20191023
RECEIVING
GOD’S GRACE IN VAIN
23 OCTOBER,
2019, Wednesday, 29th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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Romans 6:12-18 ©
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You must not let sin reign in your mortal
bodies or command your obedience to bodily passions, you must not let any part
of your body turn into an unholy weapon fighting on the side of sin; you
should, instead, offer yourselves to God, and consider yourselves dead men
brought back to life; you should make every part of your body into a weapon
fighting on the side of God; and then sin will no longer dominate your life,
since you are living by grace and not by law.
Does
the fact that we are living by grace and not by law mean that we are free to
sin? Of course not. You know that if you agree to serve and obey a master you
become his slaves. You cannot be slaves of sin that leads to death and at the
same time slaves of obedience that leads to righteousness. You were once slaves
of sin, but thank God you submitted without reservation to the creed you were
taught. You may have been freed from the slavery of sin, but only to become
‘slaves’ of righteousness.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 123(124) ©
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Our help is in the name
of the Lord.
‘If the Lord had not been on our side,’
this is Israel’s song.
‘If the Lord had not been on our side
when men rose up against us,
then would they have swallowed us alive
when their anger was kindled.
Our help is in the name
of the Lord.
‘Then would the waters have engulfed us,
the torrent gone over us;
over our head would have swept
the raging waters.’
Blessed be the Lord who did not give us
a prey to their teeth!
Our help is in the name
of the Lord.
Our life, like a bird, has escaped
from the snare of the fowler.
Indeed the snare has been broken
and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
Our help is in the name
of the Lord.
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Gospel Acclamation
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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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Or:
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Mt24:42,44
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Stay awake and stand ready,
because you do not know the hour
when the Son of Man is coming.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 12:39-48 ©
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Jesus said to his disciples:
‘You
may be quite sure of this, that if the householder had known at what hour the
burglar would come, he would not have let anyone break through the wall of his
house. You too must stand ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour
you do not expect.’
Peter
said, ‘Lord, do you mean this parable for us, or for everyone?’ The Lord
replied, ‘What sort of steward, then, is faithful and wise enough for the
master to place him over his household to give them their allowance of food at
the proper time? Happy that servant if his master’s arrival finds him at this
employment. I tell you truly, he will place him over everything he owns. But as
for the servant who says to himself, “My master is taking his time coming,” and
sets about beating the menservants and the maids, and eating and drinking and
getting drunk, his master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour
he does not know. The master will cut him off and send him to the same fate as
the unfaithful.
The
servant who knows what his master wants, but has not even started to carry out
those wishes, will receive very many strokes of the lash. The one who did not
know, but deserves to be beaten for what he has done, will receive fewer
strokes. When a man has had a great deal given him, a great deal will be
demanded of him; when a man has had a great deal given him on trust, even more
will be expected of him.’
RECEIVING GOD’S
GRACE IN VAIN
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ROm 6:12-18; Ps 124:1-8; Lk 12:39-48 ]
What does it mean to
receive God’s grace? A person who receives God’s grace responds in
gratitude. Indeed, those who
have had near death experiences because of an incurable illness, a tragic accident
that could have crippled them for life, a business failure that could have led
to bankruptcy, or an irreparable marriage that, with God’s grace, was salvaged
against all odds, will know what God’s grace is all about. Having
received God’s grace and a new lease of life, we cannot but be grateful to Him
forever. This is what St Paul meant when he wrote, “consider yourselves
dead men brought back to life.”
This is true in any
human relationship when we have received favours from our fellowmen. If someone has rescued us from the
brink of disaster or even death, we will be forever grateful to that
person. Indeed, we are always grateful to those who give us opportunities
in life when we were nobody and no one had confidence in us. Greater still
is our gratitude towards those who made great sacrifices for us by helping us
financially or in our work or in salvaging a relationship. Indeed,
if someone has given us his kidney, we will be eternally grateful to this
person, especially when the donor is a stranger to us. We will do
anything for those who have helped us because of our gratitude towards them.
Hence, in the case of
Christians who have been freed from the slavery of sin by the life, passion,
death and resurrection of our Lord, we cannot but also be eternally grateful to
God and His Son Jesus who
was given to us as a ransom for our slavery to sin. God paid the
price of His Son to save us from eternal death. Having been freed from
sin, by His grace alone, not through our merits or our efforts, our response to
such a free gift is to use our new-found freedom for the work of righteousness
and mercy. St Paul wrote, “You were once slaves of sin, but thank God you
submitted without reservation to the creed you were taught. You may have
been freed from the slavery of sin, but only to become ‘slaves’ of
righteousness.”
Instead of using our
body for sin, we must now surrender our body to God for the works of mercy. This is what St Paul wrote, “You
must not let sin reign in your mortal bodies or command your obedience to
bodily passions, you must not let any part of your body turn into an unholy
weapon fighting on the side of sin; you should, instead, offer yourselves to
God.” This is because, having been redeemed by Christ, we are no
longer our own owners. We belong to Christ. “Do you not know that
your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God,
and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore
glorify God in your body.” (1 Cor 6:19f) For this reason, we must use our
body for the glory of God in all that we do or say. “And whatever you do,
in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to
God the Father through him.” (Col 3:17)
Instead of living a life
of sin, we must now live a life of holiness. How do we do this?
Firstly, St Paul exhorts us, “you should make every part of your body into a
weapon fighting on the side of God, and then sin will no longer dominate your
life, since you are living
by grace and not by law.” In other words, we must be proactive in doing
good and live a life of grace. We cannot afford to be complacent in our
fight against sin. On the contrary, the author of Hebrews reprimands us,
“In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of
shedding your blood” unlike Jesus “the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who
for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding
its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of
God.” (Heb 12:2,4) There is no neutrality with regard to sin.
Indifference will lead to hostility against God.
The fight against sin
calls for alertness to the snares of the Evil One. St Peter warns us, “Discipline
yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil
prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast
in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are
undergoing the same kinds of suffering.” (1 Pt 5:8f) This is what the Lord Himself told
us in the gospel in the parable of the faithful or unfaithful servant. Jesus
said to His disciples: “You may be quite sure of this, that if the householder
had known at what hour the burglar would come, he would not have let anyone
break through the wall of his house. You too must stand ready, because
the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Indeed, like the
thief, our enemies, the Devil and his spirits will come to tempt us when we are
not watchful, attentive and cautious of the ways he is working subtly in the
world and in our lives, deceiving and confusing us.
Secondly, because we
have been set free by grace, we need to rely on His grace alone. Let our
response be, “Our help is in the name of the Lord.” We need to turn to Jesus in prayer,
listening to His Word, receiving Him in the sacraments, especially the
Eucharist and the Sacrament of Reconciliation so that our faith will remain
firm and strong. Indeed, St Paul told the Christians, “Let the word of
Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and
with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.”
(Col 3:16) And Jesus said, “Everyone then who
hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built
his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and
beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on
rock.” (Mt 7:24f) Jesus calls us
to remain in Him. “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch
cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you
unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who
abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do
nothing.” (Jn 15:4f)
Thirdly, we need to live
a life of integrity.
We must not behave like the unfaithful servant who was motivated by fear and
selfishness rather than by love and gratitude to the master. He said to
himself, “‘My master is taking his time coming’, and sets about beating the
menservants and the maids and eating and drinking and getting drunk.”
Rather, Jesus asks that we be like the servant always at our employment, doing
what we have to do, faithfully and conscientiously at all times, without having
regard whether the master is around to watch us or not. Only when one is
motivated by honesty and truthfulness towards himself and others and God, does
one act with integrity, without fear or favour. Such a person is always
accountable to anyone at all times. He lives a life of peace with a clear
conscience, not afraid of the final judgement as he is ready at all times and
at any time.
Alas, the gospel also
warns those who have accepted the grace of God in vain like the unfaithful
servant. “The servant who
knows what he wants, but has not even started to carry out those wishes, will
receive very many strokes of the lash. The one who did not know, but
deserves to be beaten for what he has done, will receive fewer strokes.
When a man has had a great deal given him, a great deal will be demanded of
him; when a man had had a great deal given him on trust, even more will be
expected of him.” If God has given us the grace of extending our life
when we were at death’s door, if God has given us opportunities to succeed in
life when we were unknown and poor, if God has given us an experience of His
love through a retreat or in prayer, then we have more to give back in
return. The only way to show our love and gratitude to God is to respond
by living a life of grace and mercy. If we fail to appreciate the grace
given to us by God and have taken them in vain, “the master will cut him off
and send him to the same fate as the unfaithful.” We will meet greater
disasters that which were previously thwarted by the mercy of God. For
not taking the signs and call for conversion of life seriously, we will bring
more suffering upon ourselves. We have forgotten what the psalmist says,
‘If the Lord had not been on our side when men rose up against us, then would
they have swallowed us alive when their anger was kindled. Then would the
waters have engulfed us, the torrent gone over us; over our head would have
swept the raging waters.” So be grateful and be thankful for His grace!
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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