WHAT IS TRULY SATISFYING IN LIFE?

20160412 WHAT IS TRULY SATISFYING IN LIFE?

WHAT IS TRULY SATISFYING IN LIFE?

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: White.

First reading

Acts 7:51-8:1 ©

Stephen said to the people, the elders and the scribes: ‘You stubborn people, with your pagan hearts and pagan ears. You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. Can you name a single prophet your ancestors never persecuted? In the past they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, and now you have become his betrayers, his murderers. You who had the Law brought to you by angels are the very ones who have not kept it.’

  They were infuriated when they heard this, and ground their teeth at him.

  But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God’s right hand. ‘I can see heaven thrown open’ he said ‘and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’ At this all the members of the council shouted out and stopped their ears with their hands; then they all rushed at him, sent him out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses put down their clothes at the feet of a young man called Saul. As they were stoning him, Stephen said in invocation, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he knelt down and said aloud, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them’; and with these words he fell asleep. Saul entirely approved of the killing.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 30:3-4,6,8,17,21 ©

Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.

or

Alleluia!

Be a rock of refuge for me,

  a mighty stronghold to save me,

for you are my rock, my stronghold.

  For your name’s sake, lead me and guide me.

Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.

or

Alleluia!

Into your hands I commend my spirit.

  It is you who will redeem me, Lord.

As for me, I trust in the Lord:

  let me be glad and rejoice in your love.

Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.

or

Alleluia!

Let your face shine on your servant.

  Save me in your love.

You hide them in the shelter of your presence

  from the plotting of men.

Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.

or

Alleluia!

Gospel Acclamation

Jn10:14

Alleluia, alleluia!

I am the good shepherd, says the Lord;

I know my own sheep and my own know me.

Alleluia!

Or

Jn6:35

Alleluia, alleluia!

I am the bread of life, says the Lord.

He who comes to me will never be hungry;

he who believes in me will never thirst.

Alleluia!

Gospel

John 6:30-35 ©

They people said to Jesus, ‘What sign will you give to show us that we should believe in you? What work will you do? Our fathers had manna to eat in the desert; as scripture says: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ Jesus answered:

‘I tell you most solemnly,

it was not Moses who gave you bread from heaven,

it is my Father who gives you the bread from heaven,

the true bread;

for the bread of God

is that which comes down from heaven

and gives life to the world.’

‘Sir,’ they said ‘give us that bread always.’ Jesus answered:

‘I am the bread of life.

He who comes to me will never be hungry;

he who believes in me will never thirst.’

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ACTS 7:51 – 8:1; PS 30:3-4, 6, 8, 17, 21; JOHN 6:30-35   ]

What do we need in life? The most basic needs of man are bread and water. Because we are not pure spirits but embodied spirits, we need sustenance of food and water, without which we cannot survive for long.  This explains why during the time of Moses, when the Israelites were in the desert, they grumbled to Moses because of the lack of water and bread.  In the same vein, Jesus told the Jews, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never be hungry; he who believes in me will never thirst.”  Jesus is therefore claiming to be the One who can satisfy our hunger and quench our thirst.  The discourse of John on Jesus as the Bread of Life as satisfying our hunger parallels the discourse on the Living Water when the Samaritan made the same request, “Sir, give us that bread (water) always.”   By so doing, Jesus is claiming to be the One Who can give total fulfillment for those who believe in Him and seek Him.

But what is this bread of life that Jesus is giving that can fulfill us completely?  The truth is that mere bread and water alone cannot satisfy us.  This is the mistake of many people.  In their insecurity they only think of acquiring more wealth, riches, status and things in life.  Quite often, in their pursuit of career, success in business, goals in life, they sacrifice what is most crucial to happiness and meaning in life, which is relationship.  Only meaningful relationships can ultimately give us life.  The others are means, not ends in themselves.  When we put our worldly and mundane pursuits before relationship, communication between spouses, children and colleagues will suffer. So ironically, even when we achieve our worldly goals which we think will bring us security, actually these make us even more insecure and lonely.

The tendency to replace relationship with the material things of this world is the constant temptation and delusion of man.  This can happen often for priests, religious and singles as well.  We tend to replace work with relationship to find our security, material or personal; whether in terms of material well-being or finding our meaning for our existence.  Unfortunately, most people tend to see priests as “workers” and indeed most priests work very hard day and night for the gospel and the people under their charge.  But they are reduced to functional beings rather than pastors who have a personal relationship with their people.   Celibacy is reduced to simply a pragmatic motive so that he or she can spend all the time working in the vineyard of the Lord.  But when a priest, particularly a diocesan priest does this, he misses out what is intrinsic to his basic needs in life, which is more than just food and comfort but also affective relationships.  Indeed, the cause of sexual scandals boils down to the need for meaningful and deep relationships.  But very often, we repress our affective needs with work and success.  By so doing, we create a vacuum in our lives; and when success is attained, the joys of success become empty. In truth, when a priest or a religious takes upon the promise of celibacy, it is in order that he or she can have an inclusive, pure and loving relationship with everyone; and especially with the Lord in prayer.

Consequently, today when Jesus offers Himself to us as the Bread of Life, He is offering us a relationship.  Hence, it calls for faith and trust.  Unless, we come to Jesus and have a relationship with Him, nothing can truly satisfy us in life.  Even human relationships, no matter how beautiful, remain fragile, conditional and transient.  Only Jesus, the Word of God, can satisfy our desire to know and understand the many mysteries of life and how to live wisely.  Only Jesus the Living Water can quench the heart that seeks for love, understanding, compassion, empathy and forgiveness. It is for this reason that Jesus calls Himself the Bread of life that comes from heaven.  As He said, “the true bread; the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”  Jesus is more than just the manna of Moses because it was merely bread.

St Stephen in the first reading manifested how his relationship with the Lord had given him life, meaning and purpose.  It was his faith in the Lord that gave him the self-confidence that he exuded before the Sanhedrin.   He knew himself because he knew the Lord.  Inspired by the Holy Spirit, St Stephen defended himself against the charges that he had not respected the laws and customs of Moses, so sacred to the Sadducees and the priests of the Temple.  But from merely defending himself, St Stephen launched an attack against them saying, “You stubborn people, with your pagan hearts and pagan ears.  You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do.  Can you name a single prophet your ancestors never persecuted?”  By making such remarks, he undoubtedly courted death.

Yet, what was remarkable was that throughout the whole proceeding, he was very calm and composed.  He was a man who was in possession of himself.  He was certainly not a coward.  The way he conducted himself during the trial almost parallels that of Jesus during His trial.  Like Jesus, he was not afraid of the authorities who had power over his physical life.  Like Jesus, instead of being put on trial, he put the authorities on trial.  Like Jesus, he too had a vision of heaven and “the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.” Like Jesus, he was condemned innocently.  Indeed, strictly speaking, that was not a judicial trial and they had no authority to put a man to death. Like Jesus, he went to his death with calmness and courage.  He was at peace with himself.  Like Jesus, he forgave and prayed for his enemies before he died. He could be himself simply because, like the psalmist, he knew that God was His refuge and strength. He was able to act in this manner because of his relationship with Christ and his life was configured after the Lord.

And it was the way, he conducted himself that inspired Saul who was one of the witnesses to his death and approved of it.  But it was because of the way St Stephen died that Saul must have been moved.  When he encountered Christ at Damascus, he must have been reminded of St Stephen, the way he loved and forgave his enemies.   That, perhaps, was the beginning of the seed of his conversion experience.  That is why it is said that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.  The prayer of St Stephen certainly planted the seed of faith and conversion in the heart of Saul.  And this is true for all of us.  At the end of the day, people will not judge us simply by what we have done but who we really are and how we relate to them.

That is why Jesus said that doing the works of God is primarily a relationship with Him. From this relationship, everything else flows. The point of departure is our relationship with Jesus; because we love Jesus, we would want to do everything for Him.  Similarly, it is true also in marriage and other relationships as well.  When we love, it follows that what we say and do, we do for love of them.  But unfortunately, how often we forget that all that we do is for the purpose of sustaining and expressing our relationship, whether with God or with our loved ones.

More often than not, what we do becomes detached from that relationship.  So parents work hard to bring money for the family and children, but they have no relationship with them.  They are only concerned about their studies and that they do not get into trouble, but they do not try to get to know what is going on in their lives, their minds and hearts. So, too, for married couples!  After settling down, it is all about the tasks of keeping the house and the family in order.  There is little time to enjoy each other’s company, to laugh, play, eat and waste time together.  Soon, they become strangers to each other and often end up misunderstanding and misjudging each other.

This principle of cultivating meaningful relationships is also important among colleagues in the office.  Often there is too much seriousness in the way we do our work.  There is a lack of play, of getting to know each other as friends, the lack of a family ambience and fellowship.  When bosses are more concerned about productivity and fail to realize that we cannot get the best of our workers unless they are loved and have a warm and friendly atmosphere, they cannot perform well; and even if they do, they work as competitors, not collaborators.  Eventually, the company will suffer.  It is therefore important that in our offices, especially those who work for the Church, there should be a friendly, warm and hospitable ambience where all work in fellowship with each other.  Besides working, they should also pray and play together.

So today, let us recover what is truly essential to us in life.  It is relationship with each other, but most of all, our relationship with God. Without this relationship with God, we will find life empty, misled by the world instead of being led by the wisdom of God.   Let us recover our priorities and the true things that we should seek in life so that we can be like St Stephen, always full of faith, wisdom and courage in life.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved