20190702
LETTING
GO IN FAITH
02 JULY, 2019,
Tuesday, 13th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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Genesis 19:15-29 ©
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The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
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The angels urged Lot, ‘Come, take your
wife and these two daughters of yours, or you will be overwhelmed in the
punishment of the town.’ And as he hesitated, the men took him by the hand, and
his wife and his two daughters, because of the pity the Lord felt for him. They
led him out and left him outside the town.
As
they were leading him out he said, ‘Run for your life. Neither look behind you
nor stop anywhere on the plain. Make for the hills if you would not be
overwhelmed.’ ‘No, I beg you, my lord,’ Lot said to them ‘your servant has won
your favour and you have shown great kindness to me in saving my life. But I
could not reach the hills before this calamity overtook me, and death with it.
The town over there is near enough to flee to, and is a little one. Let me make
for that – is it not little? – and my life will be saved.’ He
answered, ‘I grant you this favour too, and will not destroy the town you speak
of. Hurry, escape to it, for I can do nothing until you reach it.’ That is why
the town is named Zoar.
As
the sun rose over the land and Lot entered Zoar, the Lord rained on Sodom and
Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord. He overthrew these towns and the
whole plain, with all the inhabitants of the towns, and everything that grew
there. But the wife of Lot looked back, and was turned into a pillar of salt.
Rising
early in the morning Abraham went to the place where he had stood before the
Lord, and looking towards Sodom and Gomorrah, and across all the plain, he saw
the smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.
Thus
it was that when God destroyed the towns of the plain, he kept Abraham in mind
and rescued Lot out of disaster when he overwhelmed the towns where Lot lived.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 25(26):2-3,9-12 ©
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Your love, O Lord, is
before my eyes.
Examine me, Lord, and try me;
O test my heart and my mind,
for your love is before my eyes
and I walk according to your
truth.
Your love, O Lord, is
before my eyes.
Do not sweep me away with sinners,
nor my life with bloodthirsty
men
in whose hands are evil plots,
whose right hands are filled
with gold.
Your love, O Lord, is
before my eyes.
As for me, I walk the path of perfection.
Redeem me and show me your
mercy.
My foot stands on level ground:
I will bless the Lord in the
assembly.
Your love, O Lord, is
before my eyes.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Ps147:12,15
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Alleluia, alleluia!
O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
He sends out his word to the earth.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Ps129:5
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Alleluia, alleluia!
My soul is waiting for the Lord,
I count on his word.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 8:23-27 ©
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Jesus rebuked the winds and the seas,
and all was calm
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Jesus got into the boat followed by his
disciples. Without warning a storm broke over the lake, so violent that the
waves were breaking right over the boat. But he was asleep. So they went to him
and woke him saying, ‘Save us, Lord, we are going down!’ And he said to them,
‘Why are you so frightened, you men of little faith?’ And with that he stood up
and rebuked the winds and the sea; and all was calm again. The men were
astounded and said, ‘Whatever kind of man is this? Even the winds and the sea
obey him.’
LETTING GO IN
FAITH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ Gn 19:15-29; Ps 26:2-3, 9-12; Mt 8:23-27]
Most of us in life are
driven by fear rather than by faith and love. It is fear of being left behind that
drives us to succeed in life. It is fear that drives us to compete with
others and see them as our enemies and opponents. It is fear that we
might not have enough to live a life of comfort that makes us attached to our
wealth. It is fear that without power, people will control our lives that
makes us cling to our power, position and office. It is fear that makes
us want to possess our loved ones because we are scared that without them, we
will be alone and have no one to support us. It is fear that prevents
many from letting go of their sinful way of life because they do not know
whether there is a better life than what they have. As the proverb says,
“a bird in hand is worth two in the bush.”
Indeed, we can identify
ourselves with Lot in the first reading. Lot was a wealthy man and so was
unable to detach himself from his wealth. When he separated from Abraham, “Lot looked
about him, and saw that the plain of the Jordan was well watered everywhere
like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of
Zoar; this was before the Lord had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.”
(Gn 13:10) He had built his
business in Sodom and Gomorrah. He had property and his wealth was there.
Therefore, when he heard that God was about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, he
was rather reluctant to leave the place. He was so attached to his wealth
that he could not let go of them. He hesitated and the angels “took him
by the hand, and his wife and his two daughters.” Even though the danger
was ahead of him, he tried to delay leaving the town. When asked to run
for the hills to save his life, he gave all kinds of excuses why he could not
make it there. When forced to decide, he pleaded with the Lord to at
least let him take refuge in Zoar.
This is true for us as
well. Many of us are not willing to let go of our wealth and our sins,
even when we know that they are making us miserable, robbing us of our peace
and joy. We cannot let go
of the hurts that people have inflicted on us, and we continue to bear
resentment in our hearts even though we know that keeping grudges against our
enemies make us more miserable than ever. Even those who have had a
conversion experience find themselves unable to make a clean break from their
attachments in life, whether to money, power, status, friends or
self-indulgence. We keep looking back, like Lot’s wife, even though we
are told, “Run for your life. Neither look behind you nor stop anywhere
on the plain. Make for the hills if you would not be overwhelmed.”
But we would not listen.
Indeed, like the
apostles, even when we have Jesus with us, we continue to live in fear of
letting go. Our
so-called faith in Christ does not seem to give us the power to be liberated
from our fears, our attachments and our sins. The apostles had lived
and walked with Jesus. They saw the miracles and the powers of healing
and exorcism the Lord had worked. They should have been the most secure
of all peoples so long as the Lord was with them. Yet, when they
encountered the storm, even though they were experienced fishermen, they became
frightened. They cried out to Him, “Save us, Lord, we are going
down!”
Why is it that we cannot
let go even when we know that what we are holding on to are illusions that
offer no guarantee of real security?
Whether it is money, wealth, power, status and health, all these will
pass. There is no security and peace even if we have them because having
them makes us afraid to lose them. So, we spend all our time and effort
trying to keep what we have and ironically, have no time to enjoy our wealth
and freedom. Why is it that even though we know that Jesus is our Saviour
and in Him, we find strength and security, yet we do not trust Him?
The answer is
simple. Because we are men of little faith! This was what the Lord said to the
disciples. “Why are you so frightened, you men of little faith?’
And with that he rebuked the winds and the sea; and all was calm again.”
We do not want to trust God and His divine providence. We want to trust
only in ourselves. Although we say we believe in our Lord, we do not
trust that He will look after us and protect us. That is why, like the
rich man in the gospel, we are unable to let go and come with Jesus.
This lack of faith in
our heavenly Father is largely due to the fact that we do not know Him. In the gospel, we read, “The men
were astounded and said, ‘Whatever kind of man is this? Even the winds
and the seas obey him.'” The fact that they did not believe that Jesus
who was with them will save them, meant that they still did not know the true
identity of our Lord. The answer to their question took time to
unfold. They still had a long way to go to know the true identity of
Jesus as the Son of God, the Eternal Word of the Father. The miracle of
the calming of the storm nevertheless set their minds to ponder and wonder who
Jesus really was. Only when we know the identity of Jesus, can we
have confidence in His saving power.
Who, then, is Jesus? That Jesus had power over the storm
means that Jesus is God, because in the scriptures only God has power over
nature. Job asked, “who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from
the womb?” (Job 38:8-11) The
psalmist says, “You silence the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their
waves, the tumult of the peoples.” (Ps 65:7) “You rule the raging of the
sea; when its waves rise, you still them.” (Ps 89:8f) Only because Jesus is Lord,
can we turn to Him to find rest and strength in the midst of the storms of
life. We need to have the gift of faith to come to know Jesus.
We have Jesus who
demonstrated how a man of faith must behave. He was soundly asleep in the boat.
Earlier on, the Lord said to the scribe who wanted to follow Him, “Foxes have
holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay
his head.” (Mt 8:20) This is a
clear instance when the Lord lived His life in total dependence on His heavenly
Father. He did not have a proper bed or pillow but slept in the boat,
tired and exhausted. In spite of the waves beating into the boat, Jesus
was in deep sleep, very much at peace with the heavenly Father, until he was
awakened. Jesus knew His Father and trusted in His love and
fidelity. Truly, a man of faith is tested not in good or peaceful times
but when things are going wrong, yet he is able to remain calm and cool.
But God is patient with
us as He was with the apostles. He
allowed their faith to grow gradually but surely. Whilst it is ideal and
truly a special grace, like St Paul, to be able to let go of our fears and past
completely and to give oneself totally to the Lord without reservation, most of
us have to go through a process of ups and downs in life to learn to entrust
ourselves more and more to the Lord. Gaining confidence in Jesus and
grasping Him as our Lord and Saviour take time. Indeed, the Lord is
merciful as He was to Lot. He was also patient with him. When he
was reluctant to leave the town, the Lord led him out by His hands. He
was ready to compromise and allow him to stay in Zoar. This is what the
psalmist says, “Your love, O Lord, is before my eyes. Do not
sweep me away with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men in whose hands
are evil plots, whose right hands are filled with gold.” But there
is also a warning that the Lord can only do so much by leading us away from
temptations. If we insist on looking back, like Lot’s wife, then we would
have to face the possibility of being hardened by our sins, symbolized by the
hardened pillar of salt.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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