20181206
BUILDING A HUMANITY
WITHOUT FOUNDATION
06 DECEMBER,
2018, Thursday, 1st Week, Advent
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Violet.
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First reading
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Isaiah 26:1-6 ©
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Open the gates; let the upright nation
come in
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That day, this song will be sung in the
land of Judah:
We have a strong city;
to guard us he has set
wall and rampart about us.
Open the gates! Let the upright nation
come in,
she, the faithful one
whose mind is steadfast, who keeps the
peace,
because she trusts in you.
Trust in the Lord for ever,
for the Lord is the everlasting Rock;
he has brought low those who lived high up
in the steep citadel;
he brings it down, brings it down to the
ground,
flings it down in the dust:
the feet of the lowly, the footsteps of
the poor
trample on it.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm
117(118):1,8-9,19-21,25-27 ©
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Blessed in the name of
the Lord is he who comes.
or
Alleluia.
Give thanks to the Lord for he is good,
for his love has no end.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in men;
it is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in princes.
Blessed in the name of
the Lord is he who comes.
or
Alleluia.
Open to me the gates of holiness:
I will enter and give thanks.
This is the Lord’s own gate
where the just may enter.
I will thank you for you have answered
and you are my saviour.
Blessed in the name of
the Lord is he who comes.
or
Alleluia.
O Lord, grant us salvation;
O Lord, grant success.
Blessed in the name of the Lord
is he who comes.
We bless you from the house of the Lord;
the Lord God is our light.
Blessed in the name of
the Lord is he who comes.
or
Alleluia.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Is40:9-10
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Shout with a loud voice, joyful messenger
to Jerusalem.
Here is the Lord God coming with power.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Is55:6
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Seek the Lord while he is still to be
found,
call to him while he is still near.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 7:21,24-27 ©
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The wise man built his house on a rock
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Jesus said to his disciples: ‘It is not
those who say to me, “Lord, Lord,” who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but
the person who does the will of my Father in heaven. Therefore, everyone who
listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who
built his house on rock. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and hurled
themselves against that house, and it did not fall: it was founded on rock. But
everyone who listens to these words of mine and does not act on them will be
like a stupid man who built his house on sand. Rain came down, floods rose,
gales blew and struck that house, and it fell; and what a fall it had!’
BUILDING A HUMANITY WITHOUT FOUNDATION
The world is in such a
confused state. Leaders no longer lead but obey the sheep. This is what democracy is all about
– do what the people say, not what is good for the future of the country
or the organization. Give them what they want, even though it might hurt
them in the long run. But then we do not have to worry because we will no
longer be leaders by then. Then again, we cannot blame the leaders
of the day entirely because the world has been bought over by this ideology
which we call ‘relativism’. This philosophy claims that everything is
relative except, of course, relativism itself.
The dictatorship of
relativism is the cause of much confusion in the world today. With relativism, nothing has any
real foundation or ground to support. There is no truth by which we all
can agree on. It all depends on who speaks the loudest and makes the most
noise so that others will buy into their ideas or ideology. Relativism is
fueled also by mass media and digital technology. Ideas and views spread
widely. As a result, we have an overload of information. Much of the
information is fake news and they are often innocently passed around without
verification.
With a diarrhea of
information available, not all of which can easily be verified, it is no wonder
why pragmatism has become the order of the day. Since we are paralyzed by so much information
and choices, and lacking the time to weigh all the available data, we just have
to choose at random according to our personal preferences and liking.
Choices are made not based on whether it is right or true but whether it
satisfies one’s needs and desires, even if they are detrimental to our future
or when they infringe the rights of others.
Indeed, when we examine
some of the trends of society, we cannot but lament the shortsightedness of
those who formulated the policies. They are more concerned with fixing the
problem now than being far-sighted to see whether the solution they propose
will cause greater problems in the future. This is true in terms of
population control. Many countries forced their people to stop at one or
two children. Now these countries are facing depopulation and an aging
demographic. The first world countries are now importing citizens and
workers from so-called over-crowded countries in the third world. Has the
world seriously considered the long-term implications of legalizing same-sex
union, adoption of children by same-sex couples, euthanasia, cloning,
etc? But leaders are desperate to please the people, notwithstanding the
fact that such choices are often engineered through publicity and aggressive
marketing.
Jesus warns us in
today’s gospel that if our house is not built on solid foundation, then it will
crash and it will be disastrous.
“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and does not act on them will be
like a stupid man who built his house on sand. Rain came down, floods
rose, gales blew and struck that house, and it fell; and what a fall it
had!” Indeed, today, we are called to examine the fundamental
principles that can help humanity and grow the country. If what we build is not
based on lasting principles, then we will find ourselves having to keep
changing our goal post to suit us. We will just go where the wind
blows. We change with the tide and we are swept along by societal
trends. Instead of molding and steering society, we allow society, which
is blind, to lead us. We have no direction in life. We have no
focus and without any shared values there is nothing that can bring everyone
together. But values must be true and good, otherwise they cannot be
valued.
So we might be doing
many things and yet not achieving anything that is really good. That is why Jesus warned us about
self-deception. He said, “It is not those who say to me, ‘Lord, Lord’,
who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my
Father in heaven.” Just praying and calling ourselves Catholic will not
lead us to heaven. Just saying that we are not justified by good works
but by faith alone will not lead us to happiness. Jesus said, “On that
day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and
cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then
will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you
evildoers.'” (Mt 7:22f)
Indeed, we can be doing many things, but without focus or direction, such works
will do us no good. This is what many are doing even in Church.
They are involved in all kinds of activity but they do not pray, they are not
conscious of their roles and responsibilities, their alignment with the parish
and the diocesan vision; their objectives in the work they do. So we have
many do-gooders but they are blind. They just do what they have been told
but they are not motivated by a higher vision and goal.
As Christians, we are
focused in all that we do. Our
foundational principles are clear. We know who we are, what we are called
to do and where our final destiny lies. We know that God is the Ultimate
Ground of life. We know that God has revealed Himself to us through His
Son in the Holy Spirit. We know that we are called to be sons and
daughters of God to share in the divine life. “But our commonwealth is in
heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change our
lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power which enables him even to
subject all things to himself.” (Phil 3:20) Until then, we must fight the
good fight. “For the grace of God has appeared for the salvation of
all men, training us to renounce irreligion and worldly passions, and to live
sober, upright, and godly lives in this world, awaiting our blessed hope, the
appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave
himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a
people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.” (Tit 2:11-14)
Indeed, our values are
founded on Eternal truths because they come from Christ who is the Word of God
in person. He is our rock.
Jesus said, “Therefore, everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on
them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock.” He
said these concluding words at His Sermon on the Mount. In other words,
Jesus is inviting us to place our total trust in His Word, the values that He
preached. The fundamental values of life are beautifully summed up
in the Beatitudes, which is the preface to the three chapters of the Sermon on
the Mount. The beatitudes are the keys to a blessed life. Some of
these foundational values taught by the Lord are humility and poverty of
spirit, holiness and purity of life, mercy and compassion, charity and justice,
love and forgiveness, peacemaking and prophets for truth. These are the
principles that Christians live by.
Not only is Jesus our
rock, He is our fortress as well.
The prophet said, “We have a strong city; to guard us he has set wall and
rampart about us.” The wall of Jesus, which is His word, shields us
from the attack of our enemies, especially in the face of attack and false
doctrines and undesirable values that come into our lives. St Paul wrote,
“All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for
correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be
complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim 3:16f) He also reminded the Christians
that “the household of God, which is the church of the living God, (is) the
pillar and bulwark of the truth.” (1 Tim 3:15) Besides being the wall of defence,
God is the one that gives us an overview and fuller perspective of life.
This is what it means to say that God is our rampart, which is that part on top
of the wall of a castle where there is a walkway for the soldiers to see from
afar anyone who is approaching the city. In this way, we will have
the foresight to see far and near the outcome of the policies that we formulate
for our people.
The psalmist invites us, let us place
our entire trust and confidence in Jesus, our rock and fortress, “Trust
in the Lord for ever, for the Lord is the everlasting Rock; he has brought low
those who lived high up in the steep citadel; brings it down, brings it down to
the ground, flings it down in the dust: the feet of the lowly, the footsteps of
the poor trample on it.” Indeed, because Christ is our rock and
fortress, we are called to build our lives on Him. Only by trusting
in Him, can we win victory.
So today, let us delay
no longer. With the psalmist
we pray, “Open to me the gates of holiness: I will enter and give thanks. This
is the Lord’s own gate where the just may enter. I will thank you for you have
answered and you are my saviour.” If our minds are focused on the Lord,
our hearts will be at rest because we know He will help us to fight this
battle. With upright heart and upright life, we march on with confidence
and peace. Putting into practice what the Lord teaches us is what
ultimately matters. “Therefore, everyone who listens to these words of mine and
acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock.
Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and hurled themselves against that
house, and it did not fall: it was founded on rock.”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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