THE VISION OF GOD FOR HUMANITY

20150801 THE VISION OF GOD FOR HUMANITY

Readings at Mass

First reading

Leviticus 25:1,8-17 ©

The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai. He said:

  ‘You are to count seven weeks of years – seven times seven years, that is to say a period of seven weeks of years, forty-nine years. And on the tenth day of the seventh month you shall sound the trumpet; on the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout the land. You will declare this fiftieth year sacred and proclaim the liberation of all the inhabitants of the land. This is to be a jubilee for you; each of you will return to his ancestral home, each to his own clan. This fiftieth year is to be a jubilee year for you: you will not sow, you will not harvest the ungathered corn, you will not gather from the untrimmed vine. The jubilee is to be a holy thing to you, you will eat what comes from the fields.

  ‘In this year of jubilee each of you is to return to his ancestral home. If you buy or sell with your neighbour, let no one wrong his brother. If you buy from your neighbour, this must take into account the number of years since the jubilee: according to the number of productive years he will fix the price. The greater the number of years, the higher shall be the price demanded; the less the number of years, the greater the reduction; for what he is selling you is a certain number of harvests. Let none of you wrong his neighbour, but fear your God; I am the Lord your God.’

Psalm

Psalm 66:2-3,5,7-8 ©

Let the peoples praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you.

O God, be gracious and bless us

  and let your face shed its light upon us.

So will your ways be known upon earth

  and all nations learn your saving help.

Let the peoples praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you.

Let the nations be glad and exult

  for you rule the world with justice.

With fairness you rule the peoples,

  you guide the nations on earth.

Let the peoples praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you.

The earth has yielded its fruit

  for God, our God, has blessed us.

May God still give us his blessing

  till the ends of the earth revere him.

Let the peoples praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you.

Gospel Acclamation

cf.Lk8:15

Alleluia, alleluia!

Blessed are those who,

with a noble and generous heart,

take the word of God to themselves

and yield a harvest through their perseverance.

Alleluia!

Or

Mt5:10

Alleluia, alleluia!

Happy those who are persecuted

in the cause of right,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Matthew 14:1-12 ©

Herod the tetrarch heard about the reputation of Jesus, and said to his court, ‘This is John the Baptist himself; he has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.’

  Now it was Herod who had arrested John, chained him up and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. For John had told him, ‘It is against the Law for you to have her.’ He had wanted to kill him but was afraid of the people, who regarded John as a prophet. Then, during the celebrations for Herod’s birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company, and so delighted Herod that he promised on oath to give her anything she asked. Prompted by her mother she said, ‘Give me John the Baptist’s head, here, on a dish.’ The king was distressed but, thinking of the oaths he had sworn and of his guests, he ordered it to be given her, and sent and had John beheaded in the prison. The head was brought in on a dish and given to the girl who took it to her mother. John’s disciples came and took the body and buried it; then they went off to tell Jesus.

THE VISION OF GOD FOR HUMANITY

SCRIPTURE READINGS: LV 25:1, 8-17; MT 14:1-12

What is the vision of God for humanity in His plan of salvation?  God wants us to share in His love and life.  This entails that we are in communion with Him and in communion with the human family. He desires that humanity lives in true brotherhood, in unity based on the principles of love, justice and equality. This magnificent plan of God unfolds itself in the establishment of the People of God, the constitution of Israel as a nation.  In order to preserve the harmonious relationship between Israel and God and among themselves, God gave them a set of laws which we call the Mosaic Laws.

Among these laws, one of the most important is that of the Jubilee law.  Every seventh year was a sabbatical year and at the end of every seven sabbatical years there was a year of jubilee.  Hence, the Jubilee year came every fifty years.  According to this jubilee tradition, all debts were to be forgiven.  Slaves were set free and land sold in repayment of a debt must be returned to its original owner (Lev 25:23-28).  In this way, justice and equality among all inhabitants was restored.

This Jubilee tradition with respect to the regulation of land and social relationships appears to be merely a pragmatic means of keeping social order.  Yet the basis of such a social program is rooted not so much in humanitarian concerns but a theological reality, namely, that God is the ultimate owner of the land. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, to be your God.” (Lev 25:38) Whatever we have in this world does not belong to us but to God who is the master.  We are merely stewards of God’s gifts and God’s creation.  God loves all His people and He does not want anyone of us to be poor or be in servitude.  Hence, He wants to re-establish the right social relationships and proper economic order among His people.

Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingdom message is certainly in line with the spirit of this Jubilee Tradition.  He began His ministry in the power of the Spirit in the background of the Jubilee Tradition, like all the prophets before Him, including John the Baptist, who was the last in the line of the Old Testament prophets.  At Nazareth where He inaugurated His ministry, He deliberately cited from Isaiah 61:1-2 which says, “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour …” (Lk 4:18-19)

What are the implications of this message for us all?  In the first place, it means that we cannot dissociate the spiritual message of the Kingdom of God from the social, political and economic dimensions of the gospel.  Although the gospel does not offer a blueprint for how we should implement social or political policies, it does give us the principles of how society should be governed according to the spiritual values of the gospel, which is based on compassion, equality and justice.  The first reading reminds us that we must be fair in our dealings with our brothers and sisters. These fundamental values are underpinned by a theological understanding that every human person is a child of God and therefore must be given his rightful dignity.  Social justice and human rights are rooted in the fact that man is created in God’s image and likeness.

Secondly, it follows that we are not living an authentic Christian life if we are purely contented with a spiritual and liturgical life.  Just attending mass and saying prayers, and even reading the Word of God alone, does not make us a true Christian.  When our spiritual life is dichotomized from the concrete practice of Christian love and charity towards our neighbours, that kind of faith is self-centered and individualistic, since it bears no fruits in love and service.  In the final analysis, we will be judged by whether we love our brothers and sisters, for as St John says, “for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.  The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also. ” (1 Jn 4:20f)

Thirdly, it shows that Christian charity is not based solely on humanitarianism, that is, compassion for our fellowmen, but on the very fact that all the goods we have belong to God and that we are all equally His sons and daughters.  We are only stewards of God’s gifts, whether it is with regard to wealth, power and resources.  So whatever God has given to us, we must be ready to share our goods with others, especially those who are marginalized and poor. The poor too, are entitled to enjoy the goods of the earth.

Consequently, being a true disciple of the Lord requires that we follow the examples of Jesus and John the Baptist in speaking out for the poor and championing the cause of the weak and the voiceless.  To be a voice for the truth and for what is right of course is a prophetic role that few are ready to assume and are courageous enough to undertake.  To carry out such a role presumes that we ourselves are living an authentic life of justice and a life of poverty.  When we speak in favour of the weak in society and expose the corruption of those in power, we can be certain that we will face tremendous opposition and persecution.  We could even be stripped of our own wealth, power, livelihood, and face harm and threats to our life as well as that of our family’s.  This was true in the case of Jesus and John the Baptist.  As we read in today’s gospel, the price of truth is death and martyrdom.

But is there a choice really?  We can behave like King Herod who was indecisive in the face of truth.  He allowed his selfishness, pride and lust to control the way he acted.  He was afraid of facing the truth about himself.  On one hand, he felt inspired listening to John the Baptist, but on the other hand, he could not obey the Word of God.  As a consequence, he lived in guilt all his life and was haunted by his bad conscience, especially in his cowardly act of putting John the Baptist to death in order to please Herodias and his audience and to protect his pride.  When we are in a position to use our power, authority, status or influence to put things right, but fail to do so, we would certainly have failed in our duty to be God’s prophet.  Our conscience will eventually catch up with us and we will live in regret and guilt like King Herod.

Or would we allow ourselves, like Herodias’ daughter, to be used as a pawn by selfish people to do their evil deeds?  Some of us may not be in a position of power or influence, but we can easily succumb to those in power and authority.  For fear of earning their wrath or falling out of their favour, we suck up to them and cooperate with them in their wrongdoings and acts of injustice.  This is particularly true of subordinates who, for fear of losing their livelihood or the desire for promotion, shrink from voicing their disapproval of dishonest and unscrupulous means used by their superiors to secure business contracts or have their projects approved. By cooperating with them, we too become accomplices to their crimes.

Worse still, if we allow ourselves to become a Herodias; whose heart was so filled with anger, resentment, bitterness and vindictiveness that she would stop at nothing to spew her venom.  She was the chief protagonist in the plot to put John the Baptist away permanently.  Only a person who has become so evil could scheme not only to have the Baptist beheaded but to have his head on a plate, and to even instigate her daughter into cooperating with her heinous crime.  Some of us who are so absorbed by power, possessed by greed and lust, enslaved by anger and revenge, would do anything to destroy our enemies and those who are against us, even when we know they speak the truth.

Today, let us follow the footsteps of our Lord and John the Baptist.  They died for the values espoused by the Law, particularly by the Jubilee Year.  We, too, must pray for courage, integrity and wisdom. The prophet Micah asked, “O man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God!” (Mic 6:8)

Written by The Most Rev William Goh

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore

© All Rights Reserved

SEEING GOD IN THE ORDINARY

20150731 SEEING GOD IN THE ORDINARY

Readings at Mass

First reading

Leviticus 23:1,4-11,15-16,27,34-37 ©

The Lord spoke to Moses. He said:

  ‘These are the Lord’s solemn festivals, the sacred assemblies to which you are to summon the sons of Israel on the appointed day.

  ‘The fourteenth day of the first month, between the two evenings, is the Passover of the Lord; and the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of Unleavened Bread for the Lord. For seven days you shall eat bread without leaven. On the first day you are to hold a sacred assembly; you must do no heavy work. For seven days you shall offer a burnt offering to the Lord. The seventh day is to be a day of sacred assembly; you must do no work.’

  The Lord spoke to Moses. He said:

  ‘Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them:

  ‘“When you enter the land that I give you, and gather in the harvest there, you must bring the first sheaf of your harvest to the priest, and he is to present it to the Lord with the gesture of offering, so that you may be acceptable. The priest shall make this offering on the day after the sabbath.

  ‘“From the day after the sabbath, the day on which you bring the sheaf of offering, you are to count seven full weeks. You are to count fifty days, to the day after the seventh sabbath, and then you are to offer the Lord a new oblation.

  ‘“The tenth day of the seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. You are to hold a sacred assembly. You must fast, and you must offer a burnt offering to the Lord.

  ‘“The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of Tabernacles for the Lord, lasting seven days. The first day is a day of sacred assembly; you must do no heavy work. For seven days you must offer a burnt offering to the Lord. On the eighth day you are to hold a sacred assembly, you must offer a burnt offering to the Lord. It is a day of solemn meeting; you must do no heavy work.

  ‘“These are the solemn festivals of the Lord to which you are to summon the children of Israel, sacred assemblies for the purpose of offering burnt offerings, holocausts, oblations, sacrifices and libations to the Lord, according to the ritual of each day.”’

Psalm

Psalm 80:3-6,10-11 ©

Ring out your joy to God our strength.

Raise a song and sound the timbrel,

  the sweet-sounding harp and the lute;

blow the trumpet at the new moon,

  when the moon is full, on our feast.

Ring out your joy to God our strength.

For this is Israel’s law,

  a command of the God of Jacob.

He imposed it as a rule on Joseph,

  when he went out against the land of Egypt.

Ring out your joy to God our strength.

Let there be no foreign god among you.

  no worship of an alien god.

I am the Lord your God,

  who brought you from the land of Egypt.

  Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

Ring out your joy to God our strength.

Gospel Acclamation

cf.1Th2:13

Alleluia, alleluia!

Accept God’s message for what it really is:

God’s message, and not some human thinking.

Alleluia!

Or

1P1:25

Alleluia, alleluia!

The word of the Lord remains for ever:

What is this word?

It is the Good News that has been brought to you.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Matthew 13:54-58 ©

Coming to his home town, Jesus taught the people in their synagogue in such a way that they were astonished and said, ‘Where did the man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? This is the carpenter’s son, surely? Is not his mother the woman called Mary, and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Jude? His sisters, too, are they not all here with us? So where did the man get it all?’ And they would not accept him. But Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is only despised in his own country and in his own house’, and he did not work many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

SEEING GOD IN THE ORDINARY

SCRIPTURE READINGS: LEV 23:1-37; MT 13: 54-58

In our lives, we must have come across many great, famous and charismatic people.  And we have been impressed by them.  Yet, who are those people that are really great? Are they those who are highly gifted; making themselves so awesome to approach; making us feel small when we speak to them? Or are they those who are highly gifted and yet appear and relate to us as if they are normal and ordinary people?  Indeed, the truly, truly great are those who are great per se but make themselves so ordinary; are so humble in their ways, making us feel that we are somebody before them.  I was told by the helpers of MC that when Mother Teresa came, she lived among the sisters and lived as one of them without any special treatment accorded to her.  That is indeed someone really great.

Yes, this is the theme of today’s gospel.  God comes to us in ordinary ways, in very human ways.  Unfortunately, like the people in Jesus’ hometown, many of us cannot accept that God can manifest Himself to us that way.  The people could not accept Jesus because they knew Him too well.  He was so ordinary, He was one of them.  They knew His family and relatives too.  How could one with such a village background be the Messiah who was promised in the Old Testament? And so they rejected Him, as they would again at the crucifixion.  They wanted God to appear in more fantastic and spectacular ways.  Yes, Jesus was a scandal to them.

But that is not the way of God.  In fact, God has always revealed and related to us in ordinary and human ways.  The first reading from the book of Leviticus prescribes the three great festivals of Israel, viz, the Passover, Weeks or Pentecost; and Tabernacles.  The lives of the Jews were structured around these three great feasts.  The origin of the Passover was a pastoral festival which celebrates the spring yeaning.  The Feast of Pentecost, also called the Feast of Weeks, is simply the harvest festival, the feast of the first-fruits of the grain harvest.  The Feast of Tabernacles celebrated at autumn is actually a harvest festival for the fruits of the threshing floor and wine press.  Like Passover and Pentecost, Tabernacles combines an agricultural motif and a historical motif which developed later on.

What, then, are the implications for us with regard to our own lives and in our relationship with others?

Firstly, with regard to ourselves, how should we live our lives?  We should live ordinary lives in an extraordinary way.  That is to say, we should just be.  There is no need to make a show of what we do or who we are.  When we are natural with ourselves, we will radiate the love of God and the presence of God.  But when we attempt to exaggerate the uniqueness in us, we become artificial and phony.  Being ordinary does not mean to be mediocre.  Mediocre people are those who pretend to be what they are not and, worse of all, fall short of what they pretend to be.  Precisely, Jesus was so ordinary that people who lacked the faith-vision or God-vision could not see His divine presence.

Secondly, with regard to others, we should not be too impressed by what they do and who they are.  Quite often, we are easily impressed by how the person speaks and dresses, and the credentials and offices he holds.  And we tend to treat those who are more impressive with greater respect and honour.  But let us not be deceived.  Not all of them are truly great people.  They might be impressive, but behind the mask of their externals, they could be hiding deep insecurities and inferiority.  Rather, the great man is one who is truly great but thinks that he is ordinary.  He does not want to be treated differently and prefers to be just ordinary.  They are the people who are wise and great and who live happy lives.  These are people whom we should really look up to so that we too can live full lives.

But to think and live that way takes faith. Jesus told us in the gospel to see how God is working in our ordinary lives.  Without faith, we cannot see the prophetic signs of God working through the lives of others and in our ordinary events.  And like the people of Jesus’ time, we will deprive ourselves of experiencing the miracles of God in our lives.  So the question is:  do we see the world with the vision of God and Jesus, or through the eyes of the world?

Written by The Most Rev William Goh

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore

© All Rights Reserved

THE CONCLUSION

20150730 THE CONCLUSION

Readings at Mass

First reading

Exodus 40:16-21,34-38 ©

The tabernacle is set up

Moses did exactly as the Lord had directed him. The tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month in the second year. Moses erected the tabernacle. He fixed the sockets for it, put up its frames, put its crossbars in position, set up its posts. He spread the tent over the tabernacle and on top of this the covering for the tent, as the Lord had directed Moses. He took the Testimony and placed it inside the ark. He set the shafts to the ark and placed the throne of mercy on it. He brought the ark into the tabernacle and put the screening veil in place; thus he screened the ark of the Lord, as the Lord had directed Moses.

  The cloud covered the Tent of Meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because of the cloud that rested on it and because of the glory of the Lord that filled the tabernacle.

  At every stage of their journey, whenever the cloud rose from the tabernacle the sons of Israel would resume their march. If the cloud did not rise, they waited and would not march until it did. For the cloud of the Lord rested on the tabernacle by day, and a fire shone within the cloud by night, for all the House of Israel to see. And so it was for every stage of their journey.

Psalm

Psalm 83:3-6,8,11 ©

How lovely is your dwelling-place, Lord, God of hosts.

My soul is longing and yearning,

  is yearning for the courts of the Lord.

My heart and my soul ring out their joy

  to God, the living God.

How lovely is your dwelling-place, Lord, God of hosts.

The sparrow herself finds a home

  and the swallow a nest for her brood;

she lays her young by your altars,

  Lord of hosts, my king and my God.

How lovely is your dwelling-place, Lord, God of hosts.

They are happy, who dwell in your house,

  for ever singing your praise.

They walk with ever-growing strength,

  they will see the God of gods in Zion.

How lovely is your dwelling-place, Lord, God of hosts.

One day within your courts

  is better than a thousand elsewhere.

The threshold of the house of God

  I prefer to the dwellings of the wicked.

How lovely is your dwelling-place, Lord, God of hosts.

Gospel Acclamation

Jn15:15

Alleluia, alleluia!

I call you friends, says the Lord,

because I have made known to you

everything I have learnt from my Father.

Alleluia!

Or	cf.Ac16:14

Alleluia, alleluia!

Open our heart, O Lord,

to accept the words of your Son.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Matthew 13:47-53 ©

Jesus said to the crowds, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea that brings in a haul of all kinds. When it is full, the fishermen haul it ashore; then, sitting down, they collect the good ones in a basket and throw away those that are no use. This is how it will be at the end of time: the angels will appear and separate the wicked from the just to throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.

  ‘Have you understood all this?’ They said, ‘Yes.’ And he said to them, ‘Well then, every scribe who becomes a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out from his storeroom things both new and old.’

THE CONCLUSION

SCRIPTURE READINGS: EX 40:16-21, 34-38; MT 13:47-53

Today’s scripture readings provide us with two apparently different conclusions.  The first reading from the Book of Exodus concludes with the installation of the tabernacle.  It would henceforth be in this place that God would specially meet His people.  It would be at the Tabernacle that His presence would be felt strongly.  “The cloud covered the Tent of Meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.  Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because of the cloud that rested on it and because of the glory of the Lord that filled the tabernacle.”  It would also be the way the Lord would guide His people for the rest of the journey through the desert.  “At every stage of their journey, whenever the cloud rose from the tabernacle the sons of Israel would resume their march.  If the cloud did not rise, they waited and would not march until it did.”

In the gospel too, we have another conclusion to the parables of the Kingdom of God.  In the structure of St Matthew’s gospel, chapter 5-7, we have the Sermon on the Mount which presents the perfect ideal of the Kingdom of God.  Chapters 8-10 concretize the kingdom of God in the miracles performed by Jesus, and chapters 11-13 expound on the hidden nature of the kingdom by means of parables.  Appropriately, the end sums up the message of judgment illustrated in the parable of the dragnet, where the good would then be separated from the bad.  After judgment, those not found worthy of the kingdom would be cast “into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.”

At first glance, perhaps, we do not see the close connection between these two endings.  Yet, both are very much related to the presence and the reign of God.  The presence of God that filled the Tabernacle was a local presence in a place.  The reign of God that Jesus preached in the New Covenant is not located in a place but in the hearts of all men and women.  Whenever God reigns in our hearts, there God is present.  There will be joy and freedom for those who live under the New Law of the Kingdom, because we have God ruling our lives.  Unlike the Law of the Old Covenant, the New Law as summed up by the Sermon on the Mount goes beyond the Mosaic Law.  It spells out the true spirit of the laws given to us.

In a real sense therefore, the kingdom of God is already present in different degrees in us whenever we open ourselves to the grace of the Kingdom.  So the expectation of the kingdom cannot be relegated to the end of time.  Rather, at every moment of our lives, we are either rejecting the life of the kingdom or living under the Spirit of the Kingdom.  When we see the end of the kingdom in this perspective then the final judgment is not something to be feared but to be longed for.  If we find ourselves fearful of the judgment as portrayed in today’s gospel, it is because we tend to interpret the parable of the final judgment literally, as if we are appearing before God to be judged, like in a human court, and then after receiving our due sentence, sent to hell or to heaven.  Rather, the parable must be understood as a vehicle to make us realize that the decision for the fullness of life here and now will have an impact on our final decision.

From this perspective, the final judgment is not something to be feared. Rather, the judgment must be seen as the permanent establishment of the reign of God in our lives where there will be no more pain or sorrow.  With His reign, there will be peace, joy and love forever.  Where could this place be if not in the heart of God Himself?  Heaven, a state of eternal bliss and joy and love should be where we all hope to arrive.  Death is not a punishment but the passage to new life and the fullness of life.

For this reason, the psalmist declares, “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord, mighty God!  My soul yearns and pines for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Blessed they who dwell in your house! Continually they praise you. I had rather one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I had rather lie at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.”  We all have had a taste of this state of heaven, of living in the Tabernacle of God when we come before His presence in prayer, in intimacy and especially when we receive Him in the most Holy Eucharist. To dwell in the presence of God gives us a joy and a peace that no human being can give us.

But the fact remains that sin and God are incompatible, like light and darkness.  You cannot have God and Satan.  If we desire to come to the Lord, we need to purify ourselves in all sincerity.  Of course, we know that perfection is not something within our will, but it depends on the grace of God.  What is important is that we cooperate with His grace as much as we can.  When we fail, we simply have to turn to our merciful God in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, trusting in His mercy and coming to realization that our sins hurt God as much as ourselves and the people around us.  So there is no reason to fear judgment because we know that God’s judgment will be tampered by mercy and forgiveness.  Of course this does not mean that we become presumptuous of His mercy and continue to sin without a real desire for repentance.  Without a contrite heart, we would then be consciously rejecting the kingdom of God, which is quite different from one who desires to live the kingdom life but on account of his weakness and ignorance fall into sin.

So what would our conclusion be like? Have you considered your conclusion at the end of your life?  Is it going to be one of liberation, joy and satisfaction, knowing that you have lived your life to the fullest with a clear conscience before God and man?  Would you be able to say with St Paul, “As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come.  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”  (2 Tim 4:6-8)

St Paul could look forward to the fullness of the coming of God’s kingdom only because he had chosen to be with the Lord every day and every moment of his life.  He was always living in the presence of God, in His dwelling place, whether he was awake or asleep, at work or at rest, in prayer or with people.  We too can already have a share in this kingdom life to come when we live in full consciousness of His presence and love in a life of service, charity, forgiveness and compassion.  This is what the Lord is asking of us.

Just as God was with His people at every stage of their journey by making His presence felt in the Tabernacle, signified by a cloud and fire, so too, we must allow His presence to guide us.  At every stage of our life, we must rest and ponder the direction we are taking, like the people of God during the Exodus.  We read that “if the cloud did not rise, they waited and would not march until it did.  For the cloud of the Lord rested on the tabernacle by day, and a fire shone within the cloud by night, for all the House of Israel to see.  And so it was for every stage of their journey.”

So too, Jesus urges us to respond rightly at every moment when He advised us, “Well then, every scribe who becomes a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out from his storeroom things both new and old.”  We must learn from our mistakes, from our past, whilst working towards the future.  From the storeroom, that is, the past and the present, we must maximize the lessons from our failures and the good we have done. From the storeroom of our history and our faith, let us, whilst appreciating and valuing the past, also be receptive to the new ways the Lord wants to work in our lives.  Forgetting our past will hurt us as much as living in the past, and forgetting the grace of the present moment coming our way will hinder us from allowing the future to take its full effect in our lives.  By bringing the past, the present and the future together in Christ, we will gradually make progress in the life of the kingdom.  As the author of Hebrews tells us, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Heb 13:8)

Written by The Most Rev William Goh

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore

© All Rights Reserved