20180901
INTERPLAY BETWEEN
GRACE AND MERIT
01 SEPTEMBER,
2018, Saturday, 21st Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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1 Corinthians 1:26-31 ©
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God chose what is foolish by human
reckoning, to shame the wise
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Take yourselves for instance, brothers, at
the time when you were called: how many of you were wise in the ordinary sense
of the word, how many were influential people, or came from noble families? No,
it was to shame the wise that God chose what is foolish by human reckoning, and
to shame what is strong that he chose what is weak by human reckoning; those
whom the world thinks common and contemptible are the ones that God has
chosen – those who are nothing at all to show up those who are everything.
The human race has nothing to boast about to God, but you, God has made members
of Christ Jesus and by God’s doing he has become our wisdom, and our virtue,
and our holiness, and our freedom. As scripture says: if anyone wants
to boast, let him boast about the Lord.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm
32(33):12-13,18-21 ©
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Happy the people the
Lord has chosen as his own.
They are happy, whose God is the Lord,
the people he has chosen as
his own.
From the heavens the Lord looks forth,
he sees all the children of
men.
Happy the people the
Lord has chosen as his own.
The Lord looks on those who revere him,
on those who hope in his love,
to rescue their souls from death,
to keep them alive in famine.
Happy the people the
Lord has chosen as his own.
Our soul is waiting for the Lord.
The Lord is our help and our
shield.
In him do our hearts find joy.
We trust in his holy name.
Happy the people the
Lord has chosen as his own.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Ph2:15-16
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Alleluia, alleluia!
You will shine in the world like bright
stars
because you are offering it the word of
life.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Jn13:34
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Alleluia, alleluia!
I give you a new commandment:
love one another just as I have loved you,
says the Lord.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 25:14-30 ©
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You have been faithful in small things:
come and join in your master's happiness
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Jesus spoke this parable to his disciples:
‘The kingdom of Heaven is like a man on his way abroad who summoned his
servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents, to
another two, to a third one; each in proportion to his ability. Then he set
out.
‘The
man who had received the five talents promptly went and traded with them and
made five more. The man who had received two made two more in the same way. But
the man who had received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his
master’s money.
‘Now
a long time after, the master of those servants came back and went through his
accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents came forward
bringing five more. “Sir,” he said “you entrusted me with five talents; here
are five more that I have made.”
‘His
master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have shown you
can be faithful in small things, I will trust you with greater; come and join
in your master’s happiness.”
‘Next
the man with the two talents came forward. “Sir,” he said “you entrusted me
with two talents; here are two more that I have made.” His master said to him,
“Well done, good and faithful servant; you have shown you can be faithful in
small things, I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master’s
happiness.”
‘Last
came forward the man who had the one talent. “Sir,” said he “I had heard you
were a hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have
not scattered; so I was afraid, and I went off and hid your talent in the
ground. Here it is; it was yours, you have it back.” But his master answered
him, “You wicked and lazy servant! So you knew that I reap where I have not
sown and gather where I have not scattered? Well then, you should have deposited
my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have recovered my capital
with interest. So now, take the talent from him and give it to the man who has
the five talents. For to everyone who has will be given more, and he will have
more than enough; but from the man who has not, even what he has will be taken
away. As for this good-for-nothing servant, throw him out into the dark, where
there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.”’
INTERPLAY BETWEEN GRACE AND MERIT
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ 1 CORINTHIANS 1:26-31; MATTHEW 25:14-30 ]
In the first reading, St
Paul makes it clear that who we are and what we are is the result of grace
alone. Indeed,
we have nothing to boast about except the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. He
wrote to the Corinthians, “Take yourselves, brothers, at the time when you were
called: how many of you were wise in the ordinary sense of the word, how many
were influential people, or came from noble families? No, it was to shame the
wise that God chose what is foolish by human reckoning, and to shame the strong
that he chose what is weak by human reckoning; those whom the world thinks
common and contemptible are the ones that God has chosen – those who are
nothing at all to show up those who are everything.” That is why we must
not think too highly of ourselves in our accomplishments. In our pride,
some of us think that we are so great and so good because we have accomplished
so much in life, winning many laurels.
Yet the truth in life is
that without God’s grace, we cannot do anything. If the Lord had not given us
talents, such as money, health, intelligence, opportunities, contacts, mentors
and good people that come our way, could we be successful in life?
Without money, we cannot go for further studies or start a business.
Without good health, we cannot do well in our studies or in our work. Without
gray matter, we will not have the capacity to earn a degree or be creative in
managing our business. Without good contacts, teachers, friends,
counsellors we would not have known our talents. So all these are
God-given. This is what the gospel wants to underscore in the parable of
the Talents. Each one of us is given talents in life, some five, some two
and some one. Why did God give others more talents than us, this is a
question of grace belonging to the realm of mystery.
Indeed, it is the grace
of God alone that we are saved and have become a new creation. St Paul writing to the Ephesians
said, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own
doing; it is the gift of God – not the result of works, so that no one may
boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good
works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” (Eph 2:8-10) To the Corinthians, he said,
“The human race has nothing to boast about to God, but you, God has made
members of Christ Jesus and by God’s doing he has become our wisdom, and our
virtue, and our holiness, and our freedom. As scripture says: if anyone wants
to boast, let him boast about the Lord.” Hence in his own life, he said
“If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.” (2 Cor 11:30) His personal life taught
him this when the Lord spoke to him saying, “‘My grace is sufficient for you,
for power is made perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of
my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I
am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities
for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, and then I am strong.” (2 Cor 12:9f)
Having underscored the
primacy of grace, does it mean that good works is not important? There is the other extreme danger of
emphasizing grace to the extent of removing merit from Catholic theology.
To do so would be to contract the teaching of the Church on grace and
merit. Catholic theology speaks about the reward of eternal life for
those who live a good life. St Paul wrote towards the end of his life,
“As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my
departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished
the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for
me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give
me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his
appearing.” (2 Tim 4:6-8) We
also have the parable of the Final Judgement when those who lack mercy will be
condemned to hell. (cf Mt 25:31ff)
So how do we resolve the
conundrum between grace and merit? We must begin by asserting that grace
precedes, accompanies and ends in the person. From beginning to end, it is the work of
grace. We are not saved by our own efforts but truly the pure grace of
God alone. “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior
appeared, he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we
had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal
by the Holy Spirit.” (Tit 3:4f) We do not earn grace but it is
freely bestowed upon us. The psalmist says, “They are happy, whose God is
the Lord, the people he has chosen as his own. From the heavens the Lord looks
forth, he sees all the children of men.” We have been chosen by grace for
grace!
However, grace given
requires our cooperation, namely our response. The part that we play in the work
of grace is simply to accept graciously the gift of God. We need to say
“yes’ to His grace so that His grace can work in, with and through us.
This is what the parable of the Talents is teaching us. The servants were
given different amounts of talents. Having received the talents, they
needed to put them to good use. The last servant was lazy and
irresponsible. He received the talent, that is, the grace of God but did
not use it to build himself up or for the service of others. This is the
tragedy of many of us. We have received so many blessings from the Lord,
of health, money, friends, jobs and opportunities. Instead of using them
well for our growth and development through our service to the community,
either we abuse them by neglecting to use them properly or we use them for our
self-destruction.
Most of our miseries
come from negligence and irresponsibility. This was why the last servant
was punished severely. His
master answered him, “You wicked and lazy servant! So you knew that I reap
where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered? Well then, you
should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have
recovered my capital with interest. So now, take the talent from him and give
it to the man who has five talents. For to everyone who has will be given more,
and he will have more than enough; but from the man who has not, even what he
has will be taken away. As for this good-for-nothing servant, throw him out
into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.”
By not developing what
we have, we eventually lose them. This is true with regard to our body. If we do not exercise the different
parts of our body, we will fall sick and eventually some parts will
malfunction. If we do not use our gifts of teaching, writing and singing
or organizing, we eventually will lose the art as well. The best way to
develop, grow and excel in what we have is to use them repeatedly, especially
for the service of Church and society. Their appreciation and the
meaningfulness of our contributions will motivate us to work even harder in
helping others.
However, even if we are
able to do good, let us not forget that without His grace in the first place,
it would not be possible for us to contribute anything. The Lord does not expect us to give more
than what He has given us. Hence, to the servant given five talents, only
five more were expected and for the servant with two talents, only two more
were expected. We are to give a hundred percent, that is, full commitment
to the grace that He has bestowed on us. Happiness in life is not about
how much we achieve or what we do. It is immaterial whether we produce
five or two talents. That is why we need not be envious of others who
have more talents. Because the more we have the more is expected from us
in rendering back to society. “From everyone to whom much has been given,
much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even
more will be demanded.” (Lk 12:48) Rather, happiness in life is
when each one of us according to our capacity fully exercises his potentials.
Hence, we must complete the doctrine of grace with the teaching of St
James. “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you
have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? So faith by itself,
if it has no works, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have
works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show
you my faith.” (Jms 2:14,17f) St Paul says, “the only thing that counts
is faith working through love.” (Gal 5:6)
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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