20150823 CHRISTIANITY AT A CROSS ROAD
Readings at Mass
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First reading
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Joshua
24:1-2,15-18 ©
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Joshua gathered all
the tribes of Israel together at Shechem; then he called the elders, leaders,
judges and scribes of Israel, and they presented themselves before God. Then
Joshua said to all the people, ‘If you will not serve the Lord, choose today
whom you wish to serve, whether the gods that your ancestors served beyond the
River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are now living. As for me
and my House, we will serve the Lord.’
The
people answered, ‘We have no intention of deserting the Lord and serving other
gods! Was it not the Lord our God who brought us and our ancestors out of the
land of Egypt, the house of slavery, who worked those great wonders before our
eyes and preserved us all along the way we travelled and among all the peoples
through whom we journeyed? What is more, the Lord drove all those peoples out
before us, as well as the Amorites who used to live in this country. We too
will serve the Lord, for he is our God.’
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Psalm
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Psalm
33:2-3,16-23 ©
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Taste and see that
the Lord is good.
I will bless the Lord
at all times,
his
praise always on my lips;
in the Lord my soul
shall make its boast.
The humble
shall hear and be glad.
Taste and see that
the Lord is good.
The Lord turns his
face against the wicked
to
destroy their remembrance from the earth.
The Lord turns his
eyes to the just
and his
ears to their appeal.
Taste and see that
the Lord is good.
They call and the
Lord hears
and
rescues them in all their distress.
The Lord is close to
the broken-hearted;
those
whose spirit is crushed he will save.
Taste and see that
the Lord is good.
Many are the trials
of the just man
but from
them all the Lord will rescue him.
He will keep guard
over all his bones,
not one
of his bones shall be broken.
Taste and see that
the Lord is good.
Evil brings death to
the wicked;
those who
hate the good are doomed.
The Lord ransoms the
souls of his servants.
Those who
hide in him shall not be condemned.
Taste and see that
the Lord is good.
EITHER:
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Second reading
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Ephesians
5:21-32 ©
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Give way to one
another in obedience to Christ. Wives should regard their husbands as they
regard the Lord, since as Christ is head of the Church and saves the whole
body, so is a husband the head of his wife; and as the Church submits to
Christ, so should wives to their husbands, in everything. Husbands should love
their wives just as Christ loved the Church and sacrificed himself for her to
make her holy. He made her clean by washing her in water with a form of words,
so that when he took her to himself she would be glorious, with no speck or
wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and faultless. In the same way,
husbands must love their wives as they love their own bodies; for a man to love
his wife is for him to love himself. A man never hates his own body, but he
feeds it and looks after it; and that is the way Christ treats the Church,
because it is his body – and we are its living parts. For this reason,
a man must leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two
will become one body. This mystery has many implications; but I am saying
it applies to Christ and the Church.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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cf.Jn6:63,68
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Your words are
spirit, Lord, and they are life;
you have the message
of eternal life.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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John 6:60-69 ©
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After hearing his
doctrine many of the followers of Jesus said, ‘This is intolerable language.
How could anyone accept it?’ Jesus was aware that his followers were
complaining about it and said, ‘Does this upset you? What if you should see the
Son of Man ascend to where he was before?
‘It is the spirit
that gives life,
the flesh has nothing
to offer.
The words I have
spoken to you are spirit
and they are life.
‘But there are some
of you who do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the outset those who did not
believe, and who it was that would betray him. He went on, ‘This is why I told
you that no one could come to me unless the Father allows him.’ After this,
many of his disciples left him and stopped going with him.
Then
Jesus said to the Twelve, ‘What about you, do you want to go away too?’ Simon
Peter answered, ‘Lord, who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal
life, and we believe; we know that you are the Holy One of God.’
CHRISTIANITY
AT A CROSS ROAD
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SCRIPTURE
READINGS: JOS 24:1-2,
15-18; PS 33:2-3,16-23; EPH 5:21-32; JN 6:60-69
The
world is changing rapidly because of globalization and mass communication.
The world today has become a village. With greater interaction
among cultures, religions and the exchange of ideas and knowledge, we are
swamped with so many world views and philosophies of life, so much so that the
average person is confused and at a loss as to what is true or right.
Society is no longer homogenous and in a world of secularism and
relativism where values are no longer rooted in absolutes but in personal
preference, it is extremely difficult to hold society together.
For
this reason, making a commitment is difficult, whether in marriage,
relationship, religion or politics. We are paralyzed with so many
opinions confronting us, our fundamentals in life have become blurred.
Views are changing so often that we are no longer sure who man is, what is his
identity, his origin, his destiny. We are confused over time memorial
values like marriage and the protection of life. What was unthinkable in
the past is now acceptable as there is no basis for anything that could be held
in common. In such a situation, most of us just follow the crowd and
adopt a herd mentality. And those who speak the loudest get heard and
quite often because they speak so loudly, the majority begins to believe that
that is the truth. Indeed, the tragedy today is that truth is decided by
consensus and by democracy and polling. Truth is purely subjective and
has no objectivity.
Such a
secularized climate has also impacted our Catholics. Although we have
more than a billion Catholics in the world, yet how many of us are committed to
the Faith? Although all are baptized in Christ, not all are followers of
Christ. Although all claim to be Catholics, we do not subscribe to
Catholic beliefs. Many of us are nominal Catholics. In life and in
values, we have their own views which are often contrary to the Catholic
Faith. Indeed, many of us are selective Catholics. We choose what
we want to believe and what we like. Those teachings that we do not agree
with, we discard or just ignore. Indeed, many of us subscribe to divorce,
abortion, contraception, euthanasia, same sex union, etc. St Augustine
has this to say to those of us who treat our Catholic Faith in this
manner. “If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you
don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.”
Today,
the scripture readings challenge us all to make a radical decision for our
Lord. This was what Joshua told his people. “If you will not serve
the Lord, choose today whom you wish to serve, whether the gods that your
ancestors served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land
you are now living.” In a similar vein, the Lord posed the same challenge to
the Twelve, “What about you, do you want to go away too?” Indeed, we are
confronted with a choice, whether to accept God as our Lord, Christ as our Saviour
or to choose the false gods and the worship of self.
One
thing is certain; there is no question of compromise. This was always the
temptation of the Israelites. Although they said that they belonged to the God
of the Covenant and accepted Him as their Lord and God, yet in reality, they
also worshipped the gods of the land, the pagan gods of the
Amorites. They wanted the best of both worlds. It was true in
the time of Christ. They wanted Jesus to be their king because He could
perform miracles, heal the sick, cast out demons and provide food for
them. They saw Jesus in terms of their liberator.
What
does it mean when we say with Joshua, “As for me and my House, we will serve
the Lord.”? To serve the Lord means that we will put Him as first in
everything. We will act only in accordance to His will. All that we
do will serve to glorify Him and fulfill His divine plan for humanity and
creation. We will put ourselves to His service. This is what we
mean when we say that we will serve the Lord. It is not an empty word,
but we truly consider ourselves as the servants of God.
To
serve the Lord means submission in obedience to faith. Indeed, St Paul urges us
to render obedience to Christ, and it is this obedience to Christ that
determines the relationship between husband and wife. What is said about
marriage must be extended to our submission in obedience to the Church and
those appointed by the Lord because they represent and act in the name of
Christ.
As
servants of God, we must obey all teachings, especially those that are
difficult for us to accept. If the teachings of Christ are so logical,
then faith is not needed. Indeed, the teachings of Christ are in
contradiction to the values of the world. The beatitudes are the reversal
of the attitudes of the world. The message of forgiveness versus revenge,
grace over merit, the importance of one lost sheep over many that are saved;
the question of indissolubility of marriage, including Jesus’ reiteration in
today’s gospel that the bread of life is His flesh given for the world…it was
already abominable for the Jews to take blood; not to speak of eating flesh.
Understandably, many of the followers of Jesus were scandalized, saying, “This
is intolerable language. How could anyone accept it?”
To
accept the teachings of Christ, faith is required. This faith is faith in
Christ as the Son of the Living God. Without faith, we cannot obey and
serve the Lord. Faith goes beyond reason. If faith is reduced to
reason, then faith is not required. Hence, Jesus told the people, “It is
the spirit that gives life, the flesh has nothing to offer. The words I have
spoken to you are spirit and they are life.” St Peter, on behalf of the Twelve,
likewise responded in faith to the challenge of Jesus, “What about you, do you
want to go away too?” Simon Peter answered, “Lord, who shall we go to? You have
the message of eternal life, and we believe; we know that you are the Holy One
of God.”
Faith
in Christ’s teaching must extend to faith in the authoritative, authentic and
definitive teaching of the Magisterium, the Holy Father and the bishops, who
are the successors of the apostles. One cannot take faith in his or her
own hands. Our faith is the faith of the Church not a subjective and
individualistic faith. No one can determine the objects for belief except
those that have been determined and taught by the Magisterium. Of course,
every Catholic must interiorize what the Church teaches subjectively in faith
even if we cannot agree intellectually. The surrender of the mind and heart to
the authoritative teaching of the Pontiff and the Magisterium presumes faith in
Christ who has appointed His successors to preserve the deposit of faith given
to the Church through Christ; and which is continually being guided by the Holy
Spirit. We must therefore be in union with the Magisterium and the Holy
Father in doctrines and morals.
We
cannot be in union with Christ if we are not in union with His Church, which is
His body. Indeed, the Body of Christ which we receive in communion is not just Christ
Himself but also a reference to the Church as the Body of Christ.
St Paul urges us to be in union with Christ because Christ has died for the
Church. Our union with Christ is analogous to Christian marriage between
husband and wife.
This
requires that we stand up for Christ just as He died for us. Are we ready
as Catholics to uphold our faith confidently even when the world is against
us? Are we willing to suffer for our beliefs and faith like the prophets
of old? Or do we as Catholics allow ourselves to be so secularized that
we lose our identity and our values, making us no different from the rest of
the world? We must die for Christ and His Church even in times of
difficulties.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh
Roman
Catholic Archbishop of Singapore
© All Rights Reserved
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