DO NOT LET THE LORD PASS YOU BY

20160717 DO NOT LET THE LORD PASS YOU BY

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Green.

First reading

Genesis 18:1-10 ©

The Lord appeared to Abraham at the Oak of Mamre while he was sitting by the entrance of the tent during the hottest part of the day. He looked up, and there he saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them, and bowed to the ground. ‘My lord,’ he said ‘I beg you, if I find favour with you, kindly do not pass your servant by. A little water shall be brought; you shall wash your feet and lie down under the tree. Let me fetch a little bread and you shall refresh yourselves before going further. That is why you have come in your servant’s direction.’ They replied, ‘Do as you say.’

  Abraham hastened to the tent to find Sarah.’ ‘Hurry,’ he said ‘knead three bushels of flour and make loaves.’ Then running to the cattle Abraham took a fine and tender calf and gave it to the servant, who hurried to prepare it. Then taking cream, milk and the calf he had prepared, he laid all before them, and they ate while he remained standing near them under the tree.

  ‘Where is your wife Sarah?’ they asked him. ‘She is in the tent’ he replied. Then his guest said, ‘I shall visit you again next year without fail, and your wife will then have a son.’

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 14:2-5 ©

The just will live in the presence of the Lord.

Lord, who shall dwell on your holy mountain?

He who walks without fault;

he who acts with justice

and speaks the truth from his heart;

he who does not slander with his tongue.

The just will live in the presence of the Lord.

He who does no wrong to his brother,

who casts no slur on his neighbour,

who holds the godless in disdain,

but honours those who fear the Lord.

The just will live in the presence of the Lord.

He who keeps his pledge, come what may;

who takes no interest on a loan

and accepts no bribes against the innocent.

Such a man will stand firm for ever.

The just will live in the presence of the Lord.

Second reading

Colossians 1:24-28 ©

It makes me happy to suffer for you, as I am suffering now, and in my own body to do what I can to make up all that has still to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church. I became the servant of the Church when God made me responsible for delivering God’s message to you, the message which was a mystery hidden for generations and centuries and has now been revealed to his saints. It was God’s purpose to reveal it to them and to show all the rich glory of this mystery to pagans. The mystery is Christ among you, your hope of glory: this is the Christ we proclaim, this is the wisdom in which we thoroughly train everyone and instruct everyone, to make them all perfect in Christ.

Gospel Acclamation

cf.Ac16:14

Alleluia, alleluia!

Open our heart, O Lord,

to accept the words of your Son.

Alleluia!

Or

cf.Lk8:15

Alleluia, alleluia!

Blessed are those who,

with a noble and generous heart,

take the word of God to themselves

and yield a harvest through their perseverance.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Luke 10:38-42 ©

Jesus came to a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. She had a sister called Mary, who sat down at the Lord’s feet and listened to him speaking. Now Martha who was distracted with all the serving said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me.’ But the Lord answered: ‘Martha, Martha,’ he said ‘you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part; it is not to be taken from her.’

DO NOT LET THE LORD PASS YOU BY

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ GEN 18:1-10; COL 1:24-28; LK 10:38-42  ]

In the first reading, we read that as soon as Abraham saw the Lord, he said, “I beg you, if I find favour with you, kindly do not pass your servant by.”  This request of his should be that of every one of us as well.  His words are pertinent to us all.  How tragic and unfortunate that many of us allow the Lord to pass us by again and again.

When does He pass us by?

The Lord passes us by when, amidst the busyness of our work and family responsibilities, we take our eyes off Him.  Quite often, we get so caught up in our work and the demands of family life that we hardly have any time or quality time to become aware of His presence in our activities.  Some of us let the Lord slip past us because of too much entertainment and socializing. When the body succumbs to the pleasures of life and when the inner voice is drowned by music, drinking and noise, our hearts become deaf to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

But most ironically, those of us who allow the Lord to pass us by are in active ministry.  Those of us in active ministry in Church know that the burden of responsibilities, the demands made on us, on our time and resources and struggles in our own personal integration, make us also lose sight of the Lord.  This was certainly the case for Martha.  She was busy doing many things for the Lord.  As a consequence, she did not have time to sit at the Lord’s feet like Mary.  Although the Lord was right there in her presence, her preoccupation with the mundane things of life took her away from Him.  Is that not the case with most of us as well?

The second factor that causes the Lord to pass us by is when we seek to do our own will and our own things rather than to do His will.  We think we are doing the work of the Lord because we are engaged in doing good works or involved in Church-related activities.  The truth is that even though what we do is commendable, it is possible that we are not fulfilling the Lord’s desire and plan for us. To serve the Lord is not about doing things on our own terms and according to our own preferences, but according to His will.  Otherwise we would only be fulfilling our own needs, serving our own will, ego and personal interests.  This again was the pitfall that Martha fell into.  Although what she did for the Lord, fussing over Him and making Him feel comfortable and at home, was a hospitable thing to do for her guest, yet she failed to realize that what her guest really wanted was not material comfort but friendship and inter-personal relationship.  But Martha was not available.  She was not listening.  She had no space in her heart for Him.

Are we not like her as well? We like to do many things for the Lord and even for our friends.  We pursue so many activities with passion, activities, projects, talks, retreats and ministry. This is also true even in relationships with our loved ones.  We like to do things for them.  We buy them gifts, dine them in fine restaurants, arrange for holidays in exotic places, but we never have time to listen to their aspirations, their joys and sorrows and burdens in their hearts.   And when our loved ones lament that we do not love them, we feel hurt and resentful because we think they are ingrates.  Again we fail to realize that although we appear to be serving them, in actual fact we are not, because sometimes what they need most is our time, not our things, our love and attention, not what we can do for them.

Indeed, this is where we can learn from the hospitality of Abraham.   Unlike Martha, he was sensitive to what the Lord wanted in his tiredness.  When he saw the three men, and knowing how hot the weather was, he offered them water, food and rest.  He was perceptive of their needs: “A little water shall be brought; you shall wash your feet and lie down under the tree. Let me fetch a little bread and you shall refresh yourselves before going further. That is why you have come in your servant’s direction. They replied, ‘Do as you say.’”  Are we perceptive of what the Lord is asking of us?  Are we giving Him what we want or what He wants of us?  Mary too was sensitive to the needs of Jesus.  She gave Him her full devotion and attention for she knew that what Jesus wanted most then was to have her share in His joys and sorrows, His vision and mission.

The third reason why the Lord passes us by is because we are more preoccupied with ourselves than with Him.  Underlying all that we do for Him, we need to check our real motives of serving Him.  Is what we are doing truly for the love of Him and of His people, or more out of insecurity and the desire to protect our interests?  Even serving God in the Church could be unconsciously motivated by power, material gains or self-glory.  We want approval and recognition.  We seek popularity and control over people.  We want to feel good about ourselves.  Wasn’t this the case of Martha?  She wanted attention and approval from the Lord.  She was not so much concerned about the Lord as about Him noticing her, and hopefully commending her for her great hospitality, and perhaps praising her over Mary who, she complained, was “leaving me to do the serving all by myself?”

The fourth reason is that we are tired, overworked and do not have sufficient rest.  When we do not take care of our health, our spiritual life will also suffer as grace works in and through nature.  If we abuse our bodies and do not respect its constitution, we cause injury to our bodily system.  Weighed down by bodily weaknesses and limitations, we too will not be able to give the due attention to God, especially in prayer or in service to people, because the spirit might be willing but the flesh is weak. Even Jesus, in today’s gospel, also recognized His need to take a break, to recuperate.  Without physical rest, we will not be able to make ourselves available to the Lord nor for His people.

How then can we cooperate with the grace of God so that the Lord will not pass us by?

The psalmist reminds us that we must live in the presence of the Lord. Indeed, if the Lord passes us by, most of the time it is our sins that blind us from seeing Him.  If we want to see the Lord, we must first put our house in order by purifying ourselves from sin and resolving to live a life of charity, justice and integrity. Sin and the holiness of God are incompatible.  Either the Holy Spirit lives in us or we allow sin to dwell in us.

Secondly, we must take heed of Jesus’ advice to Martha, which is to choose the better part. Yes, spending time with the Lord must take priority over everything else.  The Lord prefers our company than to have us work for Him.   He wants us to draw strength from Him alone in whatever we do; to acquire a portion of His Spirit so that we too can confidently minister in the power of the same Spirit.  By choosing the Lord first above ministry, it shows that our ministry is rooted in His love for us and not stemming from a need for acceptance.

St Paul in the second reading shares with us his secret and the basis for His ministry.  If we were to be good servants of the Lord, we too must, like St Paul, begin by first contemplating on the mystery of God’s plan of salvation for us in Christ Jesus.  When we have grasped the wisdom and the depth of God’s love and mercy revealed to us in Christ, then we too will be excited in wanting to lead all men and women to Him.  Everything that we do is then focused on Christ as the end and the goal.

Like Sarah, whose love for God bore the fruit of a child to accomplish the plan of God for humanity, so too our love for Christ and His presence in us and with us will bring about the realization of His plan for all humanity. In this way, through Christ and in Christ, God will be all in all.  And we can indeed say that He has not passed us by.

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