20160709 THE KEY TO FORTITUDE WHEN CHRISTIAN LIFE IS PUT ON TRIAL
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Isaiah 6:1-8 ©
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In the year of King
Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord of Hosts seated on a high throne; his train
filled the sanctuary; above him stood seraphs, each one with six wings: two to
cover its face, two to cover its feet, and two for flying.
And they
cried out to one another in this way,
‘Holy, holy, holy is
the Lord of Hosts.
His glory fills the
whole earth.’
The foundations of
the threshold shook with the voice of the one who cried out, and the Temple was
filled with smoke. I said:
‘What a wretched
state I am in! I am lost,
for I am a man of
unclean lips
and I live among a
people of unclean lips,
and my eyes have
looked at the King, the Lord of Hosts.’
Then one of the
seraphs flew to me, holding in his hand a live coal which he had taken from the
altar with a pair of tongs. With this he touched my mouth and said:
‘See now, this has
touched your lips,
your sin is taken
away,
your iniquity is
purged.’
Then I heard the
voice of the Lord saying:
‘Whom shall I send?
Who will be our messenger?’
I answered, ‘Here I
am, send me.’
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm 92:1-2,5 ©
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The Lord is king,
with majesty enrobed.
The Lord is king,
with majesty enrobed;
the Lord
has robed himself with might,
he has
girded himself with power.
The Lord is king,
with majesty enrobed.
The world you made
firm, not to be moved;
your
throne has stood firm from of old.
From all
eternity, O Lord, you are.
The Lord is king,
with majesty enrobed.
Truly your decrees
are to be trusted.
Holiness
is fitting to your house,
O Lord,
until the end of time.
The Lord is king,
with majesty enrobed.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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1Jn2:5
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Whenever anyone obeys
what Christ has said,
God’s love comes to
perfection in him.
Alleluia!
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Or
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1P4:14
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Alleluia, alleluia!
It is a blessing for
you
when they insult you
for bearing the name of Christ,
for the Spirit of God
rests on you.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 10:24-33
©
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Jesus instructed the
Twelve as follows: ‘The disciple is not superior to his teacher, nor the slave
to his master. It is enough for the disciple that he should grow to be like his
teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the master of the
house Beelzebul, what will they not say of his household?
‘Do not
be afraid of them therefore. For everything that is now covered will be
uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear. What I say to you in
the dark, tell in the daylight; what you hear in whispers, proclaim from the
housetops.
‘Do not
be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; fear him rather
who can destroy both body and soul in hell. Can you not buy two sparrows for a
penny? And yet not one falls to the ground without your Father knowing. Why,
every hair on your head has been counted. So there is no need to be afraid; you
are worth more than hundreds of sparrows.
‘So
if anyone declares himself for me in the presence of men, I will declare myself
for him in the presence of my Father in heaven. But the one who disowns me in
the presence of men, I will disown in the presence of my Father in heaven.’
THE KEY
TO FORTITUDE WHEN CHRISTIAN LIFE IS PUT ON TRIAL
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ ISA 6:1-8; MT
10:24-38 ]
Many
people have happily chosen the Christian Faith and got themselves
baptized. But in the face of trials, especially in trying to live up to
the gospel life and the teachings of the Church, they give up, because they
cannot accept the moral demands of the gospel.
Similarly,
many good Christians choose to serve the Lord in the ministry, but in the face
of difficulty, especially in personal and working relationships, they become
resentful, bitter and disillusioned with the Church and give up not just the
ministry, but the Faith as well.
But
Jesus warns us that the disciple is no better than the master: “The disciple is
not superior to his teacher, nor the slave to his master.” The fact is
that if we want to be like our master, then we must carry the cross after
Him. It is a delusion to think that becoming a Christian is the way to
acquire the things that worldly people pursue, such as wealth, power, status
and pleasure. The values of the Kingdom, as Jesus taught us in the
Beatitudes, are entirely different from that of the world. This is not to
say that to be a Christian is to be miserable. On the contrary, by giving
our lives to Jesus and to others, we would already have a foretaste of living
heaven on earth in this life. Of course, this entails dying to
self, to our fears and our self-centeredness.
How then can we be strong
in our Faith when we are under trial and persecution?
Firstly,
we take note that the apostles and martyrs did not choose Jesus or their
mission. They were called by the Lord. Being called is therefore
the first criterion. The problem with some of us is that our baptism was not a
response to Jesus’ call, but rather a choice we made of our own volition, and
because we chose to be baptized in Christ, we think that we are doing Jesus a
favour and therefore He should be grateful to us for having made such a great
sacrifice! When we are chosen however, the initiative is from the Lord,
not from us. Of course we have the freedom to respond positively or negatively
to the call, but the election of God requires obedience, since it is a divine
command. Happiness is ours if we choose Him, and misery is ours when we seek to
live without Him. Still, the choice is ours to make.
But where does the call
come from and when does it begin? It begins with a vision. We read
in the first reading that Isaiah had a vision of “the Lord seated on a high
throne”, and he “heard the voice of the Lord saying: ‘Whom shall I send? Who
will be our messenger?’ I answered, ‘Here I am, send me.’“ So too, the
apostles had their transfiguration experience as well. It is significant that Isaiah
and all the apostles were sent out on mission only after their vision. Hence
there can be no mission unless we first have a vision of God, which is our
personal encounter with Him.
Why is having a God-vision
so important? It is the goal of life. When we know for certain that
the joy of being with God in glory is our goal in life, then we will do
everything to realize this goal. Clarity of vision brings about
conviction of mission and perseverance as well. Indeed, when we
think of the fullness of joy and life ahead of us, no price is too difficult to
pay.
Only with this clarity of
the joy of being with God, can we accept Jesus’ instructions: “What I say to
you in the dark, tell in the daylight; what you hear in whispers, proclaim from
the house tops.” We will not be afraid to declare and speak the truth
about Jesus and about morality if we know that the truth will set us
free. To live in the light means to live in freedom and liberation.
That is why Jesus asked us to proclaim the truth and not be afraid, for evil
which hides the truth will cripple us, especially our conscience and our
hearts.
Indeed,
a person who has encountered God will no longer live for himself or only for
this life on earth; he will live for eternity and not just for this
life. Truly, happiness in life is more than material and social
security, but it is the personal security found only in God. So to keep
our soul alive, we must live a life of integrity and love. Otherwise, as
Jesus says, not only will we destroy our body but also our soul. This
destruction of the soul begins when we allow sin to grow until it eventually
takes control of our mind, emotions and feelings and we die, because we have
lost all our freedom to love and to be true to ourselves.
Furthermore, in Christ we can
have complete confidence in the Lord who will protect us. As He assured us,
“Can you not buy two sparrows for a penny? And yet not one falls to the
ground without your Father knowing. Why, every hair on your head has been
counted. So there is no need to be afraid; you are worth more than
hundreds of sparrows.”
This vision of God is also
important because it enables us to grow in holiness through the purification of
our souls. Upon seeing the vision of God, Isaiah became so aware of his
sinfulness that he exclaimed in horror, “What a wretched state I am in! I am
lost, for I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips,
and my eyes have looked at the King, the Lord of hosts.” Holiness is
something only the Lord can bestow on us. Only through His grace can we become
holy.
Holiness is the
pre-requisite of mission. Isaiah could be sent out for mission only because the
angel first purified his lips to proclaim the Word of God and his heart to feel
with God and for His sinful and rebellious people. If we want to fulfill
the mission given to us, then holiness is the pre-condition and the
accompanying factor that will ensure effectiveness in our mission.
Without being first purified from our sinful way of life and experiencing the
forgiveness of God in our hearts, we cannot be ready for mission.
What is holiness if not
identification with the life of Jesus? We are called to be sons in
the Son so that when God sees us, He sees us truly as His adopted sons because
we bear the likeness of Christ in us. This is what Jesus meant in the gospel
when He remarked, “It is enough for the disciple that he should grow to be like
his teacher, and the slave like his master.” If we identify
ourselves with Jesus, we will share in His glory, which is what He promised
when He said: “So if anyone declares himself for me in the presence of men, I
will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in heaven. But
the one who disowns me in the presence of men, I will disown in the presence of
my Father in heaven.” Aware of this great and awesome calling and gift of God
to us, we cannot but relentlessly strive to be faithful to Christ and our
Christian values by living an authentic Christian life with fortitude,
perseverance and passion.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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