20181116
BEING PREPARED
16 NOVEMBER,
2018, Friday, 32nd Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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2 John 1:4-9 ©
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The commandment which you have heard
since the beginning is to live a life of love
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It has given me great joy to find that
your children have been living the life of truth as we were commanded by the
Father. I am writing now, dear lady, not to give you any new commandment, but
the one which we were given at the beginning, and to plead: let us love one
another.
To
love is to live according to his commandments: this is the commandment which
you have heard since the beginning, to live a life of love.
There
are many deceivers about in the world, refusing to admit that Jesus Christ has
come in the flesh. They are the Deceiver; they are the Antichrist. Watch
yourselves, or all our work will be lost and not get the reward it deserves. If
anybody does not keep within the teaching of Christ but goes beyond it, he
cannot have God with him: only those who keep to what he taught can have the
Father and the Son with them.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm
118(119):1-2,10-11,17-18 ©
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They are happy who
follow God’s law.
They are happy whose life is blameless,
who follow God’s law!
They are happy who do his will,
seeking him with all their
hearts.
They are happy who
follow God’s law.
I have sought you with all my heart;
let me not stray from your
commands.
I treasure your promise in my heart
lest I sin against you.
They are happy who
follow God’s law.
Bless your servant and I shall live
and obey your word.
Open my eyes that I may see
the wonders of your law.
They are happy who
follow God’s law.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Heb4:12
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The word of God is something alive and
active:
it can judge secret emotions and thoughts.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Lk21:28
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Stand erect, hold your heads high,
because your liberation is near at hand.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 17:26-37 ©
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When the day comes for the Son of Man to
be revealed
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Jesus said to the disciples:
‘As
it was in Noah’s day, so will it also be in the days of the Son of Man. People
were eating and drinking, marrying wives and husbands, right up to the day Noah
went into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. It will be the same
as it was in Lot’s day: people were eating and drinking, buying and selling,
planting and building, but the day Lot left Sodom, God rained fire and
brimstone from heaven and it destroyed them all. It will be the same when the
day comes for the Son of Man to be revealed.
‘When
that day comes, anyone on the housetop, with his possessions in the house, must
not come down to collect them, nor must anyone in the fields turn back either.
Remember Lot’s wife. Anyone who tries to preserve his life will lose it; and anyone
who loses it will keep it safe. I tell you, on that night two will be in one
bed: one will be taken, the other left; two women will be grinding corn
together: one will be taken, the other left.’ The disciples interrupted.
‘Where, Lord?’ they asked. He said, ‘Where the body is, there too will the
vultures gather.’
BEING PREPARED
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ 2 JOHN 4-9; LUKE 17:26-37 ]
There was a supposedly intelligent and
successful king. To entertain him, he had a fool. But this fool was
a real fool; not just playing the role of a fool. The king would laugh at
the fool for the foolish things he said and did. One day he gave the fool a staff.
He said, “Take this staff and keep it till you find a bigger fool than
yourself.” Many years down the road, the king was old and was dying.
His family, his court officials, his ministers, his servants, and last of
all, the fool stood around his bed. The king in sadness said, “I have
called you to wish you all farewell. I am about to depart from you. I
will be embarking on a long journey. I will return no more to this
palace.” Then the fool came up and said to him. “Your majesty, one
question before you leave us. In the past, whenever you went on a journey
to distant places or to some other country, you would always dispatch
messengers, security guards, police, and soldiers ahead of you to make
preparations for your journey. So may I enquire what preparations
your majesty has made for this long journey you are about to undertake?”
“Alas!” replied the king, “I have made no preparations.” “Then,” said the
fool, “you may have this staff back since I have finally found a bigger fool
than myself.”
Indeed, are we prepared
for the last journey we take in life? Have
we made provisions? This is the question that the Lord is asking of
us when He spoke of the coming of God’s Kingdom. The truth is that the
kingdom will come when we least expect. He said, “As it was in Noah’s
day, so will it also be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating and
drinking, marrying wives and husbands, right up to the day Noah went into the
ark, and the Flood came and destroyed them all. It will be the same as it was
in Lot’s day: people were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and
building, but the day Lot left Sodom, God rained fire and brimstone from heaven
and it destroyed them all. It will be the same when the day comes for the Son
of Man to be revealed.”
What is more, the
writing is all on the wall.
Jesus said to the disciples, “Where the body is, there too will the vultures
gather.” In other words, if we see many vultures hovering over the sky,
we know that a carcass is there. The signs that warn us of the future are
also present before us. We see someone who appears to be in the best of
health suddenly suffer a heart attack; a young man at the prime of his career
meets with an accident and is disabled for life; a professional discovers she
has fourth stage cancer; a businessman finds his business collapsing
because of changing economic conditions. Truly, many things are not
predictable in life. We do not know when the time will come for us to
meet the Lord. We are like this great king who became a fool at the end
of his life. He had done much for the kingdom, but he did not make
provisions for himself. We can be very successful in life, making
achievements and a name for ourselves in this life, but a failure in the eyes
of God.
When that time comes, we
cannot bring anything of this world with us. We cannot bring our loved ones with us.
We cannot bring even a pin out of this world, much less our wealth and
property. Everything would have to be left behind. This is what the
Lord said, “When that day comes, anyone on the housetop, with his possessions
in the house, must not come down to collect them, nor must anyone in the fields
turn back either. Remember Lot’s wife. Anyone who tries to preserve his life
will lose it; and anyone who loses it will keep it safe. I tell you, on that
night two women will be grinding corn together: one will be taken, the other
left.” In another place, the Lord said, “For what will it profit them if
they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return
for their life?” (Mt 16:26) This is
the most important question that we need to ask for ourselves, less at the end
of our life, not only will we find ourselves unprepared to leave this place,
but to realize that we have lived in vain.
So how can we live in
such a way that we are always prepared for death? St John gives us the
answer, which is to love one another. “It has given me great joy to find that your children
have been living the life of truth as we were commanded by the Father. I
am writing now, dear lady, not to give you any new commandment, but the one
which we were given at the beginning, and to plead: let us love one
another.” There is only one commandment in the final analysis, which is
the commandment to love one another. Love is the only commandment and
indeed the only law. “Owe no one anything, except to love one another;
for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments,
‘You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You
shall not covet; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, ‘Love
your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore,
love is the fulfilling of the law.” (Rom 13:8-10)
What does it mean to
love? We all claim to
love and yet we are hurting each other. Even the gangster and the mafia
claim that they are doing all the illegal things out of love. Men and
women, or even those of the same sex orientation, have sexual relationships
outside of marriage in the name of love. So whilst St Augustine in one of
his writings says, “love and do what you will”, is true, it is not so easy to
determine what love is unless love is lived in accordance with the truth. St
John wrote, “Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth
and action. And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will
reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is
greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.” (1 Jn 3:18-20)
“To love is to live according to his
commandments: this is the commandment which you have heard since the beginning,
to live a life of love.” This is what the responsorial psalm
says as well. “They are happy whose life is blameless, who follow God’s law! They
are happy who do his will, seeking him with all their hearts. I have sought you
with all my heart; let me not stray from your commands. I treasure your promise
in my heart lest I sin against you. Bless your servant and I shall live and
obey your word.” The laws of God are to guide us to live a life of love,
compassion and justice. When we live out these laws, we find peace in our
soul. St John wrote, “Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have
boldness before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we
obey his commandments and do what pleases him.” (1 Jn 3:21f)
Lest we think that love
is merely an abstract word, or a set of laws and principles, it is not the
case. The love of God
is not just words and promises but it is a reality because God loves us
concretely and personally in the flesh. This was what St John was
combatting in his days when many Christians strayed from the truth, denying the
humanity of Jesus. They could not accept that God could become man in the
flesh because of their Gnostics background, believing that matter was
evil. They believed that God was pure spirit and therefore Jesus, who was
God, cannot be human. To deny the humanity of Jesus means that we are not
saved because we will never be able to do God’s will. But because we
believe that Jesus was truly human and that he did God’s will with a human
will, we too are empowered to do likewise.
Jesus is for us the Way,
the Truth and the Life.
In Christ Jesus, we are shown the example of unconditional love, humble and
selfless service, unconditional forgiveness, compassion and charity. St
Peter wrote, “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered
for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps. ‘He
committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.’ When he was
abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he
entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins
in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for
righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” We too must
walk the footsteps of our Lord. St Paul urges us, “Let the same mind be
in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of
God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited but
emptied himself, taking the form of a slave. (cf Phil 2:5-8)
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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