20200125
WHERE
DOES YOUR SECURITY LIE?
5 January, 2020,
Saturday, Lunar New Year
Number 5:22-27
22 The Lord said
to Moses, 23 “Say
to Aaron and his sons, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say
to them,
24 The Lord bless you and keep you:
25 The Lord make
his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you:
26 The Lord lift
up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.
27 “So shall they put my name upon the people of
Israel, and I will bless them.”
Psalms 91:1-17
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High,
who abides in the shadow of the Almighty,
2 will say to the Lord,
“My refuge and my fortress;
my God, in whom I trust.”
3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the
fowler
and from the deadly pestilence;
4 he will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
5 You will not fear the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand;
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only look with your eyes
and see the recompense of the wicked.
the Most High your habitation,
10 no evil shall befall you,
no scourge come near your tent.
11 For he will give his angels charge of you
to guard you in all your ways.
12 On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the adder,
the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.
14 Because he cleaves to me in love, I will
deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.
15 When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will rescue him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him,
and show him my salvation.
James 4:13-15
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow
we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and get
gain”; 14 whereas you do not know about tomorrow. What is your
life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead
you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and we shall do this or
that.”
MT6:31-34
31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What
shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For
the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you
need them all. 33 But
seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be
yours as well.
34 “Therefore do not be anxious
about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own
trouble be sufficient for the day.
WHERE DOES YOUR
SECURITY LIE?
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [NUM 6:22-27; PS 91:1-17; JAMES 4:13-15; MT 6:31-34 ]
This year we celebrate
the year of the Rat. The
rat is often disliked by many because it is mean and selfish, always thinking
about itself. They steal and they hoard because they are always fearful
about tomorrow. But they are also timid and hence they work only at
night whilst we are asleep. However, they are also careful to the point
of hoarding what they have stolen because of the uncertainty of the
future. So if you have these characteristics of the rat, then you must
avoid adopting the same weaknesses.
In the gospel, Jesus
said to His disciples: “Do not worry; do not say, ‘What are we to eat? What are
we to drink? How are we to be clothed?'” To worry over such basic needs is natural
and basic to the human person. We are all afraid of pain, suffering,
sickness and the cost of medical bills. We fear deprivation and most of
all, death. Indeed, man’s instinct for survival is to attain the basic
needs in life. This is precisely how the rat behaves.
We are naïve to think
that money is the answer to all woes.
This is why people are greedy for money. We want to have more and
more. We want to strike lottery. We work hard to have more money.
We play the stock market to increase our wealth even though many of us have
more than enough to last a lifetime. Hence, like the merchant in the
second reading, we are always thinking of how to make more and more
money. “Here is the answer for those of you who talk like this: ‘Today or
tomorrow, we are off to this or that town; we are going to spend a year there,
trading, and make some money.'”
But the truth is, money
is never enough and the more money we have, ironically, the more insecure we
become. With or without
money, we are insecure. Those who have ill-gotten gains cannot sleep day
or night for fear that they may be found out. Those who have money are
worried about how to make it grow and those waiting to inherit their
money. We do not have real friends in life. If money can give
us security, those who are rich should be the happiest people on earth and yet
they are also not happy. So even rich people worry. Powerful people
worry. People of status worry. Celebrities worry. Of course, the
poor also worry. There is no security in riches, power and fame.
The problem with us is
that we are worried not about our basic needs, but our greed. The word “enough” does not exist in
our vocabulary. We want to have more and more. So most of our
worries are not that real. It is just that our desires are like an abyss
that can never be filled. We crave for this and that. We are never
contented with what we already have. Instead of making use of what the
Lord has already given to us, we desire other things. And the truth is we
will never be able to say, “I have enough.”
That is why, the Lord
says, “It is the pagans who set their hearts on all these things.” Why did He call such people who seek such
things, “pagans”? When we think like the world, we are pagans because
pagans do not know the love of God and do not know their identity as children
of God. Jesus assured us, “Your heavenly Father knows you need them all.”
We must not live as if we are orphans; that God will not look after us. We
forget our ultimate goal in life, which is to be with the Father.
Hence, the Lord advises
us, “So do not worry about tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of itself. Each
day has enough trouble of its own.” Worrying is useless and it adds more
worry. At any rate, the Lord warns us that we do not know when we will
die. “You never know what will happen tomorrow; you are no more than a mist
that is here for a little while and then disappears. The most you should ever
say is: “If it is the Lord’s will, we shall still be alive to do this or
that.” Indeed, life on earth is short. “You turn men back into dust
and say: ‘Go back, sons of men’. To your eyes a thousand years are like
yesterday, come and gone, no more than a watch in the night. You sweep
men away like a dream, like grass, which springs up in the morning. In
the morning it springs up and flowers; by evening it withers and fades.”
Instead of worrying, we should start living. Instead of accumulating, we
must start spending. Instead of focusing on money, we should focus on
living our life to the fullest by giving ourselves like the candle, burning
ourselves to give light to others.
But do we start living
freely and happily without worrying about our basic needs? Where is
happiness to be found? It is in God alone. God is our ultimate
security. This
is what the responsorial psalm says. “Before the mountains were
born or the earth or the world brought forth, you are God, without beginning or
end.” God who is eternal is the One who can give us our security.
We must seek a right relationship with God in the first place. When God
is in our hearts, we will know how to live a righteous life. This is what
the Lord asks of us when He said, “Set your hearts in his kingdom first, and on
his righteousness, and all these other things will be given to you as well.”
So what is needed is to
know that the Father loves us, not just as some knowledge in our heads but in
our hearts. We need to be in
contact with him so that we know that He is there with us and for us. The
psalmist say, “In the morning, fill us with your love; we shall exult and
rejoice all our days. Show forth your work to your servants; let your glory shine
on their children.” But we know the Father’s love not just in
intimacy and in prayer but especially in the daily care of life. We
feel His love through our friends, through our success, work and His supply of
our daily needs. So it is important that we be more conscious of His love
for us that comes to us in so many ways.
We must see His face so
that we can trust Him.
Seeing God’s face is the most basic requirement for us to hold fast to our
hopes. That is why, “The Lord spoke to Moses and said, “Say this to Aaron
and his sons: ‘This is how you are to bless the sons of Israel. You shall say
to them: May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord let his face
shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord uncover his face to you and
bring you peace. This is how they are to call down my name on the sons of
Israel, and I will bless them.” To see the face of God is to
encounter Him deeply in our minds, hearts and in our lives.
But it does not mean we
do nothing. We have to cooperate with His grace as well. What we must focus on is not
just money for our security. Our true security lies in God and living a
life of righteousness. What is His righteousness if not living an honest
and integrated life? Living a right relationship with God is key to living a
right relationship with others. If we are responsible with the
gifts the Lord has given to us and use them well, God will surely provide us
our needs and give us good friends to journey with us in life. So we must
work hard and do all we can. But we must see our work as our vocation to
serve God and our fellowmen and not just a means to make a living.
Furthermore, the money
we have is for us to make friends, build bridges, and make a difference in the
lives of others. It is not just for ourselves and our enjoyment. If we use them just for ourselves,
our hearts will be empty and meaningless and we will lose the joy of sharing in
the joy of our fellowmen. We must take care of our health and
live responsibly. Health is wealth. Eat moderately and exercise
regularly. Make time, don’t say you have no time. If you know
you have one more year to live if you don’t exercise, you will surely find
time. It is not enough to wish one another ‘good health’ if we do not
take care of our bodies. We must not forget that we are the Temple of
God.
Indeed, let us never
forget that life is short. This
is what the psalmist says, “Make us know the shortness of our life that we may
gain wisdom of heart. Lord, relent! Is your anger forever? Show pity on
your servants.” We must live fully every minute of our life by doing
good, loving others and contributing to society and Church. If we do our best
and do our part, God will take care of us. We will generally be well provided
for. We will have friends to journey with us as if we are family, and our
family to journey with us as if we are friends. We should be
generally healthy. But if we are sick for reasons beyond our control, we
can resign ourselves to God, knowing that our life is not permanent on earth.
We must learn to be like
the rats by adopting their positive qualities. They are clever and quick
thinkers, contented with living a quiet and peaceful life. We must be
wise and live a simple lifestyle. Do our best and work hard like the
rats. Learn to be thrifty and be responsible with what God has blessed us
with instead of squandering away our blessings. But don’t hoard.
In Chinese culture, rats are seen as a sign of wealth and surplus.
So let us share our wealth with others and make friends with our
resources so that we will have many friends in heaven. And especially for
married couples who are childless, they can learn to reproduce quickly like the
rats.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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