20171112
BOREDOM
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Wisdom 6:12-16 ©
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Wisdom is bright, and does not grow dim.
By those who love her she is readily seen,
and found by those who look for her.
Quick to anticipate those who desire her, she makes herself known
to them.
Watch for her early and you will have no trouble;
you will find her sitting at your gates.
Even to think about her is understanding fully grown;
be on the alert for her and anxiety will quickly leave you.
She herself walks about looking for those who are worthy of her
and graciously shows herself to them as they go,
in every thought of theirs coming to meet them.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 62(63):2-8 ©
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For you my soul is thirsting, O God, my God.
O God, you are my God, for you I long;
for you my soul is thirsting.
My body pines for you
like a dry, weary land without water.
For you my soul is thirsting, O God, my God.
So I gaze on you in the sanctuary
to see your strength and your glory.
For your love is better than life,
my lips will speak your praise.
For you my soul is thirsting, O God, my God.
So I will bless you all my life,
in your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul shall be filled as with a banquet,
my mouth shall praise you with joy.
For you my soul is thirsting, O God, my God.
On my bed I remember you.
On you I muse through the night
for you have been my help;
in the shadow of your wings I rejoice.
For you my soul is thirsting, O God, my God.
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Second
reading
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1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 ©
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We want you to be quite certain, brothers, about those who have
died, to make sure that you do not grieve about them, like the other people who
have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and that it will be
the same for those who have died in Jesus: God will bring them with him. We can
tell you this from the Lord’s own teaching, that any of us who are left alive
until the Lord’s coming will not have any advantage over those who have died.
At the trumpet of God, the voice of the archangel will call out the command and
the Lord himself will come down from heaven; those who have died in Christ will
be the first to rise, and then those of us who are still alive will be taken up
in the clouds, together with them; to meet the Lord in the air. So we shall
stay with the Lord for ever. With such thoughts as these you should comfort one
another.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Mt24:42 44
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Stay awake and stand ready,
because you do not know the hour
when the Son of Man is coming.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 25:1-13 ©
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Jesus told this parable to his disciples: ‘The kingdom of heaven
will be like this: Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the
bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were sensible: the foolish ones
did take their lamps, but they brought no oil, whereas the sensible ones took
flasks of oil as well as their lamps. The bridegroom was late, and they all
grew drowsy and fell asleep. But at midnight there was a cry, “The bridegroom
is here! Go out and meet him.” At this, all those bridesmaids woke up and
trimmed their lamps, and the foolish ones said to the sensible ones, “Give us
some of your oil: our lamps are going out.” But they replied, “There may not be
enough for us and for you; you had better go to those who sell it and buy some
for yourselves.” They had gone off to buy it when the bridegroom arrived. Those
who were ready went in with him to the wedding hall and the door was closed.
The other bridesmaids arrived later. “Lord, Lord,” they said “open the door for
us.” But he replied, “I tell you solemnly, I do not know you.” So stay awake,
because you do not know either the day or the hour.’
BOREDOM
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ Wis 6:12-16; Ps 63:2-8; 1Th 4:13-18 (or
4:13-14); Mt 25:1-13 ]
What is your
life like? Are you living a life of wisdom that brings true joy and meaning, or
are you living a life of folly manifested in complacency, restlessness and
boredom? The truth is that many of us live aimless lives. Life is
but a drudgery. It is a repetition of routine and fulfilling our
chores. Most of us go through the motions of living and pretending to be
alive. Some of us simply do our work because we need to make a
living. Some fulfill their tasks simply because it is their
responsibility. Parents support their children financially because it is
their duty. Students study because they have to pass their exams to
earn the approval of their parents and peers. However, beyond fulfilling our
tasks, there is no life, no goal, no real purpose.
The lack of
motivation is the cause of boredom and the sin of sloth. People who fall into
the sin of sloth are people who live without excitement and motivation.
Nothing in life sustains them. They get tired of everything they do.
No one is truly lazy in life. Laziness is the offspring of an
aimless life. They just live for themselves. They eat, drink, and
watch movies, gossip, talk a lot, are curious about this or that and pursue one
thing after another because of restlessness. To kill boredom some try all kinds
of adventure, like climbing mountains and doing dangerous stunts to get a kick
out of life. But such endeavors, whilst satisfying a person’s passion
temporarily, cannot last. Once conquered, he then pursues another
adventure. It is like taking drugs, going from one high to another.
But this is just to fill the emptiness and vacuum in their lives. This is
true not only of young people who are neither motivated in their studies or job
but also for those who are retired.
The second
reason for boredom is when we live for ourselves. Indeed, often retirees think
that retirement is simply to do what they enjoy doing. Retirement means
to live for themselves and not to live for people. This is a
fallacy. Those who live for themselves will vegetate, lose their thinking
capacity, numb their hearts to what is truly fulfilling and degenerate into a
life of an animal. They wake up each day not knowing what to do
next. They feel lonely and start calling on their friends to eat, shop
and gossip. This is a wasted life! They will eventually feel
insecure about themselves and people will find them a nuisance.
The third
reason for boredom is because we do not seek the higher things of life. Some go beyond
satisfying their sensual needs in food, drink, sex and pleasure. So they
seek higher ideals, namely, security in power, fame and money. There are
many who labour and give their life to making money, a name for themselves or
having power and positions in life. At the end of the day, many find such
worldly achievements empty and futile. How much money does a person need
to be happy? In truth many of us leave 80% of our wealth behind when we
die. Does power make you feel secure or more insecure? The most
powerful people are those who are surrounded by security officers, walls and
fences. They are not able to mix with everyone they like and they are not
accessible. In the end, they live in their own prison constructed by
themselves. Does fame make you feel secure? No, because it means
that one has to live to please everyone. A little mistake and your name
will be published all over the news. Fame will not last. Once your
beauty, intelligence and skills are gone, or someone better comes along and
they will abandon you. That is why celebrities are the most insecure
people in this world, always worrying whether they are popular in the eyes of
the world. They will do everything to make themselves popular and loved.
This is not a life of wisdom that the first reading is warning us about.
This is not seeking high enough in life.
So what is a
life of wisdom? If you are bored, you are seeking for something more than
the human spirit. This is what the psalmist was going through. In his
emptiness and restlessness, his spirit called out for something more. And
that something more is God. “O God, you are my God, for you I long;
for you my soul is thirsting. “My body pines for you like a dry, weary land
without water. So I gaze on you in the sanctuary to see your strength and
your glory.”
No wonder, St
Augustine, a great philosopher, was restless in seeking for the meaning and
purpose of life. He experienced everything and found life to be empty.
He was eating, drinking and womanizing, even though he was very intelligent as
well a great thinker. Yet, there was something missing in his heart.
This emptiness is God. Hence, he wrote, “My heart is restless until I
rest in God.” He said, “Late have I loved you, Beauty so ancient
and so new, late have I loved you!” (Confessions, Book 10, Chapter 27)
So what is a
life of wisdom? It is to rest in God. This means to rest in His
love. Basking and resting in His unconditional love and mercy is what
gives us life. This is the joy of the bride and the bridegroom. Like the
psalmist, we pray “For your love is better than life, my lips will speak your
praise. So I will bless you all my life, in your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul shall be filled as with a banquet, my mouth shall praise you with
joy.” Experiencing God’s love gives us the motivation in life, since God
is love. Love is the only true motivating factor in life. When
there is love, we will do anything for the person. We would sacrifice our
whole life for the person we love, our time, resources, money and our
work. When someone lacks motivation in life, it is because he lacks the
love of God. This lack in him makes him incapable of loving others the
way God loves him. He only lives for himself and at most for power, glory
and status, which he will soon discover to be empty when he achieves them.
A man who is
so filled with God’s love will have the desire to reach out to others to share
the abundance of that joy and love in him. This is the same joy that wedding
couples wish to share with their bridesmaids and their loved ones, as in the
gospel reading. Indeed, a wedding in the ancient world was a great event
and everyone in the village partook of the joy and love of the wedding
couple. That is why every wedding calls for a celebration. All are asked
to partake in the love of the couple. This is what life is all about.
We are called to live for others and for God. Living for yourself will
not keep you alive, only biologically. Unless you make a difference in
the lives of others, caring for them and serving them, you will not find real
happiness and joy in life.
But
ultimately, the highest goal in life is to live for the life that is come. What is this
life? It is this: that “those who have died in Christ will be the
first to rise, and then those of us who are still alive will be taken up in the
clouds, together with them, to meet the Lord in the air. So we shall stay with
the Lord for ever. With such thoughts as these you should comfort one
another.”. This is what St Paul is reminding us. “We want you to be quite
certain, brothers, about those who have died, to make sure that you do not
grieve about them, like the other people who have no hope. We believe that
Jesus died and rose again, and that it will be the same for those who have died
in Jesus: God will bring them with him. We can tell you this from the Lord’s
own teaching, that any of us who are left alive until the Lord’s coming will
not have any advantage over those who have died.”
So long as we
are here, we are preparing for the fullness of life and love with God and our
brothers and sisters in heaven. So what should motivate us in life is not
simply human love, because even our loved ones will be taken away from
us. We should be driven by our love for God and union with Him and our
loved ones forever and fully, after our sojourn in this world.
Hence, in the
first reading, we are called to seek Eternal Wisdom, which is God
Himself. Only He can fulfill that emptiness in our hearts. To find
the love of God, it must be a personal search for Him. There is no question
of having a proxy for love. We must enter into a personal relationship
with Him. The five foolish bridesmaids did not bring sufficient oil
whilst waiting for the bridegroom to come. When he came at midnight,
their lamps were going out. Indeed, there are some things in life you
cannot do for others. They have to find God themselves with our help and
the grace of God. “Wisdom is bright, and does not grow
dim. By those who love her she is readily seen, and found by those who look for
her. Quick to anticipate those who desire her, she makes herself known to
them.” The Lord wants to provide us His wisdom to look at life in the
right perspective. Wisdom is to live for God and for others, and finally
to live for the ultimate joy and glory of heaven.
But to find
love as the Eternal wisdom of life, we need to wait for the Lord patiently but
vigilantly. “So stay awake, because you do not know either the day or the
hour.” This is what the bridesmaids were supposed to do. Unfortunately,
many of us, instead of waiting for the Lord to enter into our lives, like the
bridesmaid in the course of time, we become sleepy and drowsy. Many
of us have become indifferent in our spiritual life. We have fallen into
our routine. The office that we have taken upon ourselves, after some
time, simply becomes an office. We lose our zeal and our vision. We
get used to the privileges and the honours but forget our responsibilities to
those who have entrusted us to look after their concerns. We forget our
vision and our goals in making this world a better place and in desiring to
serve the people, our church and country. That is why we must upkeep our
spiritual life, reading and praying the Word of God, celebrating the Eucharist
and the Sacrament reconciliation, having quiet time and most of all, fellowship
with our brothers and sisters. We do not walk alone in this journey of
life and faith. Like the bridesmaids, we need to go as a team and grow as
a family of God.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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