20170303 THE JOY OF A CHRISTIAN
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
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First reading
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Isaiah 58:1-9 ©
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Thus says the Lord:
Shout for all you are
worth,
raise
your voice like a trumpet.
Proclaim their faults
to my people,
their
sins to the House of Jacob.
They seek me day
after day,
they long
to know my ways,
like a nation that
wants to act with integrity
and not
ignore the law of its God.
They ask me for laws
that are just,
they long
for God to draw near:
‘Why should we fast
if you never see it,
why do
penance if you never notice?’
Look, you do business
on your fast-days,
you
oppress all your workmen;
look, you quarrel and
squabble when you fast
and
strike the poor man with your fist.
Fasting like yours
today
will
never make your voice heard on high.
Is that the sort of
fast that pleases me,
a truly
penitential day for men?
Hanging your head
like a reed,
lying
down on sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call
fasting,
a day
acceptable to the Lord?
Is not this the sort
of fast that pleases me
– it is the
Lord who speaks –
to break unjust
fetters and
undo the
thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed
go free,
and break
every yoke,
to share your bread
with the hungry,
and
shelter the homeless poor,
to clothe the man you
see to be naked
and not
turn from your own kin?
Then will your light
shine like the dawn
and your
wound be quickly healed over.
Your integrity will
go before you
and the
glory of the Lord behind you.
Cry, and the Lord
will answer;
call, and
he will say, ‘I am here.’
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm
50(51):3-6,18-19 ©
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A humbled,
contrite heart, O God, you will not spurn.
Have mercy on me,
God, in your kindness.
In your
compassion blot out my offence.
O wash me more and
more from my guilt
and
cleanse me from my sin.
A humbled,
contrite heart, O God, you will not spurn.
My offences truly I
know them;
my sin is
always before me
Against you, you
alone, have I sinned;
what is
evil in your sight I have done.
A humbled,
contrite heart, O God, you will not spurn.
For in sacrifice you
take no delight,
burnt
offering from me you would refuse,
my sacrifice, a
contrite spirit.
A
humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn.
A humbled,
contrite heart, O God, you will not spurn.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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cf.Ps129:5,7
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Glory and praise to
you, O Christ!
My soul is waiting
for the Lord,
I count on his word,
because with the Lord
there is mercy
and fullness of
redemption.
Glory and praise to
you, O Christ!
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Or
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cf.Amos5:14
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Glory and praise to
you, O Christ!
Seek good and not
evil so that you may live,
and that the Lord God
of hosts may really be with you,
because with the Lord
there is mercy
and fullness of
redemption.
Glory and praise to
you, O Christ!
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Gospel
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Matthew 9:14-15 ©
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John’s
disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast,
but your disciples do not?’ Jesus replied, ‘Surely the bridegroom’s attendants
would never think of mourning as long as the bridegroom is still with them? But
the time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away from them, and then they
will fast.’
THE JOY
OF A CHRISTIAN
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ ISAIAH 58:1-9; PS 50:3-6,18-19; MATTHEW 9:14-15]
Clearly, today’s scripture
readings is on the theme of fasting. Friday, as we know, is always
associated with the passion and death of our Lord. That is why Fridays
remain a day of abstinence and penance in the Catholic Church. For Jesus
did command us in today’s gospel, “the time will come for the bridegroom to be
taken away from them and then they will fast.” Unfortunately, like the
Israelites and the Jews of Jesus’ time, we fast for the wrong reasons. Our
fasting is only an external action detached from the real spirit of fasting.
It is not surprising
therefore that most Catholics do not welcome the season of Lent because of the
penitentiary spirit. The emphasis on penance, mortification and fasting goes
against our grain. The body longs for comfort and enjoyment. It is certainly
not easy to restrain our appetite and the desire for comfort and pleasure. We
are sensual beings. As a result, Lent becomes a somber period. It dampens
all festivity mood. We wish it will end quickly so that we can get back
our life.
In other words, Catholics
and many people often think that religion takes away life, joy and
happiness. For many, religion is reduced to dos and don’ts. It is
concerned with the observance of laws and regulations. Worse still,
disobedience to the laws is followed by threats of punishment and
destruction. Many are obeying the laws not because they see the value of
the laws but simply out of fear. So much so that deep in our hearts, we
think that this God whom we worship is so unreasonable. He takes pleasure
in making our lives miserable. He does not feel with us. He takes
away our joy and freedom of life. And so, if you see a sad Christian,
most likely he or she is Catholic because he or she is preoccupied with
observance of the laws and earning merits to get into heaven. He thinks
that to get to heaven, we must be in the good books of our Lord and that our
chance of getting to heaven is to accumulate merits through good works.
Seeing how sad and restricted Christians are, in the name of freedom and
happiness, many choose to become freethinkers.
But this is not the
religion that Jesus came to preach. He came to give us life
abundantly. He was not obsessed with the observance of the laws although
He did not discard them completely. He was more concerned with love and
right relationship with God and our fellowmen. For Jesus, religion must
bring joy, love and peace. It must add value to our life and not
make us live less, rather to live more. Against such narrow and rigid
application of the laws, Jesus made it clear that the laws are meant for man
and not man for the laws. So in response to the disciples of John, “why
is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?” Jesus
replied, “Surely the bridegroom’s attendants would never think of mourning as
long as the bridegroom is still with them?”
Indeed, true religion is
about the joy of relationship with God. This relationship is always spoken in
the scriptures in terms of romance and marriage. God is our bridegroom,
not our judge or slave master. We are called to intimacy with Him.
In coming to know Jesus, we will be filled with a joy that the world cannot
give. Thus, the centrality of the Christian message is the joy of love
and intimacy. It is not about suffering, carrying of the cross or doing
penance. Indeed, which married couple fasts on their married day?
Neither do the guests fast during the wedding celebration. It is a time
of merry-making and festivity because for the married couple, it is a
once-in-a-lifetime experience of being honored and treated like
royalty. As for the relatives and guests, they want to participate
in the joy and love of the wedding couple. Christianity too is one of joy
when we are deeply in love with the Lord and with the Christian community.
The joy of faith in Christ
also leads us to share this joy with our fellowmen. In the process, this
joy in us is increased and doubled. By living a life of love, sharing and
rendering assistance to our brothers and sisters, we come to identify ourselves
with them. Through service to our fellowmen, we become more in touch with
our humanity. Quite often, in our secular and worldly pursuits, we become
ambitious and so focused on our projects and business that people become simply
digits and tools for us to accomplish our tasks. We numb our feelings,
always acting logically, no longer able to feel with the pains and struggles of
our fellowmen. In giving ourselves to others we find life, for that is
what the Lord said to us, “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses
his life for my sake will find it.” (Mt 10:39) This is
what the prophet assures us if we love our brothers and sisters by acting
justly with them. “Then will your light shine like the dawn and your
wound be quickly healed over. Your integrity will go before you and the glory
of the Lord behind you. Cry, and the Lord will answer; call, and he will say,
‘I am here.’”
But Christian joy is not
all joy without pain or sorrows. The Lord was very realistic when in the
same breath He said, “But the time will come for the bridegroom to be taken
away from them and then they will fast.” One thing is clear, earthly joys
and human ties and friendships, inclusive of spousal relationships, cannot last
forever on this earth. All human joys are limited joy. They do not
last. Fasting is to remind us of the transient joys of this world so that
we do not cling to them. We cannot cling to our beauty, our office, our
position, our wealth and our friends because they too will have to go.
Whatever we have, we enjoy them for as long as they last. But we should
not cling to them.
Because such things do not
last, we must cling to God who is the ultimate Bridegroom. Only
relationship with God can last forever. Fasting and penance are meant to
help us go beyond this world to the ultimate of life. They are meant to
help us yearn for God and for the eternal values of life. Only in
God can we find ultimate joy and peace. So even in Christian sorrow that
the world is passing, there is a deep joy and peace because we know they point
to what cannot pass away and eternal, that is God alone.
Christian joy also includes
the cross. When Jesus made the remark about the right time to mourn, He
was making a veiled reference to His passion and death ahead of Him.
Jesus was truthful and cognizant of the fact that fidelity to the truth and
love of God would often require suffering. Witnessing to God’s love and
mercy would often attract opposition from those who are against God. Even
then, because Christian joy includes the cross, it is a paradoxical joy because
when we suffer for love and in love, it brings us a joy beyond
comparison. All parents and spouses suffer for the love of their spouse
and children. But they suffer with joy because they suffer in love.
When we seek to witness for Christ and the gospel, we will be
persecuted. “Beware of men; for they will deliver you up to councils, and
flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and
kings for my sake, to bear testimony before them and the Gentiles.” (Mt 10:17f)
Christian joy also includes
the absence of the bridegroom in our lives. When we live a life of sin,
we feel emptiness and a vacuum in our lives. Knowing that we are away
from God makes us feel sad. Although we can try to suppress our
conscience and our desire for peace and joy, we know we are cheating
ourselves. Even for those of us who are deep in sin and have left God for
a long time, we know that deep in our hearts we want to come back to Him and be
reconciled. But this emptiness is God’s way to lure us back to Him.
Through the prophet Hosea, the Lord said, “I am going to lead her out into the
wilderness and speak to her heart. There she will respond to me as she
did when she was young, as she did when she came out of the land of Egypt. I
will betroth you to myself forever, betroth you with integrity and justice,
with tenderness and love; I will betroth you to myself with faithfulness, and
you will come to know the Lord.” (Hos 2:16-17, 21-22)
Within this context, we can
appreciate the relevance of fasting, not as an end itself but a means to
rediscover what really matters in life. Through fasting, we come to
realize the importance of God and our loved ones in our life. Joy is
about right and loving relationships. The others are secondary,
especially material things and popularity. Fasting helps us to
discipline ourselves so that we can dispose ourselves to the love of God in
prayer, and identification with the sufferings of our fellowmen.
Mortification, penance and fasting are simply ways by which to help us
appreciate what we have, how much others are suffering, so that we can share
with them our blessings and resources. The Lord said, “Is not this the
sort of fast that pleases me – it is the Lord who speaks – to break unjust
fetters and undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and
break every yoke, to share your bread with the hungry, and shelter the homeless
poor, to clothe the man you see to be naked and not turn from your own kin?”
Through disciplining the body, we hope that we can exercise control over our
spirit, our mind and heart in choosing and doing the right thing. If we
do not exercise control over our body, it would be impossible to control our
mind. May this Lenten season be used wisely as an occasion for us to
renew our love for God and for our fellowmen in truth and in love.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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