20170811
LIVING LIFE RADICALLY
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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Deuteronomy 4:32-40 ©
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Moses said to the people: ‘Put this question to the ages that are
past, that went before you, from the time God created man on earth: Was there
ever a word so majestic, from one end of heaven to the other? Was anything ever
heard? Did ever a people hear the voice of the living God speaking from the
heart of the fire, as you heard it, and remain alive? Has any god ventured to
take to himself one nation from the midst of another by ordeals, signs,
wonders, war with mighty hand and outstretched arm, by fearsome terrors –
all this that the Lord your God did for you before your eyes in Egypt?
‘This he
showed you so that you might know that the Lord is God indeed and that there is
no other. He let you hear his voice out of heaven for your instruction; on
earth he let you see his great fire, and from the heart of the fire you heard
his word. Because he loved your fathers and chose their descendants after them,
he brought you out from Egypt, openly showing his presence and his great power,
driving out in front of you nations greater and more powerful than yourself,
and brought you into their land to give it you for your heritage, as it is
still today.
‘Understand
this today, therefore, and take it to heart: the Lord is God indeed, in heaven
above as on earth beneath, he and no other. Keep his laws and commandments as I
give them to you today, so that you and your children may prosper and live long
in the land that the Lord your God gives you for ever.’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 76(77):12-16,21 ©
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I remember the deeds of the Lord.
I remember the deeds of the Lord,
I remember your wonders of old,
I muse on all your works
and ponder your mighty deeds.
I remember the deeds of the Lord.
Your ways, O God, are holy.
What god is great as our God?
You are the God who works wonders.
You showed your power among the peoples.
I remember the deeds of the Lord.
Your strong arm redeemed your people,
the sons of Jacob and Joseph.
You guided your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
I remember the deeds of the Lord.
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Gospel Acclamation
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1S3:9,Jn6:68
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Speak, Lord, your servant is listening:
you have the message of eternal life.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 16:24-28 ©
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Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of
mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. For anyone
who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my
sake will find it. What, then, will a man gain if he wins the whole world and
ruins his life? Or what has a man to offer in exchange for his life?
‘For the Son
of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and, when
he does, he will reward each one according to his behaviour. I tell you
solemnly, there are some of these standing here who will not taste death before
they see the Son of Man coming with his kingdom.’
LIVING LIFE RADICALLY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ DT 4:32-40; MT 16:24-28 ]
“What, then,
will a man gain if he wins the whole world and ruins his life? Or what
has a man to offer in exchange for his life?” These are fundamental
questions in life. If we can answer these questions from the
depths of our being, our fundamental option in life would change. Indeed,
when St Francis Xavier came upon this text, his whole life changed. It
suddenly dawned on him what life was all about!
So the truth is
that if we want to live, we must live in the most radical manner.
Unfortunately, most people always live on the superficial level. They
never bother to ask the ultimate questions of life. They just
drift and go through life without living it. It is just like the way the
greedy man eats. The food is not tasted but goes straight from his mouth
to the stomach. He never tastes the joy of life. When we live on
the mundane level, we will never find satisfaction in life.
To drift
along in life is equally disastrous. Think of your life’s journey. When you get to where you’re
going, where will you be? One year, five years, or even 20 years from now, if
you keep heading in the same direction and keep doing what you are doing, what
will your life look like? Not only vocationally and financially, but what kind
of person will you be? Do you have a pretty clear picture of the way you would
like things to turn out, or will you be as surprised when it happens as it does
everybody else? It has been my experience that most people do not spend
much time with these questions. But as Henry David Thoreau once said, “In the
long run, we only hit what we aim at.” To live aimlessly is to
waste this precious gift of life. But to live with direction is to live
fully. Hence, the gospel challenges us to consider why and what we are
living for.
In these
questions, Jesus is inviting us to examine what is our greatest desire in life?
What is it that can bring us real happiness? Indeed, it is of
utmost importance that each one of us must ask the question: what is the
ultimate security of my life or where do I put my security?
The answer to this question is vital since the decision we make will determine
our character and our future. If we place our hopes in material things,
money and wealth or in other status symbol, can we find real happiness? Indeed,
some have managed to attain what they set out to achieve but only to discover
the vanity of it all.
Of what
value is money or possessions if they cannot bring us happiness, peace in our
heart, relationships with our fellowmen and most of all, our
relationship with God? But St Alphonsus Maria De Liguori said, “We do not
fix our affections on borrowed goods, because we know that they must soon be
returned to the owner. All earthly goods are lent to us: It is folly to set our
heart on what we must soon quit. Death shall strip us of all. The acquisitions
and fortunes of this world all terminate in a dying grasp, in a funeral, in a
descent into the grave. The house which you have built for yourself you must
soon give up to others.” Would we, as Jesus is asking us, exchange our lives
for this temporal or illusive happiness?
In the final
analysis, only living for God can bring us real happiness.
But how can one live for God unless one is convinced? The
Israelites could live for God only because of the experience of the majesty,
power and love of Yahweh for them. In order to live for God, Moses
reminded the people that God is everything – our lives belong to
him. “This he showed you so that you might know that the Lord is
God indeed and that there is no other. He let you hear his voice out of
heaven for your instruction; on earth he let you see his great fire, and from
the heart of the fire you heard his word. Because he loved your fathers
and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out from Egypt, openly
showing his presence and his great power, driving out in front of you nations
greater and more powerful than yourself, and brought you into their land to
give it you for your heritage, as it is still today.”
Everything we
have is an out-right gift from God. We owe Him everything, including our very lives.
It’s possible for many of us to give God our money, but not our entire
self. What we give to God or even to our fellowmen is just a token, not
even 10% of what we have received from Him! More often than not, we
pay Him only lip-service, but our hearts are far from Him. A wise
disciple gladly gives up all that he has in exchange for an unending life of
joy and happiness with God. Our God gives without measure and to share
His life and joy means that we too must do the same. When we give without
measure, what we give actually is never given away. The joy and happiness
we give to others remain with us! In fact, it is doubled. We suffer
no loss in joy but only material loss which cannot bring us real happiness
anyway.
We must
therefore make a decision to surrender our entire life to the plan of the
Father, for He is our joy and life. ‘Understand this today,
therefore, and take it to heart: the Lord is God indeed, in heaven above as on
earth beneath, he and no other.” He knows best. We just have to walk in
truth and love and He will take care of us. “Keep his laws and
commandments as I give them to you today, so that you and your children may
prosper and live long in the land that the Lord your God gives you forever.”
Hence, the
responsorial psalm invites us to reflect on the deeds of God.
We cannot be convinced that living for God ultimately gives us life unless we
experience His love for us. The Israelites could commit their lives to
the One and True God because they experienced His mighty power and love.
“I remember the deeds of the Lord, I remember your wonders of old, I muse on
all your works and ponder your mighty deeds. Your ways, O God, are holy. What
god is great as our God? You are the God who works wonders. You showed your
power among the peoples. Your strong arm redeemed your people, the sons of
Jacob and Joseph. You guided your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and
Aaron.”
Similarly, if
Jesus could live for God only, it was because of the experience of His
Father’s love. For Jesus lived a radical life for God and His kingdom
even unto death. Jesus did the Father’s will and lived according to the
Father’s plan and vision. His mission was rooted in the unconditional
love of God as His Abba Father. For us to do the Father’s will requires
that we live according to our vocation, which is the vocation of love. To
live life radically, one must lose one’s life, that is, to give up this present
kind of life for the life of Christ. “For anyone who wants to save his
life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.”
To live for
God is to offer our lives to Him. The cross that Jesus speaks about is the symbol of our
total commitment and giving. When we love we are ready to suffer.
Because Jesus loves the Father, He was ready to carry the cross.
Similarly if we love then we will be ready to carry the cross. Jesus
said, “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and
take up his cross and follow me.” Of course, carrying the cross
presupposes that we believe that that is the way to life; that the cross of
Christ leads to victory and freedom from sin and death. To carry our
daily cross means to love our spouse, children, colleagues and bear with each
other’s imperfections and negligence. It means to keep on forgiving our
brothers and sisters, tolerating their limitations and human frailties.
It entails living out our vocation faithfully each day, and being responsible
in our duties.
To love means
to carry the cross. Those who cannot love are those who cannot suffer the
cross of loving. They only love themselves. But when we love, we are
ready to sacrifice ourselves, our pleasures and comforts for the greater joy of
bringing happiness and love to other people’s life. Do we seek true joy
and happiness or passing pleasures and the happiness of life that comes from
earthly things, like power, glory and pleasures? So with St Ignatius, we
pray, “Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and
all my will, all that I have and possess. You have given them to me; to
you, O Lord, I restore them; all things are yours, dispose of them according to
your will. Give me your love and your grace, for this is enough for me.”
(Prayer of Ignatius of Loyola, 1491-1556)
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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