Sunday, 14 August 2016

THE PERFECTION OF LIFE IS THE PERFECTION OF LOVE

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.
22 Then you will do as I have done: you will not cover your beards or eat the usual food;
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
16 And now a man came to him and asked, 'Master, what good deed must I do to possess eternal life?'
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.'
22 But when the young man heard these words he went away sad, for he was a man of great wealth.

THE PERFECTION OF LIFE IS THE PERFECTION OF LOVE

“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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