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CHRISTIAN HOLINESS
19 FEBRUARY, 2018, Monday, 1st Week of Lent
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
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First reading
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Leviticus 19:1-2,11-18 ©
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Only pass judgement on your neighbour according to justice
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The Lord spoke to Moses. He said: ‘Speak to the whole community of
the sons of Israel and say to them:
‘“Be holy,
for I, the Lord your God, am holy.
‘“You must
not steal nor deal deceitfully or fraudulently with your neighbour. You must
not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God. I am the Lord.
You must not exploit or rob your neighbour. You must not keep back the
labourer’s wage until next morning. You must not curse the dumb, nor put an
obstacle in the blind man’s way, but you must fear your God. I am the Lord.
‘“You must
not be guilty of unjust verdicts. You must neither be partial to the little man
nor overawed by the great; you must pass judgement on your neighbour according
to justice. You must not slander your own people, and you must not jeopardise
your neighbour’s life. I am the Lord. You must not bear hatred for your brother
in your heart. You must openly tell him, your neighbour, of his offence; this
way you will not take a sin upon yourself. You must not exact vengeance, nor
must you bear a grudge against the children of your people. You must love your
neighbour as yourself. I am the Lord.”’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 18(19):8-10,15 ©
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Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.
The law of the Lord is perfect,
it revives the soul.
The rule of the Lord is to be trusted,
it gives wisdom to the simple.
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
they gladden the heart.
The command of the Lord is clear,
it gives light to the eyes.
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.
The fear of the Lord is holy,
abiding for ever.
The decrees of the Lord are truth
and all of them just.
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.
May the spoken words of my mouth,
the thoughts of my heart,
win favour in your sight, O Lord,
my rescuer, my rock!
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Ezk18:31
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Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Shake off all your sins – it is the Lord who speaks –
and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
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Or
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2Co6:2
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Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Now is the favourable time:
this is the day of salvation.
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
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Gospel
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Matthew 25:31-46 ©
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I was naked and you clothed me; sick, and you visited me
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Jesus said to his disciples: ‘When the Son of Man comes in his
glory, escorted by all the angels, then he will take his seat on his throne of
glory. All the nations will be assembled before him and he will separate men
one from another as the shepherd separates sheep from goats. He will place the
sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left.
‘Then the
King will say to those on his right hand, “Come, you whom my Father has
blessed, take for your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation
of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave
me drink; I was a stranger and you made me welcome; naked and you clothed me,
sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me.” Then the virtuous
will say to him in reply, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you; or
thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and make you
welcome; naked and clothe you; sick or in prison and go to see you?” And the
King will answer, “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the
least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.”
‘Next he
will say to those on his left hand, “Go away from me, with your curse upon you,
to the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and
you never gave me food; I was thirsty and you never gave me anything to drink;
I was a stranger and you never made me welcome, naked and you never clothed me,
sick and in prison and you never visited me.” Then it will be their turn to
ask, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, a stranger or naked, sick or
in prison, and did not come to your help?” Then he will answer, “I tell you
solemnly, in so far as you neglected to do this to one of the least of these,
you neglected to do it to me.”
‘And they will
go away to eternal punishment, and the virtuous to eternal life.’
CHRISTIAN HOLINESS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ LEV 19:1-2,11-18; PS 19:8-10,15; MT 25:31-46 ]
During the
season of Lent, the constant invitation of the Church is the call to
holiness. “Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.” What is
holiness? The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that “charity is
the soul of the holiness to which all are called: it ‘governs, shapes and
perfects all the means of sanctification.’”
What, then,
is the heart of God like? In the first reading, we have a series of
commandments that end with the words, “I am the Lord.” In other words, every
commandment of God is but the expression of who He is with regard to us.
What He asks of us is what He Himself would do. These are more than just
commandments but they tell us the heart of God. Everything that the Lord
commands is what He Himself would do as well. God does not command us to
do what He Himself would not do!
So who is
God? He is identified with us especially in the neglected. In a clear unambiguous
declaration, Jesus said, “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one
of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.” Being in right
relationship with God means that we are in right relationship with our
fellowmen. All of us are sacraments of God in that God is in us and is
identified with us even though we are distinct from Him. Most of all, He
is identified especially with the poor and the underprivileged. “For I was
hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a
stranger and you made me welcome; naked and you clothed me, sick and you
visited me, in prison and you came to see me.” Indeed, if we want
to see Christ today, He is found in our abandoned elderly, those with special
needs, the sick, the poor, the hungry, the homeless and the wounded. This also
means that Christian works of mercy cannot be reduced to mere humanitarian
work. We serve the poor out of love for Christ and when we do it out of
love for Him, our service acquires a supernatural value because we see Christ
in the poor, and we affirm that this person is our brother and sister.
Secondly,
God’s kingdom is for everyone, especially the forgotten and neglected. All of us are God’s
children, brothers and sisters of our Lord. God is the Father of us
all. He therefore cares for every one of His children. His desire
is that we love them as much as He loves us all. Which father or mother
on earth will not be happy if the children care for each other since every
child is precious to the parents? We read that in the final
judgement, His criterion of judgement will be whether we have loved our
brothers and sisters. We will be judged on the degree and quality
of our love. As St John says, “We know that we have passed from death to
life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in
death.” (1 Jn 3:14) The norm of judgement is the love of God.
Within this
context, we are called to exercise justice in dealing with our neighbours. This is what the
first reading is calling us to do. “You must not steal nor deal
deceitfully or fraudulently with your neighbor. You must not exploit or rob your
neighbour. You must not keep back the labourer’s wage until next
morning. You must not be guilty of unjust verdicts. You must
neither be partial to the little man nor overawed by the great; you must pass
judgement on your neighbour according to justice. You must not slander
your own people, and you must not jeopardise your neighbour’s life. You must
not bear hatred for your brother in your heart. You must openly tell him,
your neighbour, of his offence; this way your will not take a sin upon yourself.”
Without
justice, we cannot do charity. There are some Catholics who give money to the Church and
the poor but would not pay their workers a decent salary or contribute to the
household expenses. There are Catholics too who would give their time and
services to the Church or charitable organizations but would neglect their
responsibilities at home to their elderly parents, children and spouse.
We must first fulfill the obligations of justice before we can think of
charity. This is escapism and irresponsibility. We do charity for
another but commit a sin of injustice to those whom we are responsible
for. The sin of omission is as serious as the sin of commission.
This is what the Lord intends to teach us in the parable as well. For the
words of condemnation were spoken to those who neglect the poor. “Then it
will be their turn to ask, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, a
stranger or naked, sick or in prison, and did not come to your help?’ Then he
will answer, ‘I tell you solemnly, in so far as you neglected to do this to one
of the least of these, you neglected to do it to me.’” Failure to care for
others means leaving Christ unattended.
Beyond
justice, we are called to do acts of charity and mercy. A Christian is one
who is not only just but he is also merciful. We must go beyond doing our
duty and our rights to reach out to those who are less fortunate than us.
We must never forget that Christ comes to us in a special way in our
unfortunate brothers and sisters. In one way, when we reach out to them,
we bring Jesus to them. By relieving them of their needs, pains and
loneliness, we assure them that God has not abandoned them. Loving them
is the proof that we love God because we are called to love those whom He
loves. We cannot say that we love God or someone when we do not love as
much those whom they love and care. When the love of God is in our
hearts, we love them not with our love but with His love in us. “And so
we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives
in love lives in God, and God in them.” (1 Jn 4:16)
And the great
thing is that when we reach out to others in Christ, feel with them, and
identify with their sufferings, we become more humane ourselves, more
appreciative of what we have. Instead of grumbling and lamenting that we lack this or
that when we have more than enough, we learn contentment and gratitude.
When we reach out to these poor people, we realize that we do not need very
much to be happy, contented and joyful. Only when we turn outwards
rather than inwards all the time, can we be liberated from self. Most of
the time, our misery comes because we tend to focus too much on ourselves, our
needs, our pains, our lack, our sufferings, and we fail to realize that there
are others who are in a much worse condition than we are in.
This is why
God invites us to love as He loves us. This is the way to share in His heart of joy and
freedom. The responsorial psalm says, “Your words are spirit, Lord,
and they are life. The law of the Lord is perfect, it revives the
soul. The rule of the Lord is to be trusted, it gives wisdom to the
simple.” His commandments are not simply to be obeyed slavishly or reluctantly
but they are means by which we can partake of the love and joy of God. It
is His invitation to us to be like Him. Growing in holiness is to grow in
our capacity to love God and our fellowmen. Holiness is the perfection of
love. What is the perfection of love? St Paul says, “Love is
patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It
does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it
keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the
truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always
perseveres. Love never fails.” (1 Cor 13:4-8)
Indeed, only
charity will prove our love for God. St John wrote, “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a
brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and
sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he
has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother
and sister.” (1 Jn 4:19-21) St. Teresa of Avila gives us the
discerning principle on whether we love God. She wrote, “I think the most
certain sign that we keep these two commandments is that we have a genuine love
for others. We cannot know whether we love God although there may be strong
reasons for thinking so, but there can be no doubt about whether we love our
neighbour or no. We should watch most carefully over ourselves in this matter,
for if we are faultless on this point we have done all. I believe human nature
is so evil that we could not feel a perfect charity for our neighbour unless it
were rooted in the love of God.” (Interior Castle, V, 8).
So let us be
Jesus in the world and inspire others to do the same. The universal call
to holiness is the universal call to love all men and women. This is our mission.
There is no holiness without mission. That is why contemplatives in the monastery
are there not just to pray for themselves or seek to be protected from the
world. On the contrary, they are there not to escape from the world but
to pray for the world. This is their mission, of interceding for the
Church in a life of prayer and mortification. Holiness is not an end
itself but an expression of love for God, Church and our fellowmen.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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