20170225 THE PLAN OF GOD
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
|
First reading
|
|
Ecclesiasticus
17:1-13 ©
|
The Lord fashioned
man from the earth,
to
consign him back to it.
He gave them so many
days’ determined time,
he gave
them authority over everything on earth.
He clothed them with
strength like his own,
and made
them in his own image.
He filled all living
things with dread of man,
making
him master over beasts and birds.
He shaped for them a
mouth and tongue, eyes and ears,
and gave
them a heart to think with.
He filled them with
knowledge and understanding,
and
revealed to them good and evil.
He put his own light
in their hearts
to show
them the magnificence of his works.
They will praise his
holy name,
as they
tell of his magnificent works.
He set knowledge
before them,
he
endowed them with the law of life.
Their eyes saw his
glorious majesty,
and their
ears heard the glory of his voice.
He said to them,
‘Beware of all wrong-doing’;
he gave
each a commandment concerning his neighbour.
Their ways are always
under his eye,
they
cannot be hidden from his sight.
|
Responsorial
Psalm
|
|
Psalm
102(103):13-18 ©
|
The love of the
Lord is everlasting upon those who hold him in fear.
As a father has
compassion on his sons,
the Lord
has pity on those who fear him;
for he knows of what
we are made,
he
remembers that we are dust.
The love of the
Lord is everlasting upon those who hold him in fear.
As for man, his days
are like grass;
he
flowers like the flower of the field;
the wind blows and he
is gone
and his
place never sees him again.
The love of the
Lord is everlasting upon those who hold him in fear.
But the love of the
Lord is everlasting
upon
those who hold him in fear;
his justice reaches
out to children’s children
when they
keep his covenant in truth.
The love of the
Lord is everlasting upon those who hold him in fear.
|
Gospel
Acclamation
|
Mt11:25
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are you,
Father,
Lord of heaven and
earth,
for revealing the
mysteries of the kingdom
to mere children.
Alleluia!
|
Gospel
|
Mark 10:13-16 ©
|
People
were bringing little children to Jesus, for him to touch them. The disciples
turned them away, but when Jesus saw this he was indignant and said to them,
‘Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as
these that the kingdom of God belongs. I tell you solemnly, anyone who does not
welcome the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.’ Then he
put his arms round them, laid his hands on them and gave them his blessing.
THE
PLAN OF GOD
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ SIRACH 17:1-15; PS 102:13-18; MK 10:13-16]
It is said that health is
wealth. Indeed, more than anything in life, we need good health.
Nothing can replace health for without health, money is useless. Money is
only a means to provide us with a comfortable and luxurious life. But if
we are sick, we are not able to enjoy the pleasures and blessings of
creation. We cannot eat even when we have plenty of good food; we cannot
sleep even we have a comfortable bed; we cannot watch TV or listen to nice
music, if we cannot see or hear. When we are in pain, we do not feel like
doing anything except to rest in bed. Good health therefore is the most
basic wish of every human person.
So why do we fall
sick? Right from the outset it must be made clear that sickness is not
part of the plan of God. It is God’s desire for us to be well and to
enjoy the gifts of His creation. The first reading reminds us of the origin of
creation. God created us and gave us “authority over everything on
earth. He filled all the living things with dread of man, making him
master over beasts and birds.” The created things of this earth are
meant to serve us and for us to enjoy and make use of them for our good.
Furthermore,
God created us to be like Him. “He clothed them with strength like
his own, and made them in his own image. He shaped for them a mouth and tongue,
eyes and ears, and gave them a heart to think with. He filled them with
knowledge and understanding, and revealed to them good and evil. He put his own
light in their hearts to show them the magnificence of his works.”
Not
only that, the Lord established a covenant with us so that we can walk in the
way of truth and life and find true happiness. “He set knowledge before
them; he endowed them with the law of life. He established an eternal covenant
with them, and revealed his judgements to them. Their eyes saw his glorious
majesty, and their ears heard the glory of his voice.” Such is the
goodness of God.
Therefore, we must maintain
that God created us to share in His life, love and goodness. We are
called to praise God for His wonderful works.
So where does sickness come
from? It originates from sin. With the entry of sin into the world,
human nature has become corrupt, wounded and fails to be what the Lord intends
for us. Because of our fallen nature, we have lost the light of
truth. Instead, our minds our dulled and darkened. We cannot
distinguish clearly what is truly good or apparently good. We do not even
perceive the evils in life and society. When the heart is devious and
selfish, the mind cannot discern truth from falsehood. That explains why
many of us are foolish and short-sighted. We do not know whether there is
God or what the truth is. The only ideology of life is pragmatism, doing
what we think is expedient, not considering the truth of the matter, or the
long term consequences of today’s actions and decision. Indeed, many of
us live unenlightened lives. We chase after money, power and status, often
at the expense of our health, marriage and family. We cheat and steal,
thinking that we will be happy if we have more wealth and money, failing to
realize that ill-gotten gains cannot give us peace and rest.
As a result of sin, we have
also lost control over our will. We are the Temple of the Holy Spirit and
our body has been ransomed by the Lord for a price but we are not appreciative
that this body belongs to the Lord. (cf 1 Cor 6:19) Instead of glorifying
the Lord with our body, we destroy this body by overeating, getting addicted to
drink and drugs. We do not get sufficient rest because of our ambition for
money, position and power. Without proper rest, regular exercise and a
healthy lifestyle, naturally we fall ill. So we should not blame God for
our illnesses.
But sickness is not caused
only by our own sins and folly; it could also come from the sins of
others. Quite often, we fall sick emotionally because of the sins of our
loved ones. They lead us to sin because of their broken lives. We
suffer the consequences of their sins when they suffer a stroke because they
never took care of their health; they drove recklessly, get involved in an
accident and become paralyzed; or they get drunk and abuse and threaten
us. Many of us fall sick managing stress at home because of our
parents, in-laws, spouse, children or siblings.
Of course some illnesses
are simply due to an imperfect nature. They are hereditary. Many
illnesses are passed on to the next generation, such as heart diseases,
diabetes, cancer, mental disorder. We are all aware that there is much
truth in the genome theory. What we do will affect the health of our
children later. Sometimes, we fall sick simply because of contact with viruses
or untimely accidents. So whilst we cannot prevent all illnesses, we can at
least preempt those illnesses that could be avoided.
Even then, the gospel today
tells us that God loves us as His children. Which parent would not be
anxious if their child falls sick? Which parent would remain unmoved when their
child is suffering pain and discomfort? Surely you would spare no pain to
find ways and means to restore them to health. So, too, is our Heavenly
Father. In the gospel, Jesus demonstrated that no one is unimportant to Him,
even little children. The disciples in their consideration for Jesus who
was tired sought to get rid of the children from bothering our Lord. But
Jesus had a heart for all, including the little ones. With this
awareness, we should seek the Lord like a little child, for this is what He
asks of us when He said, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them;
for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. I tell you
solemnly, anyone who does not welcome the kingdom of God like a little child
will never enter it.” Jesus felt the need and desire of the
children to come to Him for a blessing. So, “he put his arms around them,
laid his hands on them and gave them his blessing.” In our illness,
we too must come to Him like little children. How?
Firstly, we must come to
the Lord in humility. We must admit our need and dependence on Him.
God will only help the lowly and the humble. Mary said, “His mercy is on
those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength
with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their
hearts, he has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those
of low degree; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has
sent empty away.” (Lk 1:50-53)
We must also confess our sins and acknowledge humbly our mistakes.
Unless, we come to awareness that much of our illnesses come from stress,
desires and ill-disciplined lifestyles, then even if the Lord were to heal us,
we would fall sick again. For this reason, if we want healing of body, we
must first seek spiritual healing, the forgiveness of sins which will then lead
to emotional healing of the heart and the memories. Only then can the be
body truly healed.
Secondly, we must come to
the Lord with confidence like a child. All children have confidence in
their parents. Children are innocent. They do not have malicious
designs and therefore are trusting. They do not believe that anyone who
harm them. They never doubt that their parents would protect them and
take care of them. They seek refuge, security and comfort in their
parents. So in our sickness, we must come to the Heavenly Father and to our
Lord with confidence that He will take pity on us and heal us. Faith is
necessary for healing to take place. This is what the Lord always asks of
us and those who come to Him for healing. Only with faith can we remove
all the obstacles of grace and allow God’s power to be at work in us. So with
confidence, let us entrust our lives to Him and surrender ourselves to Him for
healing. With the psalmist, we pray, “As a father has compassion on his
sons, the Lord has pity on those who fear him; for he knows of what we are made,
he remembers that we are dust.” God knows our weaknesses and our
limitations. He will show us His compassion and mercy.
Thirdly, to be healed, we
need to be like a child, obedient to God. A child has no problem
accepting the authority of their elders. He knows that he must obey and
that his parents know what is good for him. At times, he would become
disobedient, but even in his disobedience, he knows he is wrong. So too,
if we want the Lord to heal us, we must be obedient to Him. We must trust
that He knows best and that His will, which is His wisdom, is truly good for
us. Obedience to God ensures that we will walk the right path, seek
the right things in life, give up envy and gluttony, greed and
lust. With the commandments to guide us, walking in them, we find
light and truth.
In the final analysis, we
must also not fear pain and death because the Lord has shown us the way.
He has overcome death by His death and resurrection. He has overcome pain
by conquering pain. Let us recognize the shortness of life on
earth. We are pilgrims. So let us not imagine that we will live
here forever because our eternal home is in heaven. So when it is time
for us to go, let us let go and let God take over for He wants us to share the
fullness of life with Him, when all tears will be wiped away. “Behold,
the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his
people, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe away every tear from
their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor
crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.” (Rev 21:3f)
Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment