20191120
INSPIRING
MOTHERHOOD
20 NOVEMBER,
2019, Wednesday, 33rd Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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2 Maccabees 7:1,20-31 ©
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The creator of the world will give you back both breath and life
There were seven
brothers who were arrested with their mother. The king tried to force them to
taste pig’s flesh, which the Law forbids, by torturing them with whips and
scourges. But the mother was especially admirable and worthy of honourable
remembrance, for she watched the death of seven sons in the course of a single
day, and endured it resolutely because of her hopes in the Lord. Indeed she
encouraged each of them in the language of their ancestors; filled with noble
conviction, she reinforced her womanly argument with manly courage, saying to
them, ‘I do not know how you appeared in my womb; it was not I who endowed you
with breath and life, I had not the shaping of your every part. It is the
creator of the world, ordaining the process of man’s birth and presiding over
the origin of all things, who in his mercy will most surely give you back both
breath and life, seeing that you now despise your own existence for the sake of
his laws.’
Antiochus
thought he was being ridiculed, suspecting insult in the tone of her voice; and
as the youngest was still alive he appealed to him not with mere words but with
promises on oath to make him both rich and happy if he would abandon the
traditions of his ancestors; he would make him his Friend and entrust him with
public office. The young man took no notice at all, and so the king then
appealed to the mother, urging her to advise the youth to save his life. After
a great deal of urging on his part she agreed to try persuasion on her son.
Bending over him, she fooled the cruel tyrant with these words, uttered in the
language of their ancestors, ‘My son, have pity on me; I carried you nine
months in my womb and suckled you three years, fed you and reared you to the
age you are now (and cherished you). I implore you, my child, observe heaven
and earth, consider all that is in them, and acknowledge that God made them out
of what did not exist, and that mankind comes into being in the same way. Do
not fear this executioner, but prove yourself worthy of your brothers, and make
death welcome, so that in the day of mercy I may receive you back in your
brothers’ company.’
She
had scarcely ended when the young man said, ‘What are you all waiting for? I
will not comply with the king’s ordinance; I obey the ordinance of the Law
given to our ancestors through Moses. As for you, sir, who have contrived every
kind of evil against the Hebrews, you will certainly not escape the hands of
God.’
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm 16(17):1,5-6,8,15 ©
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I
shall be filled, when I awake, with the sight of your glory, O Lord.
Lord,
hear a cause that is just,
pay
heed to my cry.
Turn
your ear to my prayer:
no
deceit is on my lips.
I
shall be filled, when I awake, with the sight of your glory, O Lord.
I
kept my feet firmly in your paths;
there
was no faltering in my steps.
I am
here and I call, you will hear me, O God.
Turn
your ear to me; hear my words.
I
shall be filled, when I awake, with the sight of your glory, O Lord.
Guard
me as the apple of your eye.
Hide
me in the shadow of your wings
As
for me, in my justice I shall see your face
and
be filled, when I awake, with the sight of your glory.
I
shall be filled, when I awake, with the sight of your glory, O Lord.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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1Jn2:5
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Alleluia,
alleluia!
Whenever
anyone obeys what Christ has said,
God’s
love comes to perfection in him.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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cf.Jn15:16
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Alleluia,
alleluia!
I
chose you from the world
to go
out and bear fruit,
fruit
that will last,
says
the Lord.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 19:11-28 ©
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The parable of the talents
While the people
were listening, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because he was near Jerusalem
and they imagined that the kingdom of God was going to show itself then and
there. Accordingly he said, ‘A man of noble birth went to a distant country to
be appointed king and afterwards return. He summoned ten of his servants and
gave them ten pounds. “Do business with these” he told them “until I get back.”
But his compatriots detested him and sent a delegation to follow him with this
message, “We do not want this man to be our king.”
‘Now
on his return, having received his appointment as king, he sent for those
servants to whom he had given the money, to find out what profit each had made.
The first came in and said, “Sir, your one pound has brought in ten.” “Well
done, my good servant!” he replied “Since you have proved yourself faithful in
a very small thing, you shall have the government of ten cities.” Then came the
second and said, “Sir, your one pound has made five.” To this one also he said,
“And you shall be in charge of five cities.” Next came the other and said,
“Sir, here is your pound. I put it away safely in a piece of linen because I
was afraid of you; for you are an exacting man: you pick up what you have not
put down and reap what you have not sown.” “You wicked servant!” he said “Out
of your own mouth I condemn you. So you knew I was an exacting man, picking up
what I have not put down and reaping what I have not sown? Then why did you not
put my money in the bank? On my return I could have drawn it out with
interest.” And he said to those standing by, “Take the pound from him and give
it to the man who has ten pounds.” And they said to him, “But, sir, he has ten
pounds…”. “I tell you, to everyone who has will be given more; but from the man
who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
‘“But
as for my enemies who did not want me for their king, bring them here and
execute them in my presence.”’
When
he had said this he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
INSPIRING
MOTHERHOOD
In the first reading, we
read of the Seleucids Empire persecuting the Jewish people during the Maccabean
revolt. They
were merciless in subjugating the Jewish people to abandon their customs and
religious practices. “There were seven brothers who were arrested with
their mother. The king, Antiochus tried to force them to taste pig’s
flesh, which the Law forbids, by torturing them with whips and scourges.”
Since they were unable to make them break the Law, the cruel King used the most
painful method of destroying their faith in God by killing the seven children
one by one before the eyes of their own mother. Most mothers would not be
able to bear seeing their children suffer, much less slowly tortured to
death. But we read that “the mother was especially admirable and worthy
of honourable remembrance, for she watched the death of seven sons in the
course of a single day, and endured it resolutely because of her hopes in the
Lord.”
How could a mother act
in such a manner? In the mind of mothers, this is unthinkable. Which mother could allow her
children to suffer? They would gladly suffer or die in the place of their
children. Mothers love their children more than they love their own
lives. The king knew the weakness of mothers and therefore sought to use the
most effective, coercive method to bring them to submission. So he began
by taunting the youngest child, the most beloved of her mother. “He
appealed to him not with mere words but with the promises on oath to make him
both rich and happy if he would abandon the traditions of his ancestors; he
would make him his Friend and entrust him with public office.” But
instead of giving up in the face of suffering, torture and persecution, she
remained steadfast in her faith and encouraged her children to do the
same.
What gave her that
courage to surrender her children to God and to death? She was aware that
the children did not belong to her but to God. She saw herself not as the
owner of the children; hence her duty as the mother was to ensure that
her seven children were God-fearing and faithful to the Jewish tradition and
faith. She told her seven children, “I do not know how you appeared in my
womb; it was not I who endowed you with the breath of life, I had not the
shaping of your every part, ‘It is the creator of the world, ordaining the
process of man’s birth and presiding over the origin of all things, who in his
mercy will most surely give you back both breath and life, seeing that you now
despise your own existence for the sake of his laws.'” The truth is that
both mother and sons belong to God first and foremost before they belong to
each other.
How many mothers think
that they own their children and that their children are their property? In truth, children are not the
property of their parents but of God. Parents are appointed by God to
look after His children so that together, they can share the life of God when
they finished their pilgrimage on earth. So parents are merely guardians
and trustees of God’s children. Our task as parents is to ensure that
they live a good life and are obedient to God so that they can reach their
ultimate end, which is to be with God. If that were the case, parents
should be ready to let go of their children when they grow up, and to let them
leave when they become older or have to return to the Lord because of sickness
and death. Since our loved ones are God’s property, they are given to us
as gifts for us to enjoy and celebrate. But a time will come, when it is
only right that we return them to the Lord, for heaven is truly their homeland,
not this earth.
Secondly, it was the
hope of a glorious end where they would be reunited once again, that gave the
mother courage to encourage her youngest son to remain faithful to the Law. She said to her son, “My son, have
pity on me; I carried you nine months in my womb and suckled you three years,
fed you and reared you to the age you are now and cherished you. I
implore you, my child, observe heaven and earth, consider all that is in them,
and acknowledge that God made them out of what did not exist, and that mankind
comes into being in the same way. Do not fear this executioner, but prove
yourself worthy of your brothers, and make death welcome, so that in the day of
mercy I may receive you back in your brothers’ company.” Indeed, when our
loved ones return to the Lord, and when mothers have to see their children die
before them because of miscarriage or accident or sickness, they must take
courage that their children will be in heaven waiting for them. It is
this hope of a reunion in heaven that should give us courage to let go of our
loved ones.
Thirdly, the mother must
have inspired in her children the gift of faith. Her fortitude in the face of
persecution and atrocity must have strengthened the resolve of the seven
children when they were put to death by the evil King. Hence, we read
that the younger son said, “What are you all waiting for? I will not comply
with the king’s ordinance, I obey the ordinance of the Law given to our
ancestors through Moses. As for you, sir, who have contrived every kind
of evil against the Hebrews, you will certainly not escape the hands of
God.” How true it is that the character and attitudes of children are
determined and greatly influenced by the parents’ example and life.
Whether children are generous, forgiving, patient and caring will depend by and
large on how their parents look after them, offering them unconditional love,
forgiveness and understanding.
Most of all, the faith
of children is largely dependent on how their parents live out their faith. This faith of course must be a
living faith, which means faith and life are interrelated. But if parents
are supposedly active in church and are “pious” Catholics but in their personal
life they are hot-tempered, argumentative, judgmental, unforgiving and
intolerant, they become a scandal to their children because they cannot reconcile
the hypocrisy of their parents. Hence, it is critical that parents are
conscious of what they do and say in front of their children because such
positive or negative examples will have a bearing in the way their character is
formed. Parents must therefore instruct their children well, not just
with words of course, but with their lives and their edifying Christian
conduct.
Truly, God had great
plans for us all when He created us. He
gave each of us talents and gifts to be used for the service of the Kingdom. In
the gospel, Jesus told us a parable about a man of noble birth who “went to a
distant country to be appointed king and afterwards return.” He entrusted
his servants with a certain amount of money to do business. On his return,
after being appointed king, he asked for accountability. In other words,
all of us at the end of our lives will be held accountable to God our king in
the way we make use of the gifts He has given to us. The question is,
whether we have used them well for the glory of God and the building of His
kingdom. For those of us who are parents and guardians, the Lord will
hold us accountable for the way we raise up our children. Have we truly
been exemplary in our lifestyle so that we can be said to be a source of
inspiration to our children? It will be so sad if our children do not
find us to be mentors that they could imitate. If our children do not
respect us and do not take after us in our values and virtues, it means that we
have failed somehow in our responsibility.
However, albeit, not
always, but sometimes it could be that they did not respond to the graces given
to them. But
we must make sure that we have done our best and all we could to set good
examples for them. If we have done our part, then there is nothing to
fear even if our children have gone wayward. We cannot force our children
to live a God-fearing and righteous life because they have their freedom.
We should not blame ourselves too much. If we have set the example and
they do not follow, then they would be held accountable to God. Nevertheless,
let us not give up hope on them but continue to pray for the grace that they
will one day respond to His love and mercy. Let us live in total
dependence on His grace alone, keeping our feet firmly in His paths without
faltering.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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