INTEGRITY THE KEY TO PEACE AND HAPPINESS IN LIFE AND IN WORK

20151129 INTEGRITY THE KEY TO PEACE AND HAPPINESS IN LIFE AND IN WORK

Readings at Mass

First reading

Jeremiah 33:14-16 ©

See, the days are coming – it is the Lord who speaks – when I am going to fulfil the promise I made to the House of Israel and the House of Judah:

‘In those days and at that time,

I will make a virtuous Branch grow for David,

who shall practise honesty and integrity in the land.

In those days Judah shall be saved

and Israel shall dwell in confidence.

And this is the name the city will be called:

The-Lord-our-integrity.’

Psalm

Psalm 24:4-5,8-9,10,14 ©

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

Lord, make me know your ways.

  Lord, teach me your paths.

Make me walk in your truth, and teach me:

  for you are God my saviour.

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

The Lord is good and upright.

  He shows the path to those who stray,

He guides the humble in the right path,

  He teaches his way to the poor.

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

His ways are faithfulness and love

  for those who keep his covenant and law.

The Lord’s friendship is for those who revere him;

  to them he reveals his covenant.

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

Second reading

1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2 ©

May the Lord be generous in increasing your love and make you love one another and the whole human race as much as we love you. And may he so confirm your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless in the sight of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus Christ comes with all his saints.

  Finally, brothers, we urge you and appeal to you in the Lord Jesus to make more and more progress in the kind of life that you are meant to live: the life that God wants, as you learnt from us, and as you are already living it. You have not forgotten the instructions we gave you on the authority of the Lord Jesus.

Gospel Acclamation

Ps84:8

Alleluia, alleluia!

Let us see, O Lord, your mercy

and give us your saving help.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Luke 21:25-28,34-36 ©

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars; on earth nations in agony, bewildered by the clamour of the ocean and its waves; men dying of fear as they await what menaces the world, for the powers of heaven will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand.

  ‘Watch yourselves, or your hearts will be coarsened with debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of life, and that day will be sprung on you suddenly, like a trap. For it will come down on every living man on the face of the earth. Stay awake, praying at all times for the strength to survive all that is going to happen, and to stand with confidence before the Son of Man.’

INTEGRITY THE KEY TO PEACE AND HAPPINESS IN LIFE AND IN WORK

SCRIPTURE READINGS: JER 33:14-16; PS 24:4-5,8-9,10,14; 1 TH 3:12 – 4:2; LK 21:25-28.34-36

Today, we begin the Church’s new liturgical year.  Yet, the beginning of a new year is very much connected with the end.   The new is always celebrated in view of the end, whereas the latter determines the direction of the former.  The first two weeks of Advent continues the theme of the last coming before speaking about the first coming.   Advent is celebrated in view of the coming of Christ at the end of time.   Hence, knowing the end is necessary if we were to begin well and rightly.  If we want to build a house or if we want to invent something, it is important that we have a clear idea of the outcome we desire.  Vision always comes before mission.

So what is your vision of the end?  What do you hope to realize, at the end of your life, or when you meet God?  What will people say about you at your eulogy.  Just imagine at your funeral, what would the world, your family, your friends say about you?  What are you working for?  What kind of legacy would you want to leave behind when you leave this world?  What kind of world do we want this to be?

St Paul urges us when he wrote, “May the Lord be generous in increasing your love and make you love one another and the whole human race as much as we love you.”  This is the vision that St Paul had for us as Christians.  In whatever we do in life, we are called to increase our love for each other and the whole of humanity.  Indeed, the task for all of us on earth is to build up the kingdom of God, the kingdom that we envisaged last Sunday when we celebrated the feast of Christ the king.  We are called to contribute to humanity by making this world a better place to live in, a world of justice, peace and progress.   This, too, is the prophecy of Jeremiah when he said, “See, the days are coming – it is the Lord who speaks – when I am going to fulfil the promise I made to the House of Israel and the House of Judah:  In those days and at that time, I will make a virtuous Branch grow for David, who shall practise honesty and integrity in the land. In those days Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell in confidence. And this is the name the city will be called: The Lord-our-integrity.”   One of the ways, we do this is by our work.  Through our work and business, we can contribute to the growth of humanity by creating jobs or by developing the economy and be co-creators of this earth.

How can we ensure that society will progress and humanity remain united in love and unity, in spite of our diversity; and that we will all strive to live in truth and in love? This is where all of us have to change our mindset in the way we look at our work and our businesses.   If we were to find real happiness in our work, we must go beyond seeing our work merely as a job or worse still, just a way to earn money so that we can fulfill our dreams of enjoyment and finance our hobbies.  If that were the case, there is a real dichotomy between work and life.  Clearly such an attitude towards our work is self-defeating.  When work is seen as a chore, it becomes laborious, burdensome and therefore takes a lot out of us, our energy and strength.  Instead of being empowered as we work, we are drained of our energy and life.  If such were the case, there is no way to find happiness in our work.  The only happiness is when we get the pay check!   But is this happiness at work?

To find happiness in work, we need to elevate our work to that of a vocation.  We cannot simply look at our work as something extraneous to us.  In truth, we spend more than half our day and therefore our lives in the office.  For some of us, our work is almost our life because we bring our work home.  Even on vacation, with modern technology, work will not leave us.  So if work were not to be a burden but a passion and a source of renewal and self-development, we must see the purpose of what we are doing, and how we are contributing to the greater good of humanity and the world.  When we see meaning in what we do, then we will be motivated to do well.  In the final analysis, what drives us to do well is not work per se, it is meaning.  The higher the meaning, the more noble the goal, the greater is the passion, and the happiness that comes from it.

This is what holiness of life is all about.  Holiness is to live a life of integrity and consistency.   Our work must be the expression of our calling and passion in life.  Our work must be the means by which we perform our role in this world, each contributing according to his talents and capacity.   Only when we are true to our passion, true to the sound of the drum that we hear, can we find happiness in life, in our work, in whatever we do.  When work becomes our passion, we will be successful in all that we do.  This is what St Paul meant when he wrote, “Finally, brothers, we urge you and appeal to you in the Lord Jesus to make more and more progress in the kind of life that you are meant to live: the life that God wants, as you learnt from us, and as you are already living it. You have not forgotten the instructions we gave you on the authority of the Lord Jesus.”

So, we are called to integrate vocation with our career; faith with our work, gospel values in our work place and attitudes.  We must not live a double life.  We are not Christians then workers.  We are not Christians then citizens.  We are Christian workers and Christian citizens.  There is only one life and we need to express this life in Christ in the way we look at life, our work, and the way we regard others, our fellow workers and that of our contribution to the world.  Whilst we need not explicitly announce the gospel in a secular working place, yet, in all that we do, we need to inject the values of the gospel, the vision of the gospel and of Christ for us all and for humanity at our work place.  We must bear in mind that the Christian gospel cuts across all cultures and religions because the values that we promote are universal values.

When vocation and career are one, when the values we cherish at Church, home and society are the same, we find integrity of life and happiness.  Life becomes a joy whether we are at home, in Church or at work or in business.  For all that we do, we do for the glory of God and for the good of His people.  Without a divided mind or a divided heart, we can give ourselves fully to our family, career and our faith.  So there is this unity of life in all that we do.  We are not simply concerned about making a living for ourselves but always thinking of how we can better serve our family, our loved ones, our workers and our brothers and sisters.  Our vision is that of playing our part in building a nation and a world where there is peace, justice, harmony and progress for all.   This is the bigger vision of life.

Truly, because of this clarity, that we are driven by a higher purpose of life, in the service of God, humanity and the Church, we find true happiness.  Otherwise, we will live a life of regrets as Jesus warns us, “Watch yourselves, or your hearts will be coarsened with debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of life, and that day will be sprung on you suddenly, like a trap. For it will come down on every living man on the face of the earth.”  For those who just waste their lives away, eating, drinking, indulging themselves, living a life focused on their needs and enjoyments, they will live an animal life.  They will only harm themselves and they cannot find true happiness because they have not given themselves to humanity.  Upon their death, they would die with regrets because there is no legacy that they could leave to humanity.  No one will mourn their death because their leaving us makes no difference to the world.

So it is important therefore that we need to stay awake and pray for a discerning spirit so that we know His ways and can walk in His path.  We must pray every day to keep our focus and not lose our direction in whatever we are doing.  This is what St Paul exhorts when he said, “Stay awake, praying at all times for the strength to survive all that is going to happen, and to stand with confidence before the Son of Man.”  Indeed, we pray with the psalmist, “Lord, make me know your ways.  Lord teach me your paths.  Make me walk in your truth, and teach me: for you are God my saviour.  The Lord is good and upright. He shows the path to those who stray, He guides the humble in the right path, He teaches his way to the poor.  His ways are faithfulness and love for those who keep his covenant and law. The Lord’s friendship is for those who revere him; to them he reveals his covenant.”

Written by The Most Rev William Goh

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore

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