20191013
CONSECRATING
OURSELVES TO THE LORD
13 OCTOBER,
2019, Sunday, 28th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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2 Kings 5:14-17 ©
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Naaman the leper went down and immersed
himself seven times in the Jordan, as Elisha had told him to do. And his flesh
became clean once more like the flesh of a little child.
Returning
to Elisha with his whole escort, he went in and stood before him. ‘Now I know’
he said ‘that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel. Now, please,
accept a present from your servant.’
But
Elisha replied, ‘As the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will accept nothing.’
Naaman pressed him to accept, but he refused.
Then
Naaman said, ‘Since your answer is “No,” allow your servant to be given as much
earth as two mules may carry, because your servant will no longer offer
holocaust or sacrifice to any god except the Lord.’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 97(98):1-4 ©
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The Lord has shown his
salvation to the nations.
Sing a new song to the Lord
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.
The Lord has shown his
salvation to the nations.
The Lord has made known his salvation;
has shown his justice to the
nations.
He has remembered his truth and love
for the house of Israel.
The Lord has shown his
salvation to the nations.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
ring out your joy.
The Lord has shown his
salvation to the nations.
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Second reading
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2 Timothy 2:8-13 ©
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Remember the Good News that I carry,
‘Jesus Christ risen from the dead, sprung from the race of David’; it is on
account of this that I have my own hardships to bear, even to being chained
like a criminal – but they cannot chain up God’s news. So I bear it all
for the sake of those who are chosen, so that in the end they may have the
salvation that is in Christ Jesus and the eternal glory that comes with it.
Here
is a saying that you can rely on:
If we have died with him, then we shall
live with him.
If we hold firm, then we shall reign with
him.
If we disown him, then he will disown us.
We may be unfaithful, but he is always
faithful,
for he cannot disown his own self.
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Gospel Acclamation
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cf.Jn6:63,68
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are
life;
you have the message of eternal life.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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1Th5:18
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Alleluia, alleluia!
For all things give thanks,
because this is what God expects you to do
in Christ Jesus.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 17:11-19 ©
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On the way to Jerusalem Jesus travelled
along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered one of the
villages, ten lepers came to meet him. They stood some way off and called to
him, ‘Jesus! Master! Take pity on us.’ When he saw them he said, ‘Go and show
yourselves to the priests.’ Now as they were going away they were cleansed.
Finding himself cured, one of them turned back praising God at the top of his
voice and threw himself at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. The man was a
Samaritan. This made Jesus say, ‘Were not all ten made clean? The other nine,
where are they? It seems that no one has come back to give praise to God,
except this foreigner.’ And he said to the man, ‘Stand up and go on your way.
Your faith has saved you.’
CONSECRATING
OURSELVES TO THE LORD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ 2 KINGS 5:14-17; 2 TIMOTHY 2:8-13; LUKE 17:11-19]
What is life? Physical health is important but it
is not everything. Many of us are healthy and strong, yet not happy or
contented. There are many who are physically sick and yet cheerful and
joyful in spite of the pains they carry in their bodies. So more than
just life, we need love. Life is for the sake of love. Life is for
relationships. It is relationships that make life meaningful.
This explains why both scripture
readings today touch on leprosy. This was the worst disease during
the time of the Old Testament and that of Jesus, as there was no cure for this
slow but fatal illness. Leprosy was not just a physical illness but it
affected the core of the person, his emotions and his relationships with his
loved ones. Because his disease was contagious, a leper would have to be
removed from society and live in the desert, away from people. It was the
most painful and slow way of dying, worse than cancer, or even aids. At
least today, we have medications to ease the pain of those suffering from the
physical pain of cancer and aids. Besides, they need not be isolated
completely from their loved ones. But for leprosy, perhaps the emotional
pain is many times more than the physical pain. To but alienated and cut
off from our loved ones is the most unbearable experience in life.
Of course, the scripture readings
want us to go beyond human relationships to that of our relationship with God.
Leprosy is but a symbol for the sins of humanity. Like leprosy, sins
affect and infect us slowly. Sins eat us up gradually, often without us
being aware of it. Because of our sins, we are cut off not just from
people we love but also from God who is the source of life and love. To
be away from God, the source of life and love, is to lose our identity, our
calling, and our destiny. Those who live in sin have no peace and
direction in life. Such a person is never at peace even if he has all the
things in this world; never happy because he has no real loving relationship
with anyone.
This accounts for the gospel story of why only
one was healed even though all were cured. Only the Samaritan
was healed, as Jesus said, “Stand up and go on your way. Your faith has saved
you.” To be saved is to be healed. But to be cured does not mean
one is healed or saved. Cure involves external healing but being healed
is holistic when a person is healed emotionally, physically and
spiritually. The fact that the other nine did not go beyond
themselves shows that they were still self-centered and cared only for
themselves. They did not give thanks to God or to Jesus, forgetting them
so easily after they left the valley of death. The Samaritan however came
back to give thanks to God.
Consequently, if we want to be happy in
life, then we must turn to Jesus for holistic healing. Only Jesus can
cure us from both physical and spiritual illnesses. The sin of leprosy
cannot be healed by man, not by acquiring power, political connections, and
money but only in Christ. Faith in Jesus, as the gospel tells us, is the
cause of our healing. Faith heals because faith restores our
relationship with God which is the basis for restoring our relationship with
our fellowmen. To have faith in God like the Samaritan is to have a
relationship with Jesus. Only he could recognize Jesus as one coming from
God. By so doing, he also rendered obedience and worship to Him. Faith
presumes openness to the grace of God. Since grace is a free gift and not
earned, such a person is always thankful to God for all the blessings he has received.
He is grateful for his health, friendship, work and the ability to serve.
Today, the world needs to find God
again. We are living in an age when we are facing a crisis of
faith. More and more are losing faith in God and in religion. What
could be the reasons? Firstly, this is the result of
rationalism. Man no longer believes in faith but reason alone to find the
truth. The consequence is empiricism, materialism and
secularization. Of course, there are other emotional factors as well, namely,
the impoverishment of religion, disillusionment on account of the failures of
Church leaders and the lack of community. As a consequence, God remains a
mere intellectual discourse and not experienced.
If Christ were to be believed, He must be
real and personal. The
gospel today proclaims God as the giver of life. God is the basis for
human hope, especially in a world when the culture of death and alienation,
symbolized by leprosy, is prevalent in the world. Just like the lepers in
today’s readings, in their despair, God reached out to them. When all
human efforts failed, as in the case of Naaman and the lepers in the gospel,
when no power, money or connections could cure them, God could.
But such miraculous works are too good to
be true. Today,
many people don’t believe in miracles or grace anymore. They think only
science and technology can solve the problems of the world. People have
more faith in medicine and doctors than the power of God to heal. In
fact, the real danger is that we are turning faith, which relies on the primacy
of grace, into a mere philosophy of life. People no longer believe in the
power of intercessory prayer. Instead, it is a question of getting in
touch with one’s god-consciousness and tapping one’s energy. Prayers of
petition are not so much seen as addressed to God but a way to conscientize
society.
Today, we are called to learn from the
examples of Elijah and the pagan Army Commander. When he was healed, he returned to
give thanks to Elijah. He wanted to give him gifts but the prophet
rejected his gifts because he knew that his power of healing and prophecy were
gifts given to him by God. These gifts were meant for the service of God
and man. The gratitude of the prophet was expressed by his refusal to
accept the gifts from Naaman since he claimed no credit. Indeed, whatever
we have is nothing to boast about except the mercy and goodness of God.
Everything we have received comes from God’s providence and mercy. So let
us use our wealth, talents and our resources to glorify Him through our
generosity and service to others.
We too can learn from St Paul as well. He
showed his gratitude to God’s mercy by consecrating his whole life for the
greater glory of God by being his apostle of the Good News. His way of giving thanks was
by witnessing to Christ’s love and mercy both in preaching and in deeds.
He wrote, “Remember the Good News that I carry.’Jesus Christ risen from the
dead, sprung from the race of David’; it is on account of this that I have my
own hardships to bear, even to being chained like a criminal – but they cannot
chain up God’s news. So I bear it all for the sake of those who are chosen, so
that in the end they may have the salvation that is in Christ Jesus and the
eternal glory that comes with it.” St Paul was ever ready even to be imprisoned
and die for Christ out of love and gratitude to His mercy and love for
him. We too must not allow the Good News we have received from God to be
chained by our negligence and selfishness. We too must announce to the
world how great and wonderful our God is, just like the psalmist who prayed,
“Sing a new song to the Lord for he has worked wonders. His right hand and his
holy arm have brought salvation. The Lord has made known his salvation; has
shown his justice to the nations. He has remembered his truth and love for the
house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth, ring out your joy.”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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