20190823
EVANGELIZE
THROUGH A LIVING FAITH AND UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
23 AUGUST, 2019,
Friday, 20th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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Ruth 1:1,3-6,14-16,22 ©
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Ruth the Moabitess is brought to
Bethlehem by Naomi
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In the days of the Judges famine came to
the land and a certain man from Bethlehem of Judah went – he, his wife and
his two sons – to live in the country of Moab. Elimelech, Naomi’s husband,
died, and she and her two sons were left. These married Moabite women: one was
named Orpah and the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years. Then both
Mahlon and Chilion also died and the woman was bereft of her two sons and her
husband. So she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return from the country of
Moab, for she had heard that the Lord had visited his people and given them
food. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law and went back to her people. But Ruth
clung to her.
Naomi
said to her, ‘Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her
god. You must return too; follow your sister-in-law.’
But
Ruth said, ‘Do not press me to leave you and to turn back from your company,
for
‘wherever you go, I will go,
wherever you live, I will live.
Your people shall be my people,
and your God, my God.’
This was how Naomi, she who returned from
the country of Moab, came back with Ruth the Moabitess her daughter-in-law. And
they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 145(146):5-10 ©
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My soul, give praise to
the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
He is happy who is helped by Jacob’s God,
whose hope is in the Lord his
God,
who alone made heaven and earth,
the seas and all they contain.
My soul, give praise to
the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
It is he who keeps faith for ever,
who is just to those who are
oppressed.
It is he who gives bread to the hungry,
the Lord, who sets prisoners
free,
My soul, give praise to
the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
the Lord who gives sight to the blind,
who raises up those who are
bowed down,
the Lord, who protects the stranger
and upholds the widow and
orphan.
My soul, give praise to
the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
It is the Lord who loves the just
but thwarts the path of the
wicked.
The Lord will reign for ever,
Zion’s God, from age to age.
My soul, give praise to
the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
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Gospel Acclamation
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Ps118:18
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Open my eyes, O Lord, that I may consider
the wonders of your law.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Ps24:4,5
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Teach me your paths, my God,
make me walk in your truth.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 22:34-40 ©
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The commandments of love
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When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had
silenced the Sadducees they got together and, to disconcert him, one of them
put a question, ‘Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?’ Jesus
said, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,
and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The
second resembles it: You must love your neighbour as yourself. On these two
commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets also.’
EVANGELIZE
THROUGH A LIVING FAITH AND UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ Ruth 1:1.3-6.14-16.22; Ps 146:5-10; Mt 22:34-40 ]
Quite often, Catholics
are at a lost when it comes to the work of evangelization. Many feel diffident to talk about
their faith for fear that they cannot answer the questions and objections that
people might have with regard to the faith or even belief in God.
Sometimes parents also find it difficult to get their children to attend church
services or to practise the faith. Many of their children no longer go to
church or believe in God. They feel helpless in converting them.
This is also true if we have unbelievers at home, whether it is our spouse or
siblings or in-laws. How can we help them to accept Christ, especially
when we are not allowed to preach to them since it only drives them further
away?
Today, the scripture
readings give us the answer.
In the gospel, Jesus said, “You must love the Lord your God with all your
heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest
and the first commandment. The second resembles it: you must love your
neighbour as yourself.” Why is this the case? Why must we love God
and only then our neigbours?
This two-fold principle
laid down by the Lord seems to be contradicted in the first reading because it was the love of Naomi for
her daughters-in-law that inspired Ruth to follow her. From a cursory
reading, this seems to be the case. The love of neighbour is the way to
bring people to love God and have faith in Him.
Ruth was certainly
inspired by the faith of Naomi, her mother-in-law and her unconditional love
for them. Indeed, how many
of us can have Naomi’s disposition if, like her, we went through so much
sufferings; first experiencing famine and having to migrate to a foreign land
with her husband. Then her husband died, leaving her a widow. As if
that was not enough, her two sons also died. What greater loss can a woman have
than to lose her husband and her two sons? Anyone who was in her shoes
would have felt the abandonment of God. Most of us would have completely given
up our faith in God’s love. We would have become resentful and angry with
God. But not Naomi. She remained faithful and in love with God.
But it was not just the
faith of Naomi; it was her unconditional and non-possessive love. She is certainly a class above many
of our mothers-in-law! Being a widow in a foreign land, and then
returning home to her country, how could she, a woman, survive without a man to
care for her? Yet, she was not concerned about her security and
self-interests. She understood the hearts of her daughters-in-law.
They were Moabites and they had their own gods. She did not want to force
them to come along with her to Israel because she had nothing to offer
them. She was conscious that both of them were still young and they had a
future ahead of them. Hence, instead of keeping them with her, she said
to them, “Go back each of you to your mother’s house. The Lord grant
that you may find security, each of you in the house of your husband.
Turn back, my daughters, why will you go with me? Turn back, my daughters,
go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. No, my daughters, it has been
far more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the Lord has
turned against me.” (cf Ruth 1:8-13) What generosity and selflessness!
She was ready to let them go unconditionally. She did not try to keep
them with her by using emotional blackmail; that she would be left alone with no
one to look after her. She was more worried about their future than hers!
In the face of such
exemplary and unyielding faith in God and her unconditional love for them, one
of her daughters-in-law chose to remain with her. “Ruth clung to her. Naomi said to
her, ‘Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her god. You
must return too; follow your sister-in-law.’ But Ruth said, ‘Do not
press me to leave you and to turn back from your company, for wherever you go,
I will go, wherever you live, I will live.” If the faith and love of
Naomi was inspiring, the reciprocal love of Ruth was equally moving and
touching. She did not have to stay back and suffer with Naomi but she
insisted on following her back.
Ruth further said to
her, “Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.” Indeed, when we love someone, we
love all that the person loves as well. This is the true meaning of
love. Because Ruth loved Noami, she also chose to love her people and
make them her own; and so also Noami’s God. Loving someone is to make the
person happy and happiness includes loving those others that the person
loves. It is the same for Jesus. The second person of the Trinity
emptied Himself to become man because He loves His Father. “I do as
the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.
(Jn 14:31) Jesus gave up His life freely
for the love of His Father and those whom the Father loved, which is
humanity. “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my
life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it
down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it
up again. I have received this command from my Father.” (Jn 10:17f)
So whilst it is true
that Ruth was converted to the faith and followed Naomi back to Israel because
of the love and faith of Noami, this would not have happened unless Noami had
first loved God.
If Noami could love so unconditionally and freely without being possessive, it
was because she must have first loved God. Without a deep faith in God
and love for Him, she would not have had the courage to go back home alone
without any of her children with her. In spite of her misfortunes and
sufferings, she continued to place her total trust in God. This explains
why the Lord insisted that loving God is the first and the greatest of all commandments.
But why should we love
God if we were in Naomi’s situation, feeling the abandonment of God? The truth is that unless we love
God first, He would not be able to show us His love. Only when we trust
in Him against all odds and possibilities, would He be able demonstrate to us
the power of His love when He shows His hand. Loving God is but to give
God access to our lives and to welcome Him into our hearts. In loving
God, we allow Him to love us. That is why we are called to spend time in
personal prayer and intimacy with the Lord. It is not so much that God
needs us to spend time with Him; rather, it is to give Him the hospitality that
is required for Him to touch our hearts and enlighten our minds. When we
pray to Him, read the Word of God or celebrate the Eucharist or join in
worship, we allow God to enter into our hearts.
Prayer and worship is
where our relationship with God begins. This is when love begins. When we fall in
love with Jesus, we will be like Ruth, who was inspired to love God and His people
the way Noami loved her. In being loved by Jesus, we, too, would seek to
love His Father the way He loves us, to do His Father’s will the way He did, to
reach out to the poor, the suffering and the sick as He showed us; and to
forgive our enemies unconditionally the way He has forgiven us.
Evangelization therefore is the by-product of our own faith in God and His love
for us. We begin to share the good news with others in such a way that
they are inspired to do the same because they see God’s love in us and our love
for others. If our loved ones have lost their faith, it is because we
have been poor examples of faith and unconditional and non-possessive love for
them.
If we love like Noami,
there will be many Ruths in our lives.
Of course, having said that, we must remember that conversion is the work of
God. Not all will respond like Ruth in following her mother-in-law.
Orpah chose to return to her homeland. This does not mean she was
uninspired or ungrateful. She was responding to God’s call. She,
too, having learnt from Naomi about unconditional love, would have done the
same for her children and her loved ones.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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