SETTING OUR BAR TOO LOW

20160928 SETTING OUR BAR TOO LOW

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Green.

First reading

Job 9:1-13,14-16 ©

Job spoke to his friends:

Indeed, I know it is as you say:

  how can man be in the right against God?

If any were so rash as to challenge him for reasons,

  one in a thousand would be more than they could answer.

His heart is wise, and his strength is great:

  who then can successfully defy him?

He moves the mountains, though they do not know it;

  he throws them down when he is angry.

He shakes the earth, and moves it from its place,

  making all its pillars tremble.

The sun, at his command, forbears to rise,

  and on the stars he sets a seal.

He and no other stretched out the skies,

  and trampled the Sea’s tall waves.

The Bear, Orion too, are of his making,

  the Pleiades and the Mansions of the South.

His works are great, beyond all reckoning,

  his marvels, past all counting.

Were he to pass me, I should not see him,

  nor detect his stealthy movement.

Were he to snatch a prize, who could prevent him,

  or dare to say, ‘What are you doing?’

God never goes back on his anger,

  Rahab’s minions still lie at his feet.

How dare I plead my cause, then,

  or choose arguments against him?

Suppose I am in the right, what use is my defence?

  For he whom I must sue is judge as well.

If he deigned to answer my citation,

  could I be sure that he would listen to my voice?

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 87:10-15 ©

Let my prayer come into your presence, O Lord.

I call to you, Lord, all the day long;

  to you I stretch out my hands.

Will you work your wonders for the dead?

  Will the shades stand and praise you?

Let my prayer come into your presence, O Lord.

Will your love be told in the grave

  or your faithfulness among the dead?

Will your wonders be known in the dark

  or your justice in the land of oblivion?

Let my prayer come into your presence, O Lord.

As for me, Lord, I call to you for help:

  in the morning my prayer comes before you.

Lord, why do you reject me?

  Why do you hide your face?

Let my prayer come into your presence, O Lord.

Gospel Acclamation

Ps118:105

Alleluia, alleluia!

Your word is a lamp for my steps

and a light for my path.

Alleluia!

Or

Ph3:8-9

Alleluia, alleluia!

I have accepted the loss of everything

and I look on everything as so much rubbish

if only I can have Christ

and be given a place in him.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Luke 9:57-62 ©

As Jesus and his disciples travelled along they met a man on the road who said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ Jesus answered, ‘Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’

  Another to whom he said, ‘Follow me’, replied, ‘Let me go and bury my father first.’ But he answered, ‘Leave the dead to bury their dead; your duty is to go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.’

  Another said, ‘I will follow you, sir, but first let me go and say goodbye to my people at home.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Once the hand is laid on the plough, no one who looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’

SETTING OUR BAR TOO LOW

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [  Job 9:1-13, 14-16; Luke 9:57-62  ]

What is the real problem with the Catholic Church today?  We have many members but very few disciples of Christ.  Many want to get baptized but few live a life of Christian discipleship after baptism.  Most are Sunday or nominal Catholics.  Yes, they come to church but they are not fired up for Christ and His kingdom.  Some join the Church like a club house for fellowship and socializing.  Others do so just in case they need God or in case they get punished in the next life.  Many are occasional visitors to the church although they are “members.” They come on sentimental occasions like Christmas and Good Friday.  Beyond that they do not have any real relationship with the Lord, nor are they involved in the proclamation of the Good News, either in words or deeds.

When you have a Church with members who are belong to one of the three categories or all of them in the gospel, the Church cannot grow.  The growth of the Church in the past was all due to those who had a deep faith in the Lord.   They were willing to sacrifice everything for Christ and the gospel.  The many missionaries who brought the faith beyond Europe sacrificed their lives and their loved ones for the sake of the gospel, even when faced with persecution and death.  Consider all the beautiful basilicas and churches built in Europe, many of them took more 100 years to build!  It was not constructed in a matter of years but in 100s, and yet the Catholics slowly, patiently, perseveringly built them.  Such was their faith and devotion to God, Christ and the gospel.

Perhaps, the greatest weakness of the Catholic Church is that we have lowered our bar too low for Christian discipleship.  We have made too little demands on our members and potential members. We want to take in everybody, the lame, the blind, the dumb, the tax-collectors, the prostitutes but we are not ready to challenge them at the same time to live out the radical life of being a Christian.  Indeed, Christ welcomed all sinners but He did not simply tell them that they could continue with their old way of life.   On the contrary, in no uncertain terms, He spoke of the cost of discipleship.  He did not couch His expectations and demands in nice words and political correctness.  His demands were sharp, clear, demanding and non-compromising. This is clearly illustrated in the three would be disciples in today’s gospel.

To the first man who wanted to follow the Lord, Jesus answered, “Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”   Many of us never count the cost and the sacrifices that we have to undertake before embarking on anything.  We only look at the frills, the privileges, the honor and the fun but fail to take into consideration the sacrifices, commitment and demands. Many young people entering into relationships only think of enjoying physical intimacy, but never ask whether they are ready for emotional and intellectual intimacy.  Many get married, thinking only of romance, but never looked at other married couples, how they are struggling in their marriages.  The truth is that in a marital relationship, there is more to the romance between two persons; there are other elements involved: children, in-laws and siblings, besides finance, housing, education, values, religion, work, illnesses, etc.  When we consider all these challenges, the romance will fly out of the window. Equally true for those who desire positions in life and aspire to high offices.  Little do they know that heavy is the head that wears the crown!   With heavy responsibilities on your shoulders, you might not be able to have time for your loved ones, much less for God!  So we seek prestige and position in life only to realize that we cannot handle the stress, the demands and the sacrifices needed.  When their marriage and family life fail, including their health, they will regret.

So too in Church ministry, whether as volunteers or workers, there is commitment!  When a person is newly baptized, even before he learns to wean off milk, we put him into Church ministry and even in positions of responsibility.  He does not know what it is like to work in a community of sinners waiting to become saints.  When he meets with difficulties, rejection and disagreements, he becomes resentful and leaves the Church completely because the little faith he has cannot sustain him.  Of course, this applies especially to those who want to work in the Church.  They think that working in the Church is like working in paradise.  It is more like purgatory and hell because they will be purified by those whom they serve, suffering humiliation, being misunderstood, betrayed and rejected.  They will have to suffer loneliness and even ostracized.  So, this is what Jesus was telling the man.  Think of the demands and sacrifices before you ask for discipleship!     

So what is the problem?  This is because God is not the center of our life.  That was why when the second man who was asked by the Lord to follow Him, asked for permission to look after his father till death first, the response of Jesus was swift.   “Leave the dead to bury the dead; your duty is to go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.”   Jesus was not teaching him to be irresponsible and neglect his filial responsibilities.  Rather, He was telling him to place God first in His life.  Only then will everything fall into place.  When we give our total commitment to God, then we will know where to place our priorities and how to love our parents, spouse, children, friends, colleagues.  Everything must revolve around Christ.  Because when we love God above all, we too will love them as much as God loves them.  But when God is second or right at the bottom of the scale, we will manipulate and abuse those people whom we love and are under our care.

So if we want to be fully alive as a Christian, then we must focus our eyes on the Lord.  We must never take our eyes off Him in whatever we do.  If we do not do that, then our lives will become a mess.  Jesus told the third man, “Once the hand is laid on the plough, no one who looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”  We must not allow our attachment to our will and to the things of this world to prevent us from following the ways of God.  Quite often, it is our attachment to our old way of life that makes us turn back from the Lord. Many of us fall back to our old ways of life, especially when the journey is tough.   Singular mindedness is necessary if we are to do anything well in life.  The lack of focus and perseverance is the cause of many failures.   A Christian therefore will not allow anything to side track him in following the gospel way of life.

In the light of all that we have said, the question we must ask ourselves with regard to the apathy of faith among Catholics is whether we have compromised too much.  Have we set our bar too low, thinking that we should not exact too much from them?  As a consequence, we have unwittingly allowed the minority to influence the majority.  Even the strong sheep, after some time, will follow the weak and stray sheep.  Most of the problems we face in the Church today is due to the fact that we did not get it right from the start.  We relaxed Church discipline with regards to attire, marriage, the prerequisites for baptism and the other sacraments, etc.   Whilst we must be compassionate, it does not mean compromising our principles and our gospel values.  The Church has given too much away so much so we are left with very little to inspire, to challenge and to evoke the holiness, truth and beauty of the Church. We have underestimated our Catholics’ ability to give much more than what they are doing now for their faith.

Today, we have the example of Job who gave his total commitment to the Lord even in those moments of suffering.  He could not understand the ways of God but he knew that he could not fight against God and His divine plans.   So even when he could not understand why he had to suffer innocently, he submitted to God’s will.  Job was realistic and he accepted the cost of discipleship, which is to be committed to the Lord in faith until the very end.

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