20190721 WELCOMING
CHRIST AMONG YOU, YOUR HOPE OF GLORY
21 JULY, 2019,
Sunday, 16th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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Genesis 18:1-10 ©
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'Next year your wife Sarah will have a
son'
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The Lord appeared to Abraham at the Oak of
Mamre while he was sitting by the entrance of the tent during the hottest part
of the day. He looked up, and there he saw three men standing near him. As soon
as he saw them he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them, and bowed to
the ground. ‘My lord,’ he said ‘I beg you, if I find favour with you, kindly do
not pass your servant by. A little water shall be brought; you shall wash your
feet and lie down under the tree. Let me fetch a little bread and you shall
refresh yourselves before going further. That is why you have come in your
servant’s direction.’ They replied, ‘Do as you say.’
Abraham
hastened to the tent to find Sarah.’ ‘Hurry,’ he said ‘knead three bushels of
flour and make loaves.’ Then running to the cattle Abraham took a fine and
tender calf and gave it to the servant, who hurried to prepare it. Then taking
cream, milk and the calf he had prepared, he laid all before them, and they ate
while he remained standing near them under the tree.
‘Where
is your wife Sarah?’ they asked him. ‘She is in the tent’ he replied. Then his
guest said, ‘I shall visit you again next year without fail, and your wife will
then have a son.’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 14(15):2-5 ©
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The just will live in
the presence of the Lord.
Lord, who shall dwell on your holy
mountain?
He who walks without fault;
he who acts with justice
and speaks the truth from his heart;
he who does not slander with his tongue.
The just will live in
the presence of the Lord.
He who does no wrong to his brother,
who casts no slur on his neighbour,
who holds the godless in disdain,
but honours those who fear the Lord.
The just will live in
the presence of the Lord.
He who keeps his pledge, come what may;
who takes no interest on a loan
and accepts no bribes against the
innocent.
Such a man will stand firm for ever.
The just will live in
the presence of the Lord.
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Second reading
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Colossians 1:24-28 ©
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A mystery hidden for generations has
been revealed to God's saints
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It makes me happy to suffer for you, as I
am suffering now, and in my own body to do what I can to make up all that has
still to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church. I became
the servant of the Church when God made me responsible for delivering God’s
message to you, the message which was a mystery hidden for generations and
centuries and has now been revealed to his saints. It was God’s purpose to
reveal it to them and to show all the rich glory of this mystery to pagans. The
mystery is Christ among you, your hope of glory: this is the Christ we
proclaim, this is the wisdom in which we thoroughly train everyone and instruct
everyone, to make them all perfect in Christ.
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Gospel Acclamation
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cf.Ac16:14
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O Lord,
to accept the words of your Son.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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cf.Lk8:15
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are those who,
with a noble and generous heart,
take the word of God to themselves
and yield a harvest through their
perseverance.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 10:38-42 ©
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Martha works; Mary listens
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Jesus came to a village, and a woman named
Martha welcomed him into her house. She had a sister called Mary, who sat down
at the Lord’s feet and listened to him speaking. Now Martha who was distracted
with all the serving said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me
to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me.’ But the Lord
answered: ‘Martha, Martha,’ he said ‘you worry and fret about so many things,
and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part;
it is not to be taken from her.’
WELCOMING CHRIST
AMONG YOU, YOUR HOPE OF GLORY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ Gen 18:1-10; Ps 15:2-5; Col 1:24-28; Lk 10:38-42 ]
Many of us find life in
a modern city very competitive and hectic. Everyone is so busy with so many commitments
and projects. We are in this rat race, pursuing excellence, seeking one
thing after another, one degree after another. Over and above what we do
in our work or responsibilities, we are supposed to give our time to social and
community work, whether in church or in an NGO. Some of us are
burnt-out. We know that we are on the verge of burn-out when we become
edgy, irritable, angry, resentful and losing passion and zeal in what we are
doing. When we feel that our efforts are futile and we have nothing else
to give or to value add to an organization or the work we do, we are suffering
burn-out syndrome. Eventually we give up completely, falling into
depression.
This was the case of
Martha in the gospel. She was attending to the Lord. She had good intentions of offering
Jesus the best of hospitality, providing for His needs, preparing food for His
meal. She wanted attention from the Lord but He was giving attention to
Mary, or rather, it was Mary who was giving personal attention to the Lord,
sitting at the Lord’s feet and listening to Him. Exasperated, “Martha who
was distracted with all the serving said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister
is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me.'”
Indeed, so many of us
are distracted by so many things in life that we lose focus on what life is and
what we are called to do in life. We are driven by the crowd. We follow the
herd. We are chasing one thing after another. We think that life is
all about success and ambition. Some think that life is all about
enjoyment and pleasures. Some think that life is all about social and
charitable work. Some just drift through life without any real purpose or
orientation. Many of us live fragmented lives. We cannot see the
thread that runs through all that we are doing. Our activities seem to be
rather disjointed. They are just done for the sake of doing. This
is why we lack passion and conviction in our work, family life, relationships
and in our faith as well.
This is simply because
we do not know who we are and what we are called to be. Our identity and destination
determine how we live our lives meaningfully and purposefully. This was
what St Paul felt called to do. He, too, was very successful in his early
life as a teacher and rabbi. He was a strict Jew, meticulous in observing
all the laws. But his life was empty till he met Christ at
Damascus. That event changed his whole life and orientation. Having
rediscovered his true identity and his goal in life, he felt the Lord’s call to
reveal the same to us all. That was what he wrote in today’s second
reading. “I became the servant of the Church when God made me responsible
for delivering God’s message to you, the message which was a mystery hidden for
generations and centuries and has now been revealed to his saints. It was God’s
purpose to reveal it to them and to show all the rich glory of this mystery to
pagans. The mystery is Christ among you, your hope of glory: this is the Christ
we proclaim, this is the wisdom in which we thoroughly train everyone and
instruct everyone, to make them all perfect in Christ.”
Indeed, God’s purpose is
to reveal His divine plan for us and for humanity in and through
Christ. He
is the revealer of the Father and His plans for us all. He is also the
revealer of our true humanity as well. “The Church firmly believes that
Christ, who died and was raised up for all, can through His Spirit offer man
the light and the strength to measure up to his supreme destiny. Nor has any
other name under the heaven been given to man by which it is fitting for him to
be saved. She likewise holds that in her most benign Lord and Master can be
found the key, the focal point and the goal of man, as well as of all human
history.” (GS 10) We are called to be the glory of Christ by
becoming perfect in Him.
Christ, then, is our
exemplar of how can we live our lives meaningfully and joyfully. The joy
of life is when we make our hearts open to welcome others into our lives. In the final analysis, it is not pleasure
that will satisfy us because the moment our physical and sensual needs are
satisfied, we feel bored. Neither is happiness in life a matter of
achievements, finding success in our work or business. Glory and wealth
alone cannot make us happy. In fact, they can make us distance ourselves
from people because of insecurity, pride and arrogance. Rather, happiness
is to make friends with what we have in life. Jesus in His life used all
His resources, wealth, time and energy to help people, to enrich others and to
heal them. He came as a servant to serve all.
This was the case of
Abraham, Mary and Martha in today’s scripture readings as well. We read of Abraham’s great
hospitality in welcoming the three men to his tent. He was a generous
host. He brought water to wash the feet of his guests and provided a
banquet for them. He went beyond the customary hospitality that was
required. This was also the case of Mary and Martha. Both were
equally welcoming to the Lord, each in their own way. For Mary, she felt
that what the Lord needed was her presence and her attentiveness to what He
wanted to share with them. For Martha, she was more concerned about His
physical and material comfort and needs. But nonetheless, both were
welcoming.
In welcoming people into
our lives, we are welcoming Christ without knowing it. Little did Abraham know that in
welcoming the three men, he was welcoming God into his tent. And this is
the truth about offering friendship and hospitality to strangers. Very
often, in welcoming people into our homes and circle of friendships, we feel
inconvenienced and unsettled because our routine is upset. Yet, by
allowing others to enter into our lives, not only do they feel welcomed and
loved, but we are also enriched by their sharing and by their lives. What
we give to them in terms of time and resources, they bless us with their
presence and expand our horizon in understanding and appreciating life.
We grow in wisdom and understanding. In welcoming the three strangers,
Sarah was blessed with a child from God!
Indeed, we must be
generous in offering friendship, especially to those who are lonely and without
friends, especially those who are strangers in our community, particularly the
migrants. Jesus
saw the importance of friendship for He was a good friend of Mary, Martha and
Lazarus. He loved them and so when Lazarus died, he broke down and
wept. (cf Jn 11:5, 13) Such was the close friendship that
Jesus had with them. We, too, must not just extend hospitality but
friendship to those who are new in our community. We must take the
trouble to welcome new members to our community instead of being so absorbed
with the rest of our friends, making the newbies unwelcome, whether in our
organization or office. Only in building true friendship can we
experience the love of God in our midst.
That is why we must be
the glory of Christ and His hope in us. St Paul in the first reading speaks of
completing the sufferings of Christ in His body. “It makes me happy
to suffer for you, as I am suffering now, and in my own body to do what I can
to make up all that has still to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his
body, the Church.” We must allow Christ to be formed in us and be made
perfect in Him so that His glory and hope will shine through us.
To be good friends to
others, the responsorial psalm says that we must live in the presence of the
Lord. We
must focus our lives on Christ so that we can refocus ourselves. Hearing
the Word of God as Mary did is the key to truly loving the Lord and serving
Him. Otherwise we become restless, like Martha, and distracted in the
process of entertaining our guests, looking after the welfare and needs of
those under our charge. Instead of showing welcome to our guests, our
hearts are preoccupied with other interests. Anxiety and preoccupation
prevent us from opening our hearts to others, including our spouse and loved
ones. That is why we must learn from Mary who had chosen the better
part. It is not what we do for God or for others that matters, but how we
listen to each other, feel with each other, and then we can better care for
each other’s real needs rather than the perceived ones.
So let us live a
balanced life. We should not be simply caring for others, working all day
and night, but we must take time out for ourselves. We need time to pray, to rest and to be
alone with the Lord so that we can spend quality time with others. We
need time to learn and to grow. We, too, must learn to receive and not
just to give. Even the Lord was able to receive from others. It is
not enough to care for others; we must allow others to care for us as
well. This is what friendship is all about, giving and receiving, loving
and being loved. Hence, we need to examine our priorities again. It
is true that we have many things to do, but unless we know what are the essentials
and what are not, we would be running frantically trying to do everything and
getting ourselves all stressed up and upset others. What is that one
thing that is most necessary for us if we want to be truly loving people?
Choosing God first will give us the strength and the capacity to love
authentically and serve joyfully. Only the Word of God can give meaning
to all our activities.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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