20171207
BUILDING A HUMANITY WITHOUT FOUNDATION
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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Isaiah 26:1-6 ©
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That day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
We have a strong city;
to guard us he has set
wall and rampart about us.
Open the gates! Let the upright nation come in,
she, the faithful one
whose mind is steadfast, who keeps the peace,
because she trusts in you.
Trust in the Lord for ever,
for the Lord is the everlasting Rock;
he has brought low those who lived high up
in the steep citadel;
he brings it down, brings it down to the ground,
flings it down in the dust:
the feet of the lowly, the footsteps of the poor
trample on it.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 117(118):1,8-9,19-21,25-27 ©
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Blessed in the name of the Lord is he who comes.
or
Alleluia.
Give thanks to the Lord for he is good,
for his love has no end.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in men;
it is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in princes.
Blessed in the name of the Lord is he who comes.
or
Alleluia.
Open to me the gates of holiness:
I will enter and give thanks.
This is the Lord’s own gate
where the just may enter.
I will thank you for you have answered
and you are my saviour.
Blessed in the name of the Lord is he who comes.
or
Alleluia.
O Lord, grant us salvation;
O Lord, grant success.
Blessed in the name of the Lord
is he who comes.
We bless you from the house of the Lord;
the Lord God is our light.
Blessed in the name of the Lord is he who comes.
or
Alleluia.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Is40:9-10
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Shout with a loud voice, joyful messenger to Jerusalem.
Here is the Lord God coming with power.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Is55:6
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Seek the Lord while he is still to be found,
call to him while he is still near.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 7:21,24-27 ©
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Jesus said to his disciples: ‘It is not those who say to me,
“Lord, Lord,” who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the
will of my Father in heaven. Therefore, everyone who listens to these words of
mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock.
Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and hurled themselves against that
house, and it did not fall: it was founded on rock. But everyone who listens to
these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a stupid man who
built his house on sand. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and struck
that house, and it fell; and what a fall it had!’
07 DECEMBER, 2017, Thursday, 1st Week of Advent
BUILDING A HUMANITY WITHOUT FOUNDATION
The world is
in such a confused state. Leaders no longer lead but obey the
sheep. This is what democracy is all about. Do what the
people say, not what is good for the future of the country or the
organization. Give them what they want, even though it might hurt them in
the long run. But then we do not have to worry because we will no longer
be leaders by then. Then again, we cannot blame the leaders of the
day entirely because the world has been bought over by this ideology which we
call ‘relativism’. This philosophy claims that everything is relative
except of course, relativism itself.
The
dictatorship of relativism is the cause of much confusion in the world today. With relativism,
nothing has any real foundation or ground to support. There is no truth
by which we all can agree on. It all depends on who speaks the loudest
and makes the most noise so that others will buy into their ideas or
ideology. Relativism is fueled also by mass media and digital
technology. Ideas and views spread widely. As a result, we have an
overload of information. Much of the information is fake news and they
are often innocently passed around without verification.
With a
diarrhea of information available, not all of which can easily be verified, it
is no wonder why pragmatism has become the order of the day. Since we are paralyzed by so
much information and choices, and lacking the time to weigh all the available
data, we just have to choose at random according to our personal preferences
and liking. Choices are made not based on whether it is right or true but
whether it satisfies one’s needs and desires, even if they are detrimental to
our future or when they infringe the rights of others.
Indeed, when
we examine some of the trends of society, we cannot but lament the
shortsightedness of those who formulated the policies. They are more concerned with
fixing the problem now than being be far-sighted to see whether the solution
they propose will cause greater problems in the future. This is true in
terms of population control. Many countries forced their people to stop
at one or two children. Now these countries are facing depopulation and
an aging demographic. The first world countries are now importing
citizens and workers from so-called over-crowded countries in the third world.
Has the world seriously considered the long-term implications of
legalizing same-sex union, adoption of children by same sex couples,
euthanasia, cloning, etc? But leaders are desperate to please the people,
notwithstanding the fact that such choices are often engineered through
publicity and aggressive marketing.
Jesus warns
us in today’s gospel that if our house is not built on solid foundation, then
it will crash and it will be disastrous. “Everyone who listens to these words of
mine and does not act on them will be like a stupid man who built his house on
sand. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and struck that house, and
it fell; and what a fall it had!” Indeed, today, we are called to
examine the fundamental principles that can help humanity and grow the country.
If what we build is not based on lasting principles, then we will find
ourselves having to keep changing our goal post to suit us. We will just
go where the wind blows. We change with the tide and we are swept along
by societal trends. Instead of molding and steering society, we allow
society, which is blind, to lead us. We have no direction in life.
We have no focus and without any shared values there is nothing that can bring
everyone together. But values must be true and good, otherwise they
cannot be valued.
So we might
be doing many things and yet not achieving anything that is really good. That is why Jesus
warned us about self-deception. He said, “It is not those who say to me,
‘Lord, Lord’, who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the
will of my Father in heaven.” Just praying and calling ourselves Catholic
will not lead us to heaven. Just saying that we are not justified by good
works but by faith alone will not lead us to happiness. Jesus said, “On
that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name,
and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And
then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you
evildoers.’” (Mt 7:22f) Indeed, we can be doing many things, but
without focus or direction, such works will do us no good. This is what
many are doing even in Church. They are involved in all kinds of activity
but they do not pray, they are not conscious of their roles and
responsibilities, their alignment with the parish and the diocesan vision;
their objectives in the work they do. So we have many good doers but they
are blind. They just do what they have been told but they are not
motivated by a higher vision and goal.
As
Christians, we are focused in all that we do. Our foundational
principles are clear. We know who we are, what we are called to do and
where our final destiny lies. We know that God is the Ultimate Ground of
life. We know that God has revealed Himself to us through His Son in the
Holy Spirit. We know that we are called to be sons and daughters of God
to share in the divine life. “But our commonwealth is in heaven, and from
it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change our lowly body to
be like his glorious body, by the power which enables him even to subject all
things to himself.” (Phil 3:20) Until then, we must fight the good
fight. “For the grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all
men, training us to renounce irreligion and worldly passions, and to live
sober, upright, and godly lives in this world, awaiting our blessed hope, the
appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave
himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a
people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.” (Tit 2:11-14)
Indeed, our
values are founded on the Eternal truths because they come from Christ who is
the Word of God in person. He is our rock. Jesus said,
“Therefore, everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will
be like a sensible man who built his house on rock.” He said these
concluding words at His Sermon on the Mount. In other words, Jesus is
inviting us to place our total trust in His Word, the values that He
preached. The fundamental values of life are beautifully summed up
in the Beatitudes, which is the preface to the three chapters of the Sermon on
the Mount. The beatitudes are the keys to a blessed life. Some of
these foundational values taught by the Lord are humility and poverty of
spirit, holiness and purity of life, mercy and compassion, charity and justice,
love and forgiveness, peacemaking and prophets for truth. These are the
principles that Christians live by.
Not only is
Jesus our rock, He is our fortress as well. The prophet said, “We have a strong
city; to guard us he has set wall and rampart about us.” The wall
of Jesus, which is His word, shields us from the attack of our enemies,
especially in the face of attack and false doctrines and undesirable values
that come into our lives. St Paul wrote, “All scripture is inspired by God
and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in
righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good
work.” (2 Tim 3:16f) He also reminded the Christians that “the
household of God, which is the church of the living God, (is) the pillar and
bulwark of the truth.” (1 Tim 3:15)
Besides being the wall of defence, God is the one that gives us an overview and
fuller perspective of life. This is what it means to say that God is our
rampart, which is that part on top of the wall of a castle where there is a
walkway for the soldiers to see from afar anyone who is approaching the
city. In this way, we will have the foresight to see far and near
the outcome of the policies that we formulate for our people.
Since Jesus
is our rock and fortress, we place our entire trust and confidence as the
psalmist invites us, “Trust in the Lord for ever, for the Lord is the everlasting
Rock; he has brought low those who lived high up in the steep citadel; brings
it down, brings it down to the ground, flings it down in the dust: the feet of
the lowly, the footsteps of the poor trample on it.” Indeed,
because Christ is our rock and fortress, we are called to build our lives on
Him. Only by trusting in Him, can we win victory.
So today, let
us delay no longer. With the psalmist we pray, “Open to me the gates of
holiness: I will enter and give thanks. This is the Lord’s own gate where the
just may enter. I will thank you for you have answered and you are my
saviour.” If our minds are focused on the Lord, our hearts will be at
rest because we know He will help us to fight this battle. With upright
heart and upright life, we march on with confidence and peace.
Putting into practice what the Lord teaches us is what ultimately matters.
“Therefore, everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will
be like a sensible man who built his house on rock. Rain came down,
floods rose, gales blew and hurled themselves against that house, and it did
not fall: it was founded on rock.”
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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