20171016
MAKING GOOD USE OF OUR PRIVILEGES
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
|
First reading
|
Romans 1:1-7 ©
|
From Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus who has been called to be an
apostle, and specially chosen to preach the Good News that God promised long
ago through his prophets in the scriptures.
This news is
about the Son of God who, according to the human nature he took was a
descendant of David: it is about Jesus Christ our Lord who, in the order of the
spirit, the spirit of holiness that was in him, was proclaimed Son of God in
all his power through his resurrection from the dead. Through him we received
grace and our apostolic mission to preach the obedience of faith to all pagan
nations in honour of his name. You are one of these nations, and by his call
belong to Jesus Christ. To you all, then, who are God’s beloved in Rome, called
to be saints, may God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ send grace and
peace.
|
Responsorial Psalm
|
|
Psalm 97(98):1-4 ©
|
The Lord has made known his salvation.
Sing a new song to the Lord
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.
The Lord has made known his salvation.
The Lord has made known his salvation;
has shown his justice to the nations.
He has remembered his truth and love
for the house of Israel.
The Lord has made known his salvation.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
ring out your joy.
The Lord has made known his salvation.
|
Gospel Acclamation
|
Ps118:88
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
Because of your love give me life,
and I will do your will.
Alleluia!
|
Or
|
Ps94:8
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
Harden not your hearts today,
but listen to the voice of the Lord.
Alleluia!
|
Gospel
|
Luke 11:29-32 ©
|
The crowds got even bigger, and Jesus addressed them:
‘This is a
wicked generation; it is asking for a sign. The only sign it will be given is
the sign of Jonah. For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will
the Son of Man be to this generation. On Judgement day the Queen of the South
will rise up with the men of this generation and condemn them, because she came
from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is
something greater than Solomon here. On Judgement day the men of Nineveh will
stand up with this generation and condemn it, because when Jonah preached they
repented; and there is something greater than Jonah here.’
MAKING GOOD USE OF OUR PRIVILEGES
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ Rom 1:1-7; Ps 98:1-4; Lk 11:29-32 ]
What is
tragic in life is that many of us do not appreciate the privileges that God has
blessed us with. We take them for granted, and because of the lack of
gratitude, we do not make use of them wisely for our growth and for the good of
others. Many of us have been gifted with a good life, a nice house, a car
and money for education; and on the personal level, good health, beauty,
intelligence, and good connections. Alas, instead of using them well and
developing ourselves with the gifts we have, we squander them away.
Indeed, we are reminded of the words of Jesus when He warned us, “Do not give
dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample
them under foot and turn to attack you.” (Mt 7:6)
This is
particularly true with respect to our faith. Most of us do
not have to pay a price for our faith because it was passed on to us. We
do not have to make sacrifices to find our faith, unlike the early Christians
who had to even pay with their life to find faith in Christ. St Paul
reminded the Romans of their great privilege to be called by God to belong to
Him. “You are one of these nations, and by his call belong to Jesus Christ.
To you all, men, who are God’s beloved in Rome, called to be saints, may God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ send grace and peace.” How great it
is to be part of God’s family and to be God’s beloved! Christ, at His
baptism, was also called as God’s beloved. So to be known as God’s
beloved means that we are special in God’s eyes and His love is with
us. By being baptized, we are given the inheritance to enjoy the
love of God. What a wonderful gift and assurance indeed. This is
what St Paul wrote, “may God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ send grace
and peace.” It is truly grace to be forgiven and chosen in Christ and to
be at peace with God.
But not only
were the Romans called to be God’s beloved, they were also called to be saints. They were set apart
to be God’s people and dedicated for His service. We are given a mission
to be the ambassadors of Christ. Like St Paul, we are called to be “a
servant of Christ Jesus” and “an apostle, and specially chosen to preach the
Good News that God promised long ago through his prophets in the
scriptures.” Such is the calling of a Christian. He is adopted into
God’s family, given a new identity as His beloved and sent on a mission to
bring the Good News of God’s love to all. “Through him we received grace
and our apostolic mission to preach the obedience of faith to all pagan nations
in honour of his name.”
But
unfortunately, many of us do not treasure the privilege of being called by the
Lord.
We take the grace of baptism lightly. We do not value our identity in
Christ as His adopted brother and sister. We do not live as a member of
the household of God. Instead we live as estranged children, not in
communion with the Lord or with members of the Catholic community. We do
not have any Catholic friends to share our faith with, not even members of our
own family! Although we call ourselves members of God’s family, we live
in an individualistic manner, as if our relationship with God is just between
Him and me.
Most of all,
we do not make any effort to deepen our understanding of Christ and of the
gospel. We lack knowledge of our faith. Although we claim that the
Bible is the Word of God and that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life, we
do not come to Him, read the bible and pray to Him daily. Instead of
taking directions from our Lord, especially using Him as our moral compass, we
take directions from the world on what is right or wrong, good or bad.
Our faith in Christ is just a ritualistic faith, paying lip service to Him but
in truth, God is far away from our hearts and Christ is not the center of our
lives. Although baptized in Christ, we are still pagans at heart.
When we act
in this manner, then the judgement that the Lord said of the Jews would also
apply to us as well. Jesus reprimanded them saying, “On judgement day the Queen
of the South will rise up with the men of this generation and condemn them,
because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and
there is something greater than Solomon here. On judgement day, the men
of Nineveh will stand up with this generation and condemn it, because when
Jonah preached they repented; and there is something greater than Jonah here.”
To think that even the warlike and decadent Ninevites repented when Jonah
preached to them, and reluctantly at that! How much more then should the
Jews repent because Christ, the Word of God in person, was preaching to
them! And to think that Queen Sheba would travel great distances just to
hear King Solomon’s wisdom although he was full of moral imperfections, how
much more should the Jews appreciate Christ who is the Wisdom of God in person
before them. Indeed, their rejection of Christ was their loss and they
had made themselves more liable to punishment than the pagan nations, such as
the Ninevites or the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, Tyre and Sidon, who did
not have the privilege of meeting Christ, unlike the people from Judea and
Galilee.
Indeed, we
too have been given the privilege of coming to know the Lord. We have the grace to
freely study and practice our faith. In many countries, the people have
no freedom of religion, not even the freedom of worship. And even if they
are allowed, they are discriminated and ostracized, or the authorities would make
things difficult for them to practise their faith. In some places, one
might get killed for professing his or her faith because of fanaticism or
persecution. Besides that, we have enough opportunities to receive the
sacraments daily, especially the Eucharist and the sacrament of
reconciliation. We have daily masses all over the country, celebrated
morning, noon and evening. There is a church within 10 minutes’ drive
from our homes. We can attend instructions on the faith, ongoing
formation, retreats as and when we are ready. Besides that, we have
social and digital media broadcast and scripture reflections every day in our
archdiocesan website. There are more than sufficient materials to learn
about our faith from the internet, even if we have no time to go for courses
conducted in our churches.
Alas, such
facilities and resources are taken for granted. They are not used or
accessed. Many take our daily masses for granted. Many do not go for
the sacrament of reconciliation when they are easily available. We have
the privilege of 2000 years of history and tradition, spiritualties, theology
and doctrinal advancement. Unlike the early Christians, we have the advantage
of having eye-witnesses of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection. We
have the benefit of years of doctrinal discussion, clarification and
development in the understanding of our faith and doctrine. We should
therefore count ourselves fortunate!
Thus, Jesus’
reprimand to the people should apply to us as well. “This is a wicked
generation; it is asking for a sign. The only sign it will be given is
the sign of Jonah. For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so
will the Son of Man be to this generation.” Indeed, Christ has been
shown to us to be “the Son of God who, according to the human nature he took,
was a descendant of David: it is about Jesus Christ who, in the order of the
spirit of holiness that was in him, was proclaimed Son of God in all his power
through his resurrection from the dead.” Christ is truly man and
truly God. He is truly our messiah because He came from the House of
David. He is truly God because of the Spirit in Him at work in His
ministry and especially in His resurrection. Without doubt, we can
confidently surrender in faith to Him as St Paul urges us to give “the
obedience of faith.”
So as
Christians, like St Paul, we have received this great privilege of faith in
Christ. It entails an equal responsibility “to preach the
obedience of faith to all pagan nations in honour of his
name.” Having received this privilege without merit on our own but purely
through grace, let us witness to His Good News by living out our identity as
God’s children in our lives.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore
© All Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment