20190728
GROWING
IN HOLINESS
28 JULY, 2019,
Sunday, 17th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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Genesis 18:20-32 ©
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Abraham negotiates with the Lord
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The Lord said, ‘How great an outcry there
is against Sodom and Gomorrah! How grievous is their sin! I propose to go down
and see whether or not they have done all that is alleged in the outcry against
them that has come up to me. I am determined to know.’
The
men left there and went to Sodom while Abraham remained standing before the
Lord. Approaching him he said, ‘Are you really going to destroy the just man
with the sinner? Perhaps there are fifty just men in the town. Will you really
overwhelm them, will you not spare the place for the fifty just men in it? Do
not think of doing such a thing: to kill the just man with the sinner, treating
just and sinner alike! Do not think of it! Will the judge of the whole earth
not administer justice?’ the Lord replied, ‘If at Sodom I find fifty just men
in the town, I will spare the whole place because of them.’
Abraham
replied, ‘I am bold indeed to speak like this to my Lord, I who am dust and
ashes. But perhaps the fifty just men lack five: will you destroy the whole
city for five?’ ‘No,’ he replied ‘I will not destroy it if I find forty-five
just men there.’ Again Abraham said to him, ‘Perhaps there will only be forty
there.’ ‘I will not do it’ he replied ‘for the sake of the forty.’
Abraham
said, ‘I trust my Lord will not be angry, but give me leave to speak: perhaps
there will only be thirty there.’ ‘I will not do it’ he replied ‘if I find
thirty there.’ He said, ‘I am bold indeed to speak like this, but perhaps there
will only be twenty there.’ ‘I will not destroy it’ he replied ‘for the sake of
the twenty.’ He said, ‘I trust my Lord will not be angry if I speak once more:
perhaps there will only be ten.’ ‘I will not destroy it’ he replied ‘for the
sake of the ten.’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 137(138):1-3,6-8 ©
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On the day I called, you
answered me, O Lord.
I thank you, Lord, with all my heart:
you have heard the words of my
mouth.
In the presence of the angels I will bless
you.
I will adore before your holy
temple.
On the day I called, you
answered me, O Lord.
I thank you for your faithfulness and
love,
which excel all we ever knew
of you.
On the day I called, you answered;
you increased the strength of
my soul.
On the day I called, you
answered me, O Lord.
The Lord is high yet he looks on the lowly
and the haughty he knows from
afar.
Though I walk in the midst of affliction
you give me life and frustrate
my foes.
On the day I called, you
answered me, O Lord.
You stretch out your hand and save me,
your hand will do all things
for me.
Your love, O Lord, is eternal,
discard not the work of your
hands.
On the day I called, you
answered me, O Lord.
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Second reading
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Colossians 2:12-14 ©
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Christ has brought you to life with him
and forgiven us all our sins
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You have been buried with Christ, when you
were baptised; and by baptism, too, you have been raised up with him through
your belief in the power of God who raised him from the dead. You were dead,
because you were sinners and had not been circumcised: he has brought you to
life with him, he has forgiven us all our sins.
He
has overridden the Law, and cancelled every record of the debt that we had to
pay; he has done away with it by nailing it to the cross.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Jn1:14,12
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The Word was made flesh and lived among
us:
to all who did accept him
he gave power to become children of God.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Rm8:15
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The spirit you received is the spirit of
sons,
and it makes us cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 11:1-13 ©
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How to pray
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Once Jesus was in a certain place praying,
and when he had finished one of his disciples said, ‘Lord, teach us to pray,
just as John taught his disciples.’
He
said to them, ‘Say this when you pray:
‘“Father, may your name be held holy,
your kingdom come;
give us each day our daily bread,
and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive each one who is
in debt to us.
And do not put us to the test.”’
He also said to them:
‘Suppose
one of you has a friend and goes to him in the middle of the night to say, “My
friend, lend me three loaves, because a friend of mine on his travels has just
arrived at my house and I have nothing to offer him”; and the man answers from
inside the house, “Do not bother me. The door is bolted now, and my children
and I are in bed; I cannot get up to give it you.” I tell you, if the man does
not get up and give it him for friendship’s sake, persistence will be enough to
make him get up and give his friend all he wants.
‘So
I say to you: Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find;
knock, and the door will be opened to you. For the one who asks always
receives; the one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always
have the door opened to him. What father among you would hand his son a stone
when he asked for bread? Or hand him a snake instead of a fish? Or hand him a
scorpion if he asked for an egg? If you then, who are evil, know how to give
your children what is good, how much more will the heavenly Father give the
Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’
GROWING IN
HOLINESS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Gen 18:20-32; Ps 138:1-3, 6-8; Col 2:12-14; Lk 11:1-13 ]
The call to holiness
remains always a constant reminder of the Church. St John Paul II in his apostolic letter,
“At the beginning of the new millennium” wrote, “First of all, I have no
hesitation in saying that all pastoral initiatives must be set in relation
to holiness. (NMI 30) Since Baptism is a true entry into the holiness of
God through incorporation into Christ and the indwelling of his Spirit, it
would be a contradiction to settle for a life of mediocrity, marked by a
minimalist ethic and a shallow religiosity. To ask catechumens: ‘Do you wish to
receive Baptism?’ means at the same time to ask them: ‘Do you wish to become
holy?'” (NMI 31)
In baptism we are given
a new status in life. To
be baptized means to put on Christ. In the second reading, St Paul
wrote, “You have been buried with Christ, when you were baptised; and by
baptism, too, you have been raised up with him through your belief in the power
of God who raised him from the dead.” Our sins have been forgiven and so
we are called to live out our new dignity as sons and daughters of God.
Indeed, what does it mean to be a saint, if not to let the light of
Christ shine through us in all that we say and do?
Baptism implies our call
to be the image of our Heavenly Father because we are now His sons and
daughters in Christ.
This is why the Lord taught us to pray the Our Father and the Church since then
has required all Christians to pray the Lord’s Prayer daily as a mark of being
a Christian. In teaching the disciples to pray, the Lord said that when
we pray, we say, “Father, may your name be held holy, your kingdom
come.” To address God as our Heavenly Father reminds us that we are
firstly His children. Secondly, as His children we are called to reflect
His holiness in our lives. When we live the life of Christ, we reflect
the love of our heavenly Father. So honoring the name of the Father means
more than just praising Him but to praise Him in our lives.
But what does it mean to
be holy? How can one be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect? Only God is perfect, as the Lord
said to the rich man, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God
alone.” (Mk 10:18) Holiness
is therefore not seeking the perfection of God in terms of His essence.
Rather, the perfection we are seeking is to become like Him in charity and
forgiveness. In the gospel, Jesus made it clear that we must “Love
your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be
children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on
the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if
you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax
collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and
sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do
the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is
perfect.” (Mt 5:44-48)
The call to charity is
founded on the fact that we are all God’s children, regardless whether they are
our enemies or non-believers.
In the Parable of the Last Judgement, the Lord said, “Truly I tell you, just as
you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did
it to me.” (Mt 25:40) We
are called to love everyone. St John wrote, “Beloved, let us love one
another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows
God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (1 Jn 4:7f) A child of God is one who
loves and gives himself to the service of God and his fellowmen. We must
not behave like the man in the gospel who had to be pushed to give bread to a
traveller who was hungry. He did not want to be
inconvenienced. Abram on the contrary was a man of compassion and
interceded for God’s forgiveness even for sinful people. Earlier on we
read of Abram’s hospitality in welcoming the three men, by so doing unknowingly
he was welcoming God, the Holy Trinity into his house and his life.
But most of all, the
greatest form of perfection of a Christian and the hallmark of Christianity is
the capacity to forgive our enemies and those who have hurt us. This is what God expects all of us
to do. In the Lord’s Prayer, He taught us to pray thus, “forgive us our
sins, for we ourselves forgive each one who is in debt to us.” A
Christian is not just called to love those who need our help but to love and
care even for our enemies, just like the Good Samaritan in the gospel who took
care of his enemy who was injured after being robbed by bandits. (cf Lk 10:25-37) St Peter exhorted the
Christians, “Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the
contrary, repay with a blessing. It is for this that you were called – that you
might inherit a blessing. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when
you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be
put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering
should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil.” (1 Pt 3:9, 16, 17)
Indeed, the nature of
God is to forgive and this is expressed clearly in the first reading. Abram was not so much bargaining
with God to forgive his fellow sinners but to find out the capacity of God to
forgive. The moral of the story is that God’s forgiveness is without
limits so long as the people are willing to repent. It is not that if we
do not repent, God will not forgive us but that our evil and hardened hearts
prevent us from receiving His forgiveness. This explains also why the
Lord said that we must forgive others if we were to receive His
forgiveness. St Paul wrote, “You were dead, because you were sinners and
had not been circumcised: he has brought you to life with him, he has forgiven
us all our sins. He has overridden the Law, and cancelled every record of the
debt that we had to pay; he has done away with it by nailing it to the cross.”
How then can we find the
capacity to love if not through cultivating an intense prayer life that is both
personal and communal?
Again this was what St John Paul II wrote, “This training in holiness calls for
a Christian life distinguished above all in the art of prayer. But we well
know that prayer cannot be taken for granted. We have to learn to pray: as it
were learning this art ever anew from the lips of the Divine Master himself,
like the first disciples: ‘Lord, teach us to pray!'(Lk 11:1).” (NMI 32). We must
make time for intense personal prayer and worship in the community as well, not
forgetting also to form circles of prayers with our friends.
St John Paul also said,
“Prayer develops that conversation with Christ which makes us his intimate
friends: ‘Abide in me and I in you’ (Jn 15:4).” (NMI 32) This was
the same intimacy that Abram and Moses developed with the Lord. Only
with intimacy, can we pray with confidence and faith like a child as the Lord
urges us in the gospel. “What father among you would hand his son a stone
when he asked for bread? Or hand him a snake instead of a fish? Or hand him a
scorpion if he asked for an egg? If you then, who are evil, know how to give
your children what is good, how much more will the heavenly Father give the
Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’ So we must pray above all for the Holy
Spirit because it is the Spirit of Christ and the Father. In the Holy
Spirit, God comes to abide in us and we in Him. Filled with His love and
imbued with His Spirit, we can walk a life of freedom and joy.
But we do not just pray
for ourselves; we must learn to pray as Abram prayed to the Lord for his
people, sincerely and with perseverance. His prayer was never selfish and not for
himself but for others, even for sinners. This was how the Lord prayed as
well. On the cross, He not only excused His enemies but He interceded for
them. “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” (Lk 23:34) That was how Mary prayed,
always reaching out to others as in helping Elizabeth, interceding for others
as in Cana, and forgiving the enemies of her Son as He did. We too
must always keep others in our prayer, especially the Church, our bishops and
priests and those in authority. St Paul wrote, “I urge that
supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for
everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead
a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity” (1 Tim 2:1f) In this way, we can
grow in grace and holiness. We become the face of our heavenly Father and
a model after the heart of Christ.
Finally, we must pray
for ourselves. It is not enough to ask for our daily bread but we must
pray for the Bread of life that helps us to grow in self-awareness and
knowledge of who we are. When Jesus asked us to pray for our daily bread, He
was referring to the Bread of Tomorrow, the bread of heaven which is Jesus
Himself in the Eucharist and the Word of God. Through the Word of God, we
seek and we knock, to discover the motivations of our hearts and the thoughts
in our minds. Holiness is not simply asking for temporal favours
but growing in faith, in love and charity. For this reason, we must keep
on searching through study and meditation, keep on knocking, that is
persevering in our growth in Christian life, never giving up on ourselves when
we fail but trusting in His unconditional forgiveness and mercy.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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