20170112 FINDING TRUE REST THROUGH FAITH AND HOLINESS
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Hebrews 3:7-14 ©
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The Holy Spirit says:
If only you would listen to him today; do not harden your hearts, as
happened in the Rebellion, on the Day of Temptation in the wilderness, when
your ancestors challenged me and tested me, though they had seen what I could
do for forty years. That was why I was angry with that generation and said: How
unreliable these people who refuse to grasp my ways! And so, in anger, I swore
that not one would reach the place of rest I had for them. Take care,
brothers, that there is not in any one of your community a wicked mind, so
unbelieving as to turn away from the living God. Every day, as long as this
‘today’ lasts, keep encouraging one another so that none of you is hardened
by the lure of sin, because we shall remain co-heirs with Christ only if we
keep a grasp on our first confidence right to the end.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm
94(95):6-11 ©
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O that today you
would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’
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.
O that today you
would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’
O that today you
would listen to his voice!
‘Harden
not your hearts as at Meribah,
as on
that day at Massah in the desert
when your fathers put
me to the test;
when they
tried me, though they saw my work.
O that today you
would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’
For forty years I was
wearied of these people
and I
said: “Their hearts are astray,
these
people do not know my ways.”
Then I took an oath
in my anger:
“Never
shall they enter my rest.”’
O that today you
would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Ps118:88
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Because of your love
give me life,
and I will do your
will.
Alleluia!
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Or
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cf.Mt4:23
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Jesus proclaimed the
Good News of the kingdom
and cured all kinds
of sickness among the people.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 1:40-45 ©
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A
leper came to Jesus and pleaded on his knees: ‘If you want to’ he said ‘you can
cure me.’ Feeling sorry for him, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him.
‘Of course I want to!’ he said. ‘Be cured!’ And the leprosy left him at once
and he was cured. Jesus immediately sent him away and sternly ordered him,
‘Mind you say nothing to anyone, but go and show yourself to the priest, and
make the offering for your healing prescribed by Moses as evidence of your
recovery.’ The man went away, but then started talking about it freely and
telling the story everywhere, so that Jesus could no longer go openly into any
town, but had to stay outside in places where nobody lived. Even so, people
from all around would come to him.
FINDING
TRUE REST THROUGH FAITH AND HOLINESS
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ Heb 3:7-14; Mk 1:40-45 ]
We have
just returned from a long break, whether it is a school break or break from
work. And yet, in the first reading the letter to the Hebrews invites us
to the place of rest. Do we still need more rest when we have rested
already? The truth is, perhaps more than ever, we need to rest
properly. During the holidays, many of us were taken up with Christmas
and New Year season activities, especially partying and shopping. Many of
us are tired out by these social engagements and travelling. In fact, we
probably did not even have time to pray and spend intimate time with the Lord.
Hence it would not be surprising if some of us not only feel physically tired
but spiritually restless as well.
So the
rest that the author of Hebrews is inviting us to is not so much physical or
even mental rest but a theological and spiritual rest. What we need most
is to rest in the bosom of the Lord. This rest is the Sabbath Rest that the
book of Genesis spoke about. We read that on the seventh day, the Lord rested
after the works of creation. The Sabbath Rest of course goes beyond physical
rest, but an invitation to remind ourselves that in vain does the man labour if
the Lord does not build. Only when our hearts are resting in God can we
find peace and joy. So this is the true rest that we are seeking; to be
with God and in God, for He is our security and our peace, because as the
psalmist tells us, “He is our God, and we are the people he shepherds, the
flock he guides.” Only when we learn to rely on Him can we be freed from
all fear and anxiety. If not, our restless hearts that come from anxiety and
fear will only take away our peace and joy. This was what happened to the
Israelites in the desert. They were grumbling, complaining and dissatisfied
with their living conditions.
How then can we enter into
this rest? The first step is to listen to the voice of the Lord.
The first reading exhorts us to listen to Him. “The Holy Spirit
says: If only you would listen to him today; do not harden your hearts.”
The responsorial psalm reiterates this when it says, “Oh, that today you would
hear his voice: “Harden not your hearts as at Meribah.” To find peace and
direction in life, we need to listen so that we can refocus ourselves.
But are
you listening to His voice? Can you listen to His voice clearly?
What is hindering you from listening? The first reason is simply because
we have a hardened heart. Accordingly, the scriptures appeal to us not to
harden our hearts. In other words, we must not come with a fixed agenda
if we want to listen to the Lord. We must be ready to learn new things
and see life in a new perspective. So long as we are stubborn and only
want things our way, we cannot listen to the Lord. That was the way the
Israelites behaved in the desert, like spoilt children who would not listen but
always demanding to be satisfied according to their desires.
The second reason that
prevents us from listening is a rebellious heart. Yes, that was what God
said to His people. “Do not harden your hearts, as happened in the
Rebellion, on the Day of Temptation in the wilderness, when your ancestors
challenged me and tested me, though they had seen what I could do for forty
years.” Indeed, this is what sin is all about. What is sin if not a
direct rebellion against the commands of God? It is disobedience.
Isn’t this the sin of the fallen angels when they rebelled against God when
given the choice to serve Him? To have a defiant heart is to make
ourselves our own gods and supplant the authority and wisdom of the Almighty
God.
Thirdly,
we cannot listen properly not only because of a wicked mind but an unbelieving
heart! The scripture says, “Take care, brothers, that there is not in any
one of your community a wicked mind, so unbelieving as to turn away from the
living God.” We are not receptive and docile to His Word. We are
skeptical and not trusting in God who alone is our Lord. We are proud of
our intellect. We challenge God in our ways. We rationalize and justify
all our actions and refuse to acknowledge Him as our God and Lord of our
lives. Instead of relying on Him, we turn to the false gods we have
created for ourselves. We refuse to submit in faith.
We continue to test Him by
doing the wrong things, surrendering ourselves to the bondage of sin. We
are ingrates in spite of His love and mercy for us. We take His
forgiveness and compassion for granted. We do not want to trust in God in
spite of the fact that He has been with us all these years, blessing us.
Like the Israelites whom God protected for forty years in the desert, we also
fail to recognize Him as our Divine Providence. We take His Word and throw it
to the dogs without appreciating the Faith that has been given to us. We
are so wicked as to antagonize God and cause Him pain. Indeed, so wounded
was God that He grieved and said, “That was why I was angry with that
generation and said: How unreliable these people who refuse to grasp my
ways! And so, in anger, I swore that not one would reach the place of
rest I had for them.”
As a consequence, we have
no rest in our hearts. We deprive ourselves of the peace and joy that God
wants to give to us, His children. So what must we do to regain this rest
today? Again the author of Hebrews encourages us, “Every day, as long as
this ‘today’ lasts, keep encouraging one another so that none of you is
hardened by the lure of sin, because we shall remain co-heirs with Christ only
if we keep a grasp on our first confidence right to the end.” To recover
our sonship in Christ, all we need to do is to give up sin, especially the sin
of pride! So long as we think we know better, we can never hear the voice
of God.
We are called to be like
the leper in today’s gospel. He was fully conscious of the state of his
being. He knew he was rotten, both spiritually and physically. He
knew that no one else could help Him except the Lord. Even though fearful
that he might be rejected, he took courage and in faith approached Jesus.
With diffidence he “came to Jesus and pleaded on his knees: ‘If you want to’ he
said ‘you can cure me.’” He was fervent in prayer and sincere in asking
for divine intervention.
Of
course, his act of humility and trust won over Jesus’ compassion. “Feeling
sorry for him, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him. ‘Of course I
want to!’ he said. ‘Be cured!’ And the leprosy left him at once and
he was cured.” Not only did Jesus heal him, but He touched him, a
leper. Jesus wanted him to know that he was not only cured physically but
that he was loved by His Father.
We too, if we want to find
rest, then like the leper, we must come to Jesus, aware of our own sinfulness
and brokenness. Let us come to Jesus so that He can heal us and reconcile
us with His Father. Unless we experience the forgiveness of God in
Christ, we cannot yet open our hearts completely to His voice that speaks of
peace, love, joy and wisdom. Only with a clean and clear conscience can
we then listen to His voice because of our union and friendship with Him.
So if today, you are full of anxiety about your future, or, like the
Israelites, are still grumbling or complaining; and not at peace with yourself,
neighbor and with God, then come to the Lord to find rest. When we give
up our rebellion, our pride, our will, then we will find true and lasting
peace. Jesus assures us that He welcomes us just as He welcomed the
leper. He wants to touch us today as He touched him so that we can feel
His transforming love and mercy.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights
Reserved
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