20190205
LIVE
EACH DAY TO THE FULLEST
05 FEBRUARY,
2019, Tuesday, Lunar New Year
Num 6:22-27
22 The Lord said to Moses, 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons,
‘This is how you are to bless the
Israelites. Say to them:
24 “‘“The Lord bless you
and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”’
and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”’
27 “So they
will put my name on the
Israelites, and I will bless them.”
Psalms 90
in
all generations.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
or
ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world,
from
everlasting to everlasting thou art God.
3 Thou turnest man back to the dust,
and
sayest, “Turn back, O children of men!”
4 For a thousand years in thy sight
are
but as yesterday when it is past,
or
as a watch in the night.
5 Thou dost sweep men away; they are like a dream,
like
grass which is renewed in the morning:
6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
in
the evening it fades and withers.
7 For we are consumed by thy anger;
by
thy wrath we are overwhelmed.
8 Thou hast set our iniquities before thee,
our
secret sins in the light of thy countenance.
9 For all our days pass away under thy wrath,
our
years come to an endf like a sigh.
10 The years of our life are threescore and ten,
or
even by reason of strength fourscore;
yet
their spang is but toil and trouble;
they
are soon gone, and we fly away.
11 Who considers the power of thy anger,
and
thy wrath according to the fear of thee?
12 So teach us to number our days
that
we may get a heart of wisdom.
13 Return, O Lord! How
long?
Have
pity on thy servants!
14 Satisfy us in the morning with thy steadfast love,
that
we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad as many days as thou hast afflicted us,
and
as many years as we have seen evil.
16 Let thy work be manifest to thy servants,
and
thy glorious power to their children.
17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and
establish thou the work of our hands upon us,
yea,
the work of our hands establish thou it.
James 4:13-15
13 Come now, you who say,
“Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there
and trade and get gain”; 14 whereas you do not know
about tomorrow. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little
time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say,
“If the Lord wills, we shall live and we shall do this or that.”
Mt 6:31-34
31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What
shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles
seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But
seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be
yours as well.
34 “Therefore do not be anxious
about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own
trouble be sufficient for the day.
LIVE EACH DAY TO
THE FULLEST
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ NUM 6:22-27; PS 90; JAMES 4:13-15; MT 6:31-34 ]
Every New Year is an
auspicious day.
It is welcomed with great joy and celebration. All are invited to
celebrate and be happy. Every New Year gives hope to humanity that the
New Year would be better and happier than the previous year. This
is particularly true for the Lunar New Year. In Asia where Lunar New Year
is celebrated by different nationalities and races, it is celebrated with great
festivity. The newness of the New Year is signified by the wearing of new
clothes and making everything new. Houses are swept thoroughly and new
curtains and decorations are put up. The food items are all symbolic of
the hopes of humanity – fertility, progress, prosperity, peace and happiness.
However, the New Year
cannot bring real happiness and give a new beginning unless we are willing to
leave the past behind. The
irony is that the things and customs that we do on Lunar New Year contradict
what is happening in our lives. If we want to be receptive to the newness
of the New Year, then we must be ready to let go of our past, especially the
mistakes that we have made and others have made. So long as we continue
to live in the past, condemning ourselves for our failures and our mistakes,
regretting and lamenting our past, or blaming and holding resentment against
those who have hurt us, disappointed or betrayed us, we will not be able to
find real peace and happiness in the New Year.
The other group of
people that cannot receive happiness and start a new beginning in the New Year
are those who live forever in the future. They are always worrying about
tomorrow. They live their lives in anxiety about the future. They
worry each day until they die. When we keep worrying about the future, we
cannot live the present fully. This is what the Lord said. “Do not
worry; do not say, “What are we to eat? What are we to drink? How are we to be
clothed?” It is the pagans who set their hearts on all these things. Your
heavenly Father knows you need them all.” We do not trust in God who will
provide our needs. Hence, such people are called pagans because they do
not know that God is their heavenly Father. As such, they only depend on
themselves, and knowing how limited and fragile they are, they cannot but live
in fear of the future, the unknown and the unseen. There is no peace and
security in this life. So they try to hoard and build up their security
nest, only to realize that nothing is predictable in life.
Indeed, there are two
days in a year where nothing can be done, yesterday and tomorrow. Yesterday is gone and will not come back
again. Tomorrow is yet to come. We have only today. That is
why the Lord invites us to just focus on today. He said, “Set your hearts
in his kingdom first, and on his righteousness, and all these other things will
be given to you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow: tomorrow will take
care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
But what did Jesus mean
when He instructed us to live just for today? Living just for today does
not mean that we are to live irresponsibly without any thought for tomorrow. This is precisely the attitude of
worldly people today. They just live only for themselves. They want
to enjoy as much from this world as possible. They want to grab as much
as they can because they believe that when they die, they will vanish from the
face of this earth. They have no responsibility towards the future
generation, their country and their community. Life is about themselves
and not about the future of humanity. So they live from day to day,
enjoying all that we can each day. They seek all the pleasures that this
life affords. They spend all they have and leave nothing for
others. This is an irresponsible life. This is not what Jesus meant
when He says that we should not worry about tomorrow but just live for today.
We must not forget the
all-important command of Jesus when He prefaced this saying by reminding us to
set our hearts “in his kingdom first, and on his righteousness”, and all these
other things will be given to us as well. In order to live responsibly day by day,
we must first set our hearts on His kingdom of righteousness. This is to
say that we must be intent on building the kingdom of love, justice and peace
on earth. This involves right relationship with ourselves, with others
and with God. Unless we live a just life, a life that is honest, just,
compassionate and gracious, we cannot say that we have live the day well.
When we live a just and
honest life each day, then every other day will take care of itself. Truly, if each of us would to act
responsibly according to our vocation and state of life, according to the
talents and opportunities that God has blessed us with, then why should we be
worried about tomorrow? If we have been studying diligently, why should
we be afraid of exams? If we have been preparing our projects, why should
we be afraid of failure? If we have been honest in our ways, why is there
a need to be afraid that one day our crimes would be exposed? If we have
been faithful in our relationships, why should we be afraid when others gossip
about us?
Indeed, if we live our
life as faithfully and responsibly as we should, there is nothing to worry
about tomorrow. When
tomorrow comes, we will be prepared. We should only live for 24 hours
each day. However, we must make full use of this time given to us.
We must ensure that we live a holistic life, have a balanced lifestyle, time
for work, for play, for relationships, for service and for God. If we
live every moment of our day fully and meaningfully, using it for our good and
the good of others, then each day will provide us with joy and meaning.
By living today well, tomorrow will already take care of by itself.
The only reason why we should worry about tomorrow is because we have not lived
fully for today.
Indeed, life is
short. Therefore, we must not squander our time, days, and opportunities
for life away. The
psalmist says, “You turn men back into dust and say: ‘Go back, sons of men’. To
your eyes a thousand years are like yesterday, come and gone, no more than a
watch in the night. You sweep men away like a dream, like grass, which
springs up in the morning. In the morning, it springs up and flowers; by
evening, it withers and fades. Make us know the shortness of our life
that we may gain wisdom of heart. Lord, relent! Is your anger forever?
Show pity on your servants.” Indeed, when we look at the butterfly,
its lifespan is very short, but yet it flies joyfully everywhere, delighting
the eyes and hearts of many. So too, in the final analysis, it is not how
long we live but how well we live. Each moment in life when lived fully
and joyfully is already enough for the day.
Our future is in the
hands of God. We do not have full control of our lives. Man
proposes, God disposes.
This is what St James told his people. “Here is the answer for those of
you who talk like this: ‘Today or tomorrow, we are off to this or that town; we
are going to spend a year there, trading, and make some money.’ You never know
what will happen tomorrow; you are no more than a mist that is here for a
little while and then disappears. The most you should ever say is: ‘If it is
the Lord’s will, we shall still be alive to do this or that.'” Doing His
will is what will give us peace and joy.
So we should ask God to
bless us as the Lord instructed Moses. “May the Lord bless you and keep you. May
the Lord let his face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord uncover
his face to you and bring you peace.” Unless the Lord shows His
face to us, we do not know how we should we live. God has revealed His
face to us in Jesus who shows us how to live each day of our life in faith and
in love. Like Jesus, if we simply learn to trust in our heavenly Father,
we will be more at peace with ourselves. “Spread love everywhere you
go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier, says St Teresa
of Calcutta. Indeed, the best medicine for humans is
love. If someone says, it does not work, then simply increase the
dosage. Let us therefore spread love and joy to everyone, and we will
receive them as well.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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