20150912 DISCERNMENT OF OUR SPIRITUAL GROWTH
Readings at Mass
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First reading
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1 Timothy
1:15-17 ©
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Here is a saying that
you can rely on and nobody should doubt: that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. I myself am the greatest of them; and if mercy has been shown
to me, it is because Jesus Christ meant to make me the greatest evidence of his
inexhaustible patience for all the other people who would later have to trust
in him to come to eternal life. To the eternal King, the undying, invisible and
only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
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Psalm
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Psalm 112:1-7 ©
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May the name of
the Lord be blessed for evermore!
or
Alleluia!
Praise, O servants of
the Lord,
praise
the name of the Lord!
May the name of the
Lord be blessed
both now
and for evermore!
May the name of
the Lord be blessed for evermore!
or
Alleluia!
From the rising of
the sun to its setting
praised
be the name of the Lord!
High above all
nations is the Lord,
above the
heavens his glory.
May the name of
the Lord be blessed for evermore!
or
Alleluia!
Who is like the Lord,
our God,
who has
risen on high to his throne
yet stoops from the
heights to look down,
to look
down upon heaven and earth?
From the dust he
lifts up the lowly,
from the
dungheap he raises the poor
May the name of
the Lord be blessed for evermore!
or
Alleluia!
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Jn14:6
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Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the Way, the
Truth and the Life, says the Lord;
No one can come to
the Father except through me.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Jn14:23
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Alleluia, alleluia!
If anyone loves me he
will keep my word,
and my Father will
love him,
and we shall come to
him.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 6:43-49 ©
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Jesus said to his
disciples:
‘There is
no sound tree that produces rotten fruit, nor again a rotten tree that produces
sound fruit. For every tree can be told by its own fruit: people do not pick
figs from thorns, nor gather grapes from brambles. A good man draws what is
good from the store of goodness in his heart; a bad man draws what is bad from
the store of badness. For a man’s words flow out of what fills his heart.
‘Why do
you call me, “Lord, Lord” and not do what I say?
‘Everyone
who comes to me and listens to my words and acts on them – I will show you
what he is like. He is like the man who when he built his house dug, and dug
deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore
down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built. But the one
who listens and does nothing is like the man who built his house on soil, with
no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a
ruin that house became!’
DISCERNMENT
OF OUR SPIRITUAL GROWTH
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SCRIPTURE
READINGS: 1 Tm 1:15-17; Lk 6:43-49
Among
the most important areas of discernment in our life is our spiritual
growth. However, this is an area that is often misunderstood and can be
rather deceptive. Many people gauge their spiritual growth in terms of
their prayer life. As if this is not already too narrow a measure, some
reduce the measure to how they feel or what they experience in prayer.
This can be rather misleading and even detrimental to their spiritual
growth. For when spiritual growth is reduced to simply the
intensity of religious experience in prayer or even in the insights gained at
prayer, then we can either become sentimentalists or Gnostics. Conversely, if
our feelings or insights are shallow, then we conclude that we are spiritually
immature. St Teresa has something to teach us regarding authentic prayer.
She said, “We should look at the flowers, the virtues, and see how they are
doing. After all, the water is for the flowers; devotion is not the goal
of a good prayer life. It is a means to the growth of the virtues. If
the virtues are alive and flourishing in us, even in the absence of devotion
and consolation, then our prayer life is healthy despite the dryness.”
In the
gospel, it is clear that the depth of our spiritual growth must be measured by
the fruits we produce in our daily life. Jesus enunciates clearly that
every tree can be told by its own fruit. So, the best criterion in
judging the extent of our spiritual growth is to consider the fruits that our
spiritual life has produced. Hence, it is important that we ask what kind
of fruits we are producing. For from the fruits we can know what kind of
tree or person we are. In the final analysis, a true spiritual life is of
course to become like Jesus, the Tree of Life that bears good fruits. So
what are some specific guidelines we can use to measure our spiritual growth?
Our
first level of evaluation therefore would be our thoughts and our words.
This is because Jesus says, “a good man draws what is good from the store of
goodness in his heart; a bad man draws what is bad from the store of
badness. For a man’s words flow out of what fills his heart.” Thus,
in our discernment, we must ask what kind of words and thoughts we have with
regard to self and especially towards God and others. If our words and
thoughts tend to be kind, positive, forgiving, accepting and loving, then it is
certainly a clear indication that we are becoming more and more like
Christ. However, if we find ourselves still rather negative towards
ourselves, others and even with God, we can be quite certain that even if we
are praying hours every day and we experience all kinds of visions, we are but
praying to ourselves. A person whose words are full of sarcasm, arrogance
and intolerance is certainly not a happy person within. His hostile
outlook towards life is but the expression of his own interior division.
In this
respect, we have St Paul in the first reading whose attitude towards God, self
and others is one of gratitude and humility. With regard to God and
himself, Paul understood himself to be a real sinner and the least
worthy. Yet God has been merciful to him by choosing him to be the sign
of His unconditional and inexhaustible mercy and grace. And it is within
this context and experience that Paul wrote to Timothy to encourage him in his ministry.
Here is one person who has been forgiven and now in turn shows great
understanding and compassion to his fellow colleague in his struggles.
Paul is surely not judgmental towards Timothy but feels with him in his
struggles to be faithful to the gospel and his ministry. Indeed,
Paul’s words and actions reflect that of his master, Jesus, who too had nothing
but words of understanding, compassion and forgiveness for his enemies.
On the
second level of evaluation, we need to consider our actions. This is
suggested by Jesus when He lamented the fact that many of us call Him, “Lord,
Lord” and not do what He says. Hence, it is not only on the level of
thinking that we know how much we have grown spiritually but also on the level
of concrete actions. Actions are certainly important indications of our
spiritual growth. This is once again manifested in the life of St
Paul. His conversion and his apostolic zeal for the gospel are clear
signs of his spiritual transformation in Christ. Paul does not only have
beautiful words and thoughts but concrete actions as well.
However,
words and actions alone are still insufficient to indicate that we have grown
spiritually. Thus, we must move on to the third level of discernment,
namely, intrinsic relationship between thoughts and actions. Thoughts and
actions cannot be dissociated, for unless goods actions flow from good thoughts
and sincere motives, such actions do not necessarily mean that they come from
the Spirit. Actions alone by themselves are ambiguous. Many of us do
things for different reasons. Hence, for Jesus, only actions that spring
from a conviction of His teaching can truly be good. Indeed, a truly
spiritual person is one, as Jesus says, who has come to Him, that is, who knows
Him personally and is convicted by His teaching and thereby acts on His
words. Only in such a person can we find an integrated
spirituality. He is a holistic person, for his thoughts and actions are
one since he has interiorized the teachings of Jesus and become one with Him in
heart and mind.
However,
this is still not the ultimate test of spiritual maturity. Because the
truth is that to be thoughtful, loving, understanding and kind towards those
who love us and are understanding towards us is not really anything that is
beyond any normal human person. But if our positive relationship with
God, others and ourselves is based on such realities, then we are actually
building our spiritual life on sand. To love people who are lovable does
not require much from us. It is merely an exchange; not an unconditional
giving and emptying of self. However, such a stage of spiritual life will
not withstand the onslaught of trials and misfortunes. This level of
spiritual life is that of a good man, a humanist, not yet truly divine.
The
true test of holiness and the depth of our selfless love comes when we face the
storms of life, when we encounter people who are difficult to love, when people
whom we love betray us, slander us and even turn against us. This is the
only time when we know how spiritually transformed we are. When that
moment comes and we are able to love like Jesus on the cross, saying, “Father,
forgive them for they know not what they are doing”, then perhaps, we can say
that we have engraved in our minds and hearts the merciful and compassionate
love of the Father in us. And for such people, of course, they always
live in peace and in love, even when the whole world is against them.
This is because their enemies are from the outside and not from within
themselves. Such people will live tranquil and liberated lives.
These are the people who have dug deep into themselves and have emptied all
their self-centeredness. Hence, their faith and love are as stable as the
rock that cannot be easily destroyed or weakened. This is the kind of
faith, the faith of Jesus that the gospel speaks about in today’s liturgy.
This,
then, is also the faith that we all should pray and seek to have – only such a
spiritual life can set us free and make us divine. This precisely is the
faith of the psalmist when he prayed, “Blessed be the name of the Lord for
ever. From the rising to the setting of the sun is the name of the Lord to be
praised. High above all nations is the Lord; above the heavens is his glory.
Who is like the Lord, our God, and looks upon the heavens and the earth below?
He raises up the lowly from the dust; from the dunghill he lifts up the
poor.” This is what faith is all about, namely, to praise God in all
things because we know we can trust Him that He will not allow anything to happen
to us without His knowledge and providential wisdom. Regardless of
whatever situation we are in, He will rescue us from the depths of our misery
and pain.
How
then can we truly found our spiritual life so that our feelings, thoughts and
actions are one, a faith that can withstand all trials and suffering?
Jesus tells us that the key to a strong foundation in our Christian life is to
establish our life in Him and be rooted in Him who is the Word of God. He
said, “Everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and acts on them – I
will show you what he is like. He is like the man who when he built his
house dug, and dug deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was
in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well
built. But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man who built
his house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it,
it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh
Roman
Catholic Archbishop of Singapore
©
All Rights Reserved
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