20191106
ARE
YOU A FOLLOWER OR A DISCIPLE OF CHRIST?
06 NOVEMBER,
2019, Wednesday, 31st Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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Romans 13:8-10 ©
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Avoid getting into debt, except the debt
of mutual love. If you love your fellow men you have carried out your
obligations. All the commandments: You shall not commit adultery, you
shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not covet, and so on,
are summed up in this single command: You must love your neighbour as
yourself. Love is the one thing that cannot hurt your neighbour; that
is why it is the answer to every one of the commandments.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm
111(112):1-2,4-5,9 ©
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Happy the man who takes
pity and lends.
or
Alleluia!
Happy the man who fears the Lord,
who takes delight in all his
commands.
His sons will be powerful on earth;
the children of the upright
are blessed.
Happy the man who takes
pity and lends.
or
Alleluia!
He is a light in the darkness for the
upright:
he is generous, merciful and
just.
The good man takes pity and lends,
he conducts his affairs with
honour.
Happy the man who takes
pity and lends.
or
Alleluia!
Open-handed, he gives to the poor;
his justice stands firm for
ever.
His head will be raised in
glory.
Happy the man who takes
pity and lends.
or
Alleluia!
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Gospel Acclamation
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Ps118:88
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Because of your love give me life,
and I will do your will.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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1P4:14
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Alleluia, alleluia!
It is a blessing for you
when they insult you for bearing the name
of Christ,
for the Spirit of God rests on you.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 14:25-33 ©
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Great crowds accompanied Jesus on his way
and he turned and spoke to them. ‘If any man comes to me without hating his
father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes and his own life too, he
cannot be my disciple. Anyone who does not carry his cross and come after me
cannot be my disciple.
‘And
indeed, which of you here, intending to build a tower, would not first sit down
and work out the cost to see if he had enough to complete it? Otherwise, if he
laid the foundation and then found himself unable to finish the work, the
onlookers would all start making fun of him and saying, “Here is a man who
started to build and was unable to finish.” Or again, what king marching to war
against another king would not first sit down and consider whether with ten
thousand men he could stand up to the other who advanced against him with
twenty thousand? If not, then while the other king was still a long way off, he
would send envoys to sue for peace. So in the same way, none of you can be my
disciple unless he gives up all his possessions.’
ARE YOU A
FOLLOWER OR A DISCIPLE OF CHRIST?
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Rom 13:8-10; Ps 112:1-2, 4-5, 9; Lk 14:25-33 ]
What is the real problem
confronting the Church today?
In the final analysis, it is not secularization or secularism with its
accompanying lifestyle of relativism, materialism, individualism and
consumerism. The truth of the matter is that we have very few Catholics
who are disciples of our Lord. Many of us are just followers but few are
serious about discipleship. Indeed, we are among the “great crowds (who)
accompanied Jesus on his way.” There are more than a billion Catholics in
the world and perhaps more than 373,000 Catholics in Singapore. But how
many of us are seriously walking in the path of our Lord?
Why are we Catholic if
we are not ready to be disciples of the Lord? Many are Catholic by heritage and custom. They
are Catholics simply because they were born into a Catholic family and because
their ancestors were all Catholics. So it is just a nominal faith that we
inherit. We know nothing much about it. We hardly know how to pray
or who Jesus really is or what He has taught. Others become Catholic
because their friends are there. They like the fellowship and the
sense of belonging. They go to church purely for their friends.
Some choose to be Catholic because they enjoy the liturgy of the Church.
They find our worship and services solemn, edifying and especially if they get
an inspiring homilist. So the bottom line of becoming Catholic is because
of sentimental reasons or it serves their needs. It is about themselves;
not about Christ or others.
Today, Jesus spells out
the cost of discipleship. Firstly,
a true disciple must put Christ above everyone else and everything else.
He said, ‘If any man comes to me without hating his father, mother, wife,
children, brothers, sisters, yes and his own life too, he cannot be my
disciple. Anyone who does not carry his cross and come after me cannot be
my disciple. None of you can be my disciples unless he gives up all his
possessions.” Jesus demands total surrender of ourselves and absolute
obedience and devotion to Him if we were to be true disciples of the
Lord. This total devotion to the Lord would require us even to hate our
loved ones and ourselves. It demands that no human or earthly possessions
should take precedence over Him. These demands of our Lord could be
daunting for us.
Why did Jesus demand
that we hate our father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters and even
ourselves? This seems to
contradict the teaching on love. A true disciple of our Lord must go beyond
human love to agape love. Loving our loved ones does not take much
strength. To love them is still to love ourselves because it is only
natural to love our family members because we have emotional ties. One
does not need to be a Christian to love his family members and friends.
We will do anything for them and if they suffer, we suffer as much if not
more. So, loving our loved ones is to love ourselves because we are
afraid to be hurt when we see them suffering. Which parent is not anxious
or worried about the future of his or her children in their studies and their
career or even in relationships?
Christian love, as St
Paul tells us, goes beyond observing the Ten Commandments because they only tell us what we
cannot do. Whilst the first three commandments speak of our relationship
with God, the last seven deal with our relationship with our neighbours.
He makes it clear that if we love our fellowmen, we have carried out our
obligations towards the commandments. Indeed, “love is the one
thing that cannot hurt your neighbour; that is why it is the answer to every
one of the commandments.” Christian love is an active concern for our brothers
and sisters. It is not merely protecting ourselves by not doing harm to
others but we must be proactive and do good. St Paul says, we owe each
other the “debt of mutual love.” We have obligations towards each other
because everyone is our neighbour, our brother and sister. This love cuts
across race, language, religion and family ties.
Christian love is one
that “is generous, merciful
and just. The good man takes pity and lends, he conducts his affairs with
honour. Open-handed, he gives to the poor; his justice stands firm
forever. His head will be raised in glory.” The true
Christian cares for all, regardless of who they are.
Secondly, to be a
disciple requires that we carry our cross after our Lord. Jesus said, “Anyone who does not
carry his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” We are not
asked to carry His cross because it would be too heavy for us. We only
need to carry our cross and follow Him. What are the crosses that we
carry? Firstly, it is the cross that comes from our sins and its
consequences. Secondly, it is the cross that is the consequence of doing
the right thing and walking in truth and love. Thirdly, the cross we
carry is always the sacrifice of doing the will of God, especially when we are
not ready. The psalmist says, “Happy the man who fears the Lord, who takes
delight in all his commands. His sons will be powerful on earth; the
children of the upright are blessed. He is a light in the darkness for
the upright.”
Thirdly, to be a
disciple is to give up all our possessions. Does it mean to give up immediately?
No, but we need to give them up in our hearts and be ready to use them for the
service of God and man. All that we have, earthly possessions, including
our talents and even our loved ones, must be at the disposal of the service of
God and the poor when required. We must never forget that what has been given
to us does not belong to us but we remain stewards of God’s blessings, talents
and wealth. Besides taking what is reasonable for our own use, the rest
must be given back to God and for the service of our fellowmen. So long
as we do not acknowledge that nothing is our own but all are His, we cannot be
His disciples because we cannot share in His joy and love.
Indeed, today, we are called to
count the cost of discipleship, failing which there are consequences. What
are these? We become counter-witnesses in the world. People
will laugh at us and become more negative of Christians as we show them how
hypocritical we are. Jesus said, “And indeed, which of you here,
intending to build a tower, would not first sit down and work out the cost to
see if he had enough to complete it? Otherwise, if he laid the foundation and
then found himself unable to finish the work, the onlookers would all start
making fun of him and saying, ‘ Here is a man who started to build and was
unable to finish.'” So it is not enough to desire to be baptized or be a
Christian but we must strive to be a true disciple of Christ in thought, word
and deed.
Secondly, we will have no peace
but live in guilt with a bad conscience knowing that we have betrayed our Lord
and brought shame to Him and discredited the Church in the process.
Jesus said, “Or again, what king marching to war against another king
would not first sit down and consider whether with ten thousand men he could
stand up to the other who advanced against him with twenty thousand? If
not, then while the other king was still a long way off, he would send envoys
to sue for peace.” When we continue to live as a nominal Catholic, we are
deceiving ourselves. Our conscience will condemn us. We have no
peace in our hearts.
Thus, today, we are called to come
to terms with our faith. Are we truly Christians or not? Are we
His disciples or merely followers, or worse still, just a member of the
Church. If we are His disciples, we must be ready to stand up for Him and
be counted among those who have given their lives for the service of God and
His people. Will we be counted among those who walked with the Lord to
the cross and the resurrection? If we want to be true disciples then we must
undertake the path of discipleship, which is prayer, daily examen, meditation,
praying and studying the scriptures, reading about the faith and growing in
understanding of Christ’s teaching; and of course, living out the faith in love
and humble service.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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