most of everything – of faith, of eloquence, of understanding, of keenness for any cause, and the biggest share of our affection – so we expect you to put the most into this work of mercy too. It is not an order that I am giving you; I am just testing the genuineness of your love against the keenness of others. Remember how generous the Lord Jesus was: he was rich, but he became poor for your sake, to make you rich out of his poverty.

Psalm
Psalm 145:2,5-9 ©
My soul, give praise to the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
I will praise the Lord all my days,
  make music to my God while I live.
My soul, give praise to the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
He is happy who is helped by Jacob’s God,
  whose hope is in the Lord his God,
who alone made heaven and earth,
  the seas and all they contain.
My soul, give praise to the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
It is he who keeps faith for ever,
  who is just to those who are oppressed.
It is he who gives bread to the hungry,
  the Lord, who sets prisoners free.
My soul, give praise to the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
It is the Lord who gives sight to the blind,
  who raises up those who are bowed down,
the Lord, who protects the stranger
  and upholds the widow and orphan.
My soul, give praise to the Lord.
or
Alleluia!

Gospel Acclamation
2Co5:19
Alleluia, alleluia!
God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself,
and he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled.
Alleluia!
Or
Jn13:34
Alleluia, alleluia!
I give you a new commandment:
love one another just as I have loved you,
says the Lord.
Alleluia!

Gospel
Matthew 5:43-48 ©
Jesus said to his disciples, ‘You have learnt how it was said: You must love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say this to you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; in this way you will be sons of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on bad men as well as good, and his rain to fall on honest and dishonest men alike. For if you love those who love you, what right have you to claim any credit? Even the tax collectors do as much, do they not? And if you save your greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional? Even the pagans do as much, do they not? You must therefore be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.’


CHARITY ORIGINATES FROM OUR REALIZATION OF OUR SONSHIP

SCRIPTURE READINGS: 2 CORINTHIANS 8:1-9MT 5:43-48
The teachings of Jesus are not easy to digest.  In the gospel, He challenged His disciples: to “love those who love you, what right have you to claim any credit?  Even the tax collectors do as much, do they not?”  Indeed, we are not doing anything extraordinary by being kind and good to those who are good to us, for, as Jesus said, “Even the pagans do as much, do they not?“   As if this was not controversial enough,  Jesus went further to demand of His disciples, “You have learnt how it was said: You must love your neighbour and hate your enemy.” This is an even more difficult demand.  To be kind and generous to strangers and those who have done nothing for us is already a tall order, but to love our enemies – even if we wanted to, we cannot!  If anything else, our enemies should be thankful that we did not take revenge on them.  But to love them, emotionally it is unthinkable and morally, it is beyond our will.
If we are feeling distressed at what Jesus is asking of us, we can be very certain that even the disciples of Jesus were shocked, not only by the way He taught but by what He taught, for He was going against the demands of justice as understood in the Law of Moses, where the principle of ‘an eye for an eye’ was applied.  Of course, what Moses taught the rebellious Israelites, who were still infantile in their faith, was understandable.  But this would not be the way to true love and freedom.  If Christ appeared to be so demanding, it was because He wanted us to attain the lasting joy and love of the Father.  That is why He backed up His demands by urging us to love in the way He taught us, then “you will be sons of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on bad men as well as good, and his rain to fall on honest and dishonest men alike” and “be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
But who are we?  We can excuse ourselves and say that we are only sinners and human beings.  No one can be perfect like the Heavenly Father is perfect.   No one can love like the Father loves.   So we are doomed to misery and unhappiness.  But this objection appears not to be valid.  For in the first reading we read of how the Christians in Macedonia, in spite of their “great trials by suffering”, remained in “their constant cheerfulness”; and how in spite of “their intense poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity.”  But that is not all, St Paul vouched “that they gave not only as much as they could afford, but far more, and quite spontaneously, begging and begging us for the favour of sharing in this service to the saints and, what was quite unexpected, they offered their own selves first to God and, under God, to us.”
Similarly, in yesterday’s first reading, St Paul, too, shared the attitudes of Christ that he and his fellow apostles themselves had cultivated.  He did not simply use his ecclesiastical authority when he wrote to the rebellious Christians in Corinthians, some of whom were challenging his authority.  Instead, he appealed to his moral authority when he wrote, “we prove we are servants of God by great fortitude in times of suffering:  in times of hardship and distress; when we are flogged, or sent to prison, or mobbed; labouring, sleepless, starving.  We prove we are God’s servants by our purity, knowledge, patience and kindness; by spirit of holiness, by a love free from affection; by the word of truth and by the power of God; by being armed with the weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left, prepared for honour or disgrace, for blame or praise; taken for impostors while we are genuine; obscure yet famous; said to be dying and here are we alive; rumoured to be executed before we are sentenced; thought most miserable and yet we are always rejoicing; taken for paupers though we make others rich, for people having nothing though we have  everything.”  (2 Cor 6:4-10)
How did the Christians in Macedonia become so generous, patient and selfless in charity, not just in forgiveness but in concrete acts of love by sharing their goods?   How many of us can be so generous as to give when we can hardly survive with what we have?  The generosity of the widow’s mite in the gospel is rare among us.  In fact, most of us would justify ourselves by saying that we do not have sufficient money to sustain ourselves and should therefore be exempted from giving to the poor, not just within our Christian community, but outside of our community.   And to speak about being cheerful in our trials and forgiving towards those who have caused us suffering, especially because of our faith, we are far from being so magnanimous.  If there is any goodness in us, it would be merely anger and the decision to cut them off from our lives forever.
If we compare ourselves to St Paul, we pale like a candle in the light of the sun.  I doubt if we would be able to say that we have “proven ourselves as worthy servants”!  Far from living a life of integrity and selflessness, our giving to the Lord and His people is so limited.  More often than not, we serve the people of God like the way pagans love one another.  We are good to those who are good to us.  Our love is not an unconditional love but one that is merely a response to the prior love that we have received from others, or otherwise, when we do something good for others, we tacitly expect gratitude, not just in words but sometimes even in deeds.  Our love is so shallow, and we have the audacity to call that “Christian love”!   And surely, very few of us would be so persevering under persecution, ridicule or when misunderstood for our good intentions.  If we do not curse our oppressors or the ingrates, they should be thankful!  Obviously we do not want to seriously believe that Jesus truly expects us to act on His words, when He said, “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”.  Most likely, we would just gloss over these words of the gospel when we read them.
What, then, is the secret of sharing in the heart of God, in His compassion towards sinners and in His love for all, regardless of whether they are sinners or saints? We are told that the Christians knew Christ personally.  They had meditated on the love of Christ who gave His life for us on the Cross.  Isn’t this how St Paul exhorted the Christians?  “Remember how generous the Lord Jesus was: he was rich, but he became poor for your sake, to make you rich out of his poverty.”  Unless we come to grasp His selfless mercy and love for us, we can never do what He did.
Secondly, we must count our blessings and be grateful for what we have received.  St Paul told the Christians, “You always have the most of everything – of faith, of eloquence, of understanding, of keenness for any cause, and the biggest share of our affection – so we expect you to put the most into this work of mercy too.”   Ingratitude is the cause of the lack of charity and forgiveness.  Until we come to realize how much we have offended the Lord our God in greater and more unpardonable ways, we cannot extend forgiveness to our enemies.  Indeed, we have received not only God’s forgiveness, but we have received so many blessings from Him, health, wealth, comfort, the care and love for our family members and friends, and most of all, the gift of faith to encourage us on in life each day.  How can we be so forgetful of God’s love for us?  We should be like the psalmist in the responsorial psalm saying, “Praise the Lord, my soul! I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God while I live.” Of course, this praise must be expressed in our relationship with our fellowmen by words of love and forgiveness and acts of love and service.
At the root of it all, the only way for us to love the way Jesus and St Paul loved their enemies is to be filled with the love of God.  Without God’s love in our hearts, we cannot love with the love of the Father.  The command of Jesus to love like the Father and forgive like the Father presupposes that we are truly His sons and daughters, not just in name, but in fact.  This is implied in this verse, “in this way you will be sons of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on bad men as well as good, and his rain to fall on honest and dishonest men alike.”  Hence, before the resurrection, the disciples could not live out the commands of Jesus.  But after the resurrection, and with the reception of the Holy Spirit, they were able to go out to the world to impart forgiveness when the Lord said to,them, “Receive the Holy Spirit, for those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven.”  (Jn 20:22).  We, who have received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and at our baptism, and as adopted sons and daughters of God, too, can love like His children.  This precisely is what a renewal of the Holy Spirit in our hearts does for us.  He is the “love of God poured into our hearts” (Rom 5:5).


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