20180817
CHOSEN BY LOVE FOR LOVE
17 AUGUST, 2018, Friday, 19th Week,
Ordinary Time
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First
reading
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Ezekiel 16:1-15,60,63 ©
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I
clothed you with my own splendour but you made yourself a prostitute
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The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows, ‘Son of man,
confront Jerusalem with her filthy crimes. Say, “The Lord says this: By origin
and birth you belong to the land of Canaan. Your father was an Amorite and your
mother a Hittite. At birth, the very day you were born, there was no one to cut
your navel-string, or wash you in cleansing water, or rub you with salt, or
wrap you in napkins. No one leaned kindly over you to do anything like that for
you. You were exposed in the open fields; you were as unloved as that on the
day you were born.
‘“I saw you struggling in your blood as I was passing,
and I said to you as you lay in your blood: Live, and grow like the grass of
the fields. You developed, you grew, you reached marriageable age. Your breasts
and your hair both grew, but you were quite naked. Then I saw you as I was
passing. Your time had come, the time for love. I spread part of my cloak over
you and covered your nakedness; I bound myself by oath, I made a covenant with
you – it is the Lord who speaks – and you became mine. I bathed you
in water, I washed the blood off you, I anointed you with oil. I gave you
embroidered dresses, fine leather shoes, a linen headband and a cloak of silk.
I loaded you with jewels, gave you bracelets for your wrists and a necklace for
your throat. I gave you nose-ring and earrings; I put a beautiful diadem on
your head. You were loaded with gold and silver, and dressed in fine linen and
embroidered silks. Your food was the finest flour, honey and oil. You grew more
and more beautiful; and you rose to be queen. The fame of your beauty spread
through the nations, since it was perfect, because I had clothed you with my
own splendour – it is the Lord who speaks.
‘“You have become infatuated with your own beauty; you
have used your fame to make yourself a prostitute; you have offered your
services to all comers. But I will remember the covenant that I made with you
when you were a girl, and I will conclude a covenant with you that shall last
for ever. And so remember and be covered with shame, and in your confusion be
reduced to silence, when I have pardoned you for all that you have done –
it is the Lord who speaks.”’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Isaiah 12 ©
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The rejoicing of a redeemed people
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Your anger has passed, O Lord, and you give me
comfort.
Truly, God is my salvation,
I trust, I shall not fear.
For the Lord is my strength, my song,
he became my saviour.
With joy you will draw water
from the wells of salvation.
Your anger has passed, O Lord, and you give me
comfort.
Give thanks to the Lord, give praise to his name!
Make his mighty deeds known to the peoples!
Declare the greatness of his name.
Your anger has passed, O Lord, and you give me
comfort.
Sing a psalm to the Lord
for he has done glorious deeds;
make them known to all the earth!
People of Zion, sing and shout for joy,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
Your anger has passed, O Lord, and you give me
comfort.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Ps110:7,8
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Your precepts, O Lord, are all of them sure;
they stand firm for ever and ever.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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cf.1Th2:13
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Accept God’s message for what it really is:
God’s message, and not some human thinking.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 19:3-12 ©
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Husband and wife are no longer two, but one body
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Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and to test him they said, ‘Is it
against the Law for a man to divorce his wife on any pretext whatever?’ He
answered, ‘Have you not read that the creator from the beginning made them male
and female and that he said: This is why a man must leave father and mother,
and cling to his wife, and the two become one body? They are no longer two,
therefore, but one body. So then, what God has united, man must not divide.’
They said to
him, ‘Then why did Moses command that a writ of dismissal should be given in
cases of divorce?’ ‘It was because you were so unteachable’ he said ‘that Moses
allowed you to divorce your wives, but it was not like this from the beginning.
Now I say this to you: the man who divorces his wife – I am not speaking
of fornication – and marries another, is guilty of adultery.’
The
disciples said to him, ‘If that is how things are between husband and wife, it
is not advisable to marry.’ But he replied, ‘It is not everyone who can accept
what I have said, but only those to whom it is granted. There are eunuchs born
that way from their mother’s womb, there are eunuchs made so by men and there
are eunuchs who have made themselves that way for the sake of the kingdom of
heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.’
CHOSEN BY LOVE FOR LOVE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ EZK 16:1-15.60.63 OR EZK 16:59-63; IS 12; MT 19:3-12 ]
In the first
reading, we read of the gracious and unconditional love of God for His chosen
people.
This was what Moses said to the people, “For you are a people holy to
the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you out of
all the peoples on earth to be his people, his treasured possession. It
was not because you were more numerous than any other people that
the Lord set his heart on you and chose you – for you were the fewest
of all peoples. It was because the Lord loved you and kept the
oath that he swore to your ancestors, that the Lord has brought you
out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the
hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” (Dt 7:6-8)
Indeed as we read in the first reading, Israel was nobody. They were
slaves in a pagan land. “But the Lord in His kindness and mercy,
delivered them from their misery. ‘I saw you struggling in your blood as
I was passing, and I said to you as you lay in your blood: Live, and grow like
the grass of the fields.’”
Our situation
was like that of the Israelites. Many of us came from very poor families. Our
forefathers did not enjoy the privileges we have today, education, nice houses,
modern amenities, work and holidays. But we have been chosen freely
by love because of God’s generosity. God purposely chose what is weak to
shame the strong. This is what St Paul said in his letter to the
Corinthians. “Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many
of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of
noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the
wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose
what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to
nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of
God.” (1 Cor 1:26-29)
Indeed, we
are what we are today because of the many people who have played a part in our
lives, our parents, our guardians, our teachers, our friends and society at
large. Without their contribution, we would never have been able to form
ourselves and be able to do what we do. It is the caring and nurturing
milieu that has shaped us. For those of us who attended mission schools,
it was the Catholic ethos and values that formed us in Christian
character. Through the ambience and people we grew up with, we have now
become successful leaders and contributors to society.
Indeed, we
have been chosen by love for love. This is what the prophet Ezekiel said. “I loaded you with
jewels, gave you bracelets for your wrists and a necklace for your
throat. I gave you nose-ring and earrings; I put a beautiful diadem in
your head. You were loaded with gold and silver, and dressed in fine
linen and embroided silks. Your food was the finest flour, honey and
oil. You grew more and more beautiful; and you rose to be queen.
The fame of your beauty spread through the nations, since it was perfect,
because I had clothed you with my own splendour – it is the Lord who
speaks.” Truly, we were chosen by God because He is love and He wants to
share in His love. Because we are loved by God, in turn we are called to
love others. “Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love
one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives
in us, and his love is perfected in us.” (1 Jn: 11f)
This is where
the warning lies. When we become successful in life, there is often
this temptation for us to forget our origin. This was why the prophet reminded the
people of their origin. “By origin and birth you belong to the land of
Canaan. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. At
birth, the very day you were born, there was no one to cut your navel-string,
or wash you in cleansing water, or rub you with salt, or wrap you in
napkins. No one leaned kindly over you to do anything like that for
you. You were exposed in the open fields; you were as unloved as that on
the day you were born.” This was the same reason why Jesus in speaking
about marriage went back to the origin of God’s plan. When they asked
Jesus, “’Then why did Moses command that a writ of dismissal should be given in
cases of divorce?’ It was because you were so unteachable’ he said ‘that
Moses allowed you to divorce wives, but it was not like this from the
beginning.”
What is the
divine plan of God? We are created for the purpose of love. It is out of His love
that we were created and redeemed. It is because He loves us that He
instituted the sacrament of marriage so that man would not be lonely. “It
is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his
partner.” (Gn 2:18) Indeed, we are not chosen only for ourselves but for
the love of God and for others. We are called to love. It is
immaterial whether we are married or single. We are called to love God
and our fellowmen according to our vocation in life. As Jesus said to the
disciples who asked, “‘If that is how things are between husband and wife, it
is not advisable to marry.’ But he replied, ‘It is not everyone who can
accept what I have said, but only those to whom it is granted. There are
eunuchs born that way from their mother’s womb, there are eunuchs made so by
men and there are eunuchs who have made themselves that way for the sake of the
kingdom of heaven.”
Love must be
faithful.
“This is why a man must leave father and mother, and cling to his wife, and the
two become one body. So then, what God has united, man must not
divide.” Whether we are married or single, we must be faithful to the
call to love. We must be wholeheartedly convinced that our common
vocation is to love. Unless we look beyond ourselves to others, we will
never be able to find life. We must have this focus in life, which
is to love and be loved. Being focused and finding focus.
Love must
also be fruitful. When we love we are creative and proactive. The Lord
commanded us, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and
have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over
every living thing that moves upon the earth.” (Gn 1:28)
As we have received love, we must now love others. As we have received
life, we must be life-givers. Once we were poor and deprived. Now
that we are better off, we must remember those who are without love and the
opportunities of life.
Indeed, love
is always grateful. Like the psalmist, we must give thanks to God by praising Him in our
lives by witnessing to His love and wonders at work in us. “Give thanks to the
Lord, give praise to his name! Make his mighty deeds known to the peoples!
Declare the greatness of his name. Sing a psalm to the Lord for he has
done glorious deeds; make them known to all the earth! People of Zion,
sing and shout for joy, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”
We must be careful that we are not carried away by our success. This is
what the prophet is warning us. “You have become infatuated with your own
beauty; you have used your fame to make yourself a prostitute; you have offered
your services to all comers. But I will remember the covenant that I made
with you when you were a girl, and I will conclude a covenant with you that
shall last forever.” We must not become proud and arrogant, forgetting
the many people who looked after us and cared for us when we were then so
deprived and helpless.
Alas for
those of us who have received and are ungrateful, we will suffer the
consequences of self-centeredness and our sins. Then history would
repeat itself. We will do what our parents did to us when they had no
time for us and when they abandoned us or when they were unable to look after
us. The Lord invites us to repent, “So remember and be covered with
shame, and in your confusion be reduced to silence, when I have pardoned you
for all that you have done – it is the Lord who speaks.”‘
Of course, we
love not with our own strength but in and through Him alone. This is the
prayer of the psalmist. “Truly, God is my salvation, I trust, I shall not
fear. For the Lord is my strength, my song, he became my saviour. With joy you will
draw water from the wells of salvation.” We need to come to Jesus
regularly to be strengthened by Him. Alone, we do not have the capacity
to love and to serve. Only Jesus, the source of love can empower us to
love selflessly and give ourselves for the greater good of society and
humanity, especially the less privileged ones of society.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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