20171020 FAITH IN GOD’S LOVE AND MERCY AS THE
BASIS FOR LIVING AN AUTHENTIC LIFE
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Romans 4:1-8 ©
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What shall we say about Abraham, the ancestor from whom we are all
descended? If Abraham was justified as a reward for doing something, he would
really have had something to boast about, though not in God’s sight because
scripture says: Abraham put
his faith in God, and this faith was considered as justifying him. If a man has work to show, his wages
are not considered as a favour but as his due; but when a man has nothing to
show except faith in the one who justifies sinners, then his faith is
considered as justifying him. And David says the same: a man is happy if God
considers him righteous, irrespective of good deeds:
Happy those whose crimes are forgiven,
whose sins are blotted out;
happy the man whom the Lord considers sinless.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 31(32):1-2,5,11 ©
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You are my refuge, O Lord; you fill me with the
joy of salvation.
Happy the man whose offence is forgiven,
whose sin is remitted.
O happy the man to whom the Lord
imputes no guilt,
in whose spirit is no guile.
You are my refuge, O Lord; you fill me with the
joy of salvation.
But now I have acknowledged my sins;
my guilt I did not hide.
I said: ‘I will confess
my offence to the Lord.’
And you, Lord, have forgiven
the guilt of my sin.
You are my refuge, O Lord; you fill me with the
joy of salvation.
Rejoice, rejoice in the Lord,
exult, you just!
O come, ring out your joy,
all you upright of heart.
You are my refuge, O Lord; you fill me with the
joy of salvation.
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Gospel Acclamation
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cf.Ps18:9
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Your words gladden the heart, O Lord,
they give light to the eyes.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Ps32:22
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Alleluia, alleluia!
May your love be upon us, O Lord,
as we place all our hope in you.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 12:1-7 ©
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The people had gathered in their thousands so that they were
treading on one another. And Jesus began to speak, first of all to his
disciples. ‘Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees – that is,
their hypocrisy. Everything that is now covered will be uncovered, and
everything now hidden will be made clear. For this reason, whatever you have
said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in
hidden places will be proclaimed on the housetops.
‘To you my
friends I say: Do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can
do no more. I will tell you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed,
has the power to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Can you not buy
five sparrows for two pennies? And yet not one is forgotten in God’s sight.
Why, every hair on your head has been counted. There is no need to be afraid:
you are worth more than hundreds of sparrows.’
FAITH IN GOD’S LOVE AND MERCY AS THE BASIS FOR LIVING AN AUTHENTIC LIFE
“Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees.” This is a
warning that is addressed to us all. What is this yeast of the Pharisees
that we should be on guard if not the yeast of hypocrisy? The hypocrite
is one who is never genuine. He is only play-acting and therefore
insincere. What is even worse is that hypocrisy grows like yeast each
day until we lose our true self.
At the root of it, hypocrisy springs from the fear of truth,
especially that of rejection. In order to be appreciated, we
need to project ourselves as lovable, kind and talented. So the root
cause of hypocrisy is that a person lacks self-love and self-esteem. To
compensate for his insecurity, he tries to merit love and recognition from
others through good works and creating a good impression. This can be true of a
child who tries to please his teachers and friends. He plays the game of
a good boy so that his teachers will love him and he will be popular with his
friends. He is always agreeable with superiors and peers and is afraid to
think differently. Quite often, hypocrisy is disguised as diplomacy, tact and
good public relations.
If such goodness does not come from within ourselves,
then one day the game will exhaust us. We will give up when we are
frustrated with trying to put up a show all the time. This explains why some
children who are known to be docile, submissive and helpful sometimes grow up
to be rebellious, authoritarian and lazy. Hence, the truth is that hypocrisy
will be exposed sooner or later. Jesus said, “Everything that is now
covered will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear.
For this reason, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the
daylight, and what you have whispered in hidden places will be proclaimed on
the housetops.”
Such, perhaps, is the symbol of the crowds “treading on one another” in
today’s gospel. As Paul explains, “works are wages not gift … If a
man has work to show, his wages are not considered as a favour but as his
due.” So if we are working for acceptance, then we are always
subservient. Hypocrisy makes us insecure and gives us no peace since
we always need to act, dance and play according to others’ tunes. We are
not our real selves and thus we find no true happiness, since we are putting on
an act every day.
So we live an uneasy life, knowing that a day will come when we will be
exposed for the kind of person we truly are. Once the game is over, we
will no longer be accepted. When that happens, will people still think
well of us and love us? Will our friends and admirers condemn us? We live a
double life and there is no peace within. The fear of being
discovered will destroy our peace. The thought of the consequences of
being discovered may be too much for us to bear when it really happens.
And if it does happen, we might not be able to forgive ourselves.
Even if we were able to deceive others, we cannot deceive
ourselves. In fact, knowing that we are just putting on a show to
gain acceptance makes us feel lousy about ourselves. When Jesus said, “To
my friends I say: Do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that
can do no more. I will tell you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has
killed, has the power to cast into hell,” He is warning us that even if we can
cheat others we cannot deceive ourselves. Our conscience and mind cannot
be killed or suppressed. The soul will continue to disturb us and we will have
nightmares and feel edgy during the day.
However, the greater consequence is our guilt before God, even
if we were not discovered. Before God too, we know that we are not being
true as well and we feel divided within. Carrying our hidden sins is even a
greater burden than acknowledging our sins. The psalmist says, “Then I
acknowledged my sin to you, my guilt I covered not. I said, ‘I confess my
faults to the Lord,’ and you took away the guilt of my sin.” Truly, it is
our conscience that weighs us down even when we try to silence it. This
is what St John also tells us when he wrote, “This is how we know that we
belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: If
our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he
knows everything. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we
have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask,
because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.” (1 Jn 3:19-21)
Hence, it is better to be true to ourselves and live a transparent life.
We must be fearless in being authentic and true to who we are. In this
way, we avoid hell for eternity, if we are not already living it on earth,
since we are living in fear of being discovered. In order to find real
peace, we must live a life of integrity for peace of mind and heart. We
must overcome our fear and live a life of fearlessness. How can this be
done?
Firstly, we must recognize that man’s power over us is
strictly limited to our physical life, but not our soul. They
can destroy us physically but not our spirit. We should not be too
concerned about what others think of us. We must transcend the attempts of our
fellowmen to manipulate our emotions and blackmail us into doing things that
are contrary to our state of life or against the will of God. More often
than not, we allow especially our loved ones and friends to control our
emotions and happiness, so much so, our happiness is so dependent on the
buttons they press. What we should be more worried about is what we think
of ourselves. We must love ourselves authentically and respect ourselves
for what we are. When we are true to our identity and our calling, we
will find tremendous peace within us because we have no fear of embarrassment
before God and man since we live an irreproachable life. “Be glad in the
Lord and rejoice, you just; exult, all you upright of heart.” Failing which, we
enslave ourselves to people and can never find real freedom.
Secondly, we must trust in God’s love. A true
appreciation of our self-worth can only come from a real experience of God’s
love. As the gospel tells us, we are worth more than sparrows.
God’s providential care will look after our needs and even those times when
others reject us and cannot accept us. Jesus assures us, “Can you not buy
five sparrows for two pennies? And yet not one is forgotten in God’s sight.
Why, every hair on your head has been counted. There is no need to be
afraid: you are worth more than hundreds of sparrows.” Indeed, to
trust in God’s Word means to believe concretely that God loves us when we have
nothing to deserve that love. The concrete faith of Abraham is his
faith in God’s love. We must avoid the Jewish thinking
that we must earn God’s favour. All that we can do and need to do is to
take God at His Word and stake everything on the faith that God’s promises are
true.
Thirdly, we must trust in God’s unconditional mercy.
St Paul said, “Abraham put his faith in God, and this faith was considered as
justifying him.” He is our example in faith, for only such faith can make
us feel truly worthy. Then we can accept our weaknesses and
inadequacies. As Paul said, “when a man has nothing to show except faith
in the one who justifies sinners, then his faith is considered as justifying
him. And David says the same: a man is happy if God considered him
righteous …” Together with the psalmist, we must say, “Blessed is he
whose fault is taken away, whose sin is covered. Blessed the man to whom the
Lord imputes not guilt, in whose spirit there is no guile.” Indeed, the
Lord who is all merciful never stops loving and forgiving us. It is we
who cannot forgive ourselves for our failings and do not love ourselves the way
God loves us.
Only by trusting in His love and mercy, can we respond in sincere love.
To prove himself worthy of that love, any man of honour would want to return
that love freely. But his service to God and neigbour would not be given
out of coercion but under the compulsion of love. In this way, we find
true liberation from all fears, and we can live a life of integrity, perfect
peace and joy even when we face all kinds of hostility and difficulties because
our conscience is at peace. We can take life in stride and face it with
calmness.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh,
Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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