20151021
ARE YOU FIGHTING ON THE SIDE OF SIN OR ON THE SIDE
OF GOD?
Readings at Mass
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First reading
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Romans 6:12-18 ©
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You must not let sin
reign in your mortal bodies or command your obedience to bodily passions, you
must not let any part of your body turn into an unholy weapon fighting on the
side of sin; you should, instead, offer yourselves to God, and consider
yourselves dead men brought back to life; you should make every part of your
body into a weapon fighting on the side of God; and then sin will no longer
dominate your life, since you are living by grace and not by law.
Does the
fact that we are living by grace and not by law mean that we are free to sin?
Of course not. You know that if you agree to serve and obey a master you become
his slaves. You cannot be slaves of sin that leads to death and at the same
time slaves of obedience that leads to righteousness. You were once slaves of sin,
but thank God you submitted without reservation to the creed you were taught.
You may have been freed from the slavery of sin, but only to become ‘slaves’ of
righteousness.
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Psalm
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Psalm 123:1-8 ©
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Our help is in the
name of the Lord.
‘If the Lord had not
been on our side,’
this is
Israel’s song.
‘If the Lord had not
been on our side
when men
rose up against us,
then would they have
swallowed us alive
when
their anger was kindled.
Our help is in the
name of the Lord.
‘Then would the
waters have engulfed us,
the
torrent gone over us;
over our head would
have swept
the
raging waters.’
Blessed be the Lord
who did not give us
a prey to
their teeth!
Our help is in the
name of the Lord.
Our life, like a
bird, has escaped
from the snare
of the fowler.
Indeed the snare has
been broken
and we
have escaped.
Our help is in the
name of the Lord,
who made
heaven and earth.
Our help is in the
name of the Lord.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Jn10:27
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The sheep that belong
to me listen to my voice,
says the Lord,
I know them and they
follow me.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Mt24:42,44
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Stay awake and stand
ready,
because you do not
know the hour
when the Son of Man
is coming.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 12:39-48 ©
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Jesus said to his
disciples:
‘You may
be quite sure of this, that if the householder had known at what hour the
burglar would come, he would not have let anyone break through the wall of his
house. You too must stand ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour
you do not expect.’
Peter
said, ‘Lord, do you mean this parable for us, or for everyone?’ The Lord
replied, ‘What sort of steward, then, is faithful and wise enough for the
master to place him over his household to give them their allowance of food at
the proper time? Happy that servant if his master’s arrival finds him at this
employment. I tell you truly, he will place him over everything he owns. But as
for the servant who says to himself, “My master is taking his time coming,” and
sets about beating the menservants and the maids, and eating and drinking and
getting drunk, his master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour
he does not know. The master will cut him off and send him to the same fate as
the unfaithful.
The
servant who knows what his master wants, but has not even started to carry out
those wishes, will receive very many strokes of the lash. The one who did not
know, but deserves to be beaten for what he has done, will receive fewer
strokes. When a man has had a great deal given him, a great deal will be
demanded of him; when a man has had a great deal given him on trust, even more
will be expected of him.’
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ARE YOU FIGHTING ON THE SIDE OF SIN OR ON THE SIDE OF
GOD?
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SCRIPTURE
READINGS: ROM 6:12-18;
LK 12:39-48
We are
very fortunate, as St Paul tells us. We are where we are now and what we
are today by the grace of God,. St Paul makes it clear that we are saved
by grace, not by the law. Wherever we are is truly by grace. We
should be thankful and grateful for all the blessings we have received.
St Paul asked, “Does the fact that we are living by grace and not by law mean
that we are free to sin? Of course not. You know that if you agree to
serve and obey a master you become his slaves. You were once slaves of
sin, but thank God you submitted without reservation to the creed you were
taught. You may have been freed from the slavery of sin, but only to
become ‘slaves’ of righteousness.” Indeed, because Christ has saved
us from our sins and from condemnation, the appropriate response is to offer
ourselves in union with Jesus for the service of God and of our fellowmen.
Freedom from the laws does not mean the licence to continue
sinning. Rather, it means that having been forgiven unconditionally, we
want to give up our lives for the Lord.
What is
God’s grace for us if not to grow in holiness? All Christians who have been
freed from sin and guilt in baptism are called to grow in holiness. The
means to grow in holiness are available in many ways. What is at stake is
whether we take the holiness of life seriously. We need to make
time for prayer. There is no excuse for not praying because there are
many adoration rooms in our churches, organized and personal retreats,
recollections, holy hour, ongoing formation, etc. Of course, the
path to holiness is more than just prayer; it is expressed in living a life of
service and communion with our brothers and sisters, at home, in the Christian
community and at work. All these are means to strengthen ourselves in holiness.
In the
path to holiness, the first and most important step is to fight against sin so
that we can grow in virtue. St Paul says, “You must not let sin reign in
your mortal bodies or command your obedience to bodily passions, you must not
let any part of your body turn into an unholy weapon fighting on the side of
sin.” This is the most important question we need to examine for
ourselves. Are we on the side of sin or on the side of God? Do we
use our body, all that we have, our resources, our mind and our heart for the
service of God, for the good of humanity, for the growth of virtues, or do we
use them for evil and selfish desires? St Paul warns us not to let our
body be used a weapon to fight on the side of sin.
Unfortunately,
when it comes to the battle against sin, many of us do not take our spiritual
growth seriously. There is a tendency to be complacent in our
spiritual life. We do not make efforts to grow in virtues and die to our
sins. How many of us would examine our conscience daily either in the
morning or evening? It was the philosopher Plato who remarked that an
un-reflected life is not worth living. But many of us go through life
each day without spending time in examen to consider how we have failed to
recognize the presence of God in our lives, those times when we took things for
granted and those times when we failed to show the love and compassion of
God. Indeed, if our virtues do not grow over the years even though our
doctrinal knowledge has grown, we have failed. More than anything else,
spiritual growth is measured by how we have grown in charity, forgiveness,
compassion, patience and love. Some Catholics focus on acquiring
knowledge and leadership skills, being involved in Church activities but are
not so concerned about growing in holiness by eradicating sin from their
lives. They are quite contented with a mediocre spiritual life and
Christian perfection.
It is
true that some of us might not have mortal sins but only venial sins, such as
pride, envy and jealousy. We think that it is all right to be judgmental,
to gossip, tell lies, drink and eat excessively, etc. I have seen many
priests, religious and supposedly active lay Catholics in our communities who
have not grown in virtues after all these years serving in the Church. In
fact, sometimes they become more arrogant, self-righteous and lacking
compassion. This is because we are quite contented with these venial sins
and make no attempt to correct our weaknesses so long as we do not commit grave
sins or sins of commission. Hence, we do not feel that we are great
sinners if we commit sins of omission. We allow these so called venial
sins to remain with us. The truth is, as St John of the Cross says,
whether we are tied to a chain or a thread, we are still prisoners. St Paul
reminds us that we must “not let sin reign in your mortal bodies or command
your obedience to bodily passions.”
Jesus
warns us to be alert lest the devil or the burglar enter into our lives: “You
may be quite sure of this, that if the householder had known at what hour the
burglar would come, he would not have let anyone break through the wall of his
house. You too must stand ready, because the Son of man is coming at an
hour you do not expect.” Yes, we must not allow the burglar, the Evil
One, to take control of our lives by surrendering ourselves to sin. Once
we allow him to have a foothold in our hearts; that sin will grow and become
infested gradually. Sin hardens itself gradually till one day it becomes
part of our character. When that day arrives, it would be too difficult
to overcome our tendency to succumb to such vices.
So if
we are serious in growing in holiness by fighting against sin in our lives, if
we are serious about destroying the sin in our bodies, then, following St Paul,
it is important to train our bodies through mortification and self-discipline.
Mortification is difficult to practice but we must try, otherwise we allow our
bodies to fall into sin. St Paul exhorts us not to “let any part of your
body turn into an unholy weapon fighting on the side of sin. You should,
instead, offer yourselves to God, and consider yourselves dead men brought back
to life; you should make every part of your body into a weapon fighting on the
side of God, and then sin will no longer dominate your life, since you are
living by grace and not by law.”
Of
course, we must not think that we can fight this battle by ourselves but with
God’s help. This is what the psalmist prays, “Our help is in the name of
the Lord. Had not the Lord been with us, let Israel say, had not the Lord been
with us? When men rose up against us, then would they have swallowed us
alive; when their fury was inflamed against us.” Our task is to
cooperate with the grace of God at work in our lives.
The
call to holiness is not just for the individual. We are stewards of God’s
grace for others, especially those under our care. St Peter asked,
“’Lord, do you mean this parable for us, or for everyone?’ The Lord
replied, ‘What sort of steward, then, is faithful and wise enough for the
master to place him over his household to give them their allowance of food at
the proper time?” The truth is that we receive these graces not only for
ourselves. We are all called to be stewards of God’s grace. Hence, as
stewards we will be doubly punished for not growing in holiness ourselves and
for not leading those under our care to grow in holiness and in virtues.
Parents and teachers have a grave responsibility to not just ensure that their
children do well in their studies but that they are formed in virtues and
character.
This is
particularly true for those who have more opportunities to know the Lord.
Some of us have had deep encounters with the Lord through the retreats we
attended, or through seminars and recollections. Some of us are
privileged to have more time to pray and contemplate the Word. The more
graces given to us, the more responsibility we have in living out the graces we
received. This is what the Lord has to say with regard to the
irresponsible householder: “The servant who knows what his master wants, but
has not even started to carry out those wishes, will receive very many strokes
of the lash. The one who did not know, but deserves to be beaten for what
he has done, will receive fewer strokes. When a man has had a great deal
given him, a great deal will be demanded of him; when a man had had a great
deal given him on trust, even more will be expected of him.”
But how
can we lead others to grow in holiness unless we ourselves are striving to free
ourselves not only from mortal but venial sins and even imperfections in our
spiritual life? How can we protect God’s household unless we are sensitive to
sin in our lives and that of the community? If parents do not grow in
holiness, what hope is there for their children? If parents and teachers
are so weak in their faith, what can we expect of the next generation of
Catholics? Let us ask ourselves, in terms of spiritual life, whether we
made progress or declined from where we started? How is it that a person can be
in priestly or religious life for years and yet make no real progress in his
spiritual life and remain stunted in his life of holiness and growth in
virtues? How could our Catholics who are so active in Church for many
years become so self-righteous, proud, arrogant and lacking in
compassion? Today, let us take the path to holiness. Let us be
different and let the world know that our faith in Christ has changed and
transformed us. If our lives are no different than before we were
baptized, then we cannot be said to be on the side of God but on the side of
sin.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh
Roman
Catholic Archbishop of Singapore
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