20161026 GROUNDING ALL RELATIONSHIPS IN THE LORD
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Ephesians 6:1-9 ©
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Children, be obedient
to your parents in the Lord – that is your duty. The commandment that has
a promise attached to it is: Honour your father and mother, and the
promise is: and you will prosper and have a long life in the land. And
parents, never drive your children to resentment but in bringing them up
correct them and guide them as the Lord does.
Slaves,
be obedient to the men who are called your masters in this world, with deep
respect and sincere loyalty, as you are obedient to Christ: not only when you
are under their eye, as if you had only to please men, but because you are
slaves of Christ and wholeheartedly do the will of God. Work hard and
willingly, but do it for the sake of the Lord and not for the sake of men. You
can be sure that everyone, whether a slave or a free man, will be properly
rewarded by the Lord for whatever work he has done well. And those of you who
are employers, treat your slaves in the same spirit; do without threats,
remembering that they and you have the same Master in heaven and he is not
impressed by one person more than by another.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm 144:10-14 ©
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The Lord is
faithful in all his words.
All your creatures
shall thank you, O Lord,
and your
friends shall repeat their blessing.
They shall speak of
the glory of your reign
and
declare your might, O God,
to make known to men
your mighty deeds
and the
glorious splendour of your reign.
The Lord is
faithful in all his words.
Yours is an
everlasting kingdom;
your rule
lasts from age to age.
The Lord is
faithful in all his words.
The Lord is faithful
in all his words
and
loving in all his deeds.
The Lord supports all
who fall
and
raises all who are bowed down.
The Lord is
faithful in all his words.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Jn14:6
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Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the Way, the
Truth and the Life, says the Lord;
No one can come to
the Father except through me.
Alleluia!
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Or
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cf.2Th2:14
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Through the Good News
God called us
to share the glory of
our Lord Jesus Christ.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 13:22-30 ©
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Through towns and
villages Jesus went teaching, making his way to Jerusalem. Someone said to him,
‘Sir, will there be only a few saved?’ He said to them, ‘Try your best to enter
by the narrow door, because, I tell you, many will try to enter and will not
succeed.
‘Once the
master of the house has got up and locked the door, you may find yourself
knocking on the door, saying, “Lord, open to us” but he will answer, “I do not
know where you come from.” Then you will find yourself saying, “We once ate and
drank in your company; you taught in our streets” but he will reply, “I do not
know where you come from. Away from me, all you wicked men!”
‘Then
there will be weeping and grinding of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and
Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves turned
outside. And men from east and west, from north and south, will come to take
their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.
‘Yes,
there are those now last who will be first, and those now first who will be
last.’
GROUNDING
ALL RELATIONSHIPS IN THE LORD
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ EPHESIANS 6:1-9; LUKE 13:22-30 ]
What is life if not about
relationships? Happiness in life is ultimately dependent on relationships. Of
course, this is not to discount the importance of meaningful work, recreation
and the pleasures of life. But without meaningful and healthy
relationships with those who are connected with us, be they our loved ones,
family members, colleagues, friends and collaborators, life would be so empty.
Indeed,
this was the question posed to the Lord. “Sir, will there be only a few
saved?” Obviously, the one who asked this question was a Jew. He
was thinking that only the Chosen People of God would be saved and all others
would be condemned to perdition. The response of Jesus is clear. It
is not by membership in any organization that we are saved. Just because
we belong to a chosen race, it does not mean that we are automatically
saved. Indeed, many Catholics think that just because they are baptized,
they are guaranteed of salvation. Instead, Jesus made it clear, “Try your
best to enter by the narrow door, because, I tell you, many will try to enter
and will not succeed.”
What is this door?
Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He is the Gate to the
sheepfold. “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They
will come in and go out, and find pasture.” (Jn 10:9) To enter
into life, we need to have a personal relationship with the Lord. Without
entering this door, we will not be able to find the fullness of life.
Unfortunately, like the Jews, we are content with a superficial relationship
with the Lord. We appear to be with Him but our hearts are far from
Him. We attend Church services and are even involved in all kinds of
activities in the Church, but we do not know Him personally. That is why
Jesus warns us that such a relationship will not save us. Jesus said, “You will
find yourself saying, “We once ate and drank in your company; you taught in our
streets” but he will reply, ‘I do not know where you come from. Away from
me, all you wicked men!’”
Why is our relationship
with the Lord so primary for us to live a meaningful life? This is
because it determines all other human relationships as well. Our
relationship with God grounds all other relationships. In other words,
what is the reference point in our relationship with our fellow human
beings? For those in the world, the reference point is themselves.
We look at others from our perspective. Being selfish, self-centered and
insecure as we are, we will therefore relate to others in a way that will
benefit us. Even couples get married not to love but to be loved and
adored. Employers treat their workers as tools for their
success. Workers curry favour with their bosses to gain promotion and
material rewards. Even parents can regard their children as trophies to
be displayed to the world. Children regard their parents not as mentors
but as financial providers. Beyond money and material things, they have
no real relationship with them. Instead of relating with others from the
perspective of selfless love, we are more concerned about others loving us and
caring for us. And if we are broken and wounded, we will view all others
negatively with suspicion and fear.
St Paul explains why it is
so important to see all relationships in Christ. To enter the narrow gate
is to look at all our relationships with our fellowmen from the perspective of
Christ. Holiness is about purifying our relationships at every level of
life. They key word is “in Christ.” If all relationships are
founded in Christ, then every relationship will be loving and authentic.
The tragedy of life is that married couples, although married in Church, are
not married in Christ because Christ is not the center of their
relationships. In their relationships, Christ hardly factors in their
lives. They do not share their faith or pray with each other. It is
true for young couples. They want to be loving but without the help of
Christ. As a result, they become possessive of each other, insecure and jealous.
This leads to physical, emotional and sexual manipulation. The
relationship is no longer chaste and pure but always inward-looking. When
Christ is taken out of every relationship, the selfish nature of the wounded
man takes over and sees everyone from his or her narrow needs.
Thus, St Paul urges us to
see all our relationships in Christ. With respect to our parents, we are
called to see them in Christ. He wrote, “Children, be obedient to your
parents in the Lord – that is your duty. The first commandment that has a
promise attached to it is: Honour your father and mother; and the promise is:
and you will prosper and have a long life in the land.” God wants
us to honour our parents, take care of them especially in their old age when
they can no longer work or take care of themselves. Caring and
respecting our parents is the way in which we honour and serve the Lord.
That was how our Lord honoured His Father by doing His will.
As for parents, how do we
form our children? We do not make them miniatures of ourselves. We
do not determine their career choices and how they should live their
lives. St Paul says, “And parents, never drive your children to
resentment but in bringing them up correct them and guide them as the Lord
does.” If we see our children as gifts from the Lord and that we
are guardians on behalf of the Lord, then we seek how best to bring the
children up according to the mind of Christ. We need to be careful that
we do not drive them to resentment, putting demands on them or controlling them
in such a way that we give them no room for growth and for making mistakes.
Similarly, with respect to
those who are superiors, employers and bosses, we need to ask how we see our
workers in the Lord. Do we see them as collaborators in the vineyard of
the Lord? Do we see our responsibility in helping to build up our
workers, their potentials and to provide them the necessary means to look after
their own family? As employers, we cannot treat our workers like tools
and robots meant to serve us and then dispose of them accordingly.
Rather, we are stewards of God’s blessings and our task is to nurture and
develop the skills of our workers so that they can perform well in life.
The purpose of success is to create more jobs and provide for our workers and
their families so that all can live meaningful and happy lives. Success
belongs not just to the entrepreneur or the leaders but the fruits of success
must be shared with all.
Finally, for those of us
who are workers, we must regard our bosses in the Lord. They are placed
over us so that cooperating and working with them, we can bring profits to the
company so that all can share in the fruits. We do not see ourselves as
slaves but rather collaborating with those who are in charge. In the
final analysis, we are working for the Lord, not for men. What we should
be concerned is not whether our bosses are happy with our work but whether we
are glorifying God by our work. What is important is that we do our best
and give our best in whatever we do, with or without the bosses’
knowledge. For in doing our work well, we grow in efficiency and
knowledge. When we are focused on pleasing and glorifying the Lord by our
work, then we will naturally be the best workers.
There is a warning for
those who do not cooperate with the grace of God by placing Him at the center
of our relationships. Jesus said, “Then there will be weeping and
grinding of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the
prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves turned outside. And men
from east and west, from north and south, will come to take their places at the
feast in the kingdom of God.” We will not share the joy of the
kingdom which is that of love, peace, joy and unity. Unless we form
good and beautiful relationships on earth in the Lord, we cannot enter heaven
because heaven is where all are deeply in love for each other and all united in
the love of the Lord. Forming and deepening our relationship with the
Lord is the key to all other relationships.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights
Reserved
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