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
8:1-9; MT 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
©
All Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment