20180916 WALKING IN THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD
16 SEPTEMBER,
2018, Sunday, 24th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
|
First reading
|
Isaiah 50:5-9 ©
|
|
I offered my back to those who struck me
|
The Lord has opened my ear.
For my part, I made no resistance,
neither did I turn away.
I offered my back to those who struck me,
my cheeks to those who tore at my beard;
I did not cover my face
against insult and spittle.
The Lord comes to my help,
so that I am untouched by the insults.
So, too, I set my face like flint;
I know I shall not be shamed.
My vindicator is here at hand. Does anyone
start proceedings against me?
Then let us go to court together.
Who thinks he has a case against me?
Let him approach me.
The Lord is coming to my help,
who will dare to condemn me?
|
Responsorial Psalm
|
|
Psalm 114(116):1-6,8-9 ©
|
I will walk in the
presence of the Lord in the land of the living.
I love the Lord for he has heard
the cry of my appeal;
for he turned his ear to me
in the day when I called him.
I will walk in the
presence of the Lord in the land of the living.
They surrounded me, the snares of death,
with the anguish of the tomb;
they caught me, sorrow and distress.
I called on the Lord’s name.
O Lord, my God, deliver me!
I will walk in the
presence of the Lord in the land of the living.
How gracious is the Lord, and just;
our God has compassion.
The Lord protects the simple hearts;
I was helpless so he saved me.
I will walk in the
presence of the Lord in the land of the living.
He has kept my soul from death,
my eyes from tears
and my feet from stumbling.
I will walk in the presence of the Lord
in the land of the living.
I will walk in the
presence of the Lord in the land of the living.
|
Second reading
|
James 2:14-18 ©
|
|
If good works do not go with it, faith
is quite dead
|
Take the case, my brothers, of someone who
has never done a single good act but claims that he has faith. Will that faith
save him? If one of the brothers or one of the sisters is in need of clothes
and has not enough food to live on, and one of you says to them, ‘I wish you
well; keep yourself warm and eat plenty’, without giving them these bare
necessities of life, then what good is that? Faith is like that: if good works
do not go with it, it is quite dead.
This
is the way to talk to people of that kind: ‘You say you have faith and I have
good deeds; I will prove to you that I have faith by showing you my good
deeds – now you prove to me that you have faith without any good deeds to
show.’
|
Gospel Acclamation
|
Jn14:6
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, says
the Lord;
No one can come to the Father except
through me.
Alleluia!
|
Or:
|
Ga6:14
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
The only thing I can boast about is the
cross of our Lord,
through whom the world is crucified to me,
and I to the world.
Alleluia!
|
Gospel
|
Mark 8:27-35 ©
|
|
The Son of Man is destined to suffer
grievously
|
Jesus and his disciples left for the
villages round Caesarea Philippi. On the way he put this question to his
disciples, ‘Who do people say I am?’ And they told him. ‘John the Baptist,’
they said ‘others Elijah; others again, one of the prophets.’ ‘But you,’ he
asked ‘who do you say I am?’ Peter spoke up and said to him, ‘You are the
Christ.’ And he gave them strict orders not to tell anyone about him.
And
he began to teach them that the Son of Man was destined to suffer grievously,
to be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and to be
put to death, and after three days to rise again; and he said all this quite
openly. Then, taking him aside, Peter started to remonstrate with him. But,
turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said to him, ‘Get behind
me, Satan! Because the way you think is not God’s way but man’s.’
He
called the people and his disciples to him and said, ‘If anyone wants to be a
follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me.
For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his
life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.’
WALKING IN THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ Is 50:5-9; Ps 114:1-6,8-9; Jas 2:14-18; Mk 8:27-35 ]
Jesus called the people and His disciples
to Him and said, “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him
renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me.” We cannot help
but see the candidness of Jesus when He called His disciples to follow
Him. He did not promise them an easy and comfortable life on earth.
He did not promise them power, wealth and glory. Instead He made it clear
that His disciples would have to take up their own cross and walk after
Him. This seems like a tall order.
Indeed, Bonhoeffer in his book, “The Cost of
Discipleship” said, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and
die.” This is such a demanding price for discipleship. Why
would anyone want to follow Jesus to die? What the world fears most
today, according to Pope Emeritus Benedict, is death, but they do not fear
eternal death! Jesus in the gospel warns us, “Do not fear those who kill
the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul
and body in hell.” (Mt 10:28) Indeed, the
modern man is most fearful of death. It is the greatest enemy of man
because he feels powerless in the face of death. Man might try to pretend
that death wouldn’t come, he will try to prolong it, mask it, but death is
inevitable. St Paul said, “The last enemy to be destroyed is
death.” (1 Cor 15:26)
How can this be good
news? The reason why we follow Jesus is to find happiness in life, to be
freed from pain and suffering, which we all dread. Even St Peter resisted this
possibility when the Lord prophesied, “that the Son of Man was destined to
suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the
scribes, and to be put to death.” Peter was scandalized and wanted
to protect Jesus, so taking Him aside, he “started to remonstrate with
him.” In no uncertain terms and without fear of losing His disciples,
Jesus was clear about the way to life, “But, turning and seeing his disciples,
he rebuked Peter and said to him, ‘Get behind me, Satan! Because the way you
think is not God’s way, but man’s.'”
What, then, is the way
of God to life? Jesus
said, “For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses
his life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.” The
way to live is to die to self, for Him and for the sake of the gospel.
There are three motives for dying.
Dying to self is the
first condition to finding life.
This is because so long as we are focused on ourselves, we will be absorbed by
our needs, self-interests, insecurities and the problems that come with
them. Many of us are so protective of our lives that we never live for
fear of death and suffering. But life is lived when there is adventure,
surprises and when we go beyond ourselves. By living our lives
courageously and taking risks, we stretch our limits and fulfill our
potentials. When we give ourselves to others, our time, services
and even resources, what we receive may not so much be tangible goods but the
love of people and a sharing in their joy and gratitude. When we
see how much joy and happiness we can give to others by our sharing, this in
itself is a most fulfilling experience. Indeed, by emptying ourselves of
our pride, our insecurities, our resources, we are filled with their love and
joy.
By not hoarding what we
have and sharing with others, we experience a freedom and joy that no amount of
wealth can give us. On
the contrary, the more wealth we have, the more insecure and uneasy we are,
because we fear that we might lose them one day when we have not even begun to
make use of them. Those who share their wealth with others are blessed in
return by the Lord. St Paul wrote, “God is able to provide you with every
blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may
share abundantly in every good work.” (cf 2 Cor 9:8-11)
By loving all men and
women, we go beyond the confines of the few people that we love. The more we love, the more our
heart is capable of receiving love and giving love. Those who love little
will receive little love because their heart is too small to receive more love
than what God wants to give them. That is why when we love like
Jesus who gave up His life for us, we will enjoy the fullness of God’s love as
Jesus did. Hence, Christian love is inclusive love. This is what St
James exhorted the Christians, “Take the case, my brothers, of someone who has
never done a single good act but claims that he has faith. Will that faith save
him? Faith is like that: if good works do not go with it, it is quite
dead.” Indeed, only when we love like Jesus, can we then partake of the
love that He enjoyed with His Father.
To be able to love
generously, unconditionally and inclusively like Jesus, we need to lose our
life for His sake. Christian love goes beyond humanitarian love; that is, caring for our brothers and
sisters because we feel with them in their pain and suffering. This
is still on the level of human love. Christian love needs to go
beyond just feeling with our fellowmen in their needs. It must find strength
from our love for the Lord. We are motivated to love because God loves us
first in Jesus and we want to show our love for Him in return. Because of
His love for us, we too wish to die for Him and live with Him completely.
Before the death of our Lord, the disciples were still worldly in their motives
in following Him. But upon seeing the way He died for them and how He
forgave them and His enemies, the disciples no longer sought for the glory,
wealth and power of the world. Instead they were ready to suffer
humiliation, persecution and even death for our Lord.
For the love of someone,
we are willing to die.
This is true even in human love. For the love of their children, parents are
willing to give up their lives, everything they have. Isn’t it true that
for the average family, two-thirds of the earnings of parents are spent on the
education, needs and welfare of their children? And if their children
were to fall sick, they would use all their resources to restore them to
health. But St Paul wrote about Jesus’ love for us, which goes beyond
just loving those whom we love. He said, “For while we were still weak,
at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die
for a righteous person – though perhaps for a good person someone might
actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still
were sinners Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:6-8)
This brings us to the
third motivation for dying, namely, “for the sake of the gospel.” The love of Jesus was the
motivation for St Paul dedicating himself totally to the proclamation of the
gospel. He said, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer
I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the
flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for
me. I do not nullify the grace of God.” (Gal 2:20-21) It is this love that filled
St Paul with the desire to communicate God’s love to all. He wanted to
proclaim to all that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God so that all
can find salvation in Him by taking up their cross and follow Jesus, walk with
Him and die with Him, so that all can find life, true love, joy and
freedom. St Paul lived out His faith in Christ by his love for Him
and for all that Jesus loved.
St James exhorted the
Christians who claimed to have faith in Christ. “You say you have faith and I have
good deeds; I will prove to you that I have faith by showing you my good deeds
– now you prove to me that you have faith without any good deeds to show.” If
we have faith in Christ, then love must be the manifestation. Otherwise,
as St John wrote, “We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us –
and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God’s love abide
in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and
yet refuses help?” (cf 1 Jn 3:16-18) This love would even be
extended to our enemies, as Jesus did. “For my part, I made no
resistance, neither did I turn away. I offered my back to those who struck me,
my cheeks to those who tore at my beard. I did not cover my face against insult
and spittle.” This is the utter love that encompasses all. This is
the heart of God’s love that we are called to participate in so that the
fullness of life and love may be ours.
But we cannot do this on
our own strength. The capacity to love must first come from His love. Isaiah said, “The Lord comes to my
help, so that I am untouched by the insults. So, too, I set my face like
flint; I know I shall not be shamed. My vindicator is here at hand.” Similarly,
the psalmist echoes this, “I love the Lord for he has heard the cry of my
appeal; for he turned his ear to me in the day when I called him.” Only
His love can help us to die for Jesus and for the gospel and for others. So
wrote, St John, “In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us
and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 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 4:10-12)
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment