20170627
THE GOLDEN PRINCIPLE
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Genesis 13:2,5-18 ©
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Abram was a very rich man, with livestock, silver and gold. Lot,
who was travelling with Abram, had flocks and cattle of his own, and tents too.
The land was not sufficient to accommodate them both at once, for they had too
many possessions to be able to live together. Dispute broke out between the
herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and those of Lot’s. (The Canaanites and the
Perizzites were then living in the land.) Accordingly Abram said to Lot, ‘Let
there be no dispute between me and you, nor between my herdsmen and yours, for
we are brothers. Is not the whole land open before you? Part company with me:
if you take the left, I will go right; if you take the right, I will go left.’
Looking
round, Lot saw all the Jordan plain, irrigated everywhere – this was before
the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah – like the garden of the Lord or the
land of Egypt, as far as Zoar. So Lot chose all the Jordan plain for himself
and moved off eastwards. Thus they parted company: Abram settled in the land of
Canaan; Lot settled among the towns of the plain, pitching his tents on the
outskirts of Sodom. Now the people of Sodom were vicious men, great sinners
against the Lord.
The Lord
said to Abram after Lot had parted company with him, ‘Look all round from where
you are towards the north and the south, towards the east and the west. All the
land within sight I will give to you and your descendants for ever. I will make
your descendants like the dust on the ground: when men succeed in counting the
specks of dust on the ground, then they will be able to count your descendants!
Come, travel through the length and breadth of the land, for I mean to give it
to you.’
So Abram
went with his tents to settle at the Oak of Mamre, at Hebron, and there he
built an altar to the Lord.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 14(15):2-5 ©
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The just will live in the presence of the Lord.
Lord, who shall dwell on your holy mountain?
He who walks without fault;
he who acts with justice
and speaks the truth from his heart;
he who does not slander with his tongue.
The just will live in the presence of the Lord.
He who does no wrong to his brother,
who casts no slur on his neighbour,
who holds the godless in disdain,
but honours those who fear the Lord.
The just will live in the presence of the Lord.
He who keeps his pledge, come what may;
who takes no interest on a loan
and accepts no bribes against the innocent.
Such a man will stand firm for ever.
The just will live in the presence of the Lord.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Mt11:25
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are you, Father,
Lord of heaven and earth,
for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom
to mere children.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Jn8:12
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Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the light of the world, says the Lord;
anyone who follows me will have the light of life.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 7:6,12-14 ©
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Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Do not give dogs what is holy; and
do not throw your pearls in front of pigs, or they may trample them and then
turn on you and tear you to pieces.
‘So always
treat others as you would like them to treat you; that is the meaning of the
Law and the Prophets.
‘Enter by
the narrow gate, since the road that leads to perdition is wide and spacious,
and many take it; but it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life,
and only a few find it.’
THE GOLDEN PRINCIPLE
“Do not do
unto others what you would not like others to do unto you.” This is the golden principle
taught by Confucius and found in many religions. This is the fundamental
principle of ethics. If all of us live by this principle, there will be
no wars, no killings, no crimes, no poverty, no irresponsible living. If
only everyone lives by this principle, there will be peace, harmony, progress
and prosperity for all peoples in the world. This golden principle does
not require much thinking but feeling. One does not need to be a moralist
to understand and accept this golden principle. It is natural that all of
us seek justice, fair play, and our rights. Buddhists do not kill simply
because killing provokes killing. Jesus speaks about forgiving our
enemies, otherwise we will cause endless retaliation.
Then why is
it that we do not practise this golden rule of life? It is because
we are sinners. We are self-centered, inward-looking,
irresponsible, ego-centered and do not care for others. We love
ourselves but often at the expense of others. We only think about our
interests, needs and convenience. If everyone behaves in this manner,
there will be much resentment, unhappiness and anger. This explains why
the book of Leviticus reminds us to love our neighbour as ourselves. (cf Lev 19:18; Mk 12:31)
If we love ourselves, we must love our neighbours the same way.
There cannot be double standards, one for ourselves and the other for our
neighbours, because we all share the same humanity, the desire for love,
acceptance, justice and our basic needs.
But even if
we can observe this basic principle of life, it is not good enough. Jesus asked us to go
one step further. Instead of phrasing this principle in a negative form,
He put it in a positive form. “So always treat others as you would like
them to treat you; that is the meaning of the Law and the Prophets.”
Jesus is not simply asking us to avoid doing anything that is wrong or that we
would not like others to do to us. With discipline, we might be
able to avoid doing harm to others or cause others to suffer on our
account. But it is more difficult to do good to others because there is
no limit to what good we are called to do. Love has no limits.
This explains
why this golden principle reformulated by our Lord is the crown of the entire
Sermon on the Mount. Loving God in our neighbours is the highest form of
love. The Law and the prophets have the same message, which is to love
God and our neighour. As St Paul said, “Owe no one anything, except to
love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the
law. The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; You shall not
murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet’; and any other commandment,
are summed up in this word, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does
no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.” (Rom 13:8-10)
This is the
narrow gate that the Lord urges us all to enter. “Enter by the narrow gate,
since the road that leads to perdition is wide and spacious, and many take it;
but it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find
it.” The narrow gate is the gate of love and self-sacrifice. This
gate requires self-discipline and self-emptying for others. It is not the
wide gate that attracts the lazy, the self-indulgent, the self-centered.
Unfortunately, not many people are capable of love for God and for
others. Most people care for themselves and at most, for their
loved ones. Even the latter is not true love for others because to love
their loved ones is to love themselves as their loved ones will affect their
peace, security, joy and happiness. They love their loved ones because
their happiness is inter-dependent. But to love those beyond their circle
of friends? That love is not forthcoming because they have nothing to gain from
that relationship of giving.
To inspire us,
we have Abram. We are told that he “was a very rich man, with livestock,
silver and gold” and “Lot, who was travelling with Abram, had flocks and cattle
of his own, and tents too.” Abram was concerned about the more important
things of life, which is harmonious relationship. He put good
relationship above wealth and business. Abram said to Lot, “Let there be
no dispute between me and you, nor between my herdsmen and yours, for we are
brothers. Is not the whole land open before you? Part company with
me: if you take the left, I will go right; if you take the right, I will go
left.” He knew that if the problem was not checked, there would be
further misunderstandings between his men and his nephew’s workers. To
avoid any escalation of contentious conflicts, he proposed that each of them
went their own way.
What was
noble of Abram was not simply that he saw that family ties were more important
than wealth, but he deferred to Lot in his choice of land. He did not decide
anything for his own interests but left the decision as to where he would
settle with his flocks to his nephew. Being the elder, he could
simply have told Lot to take the portion of the land which he wanted to
give. Instead, he was indifferent to whatever land was given to
him. This shows the magnanimity of Abram. He was a just man
and he cared for Lot’s interests over his own. He was not one who would
grab everything for himself. Instead, he thought of the good of others
over his own.
What was the
secret of Abram’s attitude towards wealth and relationship? He was a man
who lived in the presence of God. He is the just man that the
responsorial psalm speaks about. “Lord, who shall dwell on your holy
mountain? He who walks without fault; he who acts with justice and speaks
the truth from his heart; he who does not slander with his tongue. He who does
no wrong to his brother, who casts no slur on his neighbour, who holds the
godless in disdain, but honours those who fear the Lord. He who keeps his
pledge, come what may; who takes no interest on a loan and accepts no bribes
against the innocent. Such a man will stand firm forever.” The scriptures
portray Abram as a generous man who was hospitable to strangers. He would
come to the aid of Lot when he and his men were captured. He was a man of
compassion who interceded for the city when God wanted to punish the
people. Constantly, he was a man who practiced the golden principle of
doing unto others what he would like others to do unto him.
Indeed,
whoever is generous will be blessed abundantly by the Lord in return. This was what St Paul
wrote, “The one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who
sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you
have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a
cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in
abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share
abundantly in every good work. You will be enriched in every way for your
great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us.” (2 Cor 9:6-8,11)
Truly, the more Abram used his resources to bless others, the more abundantly
the Lord blessed him in return. He became the father of many nations and
was blessed with wealth.
In contrast,
Lot was selfish and inward-looking, thinking only about his interests and his
wealth. He did not consider the interests of Abram. Eventually, save
for his daughters, he lost his wife and his sons-in-law when God destroyed
Sodom and Gomorrah because of the wickedness of the people. Jesus also
warns us in the gospel not to “give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your
pearls in front of pigs, or they may trample them and then turn on you and tear
you to pieces.” Within this context, we must be careful how we make use
of the blessings we have received from the Lord. Many of us, instead of
using the resources the Lord has blessed us to bless others, use them for the
wrong purposes, or for ourselves.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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