20181031
BUILDING OUR
RELATIONSHIPS IN CHRIST
31 OCTOBER,
2018, Wednesday, 30th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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Ephesians 6:1-9 ©
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Duties in domestic life
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Children, be obedient to your parents in
the Lord – that is your duty. The commandment that has a promise attached
to it is: Honour your father and mother, and the promise is: and
you will prosper and have a long life in the land. And parents, never
drive your children to resentment but in bringing them up correct them and
guide them as the Lord does.
Slaves,
be obedient to the men who are called your masters in this world, with deep
respect and sincere loyalty, as you are obedient to Christ: not only when you
are under their eye, as if you had only to please men, but because you are
slaves of Christ and wholeheartedly do the will of God. Work hard and
willingly, but do it for the sake of the Lord and not for the sake of men. You
can be sure that everyone, whether a slave or a free man, will be properly
rewarded by the Lord for whatever work he has done well. And those of you who
are employers, treat your slaves in the same spirit; do without threats,
remembering that they and you have the same Master in heaven and he is not
impressed by one person more than by another.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 144(145):10-14 ©
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The Lord is faithful in
all his words.
All your creatures shall thank you, O
Lord,
and your friends shall repeat
their blessing.
They shall speak of the glory of your
reign
and declare your might, O God,
to make known to men your mighty deeds
and the glorious splendour of
your reign.
The Lord is faithful in
all his words.
Yours is an everlasting kingdom;
your rule lasts from age to
age.
The Lord is faithful in
all his words.
The Lord is faithful in all his words
and loving in all his deeds.
The Lord supports all who fall
and raises all who are bowed
down.
The Lord is faithful in
all his words.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Jn14:6
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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!
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Or:
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cf.2Th2:14
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Through the Good News God called us
to share the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 13:22-30 ©
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The last shall be first and the first
last
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Through towns and villages Jesus went
teaching, making his way to Jerusalem. Someone said to him, ‘Sir, will there be
only a few saved?’ He said to them, ‘Try your best to enter by the narrow door,
because, I tell you, many will try to enter and will not succeed.
‘Once
the master of the house has got up and locked the door, you may find yourself
knocking on the door, saying, “Lord, open to us” but he will answer, “I do not
know where you come from.” Then you will find yourself saying, “We once ate and
drank in your company; you taught in our streets” but he will reply, “I do not
know where you come from. Away from me, all you wicked men!”
‘Then
there will be weeping and grinding of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and
Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves turned
outside. And men from east and west, from north and south, will come to take
their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.
‘Yes,
there are those now last who will be first, and those now first who will be
last.’
BUILDING OUR RELATIONSHIPS IN CHRIST
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ EPHESIANS 6:1-9; LUKE 13:22-30 ]
One of the biggest challenges
in life is handling relationships at all levels. In fact, most of our sufferings in
life are caused by strained and broken relationships. Indeed, if
there is so much disunity and lack of peace in society and in the world, it
begins first with unhappy relationships at home. Parents are often at
odds with each other over values, finance, raising of children, dealing with
relatives, religion and education. They are always shouting at each other
or they go to the extreme of having a cold war. Siblings are often
jealous and envious of each other. They always feel that they are more
favoured at home by their parents. They compete and see each other as
enemies rather than brothers and sisters. Between parents and children
there are tensions. Although parents are supposed to be the support for
their children, they are often seen as joy-killers, wet blankets, financial
controllers, slave masters. Instead of looking towards their parents for
encouragement and understanding, the children look towards their friends.
The other great source
of tension we face in relationships is at work and in our community or the
organizations we are in. At
work, bosses lament about their employees or subordinates. Vice versa,
employees gossip about their bosses and express their unhappiness and
resentment against them. Superiors act in a discriminating manner, are
self-centered, hot-tempered, temperamental and dictatorial. They gripe
about workers who are lazy, unmotivated, slow and lacking creativity and
initiative. So too, in Church there are politics. There are
struggles for power because of ambition, fame, popularity and egotism. We
have differences in working style, in vision and in execution.
What is the key to
building loving, supportive, empowering and enriching relationships? It
is to bring Christ into the picture. If we pay attention to the first reading, St
Paul repeatedly ends every advice on the different levels of relationship by
bringing Christ into the equation. Human love alone cannot sustain a
relationship unless Christ is the center of it. Emotional love cannot
last long. It is not enough to strengthen a relationship.
This is what the Lord
meant in today’s gospel when He said, “Try your best to enter by the narrow
door, because, I tell you, many will try to enter and will not succeed.” What is this narrow door if not
through Him? In the gospel, He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and
the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” He also
declared, “I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in
and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and
destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (Jn 10:9f)
But what does it mean to
enter through the narrow gate? It is more than just having a superficial
knowledge and relationship with our Lord. He said to them, “Once the master of the house
has got up and locked the door, you may find yourself knocking on the door,
saying, ‘Lord, open to us” but he will answer, “I do not know where you come
from.’ Then you will find yourself saying, ‘We once ate and drank in your
company; you taught in our streets’ but he will reply, ‘”I do not know where
you come from. Away from me, all you wicked men!'” This is the
biggest mistake of many of our Catholics. They think that just because
they are baptized, they are saved. Just because they got married in
Church, their marriage is protected. It is not enough to receive the
sacraments, but we must live out the sacraments in our lives. This means
welcoming Jesus into our personal relationships with everyone.
What does it mean to
make Jesus the center and foundation of our relationships? It means that
our love for each other must be a sacrificial love, putting the interests of
others before self, whether it is our spouse, children, staff or friends. Earlier on, St Paul said, “Therefore be
imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved
us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to
God.” (Eph 5:1f) In this context, he wrote that
husbands must love their wives, “just as Christ loved the church and gave
himself up for her, in order to make her holy.” (Eph 5:25f)
In the same way too,
that is how we must love our children and our elderly in Christ. St Paul said, “Parents must never
drive your children to resentment but in bringing them up correct them and
guide them as the Lord does.” Parents must put their children’s interests
before their own. They must learn to understand them and feel with them
in their struggles and not impose their fears, anxieties and ambitions on
them. Sometimes, parents are more concerned about their children doing
well in their studies and work than that they are truly happy.
Similarly, children must
build their relationships with their parents in Christ. St Paul urges, “Children, be obedient to
your parents in the Lord – that is your duty. The first commandment that
has a promise attached to it is: Honour your father and mother; and the promise
is: and you will prosper and have a long life in the land.” Rendering
respect to our parents requires humility to recognize that they care for us
even if they have shortcomings. We must forgive them for over-reacting
and often over-protective of us because they are afraid to lose us or to see us
suffer in the future. But we should not ignore their wisdom and
experience in life lest we fall into the same pit as they did. And even
if our parents are old and elderly, infirmed and demented, we must be patient
with them because they were once patient with us when we were
young. We must seek to understand their struggles of loneliness,
pain and sickness in their old age.
So too, in relationships
between bosses and subordinates. We are not against each other. The boss is to ensure that his or
her workers have a job that gives them passion, growth and meaning so that they
can contribute to society; and also to earn money to take care of their loved
ones. The workers’ task is to ensure that the company and organization is
viable and successful, otherwise, how could they be paid and how could they
continue to be employed. So there is a partnership between bosses and
workers. There should not be a tension if we realize that we are together
in this equation.
At the end of the day,
we are serving the Lord through each other and together we serve the community. This is what St Paul advised the
Christians. Hence, he said, “Slaves, be obedient to the men who are called your
masters in this world, with deep respect and sincere loyalty, as you are
obedient to Christ: not only when you are under their eye, as if you had only
to please men, but because you are slaves of Christ and wholeheartedly so the
will of God. Work hard and willingly, but do it for the sake of the Lord
and not for the sake of men. You can be sure that everyone, whether a
slave of a free man, will be properly rewarded by the Lord for whatever work he
has done well.”
Indeed, we must remember
that we have the same Father and Master in heaven. “And those of you who are
employers, treat your slaves in the same spirit; do without threats,
remembering that they and you have the same Master in heaven and he is not
impressed by one person more than by another.” Every child, every parent,
every worker and every boss is given to us by God to help each other to grow in
love and holiness. We all belong to God and therefore to serve our
brothers and sisters and to care for them is to give glory to God. In
this way, “All your creatures shall thank you, O Lord, and your friends shall
repeat their blessing. They shall speak of the glory of your reign and
declare your might, O God, to make known to men your mighty deeds and the
glorious splendor of your reign.”
Unless we walk through
the narrow gate of self-sacrifice, we will be worse off than those who are
non-Catholic and even unbelievers.
So long as they live the life of Christ, they too will come to enjoy the peace,
love and joy of the kingdom of God. They might not know Christ but they
are living the gospel life. The sad reality is that many Catholic
families, Catholic organizations and Catholic bosses and workers do not reflect
the life of Christ and put Him at the center of our relationships. There
is so much politics, power-struggle, in-fighting with little respect, charity
and sensitivity to each other, they can hardly be called ‘Catholic’.
Hence, the Lord warns us, “Then there will be weeping and grinding of teeth,
when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of
God, and yourselves turned outside. And men from east and west, from
north and south, will come to take their places at the feast in the kingdom of
God. Yes, there are those now last who will be first, and those now first
who will be last.”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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