20181106 OUR PRIORITIES IN LIFE
06 NOVEMBER,
2018, Tuesday, 31st Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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Philippians 2:5-11 ©
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Christ humbled himself but God raised
him high
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In your minds you must be the same as
Christ Jesus:
His state was divine,
yet he did not cling
to his equality with God
but emptied himself
to assume the condition of a slave,
and became as men are;
and being as all men are,
he was humbler yet,
even to accepting death,
death on a cross.
But God raised him high
and gave him the name
which is above all other names
so that all beings in the heavens,
on earth and in the underworld,
should bend the knee at the name of Jesus
and that every tongue should acclaim
Jesus Christ as Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 21(22):26-32 ©
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You are my praise, O
Lord, in the great assembly.
My vows I will pay before those who fear
the Lord.
The poor shall eat and shall
have their fill.
They shall praise the Lord, those who seek
him.
May their hearts live for ever
and ever!
You are my praise, O
Lord, in the great assembly.
All the earth shall remember and return to
the Lord,
all families of the nations
worship before him;
for the kingdom is the Lord’s,
he is ruler of the nations.
They shall worship him, all the mighty of
the earth.
You are my praise, O
Lord, in the great assembly.
And my soul shall live for him, my
children serve him.
They shall tell of the Lord to
generations yet to come,
declare his faithfulness to peoples yet
unborn:
‘These things the Lord has
done.’
You are my praise, O
Lord, in the great assembly.
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Gospel Acclamation
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cf.Ep1:17,18
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Alleluia, alleluia!
May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
enlighten the eyes of our mind,
so that we can see what hope his call
holds for us.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Mt11:28
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Come to me, all you who labour and are
overburdened,
and I will give you rest, says the Lord.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 14:15-24 ©
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'Not one of those who were invited shall
have a taste of my banquet'
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One of those gathered round the table said
to Jesus, ‘Happy the man who will be at the feast in the kingdom of God!’ But
he said to him, ‘There was a man who gave a great banquet, and he invited a
large number of people. When the time for the banquet came, he sent his servant
to say to those who had been invited, “Come along: everything is ready now.”
But all alike started to make excuses. The first said, “I have bought a piece
of land and must go and see it. Please accept my apologies.” Another said, “I have
bought five yoke of oxen and am on my way to try them out. Please accept my
apologies.” Yet another said, “I have just got married and so am unable to
come.”
‘The
servant returned and reported this to his master. Then the householder, in a
rage, said to his servant, “Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the
town and bring in here the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.” “Sir”
said the servant “your orders have been carried out and there is still room.”
Then the master said to his servant, “Go to the open roads and the hedgerows
and force people to come in to make sure my house is full; because, I tell you,
not one of those who were invited shall have a taste of my banquet.”’
OUR PRIORITIES IN LIFE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ PHILIPPIANS 2:5-11; LUKE 14:15-24 ]
“Happy the man who will
be at the feast in the kingdom of God!” Indeed, like the one who uttered this remark to
Jesus, we too hope that we can partake in the feast of the Kingdom of
God. But what is this kingdom if not a communion of life and a communion of
love? Hence, the imagery for the kingdom life is always presented in
terms of a banquet. Indeed, Christian life is supposedly a foretaste of
this kingdom. Such a kingdom life would entail a balanced life where
there is time to eat, play, rest, read, pray and fellowship. This is what
heaven on earth is like, and truly a foretaste of the life that is to
come. This is what the psalmist says, “My vows I will pay before those
who fear the Lord. The poor shall eat and shall have their fill. They shall praise
the Lord, those who seek him. May their hearts live for ever and ever!
All the earth shall remember and return to the Lord, all families of the
nations worship before him for the kingdom is the Lord’s; he is ruler of the
nations. They shall worship him, all the mighty of the earth.”
But we all know very
well that life is not a bed of roses. Relationships are fragile. Work is
demanding. Ministry is filled with frustrations even when one is seeking
to do good or to help. We have lots of demands on us. We try
to fulfill our obligations and our duties to our bosses and our family and at
the same time do our part to contribute generously to the community, especially
the poor. We are always so busy that we do not have time for rest, much
less for prayers. When we live such a hectic and stressful life,
the warning of the master might apply to us when he said, “not one of those who
were invited shall have a taste of my banquet.” Life is reduced to work
and achievements. We are chasing one laurel after another whilst our
relationship with God and our loved ones are weakening each day. Without
God, everything is out of focus.
For this reason, we are
called to make time for communion with God. It is not enough just to work and be
preoccupied with our personal interests or even give ourselves entirely to our
career at the expense of forming meaningful relationships. This was what
happened to those who were invited for the feast. They had no time for
God or for fellowship. “But all alike started to make excuses. The first said,
‘I have bought a piece of land and must go and see it. Please accept my
apologies.’ Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen and am on my way to
try them out. Please accept my apologies.’ Yet another said, ‘I have just got married
and so am unable to come.'” We are just like those people who were
invited for the banquet. We have legitimate excuses for not making time
for Jesus. We have our personal needs to attend to, such as our rest and
recreation, homework and household chores. We have commitments to our
family, our spouse, children and in-laws. Besides, we have our work and
other mundane matters and administrative duties to handle. As a result,
many of us are so busy that we are so burnt out, leaving us no time for others
and for God. We have no time for fellowship with our loved ones and
friends, to share their joys and sorrows. But most of all, we do not have
time for God in prayer.
The question that the
gospel is confronting is one of priorities. What is our priority in life? The excuses
given by those who were invited to the banquet were valid excuses. It was
necessary for the man who bought the land to go and inspect to ensure that
everything was in order. It was right for the man who bought five oxen to
make sure that they were healthy and fit to work in the fields. It was
right that the man who was just married spent time with his wife. But the
point was that the invitation was sent out long ago and they had already
accepted the invitation. Instead of giving priority to the commitment
made, they were more preoccupied with their own interests.
So what is really
important? It is to be focused on building the kingdom of God, which is a
life of service and communion with everyone, beginning with God. Unless we put God as the center of our
life, we will displace Him with all the other things we do and own. Work
will begin to consume us until we lose our health and loved ones. Money
will preoccupy us day and night and in all that we do. Power and status
will enslave us so that we lose our freedom to do the right thing. Our
loved ones will become the gods that we worship and seek to possess. We
will live in fear of losing them one day and become obsessed with controlling
their lives. Without God, everything we do will become the idols that we
worship. We will destroy the very things that we seek in our career;
which is to serve humanity, money to take care of our loved ones, power and
influence for greater service. It would be unfortunate to be listed
as those who have been invited to the banquet but never “taste of my banquet.”
The gospel wants us to
remember that everything is the grace of God. It is not just our doing
alone. We cannot control life but we are called to surrender our life to
Him. Indeed, in the second part of the gospel, we have the master
inviting everyone who was not worthy to come to the banquet. “Go out
quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in here the poor, the
crippled, the blind and the lame.’ ‘Sir,’ said the servant, ‘your orders have
been carried out and that there is still room.’ Then the master said to his
servant, ‘Go to the open roads and the hedgerows and force people to come in to
make sure my house is full.” God invites all to His banquet, the sinners,
the marginalized, including the gentiles. All that was needed for them to
enjoy the banquet was to respond. We, too, if we want to enjoy the
banquet of life, love and communion, then we must make time for the Lord first
and foremost in our life. He must be our priority above all others.
When we make a place for Him, then we will have a place for everyone and
everything that we do.
This calls for
self-emptying and trust; to put away our reliance on self and our strength and
to trust in God requires humility. This was the way of our Lord. This is where St Paul directs us to
find focus and unity in life. He said, “In your minds you must be the
same as Christ Jesus: His state was divine, yet he did not cling to his
equality with God but emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave, and
became as men are; and being as all men are, he was humbler yet, even to
accepting death, death on a cross.” Jesus emptied Himself twice, first of
His divinity to assume the condition of a slave and then accepting death on the
cross. In emptying Himself, Jesus was truly like God, and even in that
self-emptying, Jesus showed Himself to be truly divine because God is precisely
One who pours Himself out for us, inviting us to share in His image and
likeness, and giving us a share of His life and love in His kingdom.
Here, divine weakness, although a divine scandal, is the glory of God.
Indeed, “Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim
Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but
to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and
the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom,
and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.” (1 Cor1:22-24)
Will we trust in the
power of God to act in our lives instead of wanting to be in control? We must recognize our human
limitations, if not we will only put unnecessary stress on ourselves and others
under us. Humility requires us to be careful not to allow our ministry or
our work to become our ambition. When we are ambitious, we turn the work
of God into the work of man. Like Jesus, we are called to accept failures
in our lives, especially when we have done our best. Jesus gave Himself
totally to the project of his Father and had to learn to accept failure as part
of the divine plan. Can we be open to the fact that just as God uses the
suffering and death of Jesus to raise Him high “and gave him the name which is
above all other names so that all beings in the heavens, on earth and in the
underworld, should bend the knee at the name of Jesus and that every tongue
should acclaim Jesus Christ as Lord”, He will also do for us, if we allow His
grace to work in us? In this way, we would feel free in doing the work of
God with joy and enjoy every moment of what we do because we are focused on the
Lord and not working for our ambition or glory but for the service of all.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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