20160627 THE PRICE FOR THE PRIZE OF DISCIPLESHIP
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
First reading
|
Amos
2:6-10,13-16 ©
|
The Lord says this:
For the three crimes,
the four crimes, of Israel
I have made my decree
and will not relent:
because they have
sold the virtuous man for silver
and the poor man for
a pair of sandals,
because they trample
on the heads of ordinary people
and push the poor out
of their path,
because father and
son have both resorted to the same girl,
profaning my holy
name,
because they stretch
themselves out by the side of every altar
on clothes acquired
as pledges,
and drink the wine of
the people they have fined
in the house of their
god...
Yet it was I who
overthrew the Amorites when they attacked,
men tall as cedars
and strong as oaks,
I who destroyed them,
both fruit above
ground
and root below.
It was I who brought
you out of the land of Egypt
and for forty years
led you through the wilderness
to take possession of
the Amorite’s country.
See then how I am
going to crush you into the ground
as the
threshing-sledge crushes when clogged by straw;
flight will not save
even the swift,
the strong man will
find his strength useless,
the mighty man will
be powerless to save himself.
The bowman will not
stand his ground,
the fast runner will
not escape,
the horseman will not
save himself,
the bravest warriors
will run away naked that day.
It is the Lord who
speaks.
Responsorial
Psalm
|
Psalm 49:16-23 ©
|
Mark this, you who
never think of God.
‘How can you recite
my commandments
and take
my covenant on your lips,
you who despise my
law
and throw
my words to the winds?
Mark this, you who
never think of God.
‘You who see a thief
and go with him;
who throw
in your lot with adulterers,
who unbridle your
mouth for evil
and whose
tongue is plotting crime.
Mark this, you who
never think of God.
‘You who sit and
malign your brother
and
slander your own mother’s son.
You do this, and
should I keep silence?
Do you
think that I am like you?
Mark this, you who
never think of God.
‘Mark this, you who
never think of God,
lest I
seize you and you cannot escape;
a sacrifice of
thanksgiving honours me
and I
will show God’s salvation to the upright.’
Mark this, you who
never think of God.
Gospel
Acclamation
|
Jn8:12
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the light of the
world, says the Lord;
anyone who follows me
will have the light of life.
Alleluia!
Or
|
Ps94:8
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
Harden not your
hearts today,
but listen to the
voice of the Lord.
Alleluia!
Gospel
|
Matthew 8:18-22 ©
|
When Jesus saw the
great crowds all about him he gave orders to leave for the other side. One of
the scribes then came up and said to him, ‘Master, I will follow you wherever
you go.’ Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but
the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’
Another
man, one of his disciples, said to him, ‘Sir, let me go and bury my father
first.’ But Jesus replied, ‘Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their dead.’
THE
PRICE FOR THE PRIZE OF DISCIPLESHIP
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ AMOS 2:6-10,
13-16; MT 8:18-22]
In the
gospel we read of two different responses to the call of discipleship.
One comes from an enthusiastic would-be disciple and the other from a reluctant
would-be disciple. For most of us our own response to discipleship lies
between these two responses. What is significant about the call of Jesus
is that He was extremely candid about those who choose to follow Him. He
did not allow any of His potential disciples to have any illusions of whatever
sort. He did not offer empty promises or an easy life. He comes to
offer the fullness of life. But this life is only given to those who are
ready to have it. There is a price for every prize. If we are not
ready for the price, then we should not expect to receive the prize.
This was the case of the
scribe who was inspired by the life and ministry of our Lord. His
enthusiastic response upon hearing His preaching and watching Him ministering
to the sick and those possessed was “’Master, I will follow you wherever you
go.” The reply of Jesus was downright candid that it can appear to be
very discouraging. He said, “Foxes have holes and the birds of the air
have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” Indeed, the
life of Jesus was one of a Suffering Servant fulfilling the prophecy of
Isaiah. (cf Isa 52:13-53:12). His life is one of self-emptying. (Phil 2:7) He was rich but became poor for our sake.
(cf 2 Cor 8:9) Most of all, His life ended in rejection and death on
the cross. But by so doing, He brought salvation and life to all.
If Jesus travelled this road
to life, His disciples cannot be travelling on a different path. Indeed,
the Lord just reminded us to enter through the narrow gate “for the gate is
wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who
take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life,
and there are few who find it.” (Mt 7:13f) That is why we must be wary of preachers that promise us
a rose garden without the thorns. We must be wary of preachers that are
more concerned about wealth, power and status than giving up their lives in
humble service for others. Otherwise, we are taking the easy road that
leads to perdition, for the things of this earth will not give us happiness
unless we give them away. We are here to enrich others; not
ourselves. In enriching others, we are enriched in love, kindness,
generosity and in spirit. This is what money and power cannot buy;
the freedom and joy of a magnanimous and compassionate heart.
The truth is that many of
us make that commitment in baptism to follow Christ but in truth we are not
ready to follow Him. We want privileges without responsibilities and
commitment. It is just like those relationships where the couple only
wants to be romantic and be sexually intimate but they are not ready for
sacrifices, commitment and responsibility towards new life that comes from a
relationship. Love without commitment is pure selfishness.
Sex without responsibility is pure pleasure. If this is true in human
relationship, what more when it comes to our relationship with God?
This was the mistake of the
Israelites during the time of the prophet Amos. The Israelites in the
Northern Kingdom of Israel did not obey the Covenant as set out by Moses.
They relished the fact that they were the chosen people of God but they failed
to practice justice in their dealings with others and charity towards the
poor. Instead, the rich became richer and the poor became poorer as they
were manipulated by the rich and powerful. There was a great divide
between the rich and the poor, the powerful and the voiceless.
Their lives were immoral and dishonest. Most of all, they worshipped
false gods. How could they consider themselves the chosen People of God
when they did not observe the part of their relationship with God, which is to
serve Him alone and obey the Laws of Moses?
Indeed, the greatest
weakness of the Catholic Church is that we have numbers and we like to boast of
our numbers. But we never ask, what kind of Catholics do we have?
Are they truly disciples of the Lord, following Him and living out the gospel
life, or are they simply converts and mere nominal disciples? If they are
not disciples in fact but only in name, Jesus would say to them as He warned us
earlier, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of
heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Then I
will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’” (Mt 7:21, 23) If we are not ready to follow Jesus by coming to Him,
meditating on His life, daily listening to the Word of God and putting into
practice the Word of God, then our response to the Lord is mere passing enthusiasm.
It does us no good unless like Jesus, we wake up early to pray and then go out
to serve the community in humble service.
But there is another group
of so-called disciples of the Lord. These are the people who are tardy in
responding to the call to discipleship. The disciple wanted to follow the
Lord but he was not yet ready to leave his father and his loved ones behind,
whether because of inheritance or filial responsibility. When Jesus
told him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their dead”, He was not being
hard hearted. Rather, Jesus wanted Him to know his priorities.
Obedience and love for God must come first and we will see the other things in
life in proper perspective. When our love for the Lord takes first place in
our lives, everything else would be seen in relation to our love for Him.
However, not many put Jesus
at the center of their lives. He lives on the margin of our lives, more
as a backup than the foundation. This explains why there are some
would-be disciples who, upon hearing the gospel and prompted by the Holy Spirit
to respond to the call to discipleship, are afraid to take the plunge.
The Holy Spirit has stirred their hearts to fulfill their yearnings for the
Lord. But when they consider the price that they have to pay, for example
giving up their worldly pursuits, their irregular relationships and their
dishonest lifestyles, they begin to have second thoughts. Many in their
hearts love the Lord but not enough to give up their other priorities for the
Lord. And so they wait. Unfortunately, we do not know how long we
can wait. Many inspirations from the Holy Spirit to come to the Lord, to
ask for baptism or to start a project or to do a good deed, are not heeded and
therefore become a lost opportunity. When we do not seize the moment, the
opportunity that is in front of us, we might never have it again.
Similarly, many of us never
find the fullness of life even though we are baptized because we are not
willing to let go of our own worldly and selfish pursuits. Many want to
build up their career, their wealth, their status at the expense of their faith
and their relationship with the Lord. Some even sacrifice the intimacy
and unity of the family and their spouse so that they could achieve their
goals. They would tell the Lord that when they have earned enough then they
would come back to serve Him. Such thinking is naive and contrary to what
the Lord is offering us. We do not serve the Lord only when we are
involved in Church ministry or charitable works. Rather, we serve the
Lord every day, wherever we are, and whatever we do. We serve the Lord by
being a responsible spouse and worker. We serve the Lord by looking after
our family and our colleagues and the community. So there is no dichotomy
between serving the Lord and serving our family or doing our work. At any
point of time, our duty is to ask where the Lord wants us to serve Him.
So to serve the Lord does not mean abandoning our parents or our family.
To serve the Lord simply
means to serve where He asks us to serve. So we do not have to wait till
our retirement to serve Him. We serve Him according to the situation, the
resources, the responsibilities and the way we can serve. At the
end of the day, what is important is that we are serving God regardless of
whether we are serving at home, in the office, in the Church or in some
NGOs. What we must be concerned is whether God is our priority and
that all that we do is meant to serve and glorify Him in obedience to His will.
How, then, can we put the
Lord as the priority in our lives? It all depends on how much we know the
Lord and are inspired by His love, life and passion for us. We are called
to be like the scribe who was touched by the Lord. Considering his legalistic
background, he was the most unlikely disciple of Christ. Like St Paul who was a
Pharisee, he too was a most unlikely candidate for discipleship. Yet they
were touched simply because of the way Jesus manifested Himself to them.
So only when we fall in love with Jesus like St Paul and all the saints, we
cannot expect ourselves to give up everything for Him and make Him the center
of our lives. This is the pre-requisite for discipleship. A
Catholic who does not deepen his love for the Word of God and the Eucharist can
hardly grow in discipleship. But if we do, then we will see that the
prize ahead of us is already with us because we would have shared in the joy,
freedom and love of our Lord as we serve Him and His people. The prize of
having Jesus and the Holy Spirit in our hearts and the love of the Father would
have given us great joy and consolation. With Jesus, we have everything.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights
Reserved
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