20161126 LIVING OUR LIVES MEANINGFULLY IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF
ETERNITY
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Apocalypse
22:1-7 ©
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The angel showed me,
John, the river of life, rising from the throne of God and of the Lamb and
flowing crystal-clear down the middle of the city street. On either side of the
river were the trees of life, which bear twelve crops of fruit in a year, one
in each month, and the leaves of which are the cure for the pagans.
The ban
will be lifted. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in its place in the
city; his servants will worship him, they will see him face to face, and his
name will be written on their foreheads. It will never be night again and they
will not need lamplight or sunlight, because the Lord God will be shining on
them. They will reign for ever and ever.
The angel
said to me, ‘All that you have written is sure and will come true: the Lord God
who gives the spirit to the prophets has sent his angel to reveal to his
servants what is soon to take place. Very soon now, I shall be with you again.’
Happy are those who treasure the prophetic message of this book.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm 94(95):1-7
©
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Marana tha! Come,
Lord Jesus!
Come, ring out our
joy to the Lord;
hail the
rock who saves us.
Let us come before
him, giving thanks,
with
songs let us hail the Lord.
Marana tha! Come,
Lord Jesus!
A mighty God is the
Lord,
a great
king above all gods.
In his hand are the
depths of the earth;
the
heights of the mountains are his.
To him belongs the
sea, for he made it
and the
dry land shaped by his hands.
Marana tha! Come,
Lord Jesus!
Come in; let us bow
and bend low;
let us
kneel before the God who made us:
for he is our God and
we
the
people who belong to his pasture,
the flock
that is led by his hand.
Marana tha! Come,
Lord Jesus!
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Mt24:42,44
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Stay awake and stand
ready,
because you do not
know the hour
when the Son of Man
is coming.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Lk21:36
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Stay awake, praying
at all times
for the strength to
stand with confidence
before the Son of
Man.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 21:34-36 ©
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Jesus said to his
disciples: ‘Watch yourselves, or your hearts will be coarsened with debauchery
and drunkenness and the cares of life, and that day will be sprung on you
suddenly, like a trap. For it will come down on every living man on the face of
the earth. Stay awake, praying at all times for the strength to survive all
that is going to happen, and to stand with confidence before the Son of Man.’
LIVING
OUR LIVES MEANINGFULLY IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF ETERNITY
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ REVELATION 22:1-7; LK 21:34-36 ]
Today
is the last day of the liturgical year. Consequently the question addressed to
us is whether we are ready for the last day of our lives. This question
is very real. We must not delude ourselves into thinking that we have
plenty of time or that we are still young because death can come suddenly, like
a heart attack, or gradually, like a terminal illness. Jesus made it
clear that “that day will be sprung on you suddenly, like a trap. For it
will come down on every living man on the face of the earth.” For us
Christians, we thank God if we suffer from a terminal illness for at least we
have time to repent and reorder our lives. But alas, if we die of a heart
attack or a tragic and fatal accident, we would have no chance to repent and to
find closure for all the unfinished agenda in our lives.
Why does the Church want us
to have such morbid thoughts at the end of the year? It is not meant to
put fear unto our hearts but to help us to be realistic and focused. This is
because to live a full life now is determined by what we intend to achieve in
the end. Unless we have a clear vision and goal in life, we cannot give
ourselves wholeheartedly to the task of living. Vision provides us with
focus and hope. Without a clear understanding of one’s vision, we cannot
commit ourselves to the task with zeal. Without vision, we cannot
strengthen the community’s spirit. Whether our members will make a
difference in the organization depends on the clarity and conviction of the
mission of the organization. But more importantly, we need to have our
own personal vision and mission in life. We need to ask the more fundamental
question of the meaning and purpose of our existence. Otherwise, we will
just drift through life as in the case of someone who loses his or her
spouse. It is vision that keeps us alive and keeps us going until we
realize our dream. It is vision that draws us to pour our spirit into
society and help others to realize their own vision and the community’s vision.
Indeed,
the tragedy is that many people in the world live an aimless life. As
Jesus said, their hearts are “coarsened with debauchery and drunkenness and the
cares of life.” Indeed, so many of us fail to live our lives in the
shadow of eternity. We are only preoccupied with the pleasures and
anxieties of this life. We get so burdened with the non-essentials of
life that we forget what is really important. We think pleasures,
possessions, power and status can give us meaning in life. Nay, all these
are passing. In fact some pleasures and worldly pursuits in life can
destroy us even and make us insensitive to what is truly of eternal
value. We live superficially and not deeply. When we live for
ourselves alone and allow sins to control our lives, we will never be able to
live fully as we are created for God and for love. Failing to give
ourselves to God and to our fellowmen, we lose meaning and purpose to live
fully. The one who tries to live for himself will eventually be
frustrated because our hearts are made for God and for others. Love of
self is self-suffocation.
So what
is of eternal value? The first reading gives us the vision and goal of
every Christian, which is to enter into the river of life. It is a life
that is lived in the presence of God, seeing Him face to face. The author
writes, “The ban will be lifted. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in
its place in the city; his servants will worship him, they will see him face to
face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. It will never be night
again and they will not need lamplight or sunlight, because the Lord God will
be shining on them.” We will reign with Him in the new Kingdom. In
the responsorial psalm, we are called to praise God and recognize Him as our
Lord and God to whom we belong. Our goal is to be with Him. On that
day, we will reign with him forever because we live in the light. It is a
life of clear conscience, focused on the essentials of building relationships
with God and each other instead of trivia. Too often, we waste so much
energy on nonessentials. In the final analysis, our vision of life is a
life in Christ. Christ is the goal of history and humanity. That is all
we know and need to know about the future. Indeed, Jesus is coming
into our lives. With Christ in us; our hearts will be full of joy.
But the
Good News is that we already have a foretaste of this life in Christ.
Whenever we live our lives in selfless love and service, we experience the joys
of Jesus in our hearts. This is what St John is inviting us to. He
wants us to be those trees that bear fruits and give life and healing to
others. Indeed, as a priest, I find this to be one of the greatest ways one can
live, to give oneself totally to God and to His people. Yes, we have to
endure the trials of the apostolate but they are part of the whole process of
purification of love and faith. But it is one of the most meaningful
vocations one could live. In fact, the priestly and religious life is a
real anticipation of the eternal life to come because it is a life of
Christ. Of course, anyone who lives His vocation and responds generously
to what the Lord has allotted to him or her will also find life to the
fullest. Fullness of life is not confined to just the priesthood and
religious life. A married life when lived to the full with our spouse and our
children too will give great joy and meaning. A single life when lived in
service to humanity and to the Church is equally rich and meaningful.
Hence,
if there is anything, which could be holding us back from the joy of serving
the Lord in freedom, then all we need to do is to give our hearts to
Jesus. He wants to offer us true freedom from our anxieties and sinful
habits of life. He comes to give us a fruitful life of love and
peace. Yes, Jesus wants to rule our lives by the power of
love. All He asks of us is to draw strength and life from Him just
as the trees drew life from the river and “bear twelve crops of fruit in a
year, one in each month, and the leaves of which are the cure for the pagans.”
Unless
we give ourselves to Jesus, sin and disordered living will rule our lives and
make us inward-looking. We must avoid allowing our hearts to become drowsy
through sin and attachment to a sinful and self-indulgent way of life.
This is because we are created to live a life of love and service. If not, we
become gradually insensitive to goodness and love. The frightening prospect
is that a heart does not become drowsy overnight. Just like the human
heart, it slowly collects fats leading eventually to a heart attack; and in our
case a spiritual attack.
Consequently,
if we are to be ready to receive Jesus, we must be alert and watchful. Jesus
tells us, “Stay awake, praying at all times for the strength to survive all
that is going to happen, and to stand with confidence before the Son of Man.”
Indeed, we must avoid falling into the temptation of becoming spiritually lazy
and inattentive to spiritual things. The worst is to fall into
complacency and indifference. We begin with neutrality and indifference,
but eventually it will lead us to sin. Very soon, we will become enemies
of Christ and detractors of the Church. That is why we need to pray
for His grace. We need to drink from Him the river of life so that we can
give life to others. Unless we pray, we will lose focus and direction in
life. Only prayer will enable us to see the face of God. Prayer is
but an invitation to contemplate on the face of Christ. Unless we see the
face of God in Christ, we cannot see the face of God in His people crying out
to us for help. Indeed, Jesus could meet man only because He has met God and
stayed in His presence.
Yes, we
are given a lifetime to prepare our hearts to receive Christ. If we do
not start preparing and perfecting our lives in holiness, when death comes, we
would only regret but that would be too late. Before God, we would not be
given a second chance. When that day comes, if our conscience is clear,
then we meet God face to face only because Jesus is in our hearts. If we
do not recognize Jesus now, how can we recognize God when we die?
So let us give ourselves to Jesus completely, crying out “maranatha” as in the
responsorial psalm so that Jesus lives in us. We must ask ourselves again
and again, if the Lord were to come, can we stand with heads upright and with
confidence before Him and our fellowmen with a clear conscience?
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights
Reserved
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