20170126 FAN INTO A FLAME THE GIFTS THAT GOD GAVE YOU
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
EITHER:
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First reading
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2 Timothy 1:1-8 ©
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From Paul, appointed
by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus in his design to promise life in Christ
Jesus; to Timothy, dear child of mine, wishing you grace, mercy and peace from
God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord.
Night and
day I thank God, keeping my conscience clear and remembering my duty to him as
my ancestors did, and always I remember you in my prayers; I remember your
tears and long to see you again to complete my happiness. Then I am reminded of
the sincere faith which you have; it came first to live in your grandmother
Lois, and your mother Eunice, and I have no doubt that it is the same faith in
you as well.
That is
why I am reminding you now to fan into a flame the gift that God gave you when
I laid my hands on you. God’s gift was not a spirit of timidity, but the Spirit
of power, and love, and self-control. So you are never to be ashamed of
witnessing to the Lord, or ashamed of me for being his prisoner; but with me,
bear the hardships for the sake of the Good News, relying on the power of God who
has saved us and called us to be holy.
OR:
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Alternative
First reading
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Titus 1:1-5 ©
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From Paul, servant of
God, an apostle of Jesus Christ to bring those whom God has chosen to faith and
to the knowledge of the truth that leads to true religion; and to give them the
hope of the eternal life that was promised so long ago by God. He does not lie
and so, at the appointed time, he revealed his decision, and, by the command of
God our saviour, I have been commissioned to proclaim it. To Titus, true child
of mine in the faith that we share, wishing you grace and peace from God the
Father and from Christ Jesus our saviour.
The
reason I left you behind in Crete was for you to get everything organised there
and appoint elders in every town, in the way that I told you.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm
95(96):1-3,7-8,10 ©
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Proclaim the
wonders of the Lord among all the peoples.
O sing a new song to
the Lord,
sing to
the Lord all the earth.
O sing to
the Lord, bless his name.
Proclaim the
wonders of the Lord among all the peoples.
Proclaim his help day
by day,
tell
among the nations his glory
and his
wonders among all the peoples.
Proclaim the
wonders of the Lord among all the peoples.
Give the Lord, you
families of peoples,
give the
Lord glory and power;
give the
Lord the glory of his name.
Proclaim the
wonders of the Lord among all the peoples.
Proclaim to the
nations: ‘God is king.’
The world
he made firm in its place;
he will
judge the peoples in fairness.
Proclaim the
wonders of the Lord among all the peoples.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Ph2:15-16
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Alleluia, alleluia!
You will shine in the
world like bright stars
because you are
offering it the word of life.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Ps118:105
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Your word is a lamp
for my steps
and a light for my
path.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 4:21-25 ©
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Jesus said to his
disciples, ‘Would you bring in a lamp to put it under a tub or under the bed?
Surely you will put it on the lamp-stand? For there is nothing hidden but it
must be disclosed, nothing kept secret except to be brought to light. If anyone
has ears to hear, let him listen to this.’
He
also said to them, ‘Take notice of what you are hearing. The amount you measure
out is the amount you will be given – and more besides; for the man who
has will be given more; from the man who has not, even what he has will be
taken away.’
FAN
INTO A FLAME THE GIFTS THAT GOD GAVE YOU
We all receive gifts from
the Lord. Like Timothy, we have been blessed with the gift of
faith. For some of us, we receive it as a child; for others as they
grew older, through their friends; and for others, it is through a long search
for God. But it is not just the gift of faith alone, but the other gifts
as well. There is also the gift of vocation, whether it is to the
priesthood or marriage or singlehood. Besides one’s state of life, we
also receive the gift of vocation in service. Some of us are called to be
teachers, doctors or social workers. Regardless, all gifts come from the
Lord.
The question that is posed
to us is, whether we have treasured the gifts we have received and grown them
accordingly. It is said that new brooms sweep clean. But what if we
have become “old brooms”? This is where the danger lies. The
reality is that we begin something with passion and enthusiasm but along the
way, we become jaded and lose interest. We start with big dreams and
excitement but over the days, the flame fades away and slowly it is
extinguished from our life. This is true of marriage. Just think of
those courtship days when you were so deeply in love with each other, and
always wanting to share your life, joys, woes and struggles with your spouse or
your fiancée/fiancé. But now you hardly share with each other and
often take each other for granted. No longer do you feel excited or happy
to see each other or listen with your heart to each other. Now you have
become indifferent, cold and insensitive. Marriage life is just a routine
and your spouse has become intimate strangers at most.
This was the case with
Timothy, the young Bishop of Ephesus. As the bishop, he faced many
challenges from within and without. It must have been tough for the young
bishop. St Paul would have heard of the difficulties he was going through
in uniting the community together. These problems were hinted in his
farewell speech to the Ephesians when he wrote, “I know that after I leave,
savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the
flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the
truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your
guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you
night and day with tears.” (Acts 20:29-31)
What is important to
consider is why does one lose one’s zeal and passion? Firstly, this
happens when we meet with opposition to our plans. In marriage life, love
is lost when our spouse is always negative and critical towards us. They have
nothing good to say about us. Instead of affirming and encouraging us,
they often take us for granted, picking on our faults and failures. After
some time, we do not feel like sharing and talking about our dreams and
aspirations anymore because they are wet blankets. They have nothing
positive to say and speaking to them makes us more discouraged than ever.
Again, what is said of marriage and family is also true in our work
place. Instead of working and helping each other to build our dreams, colleagues
are often jealous of each other, seeking to tear each other down. When we
meet with opposition all the time and people are always wrecking our plans,
then we just give up.
Secondly, we can become
jaded in relationships and in our work because we get used to things and
people. We take them for granted. We do not consciously appreciate
and value what we have, the work we do and the people around us. This is
because we have become demanding. We are too absorbed with ourselves and
our needs that we no longer look at the needs of others. Once we become
self-centered instead of other-centered, we do not treat them as persons with
respect and sensitivity but just as tools to accomplish our tasks.
Instead of using our work to serve others, we are basically serving ourselves.
Thirdly, if we lack zeal
and passion, it could be because we are out of touch with the ground. In
the gospel, Jesus urged His apostles to reach out. “Stay in the same
house, taking what food and drink they have to offer, for the labourer deserves
his wages; do not move from house to house. Whenever you go into a town where
they make you welcome, eat what is set before you. Cure those in it who are
sick, and say, ‘The kingdom of God is very near to you’”. Only when we
live amongst the people, walking with them in their journey, can we begin to
understand and feel with them. The real problem is that often we fail to
journey with people. We tend to sit on our high chair in our office and
make decisions without understanding the struggles of those under our
care. Parents are always dictating to their children what they must do
without understanding the challenges they are facing. Husbands and wives
are not communicating with each other, their needs, their loneliness and
anxieties. Zeal will be renewed once again, when we start hearing the
stories, their joys, sorrows, struggles, aspirations of our people.
Finally, if the flame is
dying it is because we have forgotten our dreams, our mottos and our visions.
That is why St Paul told Timothy, “Fan into a flame the gift that
God gave you when I laid my hands on you. God’s gift was not a spirit of
timidity, but the Spirit of power, and love, and self-control.” We need
to be renewed in the power of the Holy Spirit. Everyone needs to be constantly
renewed in his or her vocation. We should not be surprised that our
staff does not even know the vision, mission and core values of our
organization! At times, the leaders themselves forget their calling
and purpose or mission in life. They are so involved in the daily affairs
that they forget the big picture and the goal they are working towards.
So too for married couples, have they forgotten their dreams in building a
loving relationship and family?
Thus, to recover that dream
and our hopes, we need to constantly go back to our original goal and starting
point. This was what St Paul did when he recalled the faith imparted to
him and Timothy. He said, “Night and day I thank God, keeping my
conscience clear and remembering my duty to him as my ancestors did, and always
I remember you in my prayers; I remember your tears and long to see you again
to complete my happiness. Then I am reminded of the sincere faith which you
have; it came first to live in your grandmother Lois, and your mother Eunice,
and I have no doubt that it is the same faith in you as well.” By being
grateful for the faith we have received, we will begin to cherish and relish
it. We must not forget our past or the wonderful times we had with our
loved ones. We celebrate anniversaries precisely to recall the past and
what we hope we will be. It is important that we connect with our
past so that we can renew our love, hope and dreams, making them alive
again. Gratitude is always the beginning of the process of service.
When we are grateful to those who love us and sacrificed for us, we will
want to do the same for them and for others.
Most of all, to renew our
fervor and zeal for our vocation and dreams, we must pray. We think
the harvest depends on what we do. But Jesus made it clear. We
cannot depend on ourselves. He said, “The harvest is rich but the
labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his
harvest.” He did not simply ask us to work but to pray. All
vocations must come from prayer. Career comes from our desire or ambition
to do something. But vocation springs from what is within us, something that
comes from the depths of our heart. Only when we begin to pray, would we
then never lose focus and courage to persevere. St Paul wrote, “So you are
never to be ashamed of witnessing to the Lord, or ashamed of me for being his
prisoner; but with me, bear the hardships for the sake of the Good News,
relying on the power of God who has saved us and called us to be holy.” When we
pray, we will never lose hope or get discouraged because we know that the
battle belongs to God, not to us. Our task is simply to cooperate with
Him to the best of our ability. He will send us the necessary help to
realize His dream for us and for humanity. “Grace, mercy and peace (comes) from
God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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