20150909 THE NEW PARADIGM OF A LIFE IN CHRIST
Readings at Mass
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First reading
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Colossians
3:1-11 ©
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Since you have been
brought back to true life with Christ, you must look for the things that are in
heaven, where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand. Let your thoughts be on
heavenly things, not on the things that are on the earth, because you have died,
and now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God. But when Christ is
revealed – and he is your life – you too will be revealed in all your
glory with him.
That is
why you must kill everything in you that belongs only to earthly life: fornication,
impurity, guilty passion, evil desires and especially greed, which is the same
thing as worshipping a false god; all this is the sort of behaviour that makes
God angry. And it is the way in which you used to live when you were surrounded
by people doing the same thing, but now you, of all people, must give all these
things up: getting angry, being bad-tempered, spitefulness, abusive language
and dirty talk; and never tell each other lies. You have stripped off your old
behaviour with your old self, and you have put on a new self which will
progress towards true knowledge the more it is renewed in the image of its
creator; and in that image there is no room for distinction between Greek and
Jew, between the circumcised or the uncircumcised, or between barbarian and
Scythian, slave and free man. There is only Christ: he is everything and he is
in everything.
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Psalm
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Psalm
144:2-3,10-13 ©
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How good is the
Lord to all.
I will bless you day
after day
and
praise your name for ever.
The Lord is great,
highly to be praised,
his
greatness cannot be measured.
How good is the
Lord to all.
All your creatures
shall thank you, O Lord,
and your
friends shall repeat their blessing.
They shall speak of
the glory of your reign
and
declare your might, O God.
How good is the
Lord to all.
To make known to men
your mighty deeds
and the
glorious splendour of your reign.
Yours is an
everlasting kingdom;
your rule
lasts from age to age.
How good is the
Lord to all.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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1Jn2:5
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Whenever anyone obeys
what Christ has said,
God’s love comes to
perfection in him.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Lk6:23ab
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Rejoice and be glad:
your reward will be
great in heaven.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 6:20-26 ©
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Fixing his eyes on
his disciples Jesus said:
‘How happy are you
who are poor: yours is the kingdom of God.
Happy you who are
hungry now: you shall be satisfied.
Happy you who weep
now: you shall laugh.
Happy are you when
people hate you, drive you out, abuse you, denounce your name as criminal, on
account of the Son of Man. Rejoice when that day comes and dance for joy, for
then your reward will be great in heaven. This was the way their ancestors
treated the prophets.
‘But alas for you who
are rich: you are having your consolation now.
Alas for you who have
your fill now: you shall go hungry.
Alas for you who
laugh now: you shall mourn and weep.
‘Alas
for you when the world speaks well of you! This was the way their ancestors
treated the false prophets.’
THE NEW
PARADIGM OF A LIFE IN CHRIST
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SCRIPTURE
READINGS: COL 3:1-11;
LK 6:20-26
The
centrality of Jesus’ message is the proclamation of the Kingdom of God.
What is this kingdom? This kingdom is concretely experienced when we live
the same life of Christ since He is the kingdom of God in person. St Paul
says that our true life is with Christ and in Christ: “the life you have is
hidden with Christ in God. But when Christ is revealed – and he is your
life – you too will be revealed in all your glory with him.” Anyone who
lives in Christ will have put “on a new self which will progress towards true
knowledge the more it is renewed in the image of its creator.”
What
exactly does such a life entail? Instead of simply living only on the
physical and material level, for this world only, St Paul says “you must look
for the things that are in heaven, where Christ is, sitting at God’s right
hand. Let your thoughts be on heavenly things, not on the things that are
on the earth, because you have died.” Being able to live beyond ourselves, our
fears, our needs and to live from the future into the future is what makes us
different from all other creatures.
The
gospel provides us the blueprint and guidelines for such a kind of life in the
Beatitudes. Most scholars suggest that they are the ideals of Christian
life, perhaps, never fully attained by one in this life. Even the
disciples did not quite manage to live out this kingdom life until after the
resurrection. The beatitudes are basic attitudes or paradigms to adopt in
life. They are not practical rules which we can follow blindly, but must be
drawn out for each practical situation. Its values are in direct contrast
with the world. Without looking at life from the perspective of Christ, it
would not be possible to live them out.
St
Luke’s gospel highlights four basic attitudes we must adopt. These four
positive attitudes are presented in direct contrast to four corresponding
negative or worldly attitudes that we must avoid. The first attitude is that of
poverty in spirit. “How happy are you who are poor: yours is the kingdom of
God.” Poverty of spirit is also the fundamental attitude anyone must have
to acquire other virtues and attitudes towards life and people. One must
be careful not to extol material poverty as if being materially poor is a
blessing. Many are poor but secretly desire to be rich and make use of
religion to acquire riches, either through manipulative prayer or the position
they have in Church and society. The poor in spirit refers rather to
those who are humble and docile at heart. Often the materially poor would
naturally be more humble than the rich who are not used to receiving or asking,
but are often consumed with pride and arrogance. Of course, it is not always
the case because there are also many rich people who are kind, generous and
share their riches and wealth with others unassumingly.
So
being poor in spirit is the primary condition for living the life of the spirit
because regardless whether one is poor or rich, we would then all desire for
the heavenly things of God and not think that the earthly things of this life
can satisfy us. Anyone who longs for the blessings of heaven and the life of
the kingdom presupposes poverty of spirit. So like the apostles of
Christ, we are even ready to leave not just the worldly things, but as well the
earthly to strive for the heavenly things of love, joy, peace and righteousness
in the Holy Spirit.
The
second predisposition we must cultivate is one of hunger. “Happy you who are
hungry now: you shall be satisfied.” Again, reflecting on this beatitude
from a transcendent perspective, we must once again avoid interpreting this
principle of life from a material perspective. The hunger that the Lord
wants from us is not simply to be hungry for bodily food but to be hungry for
justice and truth. To seek justice is simply to seek the right
relationship between man and God and man and man. When we desire to live
in right relationship with God and with every man, we will find peace and
joy. This entails that we too must be one with our fellowmen to hunger
for truth and justice, especially those who live in darkness or under
oppression. We must not rest in our desire to spread the truth of Christ,
to enlighten the world and to rid injustices in the world. Fasting in
itself does not bring us to God unless it makes us hunger for Him and make us
identify with the poor, the marginalized and the victims of violence. St
Paul makes it clear that in Christ no one can be discriminated, for “in that
image there is no room for distinction between Greek and Jew, between the
circumcised or the uncircumcised, or between barbarian and Scythian, slave and
free man. There is only Christ: he is everything and he is in
everything.” Failing to live a life of integrity and justice will create
distrust, suspicion and misunderstanding, leading to quarrels and
resentment. St Paul wrote, “but now you, of all people, must give all
these things up: getting angry, being bad-tempered, spitefulness, abusive
language and dirty talk; and never tell each other lies.”
The
third paradigm of life offered by the Lord is that of weeping. He said,
“Happy you who weep now: you shall laugh.” Why are we called to weep, and
what are we to weep for if not for our sins? Weeping because of suffering
in this life or because of deprivations or illnesses or failures is not what
Jesus is asking of us. On the contrary, the weeping pertains to the sins
which we have committed against God, our fellowmen and ourselves. If only
we know how much God suffers on account of our sins, we would weep for our sins
the way St Peter wept for his denial of Christ. Jesus never wept for
Himself. In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus wept for the sins committed
against His Father and against humanity. And to the women in Jerusalem,
He said, “Weep not for me but for yourself and your children!” So to weep
entails sorrow for our sins and most of all, sorrow for the sins committed by
perpetrators of evil and wickedness as those who do evil are more to be pitied
than to be blamed, for they are destroying themselves. So if a man is evil, he
suffers evil himself. Whereas those who suffer innocently are liberated
for they have hurt no one. Hence, St Paul advises the Christians thus, “That is
why you must kill everything in you that belongs only to earthly life:
fornication, impurity, guilty passion, evil desires and especially greed, which
is the same thing as worshipping a false god; all this is the sort of behaviour
that makes God angry.”
Consequently,
the next attitude to have with respect to life’s struggles and injustices is to
rejoice in view of the future transcendent life that is already ours.
“Happy are you when people hate you, drive you out, abuse you, denounce your
name as a criminal, on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice when that day
comes and dance for joy, for then your reward will be great in heaven.
This was the way their ancestors treated the prophets.” Without having a
transcendent outlook towards life, we would not be able to forgive and rejoice
in suffering since we cling to justice in this life. But recognizing that
our foes are actually our friends because they purify us in love, in truth and
in detachment, they become actually our benefactors, forcing us into poverty of
spirit, hunger for justice, sorrow for the sins of humanity and the promise of
the fullness of life in the world to come.
But how
can this transcendent life as reflected in the beatitudes be possible? Like the
psalmist, the point of departure is to contemplate on the compassion of God and
His love for us. By meditating on the creative work of God showing forth
His generosity and His mercy in forgiving us, we will be moved to glorify Him
and yearn to be with Him. Truly, such was the discovery of the psalmist
when he praised God, declaring, “The Lord is compassionate toward all his
works. Every day will I bless you, and I will praise your name forever and
ever. Great is the Lord and highly to be praised; his greatness is
unsearchable.” The basis for seeking a transcendent life based on the
beatitudes presupposes that we already have a foretaste of it.
Finally,
we can reflect on the contrasting worldly attitudes that the gospel warns us
about. “But alas for you who are rich: you are having your consolation now.
Alas for you who have your fill now: you shall go hungry. Alas for you
who laugh now: you shall mourn and weep. Alas for you when the world
speaks well of you! This was the way their ancestors treated the false
prophets.” Those of us who are proud, self-sufficient, thinking that have
wealth and power will soon be stripped to nothing. Those who fail to repent
of their sins will suffer the consequences of a life of greed, ill-discipline
and self-indulgence. Those who are too concerned about cheap popularity
will suffer a downfall that will cause them to live superficially like slaves
to public opinion rather than live their lives in freedom based on the
principles of truth and justice in the gospel.
So do
we want to recover the freedom of the children of God by living out our sonship
in Christ with dignity in accordance with the image and likeness of God with
which we were created? Or do we want to continue to live the old life of sin,
darkness and slavery? The choice is ours.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh
Roman
Catholic Archbishop of Singapore
©
All Rights Reserved
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