KNOWING THE FATHER THROUGH JESUS IS THE WAY TO FIND PEACE AND SECURITY

20150618 KNOWING THE FATHER THROUGH JESUS IS THE WAY TO FIND PEACE AND SECURITY

Readings at Mass

First reading

2 Corinthians 11:1-11 ©

I only wish you were able to tolerate a little foolishness from me. But of course: you are tolerant towards me. You see, the jealousy that I feel for you is God’s own jealousy: I arranged for you to marry Christ so that I might give you away as a chaste virgin to this one husband. But the serpent, with his cunning, seduced Eve, and I am afraid that in the same way your ideas may get corrupted and turned away from simple devotion to Christ. Because any new-comer has only to proclaim a new Jesus, different from the one that we preached, or you have only to receive a new spirit, different from the one you have already received, or a new gospel, different from the one you have already accepted – and you welcome it with open arms. As far as I can tell, these arch-apostles have nothing more than I have. I may not be a polished speechmaker, but as for knowledge, that is a different matter; surely we have made this plain, speaking on every subject in front of all of you.

  Or was I wrong, lowering myself so as to lift you high, by preaching the gospel of God to you and taking no fee for it? I was robbing other churches, living on them so that I could serve you. When I was with you and ran out of money, I was no burden to anyone; the brothers who came from Macedonia provided me with everything I wanted. I was very careful, and I always shall be, not to be a burden to you in any way, and by Christ’s truth in me, this cause of boasting will never be taken from me in the regions of Achaia. Would I do that if I did not love you? God knows I do.

Psalm

Psalm 110:1-4,7-8 ©

Your works, Lord, are justice and truth.

or

Alleluia!

I will thank the Lord with all my heart

  in the meeting of the just and their assembly.

Great are the works of the Lord,

  to be pondered by all who love them.

Your works, Lord, are justice and truth.

or

Alleluia!

Majestic and glorious his work,

  his justice stands firm for ever.

He makes us remember his wonders.

  The Lord is compassion and love.

Your works, Lord, are justice and truth.

or

Alleluia!

His works are justice and truth,

  his precepts are all of them sure,

standing firm for ever and ever;

  they are made in uprightness and truth.

Your works, Lord, are justice and truth.

or

Alleluia!

Gospel Acclamation

1S3:9,Jn6:68

Alleluia, alleluia!

Speak, Lord, your servant is listening:

you have the message of eternal life.

Alleluia!

Or

Rm8:15

Alleluia, alleluia!

The spirit you received is the spirit of sons,

and it makes us cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’

Alleluia!

Gospel

Matthew 6:7-15 ©

Jesus said to his disciples, ‘In your prayers do not babble as the pagans do, for they think that by using many words they will make themselves heard. Do not be like them; your Father knows what you need before you ask him. So you should pray like this:

‘Our Father in heaven,

may your name be held holy,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us.

And do not put us to the test,

but save us from the evil one.

‘Yes, if you forgive others their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours; but if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failings either.’

KNOWING THE FATHER THROUGH JESUS IS THE WAY TO FIND PEACE AND SECURITY

SCRIPTURE READINGS:  2 COR 11:1-11; MT 6:7-15

We are so miserable and full of anxiety.  As a consequence, we fall into sin because of fear.  St Paul speaks about how easily we are led astray by false lights.  Many of us are sinful and hence can no longer see our sins.  We have a false sense of righteousness that comes with being more closed than open to the mystery of God’s love.  We see absolutes where God sees shades of gray.

The cause of all our problems in life is because we do not know God and especially that God is our Father!  This is the consequence of secularism and materialism.  When you do not believe in God, then one has to depend on oneself.

This is why the proclamation of the Father’s love is the heart of Jesus’ message.  This is why he teaches us the Lord’s Prayer.

But how many of us can truly pray this prayer?  We do not pray with joy and confidence.  If we do, then we would no longer have any fear. We might know the Lord’s Prayer but we do not pray in the Spirit of Christ’s sonship.  We are just like the Pharisees and recite it like a parrot.

What does it mean to pray in Christ’s sonship?  It means to know the Father’s love as Jesus knew Him whom He called Abba Father.  This was the same experience of St Paul too.  Jesus’ life and ministry and teaching are demonstrated by the love of His Father for Him.

God loves us and is jealous for us in love.  This divine jealousy is certainly nothing petty or selfish – in the Old Testament, God’s jealousy was aroused when people turned to false gods or clearly failed in some other way in showing reverence to the one true God.  Even though it’s not often spoken of today, God’s jealousy is still as real as ever!    God is indeed jealous – He wants us to be completely His!  And since our Father in Heaven created us, redeemed us, and showered us with His blessings, there is no reason for Him to settle for anything less on our part….

Secondly, it means to imitate His son.  “Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”   What is the perfection of love? To love our enemies, and love them to the point of their becoming our brothers. For indeed, our love should not be according to the flesh. So love your enemies by wanting them to become your brothers; love your enemies in such a way that they may be drawn into communion with you.  This is in fact how He loved us. When hanging on the cross, He said: “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do” (Lk 23,34). He wanted to snatch us away from everlasting death by this prayer. “By this sign we know that we dwell in him, if we are perfect in him.” Our Lord invites us to this perfection of love when He says: “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Thirdly, if we know the Father’s love we will do His will.  Indeed, it is Jesus’ confidence in the Father’s love that enabled Him to give Himself completely to the Father’s mission.  “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  The will of God is what Christ did and taught: humility in His conduct, solidity in His faith, modesty in His words, justice in His acts, mercy in His works, and discipline in His habits. It is the will of God that we not act wrongly towards anyone, to bear the wrong that is done to us, to maintain peace with our brothers, to love God with all our heart, to love Him because He is the Father, and to fear Him because He is God. Not to prefer anything over Christ, since He preferred us over everything, to adhere inviolably to His love, to stay beneath the cross with courage and trust. When it is a matter of fighting for His name or His honor, to show constancy in our words; to prove that we trust in the midst of difficulties so as to bear the struggle, to be patient in death so as to obtain the crown. That is what wanting to be co-heirs with Christ means: to fulfill God’s precept, to do God’s will.

Fourthly, to love the Father is to love all His children.  That is why the Lord’s prayer is always prayed as a communal prayer.  The Teacher of peace and Master of unity did not want prayer to be made singly and privately, as whoever prayed alone would pray for himself. We do not say My Father, who art in heaven or Give me this day my daily bread; nor does each one ask that only his own debt should be forgiven him; nor does he request for himself alone that he may not be led into temptation but delivered from evil. Our prayer is public and common, and when we pray, we pray not for one person but for the whole people, since we, the whole people, are one. And therefore, as they prayed, their prayers were heard and were fruitful, because a peaceful, sincere, and spiritual prayer deserved well from the Lord. Thus we find the Apostles and the disciples praying after the ascension of the Lord: They all continued with one accord in prayer, with the women and with Mary who was the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. They continued with one accord in prayer, showing, by the urgency and the unanimity of their praying, that God, who makes the inhabitants of a house to be of one mind, only admits to His divine and eternal home those among whom prayer is unanimous.

But it also calls for a concrete living out of this prayer.  What we pray is how we live.  Jesus’ prayer includes an injunction that we must ask God to forgive us in proportion as we forgive those who have wronged us.  Ask the Lord to free your heart of any anger, bitterness, resentment, selfishness, indifference, or coldness towards others. Let the Holy Spirit fill you with the fire of His burning love and compassion and with the river of His overflowing mercy and kindness.

We must also love our neighbour.  God is kind and forgiving towards us and He expects us to treat our neighbour the same. Do you treat others as they deserve, or do you treat them as the Lord would treat you with His grace and favor and mercy?  Like Paul, share the Gospel free of charge. What a joy it is to put people under no obligation when aiding them into a deeper and truer love relationship with Christ!

Loving our neighbour means that we are called to forgive each other because the Father always forgives us.  Again this is the secret of Jesus’ prayer of forgiveness for us on the cross.  We should forgive others for their shortcomings as we would have God forgive us.  What does it mean to forgive?

Certainly it means to pardon, to relieve another of a debt.  But it also means to let go, to release feelings of resentment, to calm the anger and to look past the offence.  This is tough, to forgive others.  It is easy for us to mouth the words, but can we heal the hurts and forget the pain that the other has caused us?  Can we, as does God, wipe the slate clean?  And can we leave to God the things that are God’s – judgment and punishment, vengeance and retribution – and keep to ourselves what Jesus calls us to do – to love without question?

How difficult it is to set aside the rule in Exodus of “an eye for an eye” and to embrace Jesus’ call that we forgive those who wrong us seventy times seven!  And even more difficult than forgiving another is to forgive ourselves, to recognize that we are sinful and not perfect, and so will make mistakes, over and over again, for as long as we live.  Perhaps “forgive” implies too much. God can fully forgive, and God can decide what consequences the victimizer should pay.  Perhaps all we are capable of is trying to love the victimizer as Jesus would, by letting go of our resentments and hurt feelings.  When we remember that we too are sinful, we too hurt others, we too have much to account for, shouldn’t it be easier to see ourselves in the person who has harmed us?  Shouldn’t we be able to see Jesus there as well?

How can we pray in Christ’s Sonship?  To be able to pray the Lord’s Prayer, we must know Jesus and accept Jesus as the son of the Father.  This is eternal life, to know Jesus as the One sent by the Father.  Unfortunately, He came to His own, and His own did not accept Him. But to those who did accept Him, He gave power to become children of God. Whoever believes in God’s name and has become His son, should start here so that He can give thanks and profess Himself to be God’s son, by calling God His Father in heaven.

Finally, it is through the gift of the Holy Spirit that we can know God personally and call him “Abba, Father” (Rom. 8:15). We can approach God our Father with confidence and boldness because Jesus Christ has opened the way to heaven for us through His death and resurrection. When we ask God for help, He fortunately does not give us what we deserve. Instead, He responds with grace and favor and mercy. It is His nature to love generously and to forgive mercifully. When He gives, He gives more than we need so we will have something to share with others in their need as well.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore

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