20190809
CHOSEN
FOR FULLNESS OF LIFE
09 AUGUST, 2019,
Friday, 18th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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Deuteronomy 4:32-40 ©
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'Did ever a people before you hear the
voice of the living God, and remain alive?'
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Moses said to the people: ‘Put this
question to the ages that are past, that went before you, from the time God
created man on earth: Was there ever a word so majestic, from one end of heaven
to the other? Was anything ever heard? Did ever a people hear the voice of the
living God speaking from the heart of the fire, as you heard it, and remain
alive? Has any god ventured to take to himself one nation from the midst of
another by ordeals, signs, wonders, war with mighty hand and outstretched arm,
by fearsome terrors – all this that the Lord your God did for you before
your eyes in Egypt?
‘This
he showed you so that you might know that the Lord is God indeed and that there
is no other. He let you hear his voice out of heaven for your instruction; on
earth he let you see his great fire, and from the heart of the fire you heard
his word. Because he loved your fathers and chose their descendants after them,
he brought you out from Egypt, openly showing his presence and his great power,
driving out in front of you nations greater and more powerful than yourself,
and brought you into their land to give it you for your heritage, as it is
still today.
‘Understand
this today, therefore, and take it to heart: the Lord is God indeed, in heaven
above as on earth beneath, he and no other. Keep his laws and commandments as I
give them to you today, so that you and your children may prosper and live long
in the land that the Lord your God gives you for ever.’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 76(77):12-16,21 ©
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I remember the deeds of
the Lord.
I remember the deeds of the Lord,
I remember your wonders of
old,
I muse on all your works
and ponder your mighty deeds.
I remember the deeds of
the Lord.
Your ways, O God, are holy.
What god is great as our God?
You are the God who works wonders.
You showed your power among
the peoples.
I remember the deeds of
the Lord.
Your strong arm redeemed your people,
the sons of Jacob and Joseph.
You guided your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and
Aaron.
I remember the deeds of
the Lord.
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Gospel Acclamation
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1S3:9,Jn6:68
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Speak, Lord, your servant is listening:
you have the message of eternal life.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Mt5:10
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Happy those who are persecuted
in the cause of right,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 16:24-28 ©
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Anyone who loses his life for my sake
will find it
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Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If anyone
wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross
and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone
who loses his life for my sake will find it. What, then, will a man gain if he
wins the whole world and ruins his life? Or what has a man to offer in exchange
for his life?
‘For
the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels,
and, when he does, he will reward each one according to his behaviour. I tell
you solemnly, there are some of these standing here who will not taste death
before they see the Son of Man coming with his kingdom.’
CHOSEN FOR
FULLNESS OF LIFE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ Dt 4:32-40; Ps 77:12-16, 21; Mt 16:24-28 ]
All of us want to
live. But life is more than mere existing. Often, those whose lives are no
longer productive are just waiting for death, especially when they find themselves
unable to give life to others but have instead become a burden to them.
But the meaninglessness of life is not only experienced by elderly and sick
people because it can also happen to young, healthy, rich and successful people
in the world. This is why the Lord asked, “What, then, will a man gain if
he wins the whole world and ruins his life?” Those who are obsessed with
making money, enjoying the pleasures of life, fame and recognition, in truth
might have the whole world but they have no life. This is because they
are slaves to power, status, money and pleasure. Money and power appear
to give us security but in actual fact make us more insecure than ever.
Pleasure alone will not give us real happiness because it can only satisfy the
body’s needs. Once the body is satisfied, the things of this world lose
its taste and attraction, and life becomes empty and meaningless again.
Indeed, all those people
who spend their whole life believing that money, power and status will give
them happiness will come to realize the vanity of it all. King Solomon came to realize this at
the end of his life. He wrote, “So I became great and surpassed all who
were before me in Jerusalem; also my wisdom remained with me. Whatever my
eyes desired I did not keep from them; I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my
heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my
toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had
spent in doing it, and again, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and
there was nothing to be gained under the sun.” (Eccl 2:9-11) So, too, those who have
become really rich and successful in life; many find life empty and full of
problems because of politicking, greed, power, manipulation, conniving and even
killing. This explains why those who are truly happy are those who give
their wealth and services to help the poor and suffering and make this world a
better place.
So the Lord asks us this
thought-provoking question, “what has a man to offer in exchange for his life?”, if power, wealth and pleasure cannot
give us true meaning and happiness in life. Clearly, it is only when we
give our life for love and service. That is why even elderly and sick
people can still find meaning and purpose in life when they use their wisdom or
even sickness to inspire others to live and love. Jesus said, “For
anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life
for my sake will find it.” The truth, as Jesus has shown us in His life,
is that we are created for love and for giving. The entire life of Jesus
was spent in service to His Father and His fellowmen. He reminded His
disciples who were competing for power and authority, that “whoever wishes to
be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be
served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Mt 20:27f)
Even then giving our
lives to others, whilst bringing us some joy and meaning, is not sufficient to
satisfy our soul completely. It is not enough to live for this passing world.
We must live for life eternal. This is what the Lord says to us in the
gospel. “‘For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father
with his angels, and, when he does, he will reward each one according to his
behaviour. I tell you solemnly, there are some of these standing here who
will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming with his
kingdom.” Happiness and meaning of life on this earth must be seen from
the perspective of eternal life. We can afford to lose our earthly and
physical life on this earth only because we want to preserve it for all
eternity in the next life. In the final analysis, eternal life matters
more than this transitory life on this earth.
Hence, we must not only live for our
fellowmen, we must live for God. Only when we live for God can we
then live fully for our fellowmen. When we are motivated by purely
humanitarian purposes, we find ourselves helpless. Even if we can give
all our money and resources away, we can never help all the poor, or satisfy
them because the needs and greed of man are like an abyss that can never be filled.
That is why a higher calling in life is not just to live for others but to live
for the Lord. We are called to lose our life for His sake. Fullness
of life is when we live for Christ so that we can live more for others.
This is what St Paul wrote, “it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who
lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of
God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal 2:19f)
How can we live for God
and for the eternal life that is promised to us? Like St Paul, we can
live for God and for Christ only when we discover His love for us. This was what the Israelites experienced
when they were liberated from Egypt. Moses said to the people, “Because
he loved your fathers and chose their descendants after them, he brought you
out from Egypt, openly showing his presence and his great power, driving out in
front of you nations greater and more powerful than yourself, and brought you into
their land to give it you for your heritage, as it is still today.” We
can love God only because He first loved us. So, too, following Jesus
presupposes that we have encountered His love.
Unless, we have a
foretaste of heaven, how can we be motivated to live for the next life? Unless we have encountered God like
the Israelites did, we will not be moved to serve Him. Moses said to the
people, “Put this question to the ages that are past, that went before you,
from the time God created man on earth: Was there ever a word so majestic, from
one end of heaven to the other? Was anything ever heard? Did ever a
people hear the voice of the living God speaking from the heart of the fire, as
you heard it, and remain alive? Has any god ventured to take to himself one
nation from the midst of another by ordeals, signs, wonders, war with mighty
hand and outstretched arm, by fearsome terrors – all this that the Lord your
God did for you before your eyes in Egypt?” God demonstrated His love by
choosing them, displayed His great power, overcame their enemies with His
mighty and outstretched hand, and even spoke to them through Moses.
Truly, without an
experience of the love and power of God, we would not be able to surrender our
lives to Him. Again Moses
reminded the people that if God displayed His power and love, it was “so that
you might know that the Lord is God indeed and that there is no other. He
let you hear his voice out of heaven for your instruction; on earth he let you
see his great fire, and from the heart of the fire you heard his
word.” Only then did Moses command the people saying, “Understand
this today, therefore, and take it to heart: the Lord is God indeed, in heaven
above as on earth beneath, he and no other.” Truly, unless we acknowledge
God as our Lord, there is no question of giving our entire life to Him.
Following our confession
of faith in God as our Lord, the consequence is discipleship, following what
the Lord has taught us.
Moses said to the people, “Keep his laws and commandments as I give them to you
today, so that you and your children may prosper and live long in the land that
the Lord your God gives you for ever.” If they want to be God’s people,
then they should live according to the dictates of God. Similarly, Jesus
also told His disciples, “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him
renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me.” We can follow
Jesus only when we recognize Him as our Saviour and Lord.
We can take up our cross
and suffer with the Lord only because Jesus and the eternal life is worth any
price that we can pay.
If our young people today live only for this world, it is because they have
given up hope on the life that is to come. They live only for this world
forgetting that there is life after death. When we are robbed of living
for a higher purpose in life, we live only for pleasure, power and fame in this
life. But if we have a greater calling in life, which is the service of
God and our fellowmen and, ultimately, sharing in the fullness of life with
Christ in heaven, then we will carry our sufferings cheerfully for our
salvation.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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