20180123
OBEDIENCE IS THE KEY TO HAVING GOD IN OUR
FAMILY
23 JANUARY, 2018, Tuesday, 3rd Week, Or Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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2 Samuel 6:12-15,17-19 ©
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David went and brought the ark of God up from Obed-edom’s house to
the Citadel of David with great rejoicing. When the bearers of the ark of the
Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fat sheep. And David danced
whirling round before the Lord with all his might, wearing a linen loincloth
round him. Thus David and all the House of Israel brought up the ark of the
Lord with acclaim and the sound of the horn. They brought the ark of the Lord
in and put it in position inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and
David offered holocausts before the Lord, and communion sacrifices. And when
David had finished offering holocausts and communion sacrifices, he blessed the
people in the name of the Lord of Hosts. He then distributed among all the
people, among the whole multitude of Israelites, men and women, a roll of bread
to each, a portion of dates, and a raisin cake. Then they all went away, each
to his own house.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 23(24):7-10 ©
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Who is the king of glory? He, the Lord, he is
the king of glory.
O gates, lift high your heads;
grow higher, ancient doors.
Let him enter, the king of glory!
Who is the king of glory? He, the Lord, he is
the king of glory.
Who is the king of glory?
The Lord, the mighty, the valiant,
the Lord, the valiant in war.
Who is the king of glory? He, the Lord, he is
the king of glory.
O gates, lift high your heads;
grow higher, ancient doors.
Let him enter, the king of glory!
Who is the king of glory? He, the Lord, he is
the king of glory.
Who is he, the king of glory?
He, the Lord of armies,
he is the king of glory.
Who is the king of glory? He, the Lord, he is
the king of glory.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Ps118:135
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Let your face shine on your servant,
and teach me your decrees.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Mt11:25
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are you, Father,
Lord of heaven and earth,
for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom
to mere children.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 3:31-35 ©
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The mother and brothers of Jesus arrived and, standing outside,
sent in a message asking for him. A crowd was sitting round him at the time the
message was passed to him, ‘Your mother and brothers and sisters are outside
asking for you.’ He replied, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ And looking
round at those sitting in a circle about him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and
my brothers. Anyone who does the will of God, that person is my brother and
sister and mother.’
dinary Time
OBEDIENCE IS THE KEY TO HAVING GOD IN OUR FAMILY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ 2 SM 6:12-15. 17-19; MK 3:31-35 ]
Upon assuming
the kingship, King David wanted God to bless him and his kingdom. David knew that
without God’s divine protection and blessings, he would not be able to be King
and certainly not able to rule the country well. So when he was made king
over all Israel and Judah, he also made Jerusalem the capital of the united
kingdom. (cf 2 Sm 5) Next, he decided to bring the Ark of God from
the house of Abin′adab which was on the hill. Having the Ark of God with
him was the way in which King David could feel the Lord’s blessings and divine
protection. (cf 2 Sm 6:1-5) After all, since the day of Moses, we read
that whenever the Ark of the Covenant was with them, they won all the battles.
However,
David forgot that the Ark of the Covenant should not be regarded as if it were
a charm or an object that could be manipulated for his use. The blessings that
came from the Ark presupposed that they welcomed the Ark not just physically
but spiritually. We read that because they did not live holy lives, “the
word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.” (1 Sm 3:1)
Indeed, when the priests did not live according to the Word of God, the Ark of
the Covenant failed to perform its magic and was captured by their enemies, the
Philistines. “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of
God has been captured.” (1 Sm 4:22)
Obedience to
the Word of God is the pre-requisite for the Lord to enter into our hearts and
our lives. This was the painful lesson that David learnt when he sought
to bring the Ark of the Covenant to the City of David. According to the book of
Numbers, the instruction for carrying the Ark of the Covenant was to have poles
on the shoulders of four Levites. (cf Num 4:5-15).
No one was to touch the Ark because it was holy. It was an offence that
would incur death. David did not observe the commandments of the Lord.
Instead, following the Philistines, he placed the Ark on a cart. (1 Sm 6:7)
When the oxen carrying the Ark stumbled, Uzzah “put out his hand to the ark of
God and took hold of it. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah;
and God smote him there because he put forth his hand to the ark; and he died
there beside the ark of God.” (2 Sm 6:6f)
This call to
obedience to the Word of God is a good reminder to us as well. We can be enthusiastic
in our devotions to God. We can sing hymns and praises like David did. “And
David and all the house of Israel were making merry before the Lord with all
their might, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and
cymbals.” (2 Sm 6:5) But God values obedience more than
sacrifice. He forgot that God rejected his predecessor, Saul, because of
disobedience. Did not Samuel reprimanded Saul saying, “Has the Lord as
great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice
of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than
the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of
divination, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have
rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.”
(1 Sm 15:22f)
Welcoming the
Lord with our heart by listening to His Word is a necessary condition for the
Lord to enter our lives. If we want the Lord to bless us and live in us, it is not
enough to receive communion daily or to pray the Liturgy of the Hours or rosary
and all our devotions with our lips. What we need to do is to receive the
Lord into our hearts by living a life of obedience to His Word. Then the
Lord will dwell in us. But if we receive Holy Communion and the other
sacraments without serious spiritual preparation and a humble and contrite
heart, such negligence on our part will not help us to strengthen our
relationship with the Lord. It will just be a ritualistic and
superstitious practice without any real change in our lives.
David learnt
his lesson. He repented of his sin and negligence in handling the Ark
previously.
So he waited for the opportune time to bring the Ark back to the capital.
The waiting period gave him time to consider how the Ark could be carried with
the poles on the shoulders of four persons according to the prescription of the
Laws. When he heard that the house of Obed-edom was blessed when the Ark
was kept there temporarily, he took it as a sign that God was ready to bless
him. “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that
belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” . (2 Sm 6:12)
So “David went and brought the ark of God up from Obed-edom’s house to
the Citadel of David with great rejoicing. When the bearers of the ark of the
Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fat sheep. And David
danced whirling round before the Lord with all his might, wearing a linen
loincloth round him.” He also offered sacrifices and his house and the
people were blessed.
Indeed, in
the gospel, Jesus said the same thing to His disciples. He said, “Here are my
mother and my brothers. Anyone who does the will of God, that person is
my brother and sister and mother.’’ It must be noted that these words
were addressed to “those sitting in a circle about him.” In other words,
only those who do the will of God are considered to be within the circle of His
family. Those that are outside of the family are those who do not do the
will of God. Those who are outside this circle have no faith in Jesus
because they have no relationship with Him. It is like those who come for
our services but stand outside the door or at the threshold, unbelieving. Even
if not physically outside, their hearts are far from any real worship of
God. They are merely observers and of course are untouched or unmoved by
the Word of God or the service they attend.
What is
underscored therefore is not our physical or biological relationship with the
Lord but a spiritual relationship. In the understanding of Jesus, whoever does the will
of God is His brother, sister and mother. We are in communion with the
Lord when we share His mind and His will. Mary is truly the mother
of our Lord not because she conceived Jesus in her womb but because she
conceived Jesus in her mind and in her heart. When a woman in the crowd
said, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts
that you sucked!” (Lk 11;27), Jesus replied, “Blessed rather are
those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (Lk 11:28)
Mary conceived the Word of God in her heart and thus the conception of Jesus in
the flesh is a corollary. Only when we hear the Word of God and
keep it in our hearts, can we put the Word of God into action.
We are
included in His family if we are disciples of Jesus, doing the will of God. Mary believed in God
and followed Jesus in doing the will of the Father. She was more blessed
to be His disciple than to be His mother. The joy of Mary and her
happiness lay in the fact that she obeyed God’s will and found peace. So
too, for us, it is not whether we are the mother of Christ, or physically or
nominally baptized as Christians, but rather, whether we walk the path of
discipleship. This is what will give us salvation, not whether we are baptized
or not. We can be merely baptized pagans when we do not live the life of
Christ and do God’s will.
However, if
we welcome the Lord into our lives through the Word of God and live out His
will in obedience to the Word, we will also be blessed. God will live in
us. “If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love
him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love
me does not keep my words; and the word which you hear is not mine but the
Father’s who sent me.” (Jn 14:23f)
So let us not just superstitiously receive the Eucharist without first hearing
the Word of God in the Eucharist. Let us not make the Eucharist into an
object that works automatically without the right disposition in our hearts,
like the way David initially welcomed the Ark of the Covenant. If we want
the Lord to bless us, especially when we receive the Eucharist, then let us
listen to the Word of God, and put it into practice. Truly, “everyone
then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who
built his house upon the rock.” (Mt 7:24)
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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