20160815 THE PERFECTION OF LIFE IS THE PERFECTION OF LOVE
Eze
24:15-24
15 The
word of Yahweh
was addressed to me as follows,
16 'Son
of man, at a blow I am about to deprive you of the delight of your eyes. But
you are not to lament, not to weep, not to let your tears run down.
17
Groan in silence, do not go into mourning for the dead, knot your turban round
your head, put your sandals on your feet, do not cover your beard, do not eat
the usual food.'
18 I
told this to the people in the morning, and my wife died in the evening, and
the next morning I did as I had been ordered.
19 The
people then said to me, 'Will you not explain what meaning these actions have
for us?'
20 I
replied, 'The word of Yahweh
has been addressed to me as follows,
21
"Say to the House of Israel, the Lord Yahweh
says this: I am about to profane my sanctuary, the pride
of your strength, the delight of your eyes, the joy of your hearts. Your sons
and daughters whom you have left behind will
fall by the sword.
23 you will
keep your turbans on your heads and your sandals on your feet; you will
not lament or weep but will
waste away for your crimes, groaning among yourselves.
24 Thus Ezekiel
is a sign for you. You will
do exactly what he has done. And when this happens, you will
know that I am Lord
Yahweh!"
Gospel Matthew 19:16-22
17
Jesus said to him, 'Why do you ask me about what is good? There is one alone
who is good. But if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.'
18 He
said, 'Which ones?' Jesus
replied, 'These: You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall
not steal. You shall not give false witness.
19
Honour your father and your mother. You shall love your neighbour as yourself.'
20 The
young man
said to him, 'I have kept all these. What more do I need to do?'
21
Jesus said, 'If you wish to be perfect, go and sell your possessions and give
the money to the poor, and you will
have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.'
THE
PERFECTION OF LIFE IS THE PERFECTION OF LOVE
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ EZEKIEL
24:15-24; MATTHEW 19:16-22 ]
“Master, what good deed
must I do to possess eternal life?” Most of us are like this young man
who was only concerned with eternal life. We are anxious about whether we
can go to heaven or whether we will go to purgatory or worse, hell. Most
of us are quite contented if we can go to heaven. Yet, many of us fail to
realize that there are degrees in heaven just as there are degrees in love and
relationship. Heaven is not a univocal term. It has different depths as
well. This is understandable if we translate heaven as love. Heaven
is a state of being in love with God, our brothers and sisters and ourselves.
The happiness in heaven or
eternal life is measured in terms of one’s relationship with God and our
fellowmen. The deeper and more intense the love, the greater is the
happiness. Just as the joy of love and relationship are measured in terms
of degree and intensity; so too, heaven could be seen from this perspective. On
the other hand, it does not mean that in heaven we will be incomplete or sad
because heaven is to be understood as fulfillment when we see God face to
face. All those who are in heaven will be complete and full, but not all
will have the same capacity to love. Even in this life, although we all
love, some can love more deeply, fully and unconditionally than others.
Those who can love more deeply will experience a greater joy than those who
cannot.
So,
when the man asked Jesus what he needed to do to possess eternal life, the Lord
told him, “If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” In
other words, we can enter into the life of God if we do what is right and
good. God, who is truth and goodness, implies that those who wish to
share in His life must also be like Him in truth and goodness.
Specifically, it entails being just and fair to our brothers and sisters.
Jesus cited the commandments of love of neighbor from the Decalogue. “You
must not kill. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not
bring false witness. Honour your father and mother, and: you must love your
neighbour as yourself.” So being just to our fellowmen and not
doing harm would give us a clear conscience and permit us to share in the life
of God.
Conversely, those who live
a sinful life cannot expect to share in the life of God at the same time.
One cannot choose darkness and light at the same time. Either we choose
light or darkness, life or death. God is all light and love. Hence,
the Israelites in the first reading during the time of the prophet Ezekiel were
warned that they would be sent into exile because they failed to observe the laws
of the Covenant. God said to them, “I am about to profane my sanctuary,
the pride of your souls. Those of your sons and daughters whom you have
left behind will fall by the sword. You shall waste away owing to your
sins and groan among yourselves. And when this happens, you will learn
that I am the Lord.” When we live in sin, we cannot expect to share the
life of God. Those who cannot love therefore cannot share in God’s
life. As the psalmist says, “I shall hide my face from them.”
Why, then, does the man
still feel inadequate? Following the commandments should have given him the
fullness of life and yet it did not. The young man said to him, “I have
kept all these. What more do I need to do?” The truth is that even though
he had fulfilled all that the Law required, he still felt incomplete. He
had not done wrong to anyone and he had fulfilled his obligations. At
least he had fulfilled the demands of justice. But happiness in life is
more than living a just life but to live a life of love and service.
Fulfilling the precepts of justice only gives you a clear conscience.
Only a proactive love manifested in humble service to God and humanity can give
us a fuller life.
To live a perfect life
entails giving everything to the poor and following Jesus. This explains why
the Lord said to the young man, “If you wish to be perfect, go and sell what
you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven;
then come, follow me.” This invitation of our Lord to the young man to go
further than just fulfilling the laws demands two things; that he gives
everything to the poor and follow Him. This is the way to perfect our
life and to truly share in the life of God. This is because Christ Himself gave
up everything, including His divinity, to share in our humanity. He
became one of us and one with us. He was rich but became poor for our
sake. He chose to be poor with us in every way except sin. He was
identified with us in our suffering, struggles and our pains.
So, if we want to live the
perfect life of love, we are called to give everything to the poor. The
more we are able to give everything to the poor, the more we become like
God. Indeed, those of us who are able to give more already understand the
joy of helping the poor. The joy of seeing how the poor are filled and
helped is something no money can buy. The poor give us meaning, purpose
and our humanity. They stir up our human emotions, especially those of us who
have hardened our hearts and feelings because of the harsh competitions of
life, the sufferings and the betrayals. What fulfills us and open our
hearts is our capacity to love. Our lives are made richer and more fulfilling.
We have many examples in the history of humanity of people who have given
everything to the poor. One recent example is that of Blessed Mother
Teresa. She emptied herself and all she had for the poor. She lived
among the poor and identified herself with the poor.
But it is not easy to give
everything to the poor because it is a charism. There are attempts to
enter into this state of life by priests, religious and lay individuals.
Yet, even for those in priestly and religious life who have given our lives to
the Church, our standard of living is far more comfortable compared to those from
the lower income earners in society. The explanation given to me by some
religious who live a rather comfortable, if not luxurious life, is that the vow
of poverty simply means, “Nothing is my own but it does not mean that I need to
live simply.” That is why I say it is not a gift given to
all. Not many of us can live simply or be contented with a hard life
without comforts. Especially for us affluent and pampered Singaporeans,
we cannot take the heat, the poor hygiene, the lack of cleanliness because we are
so used to have a life of comfort. Even religious houses are much
cleaner, well equipped and nicer than those who live in one or two-room
apartments. Sometimes I feel embarrassed that we preach so much
about poverty and simplicity and giving, when our lives are so comfortable,
even if it is not luxurious. There are many more people who are without
the little comforts of life; they make do with just a fan, a simple meal, if at
all; and many are without a home or a bed to sleep in.
However, the perfection of
life is not attained simply by giving our wealth to the poor. This is
just the material aspect, but we are called to give our whole self to the Lord
by following Him. This is what He told the young man, that after giving
up his wealth to the poor, he was to follow Him. It is to live with
Jesus, walk with Jesus, breathe with Jesus in all that we do and say.
Only when we put on Christ and put on His humility, love, compassion and
lowliness, can we partake fully in the life of God. So the giving away of
our wealth is but only a symbolic desire to place all our trust in God’s
providence and desire to live poorly and simply as He did. It is a total
detachment from everything so that we can be completely attached to Him.
Anyone who gives his or her life entirely to Christ and lives like Him in every
way, listening to Him in the Word of God, meditating and contemplating on Him
day and night; and living out his or her life in imitation of Him, in freedom
and in joy, will find life tremendously free and rich. This is what the
fullness of life is all about. This is the full possession of eternal
life, a life of God, a life of love and truth. Alas, like the young man
who heard these words, “he went away sad, for he was a man of great wealth.”
How many of us have the grace and the generosity to give all and follow
Jesus? Very few!
So whilst all might be
saved and enter into the life of the kingdom, not all can share deeply in the
fullness of life with God unless He empowers and enables us. This remains
a grace and our cooperation with His love. This means that whilst we can,
we should not live life superficially and be contented with our spiritual life,
thinking that we have done enough or are holy enough, but daily deepen our love
for the Lord and grow in holiness more and more so that our hearts will have a
greater capacity to share in the life of God more deeply and intensely.
The greater the death, the greater is the resurrection; the greater the
self-emptying, the greater is the God-filling.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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