20170607 MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIPS IS WHAT
GIVES MEANING AND HOPE
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Tobit
3:1-11,16-17 ©
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Sad at heart, I,
Tobit, sighed and wept, and began this prayer of lamentation:
‘You are just, O
Lord,
and just are all your
works.
All your ways are
grace and truth,
and you are the Judge
of the world.
‘Therefore, Lord,
remember me, look on me.
Do not punish me for
my sins
or for my heedless
faults
or for those of my
fathers.
‘For we have sinned
against you
and broken your
commandments;
and you have given us
over to be plundered,
to captivity and
death,
to be the talk, the
laughing-stock and scorn
of all the nations
among whom you have dispersed us.
‘Whereas all your
decrees are true
when you deal with me
as my faults deserve,
and those of my
fathers,
since we have neither
kept your commandments
nor walked in truth
before you;
so now, do with me as
you will;
be pleased to take my
life from me;
I desire to be
delivered from earth
and to become earth
again.
For death is better
for me than life.
I have been reviled
without a cause
and I am distressed
beyond measure.
‘Lord, I wait for the
sentence you will give
to deliver me from
this affliction.
Let me go away to my
everlasting home;
do not turn your face
from me, O Lord.
For it is better to
die than still to live
in the face of
trouble that knows no pity;
I am weary of hearing
myself traduced.’
It chanced on the
same day that Sarah the daughter of Raguel, who lived in Media at Ecbatana,
also heard insults from one of her father’s maids. You must know that she had
been given in marriage seven times, and that Asmodeus, that worst of demons,
had killed her bridegrooms one after another before ever they had slept with
her as man with wife. The servant-girl said, ‘Yes, you kill your bridegrooms
yourself. That makes seven already to whom you have been given, and you have
not once been in luck yet. Just because your bridegrooms have died, that is no
reason for punishing us. Go and join them, and may we be spared the sight of
any child of yours!’ That day, she grieved, she sobbed, and went up to her
father’s room intending to hang herself. But then she thought, ‘Suppose they
blamed my father! They will say, “You had an only daughter whom you loved, and
now she has hanged herself for grief.” I cannot cause my father a sorrow which
would bring down his old age to the dwelling of the dead. I should do better
not to hang myself, but to beg the Lord to let me die and not live to hear any
more insults.’
This time
the prayer of each of them found favour before the glory of God, and Raphael
was sent to bring remedy to them both. He was to take the white spots from the
eyes of Tobit, so that he might see God’s light with his own eyes; and he was
to give Sarah, the daughter of Raguel, as bride to Tobias son of Tobit, and to
rid her of Asmodeus, that worst of demons. For it was to Tobias before all
other suitors that she belonged by right. Tobit was coming back from the
courtyard into the house at the same moment as Sarah, the daughter of Raguel,
was coming down from the upper room.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm 24(25):2-9
©
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To you, O Lord, I
lift up my soul.
I trust
you, let me not be disappointed;
do not
let my enemies triumph.
Those who hope in you
shall not be disappointed,
but only
those who wantonly break faith.
To you, O Lord, I
lift up my soul.
Lord, make me know
your ways.
Lord,
teach me your paths.
Make me walk in your
truth, and teach me:
for you
are God my saviour.
To you, O Lord, I lift
up my soul.
In you I hope all day
long
because
of your goodness, O Lord.
Remember your mercy,
Lord,
and the
love you have shown from of old.
Do not remember the
sins of my youth.
In your
love remember me.
To you, O Lord, I
lift up my soul.
The Lord is good and
upright.
He shows
the path to those who stray,
He guides the humble
in the right path,
He
teaches his way to the poor.
To you, O Lord, I
lift up my soul.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Jn17:17
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Your word is truth, O
Lord:
consecrate us in the
truth.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Jn11:25, 26
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Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the resurrection
and the life, says the Lord;
whoever believes in
me will never die.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 12:18-27 ©
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Some Sadducees –
who deny that there is a resurrection – came to him and they put this
question to him, ‘Master, we have it from Moses in writing, if a man’s brother
dies leaving a wife but no child, the man must marry the widow to raise up
children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first married a
wife and then died leaving no children. The second married the widow, and he
too died leaving no children; with the third it was the same, and none of the
seven left any children. Last of all the woman herself died. Now at the
resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be, since she had been
married to all seven?’
Jesus
said to them, ‘Is not the reason why you go wrong, that you understand neither
the scriptures nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, men and
women do not marry; no, they are like the angels in heaven. Now about the dead
rising again, have you never read in the Book of Moses, in the passage about
the Bush, how God spoke to him and said: I am the God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac and the God of Jacob? He is God, not of the dead, but of the living. You
are very much mistaken.’
MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIPS IS WHAT GIVES MEANING AND HOPE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [
TB 3:1-11. 16-17; PS 24:2-9; MK 12:18-27 ]
All three readings describe people
without hope. In the first reading from the Book of Tobit, we read
of the lamentation of Tobit. We can imagine how hurt and hopeless he must
have felt. He was blind, feeling helpless and not too sure whether he
would be in this state for the rest of his life. But he was humiliated
further when his wife added salt to his wounds by scorning the good works he
had done. Instead of receiving blessings from God, he was paid with
curses. No wonder Tobit asked for an early death. He said, “Lord, I wait
for the sentence you will give to deliver me from this affliction. Let me go
away to my everlasting home; do not turn your face from me, O Lord. For it is
better to die than still to live in the face of trouble that knows no pity; I
am weary of hearing myself traduced.”
This lack of support is so common in
family and marriage relationships. Often, husband and wife are not
supportive of each other when they are supposed to be helpmates. Instead
of offering encouragement to each other, they pour cold water on each other’s
initiatives. Instead of being grateful for what they do, they criticize
each other. This explains why after some time, the love for each other
fades. When we are not loved, we will eventually lose the capacity to
love. When we feel alone in our marriage, life is not worth living.
We feel life is not fair to us. Besides having to work, we have to look
after the family, tuition the children, look after the elderly at home,
chauffeur them and even cook for them. And without the support of our
spouse, we feel lonely and tired. We get sick of life because so many
demands are made of us. Everyone wants our attention but no one is giving
us attention. We are treated like a provider and a maid. Indeed, when we
are in our lows, deprived of support especially from our loved ones, our
thought is to die. In our fatigue, we wish we could go back to the Lord
sooner and let them take care of each other since we are not appreciated. Life
is meaningless.
This was true also for Sarah.
She too was without support. She already had the misfortune of seven
marriages that ended tragically with her husbands killed by the demon even
before they could consummate the marriage. For a woman to be unmarried in
those days was to be incomplete. So she too was desperate. Again,
instead of finding support from her loved ones, she found none. She was
even insulted by one of her father’s maids. In her misery, she too wanted
to die. “That day she grieved, she sobbed, and went up to her father’s room
intending to hang herself.” On second thought, she did not want to get
her father implicated in her death. So she gave up the idea of hanging
herself. Rather, she turned to the Lord to grant her an early exit from
this world. “I cannot cause my father a sorrow which would bring down his
old age to the dwelling of the dead. I should do better not to hang
myself, but to beg the Lord to let me die and not live to hear any more
insults.”
Indeed, when we are in this state, we
blame ourselves. We think that perhaps God is punishing us for the sins
we had committed. Whenever people suffer a tragedy, a sickness or a
misfortune, they would accuse themselves of the sins they committed. They
think God is taking revenge on them. We doubt His love and mercy.
This was the way Tobit also prayed, “Therefore, Lord, remember me, look on me.
Do not punish me for my sins or for my heedless faults or for those of my
fathers. Whereas all your decrees are true when you deal with me as my
faults deserve, and those of my fathers, since we have neither kept your
commandments nor walked in truth before you; so now, do with me as you will; be
pleased to take my life from me; I desire to be delivered from earth and to
become earth again. For death is better for me than life. I have been reviled
without a cause and I am distressed beyond measure.” But this is not the way
God deals with us!
In the gospel, the Sadducees were also
very negative towards the future. They did not believe in the
resurrection, in the spirits, in angels and in immortality. They wanted
to ridicule the teaching on the resurrection by providing a hypothetical case
study of seven brothers. In Jewish laws, if one of them died without
children, the next brother would have to take his brother’s widow and bear him
a child to continue the family name. The academic question posed to
Jesus was, whose wife would she belong to in the resurrection, since she
married the seven brothers in turn after each died.
The response of Jesus was clear.
“He is God, not of the dead, but of the living. You are very much
mistaken.” Indeed, our God is a living God and a God of the living.
By calling Himself “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob”,
it implies that the patriarchs are alive. With God there is always life
and there is always hope. Otherwise we would have lived in vain.
For those who do not believe in the resurrection or life after death, life in
this world is meaningless. Whatever they do, whatever achievements or
good they have done would die with them. That being the case, what is the
use of living a good life, being generous and kind, righteous and
honest? If our life were to end with this life on earth, then we too will
fall into despair as well. Such people, as Jesus said, are
mistaken! It is hope in the next life that gives us the motivation to do
good even in the face of evil, to strive even when faced with so much
opposition. Only confident hope in life after death will give us the
strength to know that our struggles to do what is right and good will continue
after us. Faith in the resurrection is the basis of Christian hope.
And because God is a living God, we can
expect Him to hear our prayers. Indeed, He did answer the fervent,
sincere and humble prayers of Tobit and Sarah. “This time the prayer of
each of them found favour before the glory of God, and Raphael was sent to bring
remedy to them both.” This too is the expression of the faith of the
psalmist. “I trust you, let me not be disappointed; do not let my enemies
triumph. Those who hope in you shall not be disappointed, but only those who
wantonly break faith. Lord, make me know your ways. Lord, teach me your
paths. Make me walk in your truth, and teach me: for you are God my
saviour.” We too must persevere in our weakness and
helplessness. God will send His angels to help us, just as He sent
Raphael to help them. Recalling His fidelity to our fathers will help us
to find strength and confidence in His mercy. “In you I hope all day long
because of your goodness, O Lord. Remember your mercy, Lord, and the love
you have shown from of old.”
However, in our prayers, we must also
give God the freedom to answer the way He deems fit. In the gospel, Jesus
made it clear to the Sadducees that they must not impose their earthly
understanding of happiness on the next life. The mistake we often make in
prayer is to think that God thinks the way we do. We often tell God
exactly what we need and even teach Him how to answer our prayers. The
Sadducees’ mistake was to conceive heaven as an extension of what we are
enjoying on this earth. Jesus said, “Is not the reason why you go wrong,
that you understand neither the scriptures nor the power of God? For when
they rise from the dead, men and women do not marry; no, they are like the
angels in heaven.” So we should pray but God knows better than us what we
need and how He should help us. We must trust Him. “He guides
the humble in the right path, He teaches his way to the poor.”
In the final analysis, heaven is not so
much about having our prayers answered with respect to riches, health and the
good things of this life. Heaven is beyond any earthly expectations.
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God
has prepared for those who love him.” Vatican II teaches, “We do not know
the time for the consummation of the earth and of humanity, nor do we know how
all things will be transformed. As deformed by sin, the shape of this world
will pass away; but we are taught that God is preparing a new dwelling place
and a new earth where justice will abide, and whose blessedness will answer and
surpass all the longings for peace which spring up in the human heart. Then,
with death overcome, the sons of God will be raised up in Christ, and what was
sown in weakness and corruption will be invested with incorruptibility. Enduring
with charity and its fruits, all that creation which God made on man’s account
will be unchained from the bondage of vanity.” (Gaudium et Spes 39)
Indeed, what counts at the end of the day
is love and relationship. These will see us through in this life and the
next. When we have love and support from our loved ones, especially our
spouse and our children or friends, we can go through any trial in life with
hope and confidence. And better still, if our intimate friend is our Lord
Jesus Christ. St Paul said, “No, in all these things we are more than
conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor
life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come,
nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all
creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our
Lord.” (Rom 8:37-39)
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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