20180830
LIVE FULLY TODAY FOR
TOMORROW
30 AUGUST, 2018,
Thursday, 21st Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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1 Corinthians 1:1-9 ©
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You have been enriched in many ways in
Christ
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I, Paul, appointed by God to be an
apostle, together with brother Sosthenes, send greetings to the church of God
in Corinth, to the holy people of Jesus Christ, who are called to take their
place among all the saints everywhere who pray to our Lord Jesus Christ; for he
is their Lord no less than ours. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
send you grace and peace.
I
never stop thanking God for all the graces you have received through Jesus
Christ. I thank him that you have been enriched in so many ways, especially in
your teachers and preachers; the witness to Christ has indeed been strong among
you so that you will not be without any of the gifts of the Spirit while you
are waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed; and he will keep you steady
and without blame until the last day, the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, because
God by calling you has joined you to his Son, Jesus Christ; and God is
faithful.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 144(145):2-7 ©
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I will bless your name
for ever, O Lord.
I will bless you day after day
and praise your name for ever.
The Lord is great, highly to be praised,
his greatness cannot be
measured.
I will bless your name
for ever, O Lord.
Age to age shall proclaim your works,
shall declare your mighty
deeds,
shall speak of your splendour and glory,
tell the tale of your
wonderful works.
I will bless your name
for ever, O Lord.
They will speak of your terrible deeds,
recount your greatness and
might.
They will recall your abundant goodness;
age to age shall ring out your
justice.
I will bless your name
for ever, O Lord.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Jn15:15
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Alleluia, alleluia!
I call you friends, says the Lord,
because I have made known to you
everything I have learnt from my Father.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Mt24:42,44
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Stay awake and stand ready,
because you do not know the hour
when the Son of Man is coming.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 24:42-51 ©
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He is coming at an hour you do not
expect
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Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Stay awake,
because you do not know the day when your master is coming. You may be quite
sure of this, that if the householder had known at what time of the night the
burglar would come, he would have stayed awake and would not have allowed
anyone to break through the wall of his house. Therefore, you too must stand
ready because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
‘What
sort of servant, then, is faithful and wise enough for the master to place him
over his household to give them their food at the proper time? Happy that
servant if his master’s arrival finds him at this employment. I tell you
solemnly, he will place him over everything he owns. But as for the dishonest
servant who says to himself, “My master is taking his time,” and sets about
beating his fellow servants and eating and drinking with drunkards, his master
will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know. The
master will cut him off and send him to the same fate as the hypocrites, where
there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.’
LIVE FULLY TODAY FOR TOMORROW
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ 1 COR 1:1-9; MT 24:42-51 ]
Many Catholics or
believers think only of the last day when they have to meet their creator at
death. They dread the
last day because of the fear that they would not be ready to meet God and give
an account of their lives. “So then, each of us will be accountable to
God.” (Rom 14:12) The
thought of meeting God fills us with horror and anxiety because we know that we
are never good enough to meet His standards. Worse still, we are afraid
of being punished and sent to Hell if not at least purgatory. So we are
fearful of death.
Of course, some never
even think of the last day and so live their life carelessly. Like the “dishonest servant who says to
himself, ‘My master is taking his time,’ and sets about beating his fellow
servants and eating and drinking with drunkards.” Indeed, those who have
no thought of the next life do not live a life of accountability. They
are only accountable to themselves. So they choose to live a life of
self-centeredness, a life that focuses on self, a life that is concerned with
the pleasures of this world because for such people life is a vanity. (cf Eccl 2:9-11)
There is an even more
tragic way of living, as if there is no tomorrow and eternity. This is the deception of the modern
world, to ignore the reality and imminence of death. Society wants to
disguise the truth of death by seeking to prolong our human life, through
make-over, cosmetic changes, supplements, stem-cells and cloning even.
Cloning is the answer to death for the technological man because they have no
inkling of the resurrection.
So how do we live
without fear of tomorrow and yet be prepared when the time comes for us to
exit? Not only must we
not be fearful to exit but we want to exit gracefully and joyfully. The
truth is that death comes like a burglar when we least expect it.
However, the last day of our life must not
only be seen as the chronological last day. It is the eschatological
last day. In other words, the last day could be anytime, today,
tomorrow or at the end of time. To live the eschatological day is not to
live chronologically but to live in the moment. It is to enjoy every
moment of our life and make the best of it. Life begins here and
now. Every moment is an invitation to live, to experience, to grow, to
enjoy and to love. Whether it is the last chronological day of our life
or whether we have many years to go is immaterial. What is critical is
that we live each day to the fullest. Life begins here and now.
This is what the Lord said, “I came that they may have life, and have it
abundantly.” (Jn 10:10)
So we must not consider
life here on earth as a preparation only. It is already a foretaste of
life that is to come. “But
it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us, by
putting his seal on us and giving us his Spirit in our hearts as a first
instalment.” (2 Cor 1:22f) It is
living out the last day today. After that, it will be the fullness after
this life. St Paul’s letter to the Romans says, “We ourselves, who have
the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the
redemption of our bodies.” (cf Rom 8:22f) In other words, we must begin
to live the resurrected life here and now. (cf Col 3:1-4)
How then is this
resurrected life to come a concrete reality now? We must begin by being
grateful for the gift of faith and His graces. This was what St Paul wrote, “I never stop
thanking God for all the graces you have received through Lord Jesus Christ.”
He also said, “you will not be without any of the gifts of the Spirit while you
are waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.” Gratitude is the
beginning of transformation. The reason why many of us are living our
lives irresponsibly is because we take for granted what we have and what we
have received. We do not treasure our life and therefore what we do not
treasure, we do not protect. It is like our inherited faith. Many
cradle Catholics who were baptized at birth or young do not treasure the gift
of faith and often take it for granted. Eventually they lose it because
they never bothered to grow or develop the faith that they have received.
This is equally true for all the gifts and talents we have been blessed
with. When we do not see them as gifts, we do not make use of them.
We need to, as St Paul
wrote, make use of the graces we have received. We need to be thankful
for the faith imparted to us through our teachers. St Paul said, “I thank him that you have
been enriched in so many ways, especially in your teachers and
preachers.” Indeed, very often we take for granted our teachers of faith
and morality and righteousness, whether they are priests, religious, our
parents, friends or catechists. We do not listen to them and take to heart
what they teach us for our good and our growth in grace.
We need to be grateful
because we have been blessed with witnesses to Christ, as St Paul did when he wrote, “the
witness to Christ has indeed been strong among you.” Teachers are not
enough to help us grow in life. What we need are witnesses. We need
those who live out the life of faith so that we can be edified and
inspired. We need living examples and exemplars of people who live out
their faith in love and humble service. In the final analysis, priests,
religious, parents, teachers and catechists are great teachers not by what they
say but by how they live out their life of faith. Only our lives can
inspire others to follow us.
Secondly, from
gratitude, we must express it in service and love by serving the Lord every day
in the circumstances we are in. Jesus quipped, “What sort of servant, then, is
faithful and wise enough for the master to place him over his household to give
them their food at the proper time?” We must be attentive to what is at
hand, being responsible for what we have to do each day and each moment.
We do not wait for the future to happen but we create the future by living our
lives fully for the day. When we use our talents to the fullest each day
of our lives, God will ensure that we grow from grace to grace. We become
better and better in what we do and eventually, we will be asked to do even
more because we have grown in the capacity to do more and to give more and to
love more. This is what the Lord meant when He said, “Happy that servant
if his Master’s arrival finds him at this employment. I tell you
solemnly, he will place him over everything he owns.”
Thirdly, in all that we
do, we are called to be a living praise and glory to God by praising God with
our lives as in the responsorial psalm. “We must announce His love and proclaim
His goodness in our lives. Age to age shall proclaim your works, shall
declare your mighty deeds, shall speak of your splendor and glory, tell the
tale of your wonderful works.” In everything we do, let us show forth the
goodness and power of God at work in our lives. As St Irenaeus says, “The
glory of God is found in man fully alive!”
Fourthly, we must never
lose focus of His love, our blessings and calling in life. “I, Paul, appointed by God to be an
apostle … send greetings … to the holy people of Jesus Christ, who are
called to take their place among all the saints everywhere who pray to our Lord
Jesus Christ; for he is their Lord no less than ours.” Indeed, we are
called to take our place with the saints in heaven when we will be one family
of God. This is our goal in life, to be members of the family of God.
When the journey is
tough, then we must always remember our blessings and His faithfulness. In this way, we will find the
strength to bear our crosses in life. With the psalmist, we say, “I will bless
you day after day and praise your name for ever. The Lord is great,
highly to be praised, his greatness cannot be measured.” By remembering
the good times, the blessings of God, that will give us courage and hope that
our woes and sufferings are passing and the rays of the sun will shine in our
lives again, for that is what the cross is all about, to prepare us for the
resurrection.
Finally, there is a
warning for those who do not live their lives fully. Failing to live the life now is to forfeit
the future life that is to come and this present life as well. This is
what the Lord said, “But as for the dishonest servant who says to
himself, ‘My master is taking his time,” and sets about beating his fellow
servants and eating and drinking with drunkards, his master will come on a day
he does not expect and at an hour he does not know.” We will suffer the
consequences of our lack of focus and for living our lives irresponsibly.
Let us not live a life
of hypocrisy but a life of integrity because Jesus said, “The master will cut him off and
send him to the same fate as the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and
grinding of teeth.” Rather, let us be true to what we have received from
the Lord and the calling to be His saints and elects. We need to live our
life in peace by having a clear conscience. If we seek to live our lives
in such a way then the Lord will grant us that grace as St Paul wrote, “he will
keep you steady and without blame until the last day, the day of our Lord Jesus
Christ, because God by calling you has joined you to his Son, Jesus Christ; and
God is faithful.” With that focus, faith, love and hope, we can then
welcome death with a clear conscience and yet live meaningfully and joyfully at
every moment of our lives.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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