A COMPROMISED FAITH

20160711 A COMPROMISED FAITH

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: White.

First reading

Isaiah 1:10-17 ©

Hear the word of the Lord,

you rulers of Sodom;

listen to the command of our God,

you people of Gomorrah.

‘What are your endless sacrifices to me?

says the Lord.

I am sick of holocausts of rams

and the fat of calves.

The blood of bulls and of goats revolts me.

When you come to present yourselves before me,

who asked you to trample over my courts?

Bring me your worthless offerings no more,

the smoke of them fills me with disgust.

New Moons, sabbaths, assemblies –

I cannot endure festival and solemnity.

Your New Moons and your pilgrimages

I hate with all my soul.

They lie heavy on me,

I am tired of bearing them.

When you stretch out your hands

I turn my eyes away.

You may multiply your prayers,

I shall not listen.

Your hands are covered with blood,

wash, make yourselves clean.

‘Take your wrong-doing out of my sight.

Cease to do evil.

Learn to do good,

search for justice,

help the oppressed,

be just to the orphan,

plead for the widow.’

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 49:8-9,16-17,21,23 ©

I will show God’s salvation to the upright.

‘I find no fault with your sacrifices,

  your offerings are always before me.

I do not ask more bullocks from your farms,

  nor goats from among your herds.

I will show God’s salvation to the upright.

  ‘But 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,

I will show God’s salvation to the upright.

‘You do this, and should I keep silence?

  Do you think that I am like you?

A sacrifice of thanksgiving honours me

  and I will show God’s salvation to the upright.’

I will show God’s salvation to the upright.

Gospel Acclamation

cf.Ac16:14

Alleluia, alleluia!

Open our heart, O Lord,

to accept the words of your Son.

Alleluia!

Or

Mt5:10

Alleluia, alleluia!

Happy those who are persecuted

in the cause of right,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Matthew 10:34-11:1 ©

Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows: ‘Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth: it is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies will be those of his own household.

  ‘Anyone who prefers father or mother to me is not worthy of me. Anyone who prefers son or daughter to me is not worthy of me. Anyone who does not take his cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me. Anyone who finds his life will lose it; anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.

  ‘Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me; and those who welcome me welcome the one who sent me.

  ‘Anyone who welcomes a prophet will have a prophet’s reward; and anyone who welcomes a holy man will have a holy man’s reward.

  ‘If anyone gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple, then I tell you solemnly, he will most certainly not lose his reward.’

  When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples he moved on from there to teach and preach in their towns.

A COMPROMISED FAITH

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ DT 30:10-14; COL 1:15-20; LK 10:25-37  ]

Many of us, like the Israelites during the time of Isaiah, pay only lip service to God.  In truth, we do not take seriously the implications of confessing our faith in Christ as our Savior, Lord and God.  In our prayer and worship, we worship Jesus as our Lord and profess our loyalty and fidelity to Him.  But in our lives, Jesus is anything but the Lord and the center of our lives.  Many other things take priority over Jesus.  He is not always the main consideration in all our decision-making.  Other people and things are often chosen over Jesus. Many of us have hardly any time for Him, much less to think about Him and to hold Him in our heart wherever we go, whatever we do and say.

This hypocritical profession of faith hurts the Lord even more than those who do not believe in Him because of ignorance.  The words used by the Prophet evoke the deep pain and anguish of God when we betray Him by our words and actions. He said, “New Moons, Sabbaths, assemblies – I cannot endure festival and solemnity. Your New Moons and your pilgrimages I hate with all my soul. They lie heavy on me. I am tired of bearing them.”   It is not too difficult to feel with the Lord.  How do we like people who appear to be nice to us, say all the nice things about us when they are with us, give us presents and gifts but behind our back do all the things to hurt us, talking bad about us, slandering us, gossiping about us, and going against all our plans.

Such double-faced people are even more dangerous than our enemies.  At least with our enemies, we can be on guard but with them, thinking that they are our friends, we let our guard down and allow them to manipulate and destroy us.  For this reason, the Lord told the Israelites, “What are your endless sacrifices to me? I am sick of holocausts of rams and the fat of calves. The blood of bulls and of goats revolts me. When you come to present yourselves before me, who asked you to trample over my courts? Bring me your worthless offerings no more, the smoke of them fills me with disgust.”  Indeed, for such insincere people, we would say the same thing.  Please don’t put up a mask in front of us.  We are not interested in your gifts and your sweet word from your glib tongue.

But there is nothing more heartbreaking when our so-called friends betray us by hurting those people that we love and care for.  Indeed, we have many cases when those entrusted with responsibility betray our confidence and trust.  Sometimes priests, lay leaders, uncles, aunts, guardians, teachers included, betray our trust when they molest or take advantage of our children under their care.   Others steal our money or company secrets when we thought that they could be relied on absolutely.  More so, when we have treated these people well and given them many privileges and benefits.  To hurt our loved ones hurt us most deeply because we do not want our loved ones to suffer.  This exactly was how the Lord felt for His people when He told the Israelites, “Take your wrong-doing out of my sight. Cease to do evil. Learn to do good, search for justice, help the oppressed, be just to the orphan, plead for the widow.”  In the gospel too, Jesus also identified Himself with His disciples when He said, “If anyone gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple, then I tell you solemnly, he will most certainly not lose his reward.”

Indeed, in the gospel, Jesus invites us to give our total allegiance to Him.  We are called to give ourselves entirely to Him and His gospel, without compromise, without diluting the demands of discipleship, without hesitation and without fear of suffering.  A worthy disciple is one who is willing to accept the demands and the responsibilities of discipleship.

This entails first and foremost making Him the most important person in our life.  It calls for total commitment and He must be chosen above all others.  Without mincing His words, He said, “Anyone who prefers father or mother to me is not worthy of me.  Anyone who prefers son or daughter to me is not worthy of me.”   This is a tall order.  In reality, most of us put our spouse, our children and our fiancée before God.  When choosing between Jesus and our future spouse, we would choose our spouse before the Lord.  For many Catholics, having a common faith in Christ is not an important criterion in looking for a future spouse.   It is true for a person who is called to serve the Lord.  Often, he or she is hindered from serving the Lord wholeheartedly because of his or her attachment to her loved ones.

Secondly, it means that we are willing to suffer for the Lord and with Him.  Jesus said, “Anyone who does not take his cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me.  Anyone who finds his life will lose it; anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.”   To be a true disciple of the Lord requires that we walk the same path He trod.  We are not exempted from carrying the cross to Calvary.   This cross comes about when we die to ourselves, our selfishness, our needs and our interests as we pour out our lives as a libation for the service of our Lord and His people. Only when we take risks, suffer and empty ourselves completely, can we find life.  That is why those who are not ready to suffer, to take risks, and to seek adventure, cannot live fully.

Thirdly, to be a disciple of the Lord is to be ready to accept rejection even from our own kind, especially our loved ones.   Jesus warns us, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to earth: it is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword.  For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.  A man’s enemies will be those of his own household.”   These words of Jesus are not just empty threats but He was speaking from His own life.  He too was rejected by His family members who thought He was out of His mind.  He was also rejected by some of His disciples who left Him when they could not accept His teaching on the real presence of the Eucharist.  Most of all, He was betrayed by His own people and those whom He helped when He was unjustly condemned to death.

Quite often today, when a convert chooses the Lord, he or she is often considered an outcast in his or her family and her community.  Many converts have to make the hard choice of choosing our Lord over and above their family, their clan and their community.  But because of the sacrifices they had to make in order to be a Catholic, they tend to value their faith much more than cradle Catholics.  As it is said, anything that is given to us freely and without cost is hardly appreciated.  Those of us who have been brought up in their faith or are able to practice their faith freely do not understand the great privilege we have until one day when they are persecuted for their faith and that freedom to worship is taken away.

Other times, it takes the form of rejection by our community because we want to serve the Lord as called by Him.  When we are ready to speak out against the wrong practices and infidelities in our community like Isaiah and all the prophets, we too will be persecuted.  It is always difficult to do the will of God because we will face opposition.  Most of us would just resign or withdraw rather than do the will of God for the good of the community.  We are afraid of rejection, alienation and loneliness.  But this is the sad reality of life.  Our greatest enemies, as Jesus remarked, come from our own household and our community.

How can we then give the Lord such unreserved allegiance?  It depends on whether we truly believe in our hearts that Jesus is Lord and God.  Only because He believed Himself to be our Lord and Saviour, could He then demand that we love Him wholeheartedly as commanded by Moses when he said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”  This was reiterated in the gospel of yesterday when He told the lawyer how one could find eternal life.

It was significant that He connected the love of God with the love of neighbor and self. (cf Lk 10:27)  Loving God and loving neighbor and self are linked together in one single thread.  But the primacy goes to God first, then to neighbor and self.  Accordingly, Jesus said, “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me; and those who welcome me welcome the one who sent me.  Anyone who welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will have a prophet’s reward; and anyone who welcomes a holy man because he is a holy man will have a holy man’s reward.”  In truth, choosing the Lord does not mean giving up on our loved ones or our careers or our businesses or our hobbies.  On the contrary, choosing the Lord first will help us to see everything in perspective so that we can love them rightly with the love of God in our hearts.

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