20190818
SETTING
THE WORLD ON FIRE
18 AUGUST, 2019,
Sunday, 20th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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Jeremiah 38:4-6,8-10 ©
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'Do not let the prophet die'
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The king’s leading men spoke to the king.
‘Let Jeremiah be put to death: he is unquestionably disheartening the remaining
soldiers in the city, and all the people too, by talking like this. The fellow
does not have the welfare of this people at heart so much as its ruin.’ ‘He is
in your hands as you know,’ King Zedekiah answered ‘for the king is powerless
against you.’ So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the well of Prince
Malchiah in the Court of the Guard, letting him down with ropes. There was no water
in the well, only mud, and into the mud Jeremiah sank.
Ebed-melech
came out from the palace and spoke to the king. ‘My lord king,’ he said ‘these
men have done a wicked thing by treating the prophet Jeremiah like this: they
have thrown him into the well, where he will die.’ At this the king gave
Ebed-melech the Cushite the following order: ‘Take three men with you from here
and pull the prophet Jeremiah out of the well before he dies.’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 39(40):2-4,18 ©
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Lord, come to my aid!
I waited, I waited for the Lord
and he stooped down to me;
he heard my cry.
Lord, come to my aid!
He drew me from the deadly pit,
from the miry clay.
He set my feet upon a rock
and made my footsteps firm.
Lord, come to my aid!
He put a new song into my mouth,
praise of our God.
Many shall see and fear
and shall trust in the Lord.
Lord, come to my aid!
As for me, wretched and poor,
the Lord thinks of me.
You are my rescuer, my help,
O God, do not delay.
Lord, come to my aid!
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Second reading
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Hebrews 12:1-4 ©
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We should keep running steadily in the
race we have started
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With so many witnesses in a great cloud on
every side of us, we too, then, should throw off everything that hinders us,
especially the sin that clings so easily, and keep running steadily in the race
we have started. Let us not lose sight of Jesus, who leads us in our faith and
brings it to perfection: for the sake of the joy which was still in the future,
he endured the cross, disregarding the shamefulness of it, and from now
on has taken his place at the right of God’s throne. Think of the way
he stood such opposition from sinners and then you will not give up for want of
courage. In the fight against sin, you have not yet had to keep fighting to the
point of death.
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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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Jn10:27
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The sheep that belong to me listen to my
voice,
says the Lord,
I know them and they follow me.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 12:49-53 ©
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How I wish it were blazing already!
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Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I have come
to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already! There is a
baptism I must still receive, and how great is my distress till it is over!
‘Do
you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather
division. For from now on a household of five will be divided: three against
two and two against three; the father divided against the son, son against
father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against
daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’
SETTING THE
WORLD ON FIRE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Jer 38:4-6, 8-10; Ps 40:2-4,18; Heb 12:1-4; Lk 12:49-53]
“I have come to bring
fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already!” What does Jesus mean? It simply means that
the world needs repentance, conversion and purification. Fire is a
symbol of purification because it burns away all impurities and all that cannot
last. This explains why purgatory and hell are symbolized by the fire of
purification or condemnation. The whole mission of Jesus was to bring
about repentance and conversion to the kingdom of God. Indeed, He began His
mission by saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come
near; repent, and believe in the good news.” (Mk 1:15)
Indeed, what we see in
the world today is the growing intensity of evil. Literally, the world is on fire with
climate warming, resulting in high temperatures, destruction by wild life,
marine life, plants and crops. Alongside climate warming, we have flooding
and extreme cold temperatures as well. But, in spite of environmentalists
warning us that the temperature of the planet has reached an alarming level,
who cares? Like the people during Noah’s time, we are busy making money,
enjoying ourselves, doing our own thing to worry about the future of the planet
and humanity.
But not only is the
physical planet in danger burning up, the future of humanity is doomed. With the rejection of God and the
absolute, man has supplanted the place of God. He has become the
reference point of what is perceived to be good and true. This has
resulted in relativism where it is becoming increasingly difficult to speak of
common values that are truly good for humanity. What is evil has become
good today. Marriage, family and gender are being redefined.
Divorce and infidelity are acceptable in society. Pornography and
promiscuity are being promoted as a way of life. Consumption and sale of
drugs are accepted by many so-called modern societies. The culture of
death is expressed through abortion, euthanasia with more and more people
taking their lives because many have been taught to believe that they do not
have a soul that lives on after death and that there is no judgment after
death. Once they die, everything is finished. As a consequence,
there is no accountability in the way we live except to ourselves. So why
do we care for others unless they can benefit us? Why sacrifice for the
good of others, the poor, the elderly and those disadvantaged intellectually
and physically instead of just looking after our own interests?
The underlying problem
is not just that evil appears to be triumphing over goodness but we feel
powerless. We are
overwhelmed by the extent and intensity of evil, falsehood and violence in the
world that we either remain quiet or join them. This was how the King of
Judah felt when the country was filled with corruption, disorder, injustices
because it was ruled by evil men. He told his leading men when they
wanted to dispose of the prophet Jeremiah, “He is in your hands as you know,
for the king is powerless against you.” This is the real tragedy of our
times. Many of us are afraid to do what is right and speak up for the
truth. We just sit and watch how the drama of evil unfolds and gain from
strength to strength, fooling even the so-called intelligent people in the
world. The devil is making use of those who are so proud of their
intelligence, misleading them into doing evil by masquerading evil as good,
falsehood as truth, and long-term consequences for short-term benefits.
Indeed, the silence of those who are living in truth and in goodness is the
reason why evil is getting bolder and stronger because they know that they can
silence the truth and the good.
It is the fear of
retaliation and popularity that makes us unable to speak what is on our mind
and in our heart.
Even leaders today make populist policies, not because they are the best and
right things to do but because there is a political cost if they do not bow
down to the popular demands of the people they serve. We are afraid that
we will suffer the sad fate of Jeremiah. We want to please everyone even though
we know that our policies will have far reaching consequences for the lives of
our people. We make policies depending on the receptivity of the
people. Truth is determined by votes and consensus and not on some
objective premise. It is a matter of how many likes or dislikes we get in
our Facebook posts. Indeed, we are afraid to speak the truth, unlike
Jeremiah who warned the people that their sinful and corrupt lifestyle would
destroy the country. Instead of heeding the words of the prophets, the
leaders were deaf to the warning. Instead, they labeled him as a
wet-blanket and a prophet of doom. They demanded that Jeremiah be put to death
because “he is unquestionably disheartening the remaining soldiers in the city,
and all the people too, by talking like this. The fellow does not have the
welfare of this people at heart so much as its ruin.”
At times, we do not
speak the truth because we are afraid that we might be accused of causing
division. But the truth is
that when truth is spoken, those who are evil will oppose us because the devil
is the Father of lies. The devil’s task is to distort the truth, promote
fake news, and teach half-truths so that we cannot agree among ourselves.
When we are divided, we will fight among ourselves and so ultimately humanity
and the world is destroyed. So if by speaking the truth, we bring about
division, it is the consequence of evil misleading people. Hence, Jesus
said, “Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you,
but rather division. For from now on a household of five will be divided: three
against two and two against three.” Indeed, this battle between good and
evil, truth and falsehood is an age-old battle since the beginning of the world
to the time of Christ.
But if we do nothing,
then evil will burn up the world. Those who think that by keeping silent
we can be protected from the persecution of the world, Jesus warns them, “For those who want to
save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and
for the sake of the gospel, will save it.” (Mk 8:35) Indeed, for not protecting our
faith and stopping the erosion of values based on truth and love, we will see
our grandchildren’s’ future destroyed. They will not experience true
love, strong marriages and family. They will become confused about their identity,
including sexual identity. They will no longer see themselves as children
of God and destined for eternal life. They will only live for themselves
and for this world. They will become slaves to pleasure, addicted to sex
and drugs, gambling and all the vices. In the end they will hurt
themselves and commit suicide or be killed in violence.
If we do not want to see
this beautiful planet created by God and the future of humanity destroyed, then
we must follow Jesus in bringing fire to this world and setting it ablaze with
the light of Christ, the light of truth and the fire of love and purity. We do this by first living out our
baptism, which is death to sin. The author of Hebrews challenges us, “in
the fight against sin, you have not yet had to keep fighting to the point of
death.” Jesus tells us, “So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered
up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become
known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear
whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the
body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and
body in hell.” (Mt 10:26-28)
Indeed, we cannot be short-sighted. We live not only for this world but
for the next world. Like Jesus “who leads us in our faith and brings it
to perfection: for the sake of the joy which was still in the future, he
endured the cross, disregarding the shamefulness of it, and from now on has
taken his place at the right of God’s throne” we must persevere to the end.
Hence, “let us not lose
sight of Jesus” and the martyrs and saints who have gone before us. “With so many witnesses in a great
cloud on every side of us, we too, then, should throw off everything that
hinders us, especially the sin that clings so easily, and keep running steadily
in the race we have started.” Indeed, we pray to the Saints and find
encouragement from them. Most of all, we contemplate on Jesus’ passion,
death and resurrection to give us courage and perseverance. “Think of the
way he stood such opposition from sinners and then you will not give up for
want of courage.” Indeed, we know that the Lord will rescue us as He
rescued Jeremiah from the well. With the psalmist, we pray, “Lord, come
to my aid!“
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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