20200302
BE
WHO WE REALLY ARE
02 March, 2020,
Monday, 1st Week of Lent
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
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First reading
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Leviticus 19:1-2,11-18 ©
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Only pass judgement on your neighbour according to justice
The Lord spoke to
Moses; he said: ‘Speak to the whole community of the sons of Israel and say to
them:
‘“Be
holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.
‘“You
must not steal nor deal deceitfully or fraudulently with your neighbour. You
must not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God. I am the
Lord. You must not exploit or rob your neighbour. You must not keep back the
labourer’s wage until next morning. You must not curse the dumb, nor put an
obstacle in the blind man’s way, but you must fear your God. I am the Lord.
‘“You
must not be guilty of unjust verdicts. You must neither be partial to the
little man nor overawed by the great; you must pass judgement on your neighbour
according to justice. You must not slander your own people, and you must not
jeopardise your neighbour’s life. I am the Lord. You must not bear hatred for
your brother in your heart. You must openly tell him, your neighbour, of his
offence; this way you will not take a sin upon yourself. You must not exact
vengeance, nor must you bear a grudge against the children of your people. You
must love your neighbour as yourself. I am the Lord.”’
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm 18(19):8-10,15 ©
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Your
words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.
The
law of the Lord is perfect,
it
revives the soul.
The
rule of the Lord is to be trusted,
it
gives wisdom to the simple.
Your
words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.
The
precepts of the Lord are right,
they
gladden the heart.
The
command of the Lord is clear,
it
gives light to the eyes.
Your
words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.
The
fear of the Lord is holy,
abiding
for ever.
The
decrees of the Lord are truth
and
all of them just.
Your
words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.
May
the spoken words of my mouth,
the
thoughts of my heart,
win
favour in your sight, O Lord,
my
rescuer, my rock!
Your
words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Ezk18:31
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Praise
to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Shake
off all your sins – it is the Lord who speaks –
and
make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.
Praise
to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
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Or:
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2Co6:2
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Praise
to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Now
is the favourable time:
this
is the day of salvation.
Praise
to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
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Gospel
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Matthew 25:31-46 ©
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I was naked and you clothed me; sick, and you visited me
Jesus said to his
disciples: ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, escorted by all the angels,
then he will take his seat on his throne of glory. All the nations will be
assembled before him and he will separate men one from another as the shepherd
separates sheep from goats. He will place the sheep on his right hand and the
goats on his left.
‘Then
the King will say to those on his right hand, “Come, you whom my Father has
blessed, take for your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the
foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty
and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you made me welcome; naked and you
clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me.” Then
the virtuous will say to him in reply, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and
feed you; or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and
make you welcome; naked and clothe you; sick or in prison and go to see you?”
And the King will answer, “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to
one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.”
‘Next
he will say to those on his left hand, “Go away from me, with your curse upon
you, to the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was
hungry and you never gave me food; I was thirsty and you never gave me anything
to drink; I was a stranger and you never made me welcome, naked and you never
clothed me, sick and in prison and you never visited me.” Then it will be their
turn to ask, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, a stranger or naked,
sick or in prison, and did not come to your help?” Then he will answer, “I tell
you solemnly, in so far as you neglected to do this to one of the least of
these, you neglected to do it to me.”
‘And
they will go away to eternal punishment, and the virtuous to eternal life.’
BE WHO WE REALLY
ARE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ LEV 19:1-2,11-18; PS 19:8-10,15; MATT 25:31-46]
In the first reading, God
proclaims His identity as holiness. He said, “Be holy, for I, the Lord
your God, am holy.” If that is God’s identity, we who are
created in His image and likeness are also called to be holy as well. The
primary vocation and calling of everyone, regardless whether we are Christians
or otherwise, is holiness. So if we want to be true to our identity as
God’s children, we must live our lives in such a way that we can identify with
God’s holiness, so that others can identify us as children of God.
What is holiness? In the gospel, Jesus
expressly identified Himself with the poor. He said, “I tell you
solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of
mine, you did it to me.” Jesus, who is one with His Father in mind and
heart, sought to mediate His Father’s love and mercy in His life, in His
ministry and preaching. Jesus wants the world to know that the Father
loves us. His works of healing, exorcism, mercy and forgiveness assure us
that God is one with us in our pain because in Christ, He has become one of us
and one with us in our suffering.
Holiness concretely is
not just about living a pious life, observing all the rituals and prayers of
the Church but in living out a life of charity. The only way to measure the depth
of our holiness is not by how many hours we spend in prayer and
meditation. For some, it can be just an escape from involvement in the
lives of people or being selfish in just wanting to be alone. As St
Teresa of Avila wrote, “Here the Lord asks only two things of us: love for His
Majesty and love of our neighbor. The surest sign that we are keeping these
two commandments is, I think, that we should really be loving our neighbor; for
we cannot be sure if we are loving God, although we may have good reasons for
believing that we are, but we can know quite well if we are loving our
neighbor.” (Interior Castle, V, 3). Holiness is when we are able to
see the face of God in our neighbours so that they too in turn can see the face
of God in us. This is what Jesus taught us in today’s gospel.
Holiness is indeed the
perfection of charity.
We measure our holiness by the extent and depth of our love for our brothers
and sisters. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “charity
is the soul of the holiness to which all are called: it ‘governs, shapes and
perfects all the means of sanctification.” And citing St Theresa of the Child
Jesus, love is the motivating force of the church. “If the Church was a
body composed of different members, it couldn’t lack the noblest of all; it
must have a heart, and a heart burning with love. And I realized that this love
alone was the true motive force which enabled the other members of the Church
to act; if it ceased to function, the apostles would forget to preach the
Gospel, the martyrs would refuse to shed their blood. Love, in fact, is the
vocation which includes all others; it’s a universe of its own, comprising all
time and space — it’s eternal!” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 826).
How, then, do we
ascertain the depth of our love for our neighbor? Firstly, we must avoid
the sin of commission. What
are these sins of commission? These are listed in today’s first
reading. Firstly, it has to do with relationship with our
neighbours. We must not cheat or steal. Some of us
are dishonest. We steal things including intellectual property; we grab
the property and inheritance of our loved ones; we break up our family.
Some employers make their workers work day and night without giving them proper
rest and accommodation, underpaying them or delaying payment and often abusing
them by shouting and humiliating them. This is particularly true in
the way some treat migrant workers, whether labourers or domestic
helpers. Many are exploited by unscrupulous employers who don’t treat
them with respect and dignity. Taking advantage of the vulnerable is a serious
sin.
Another way of
committing the sin of commission is in judging people. We are partial and prejudicial in
the way we judge people. We do not judge fairly. We use all kinds
of reasons to justify what we are doing. Influential and powerful people,
when they commit crimes, will use the best lawyers to twist and turn the laws
to suit them. By finding loopholes in the laws they escape
punishment. At times, those in authority discriminate those who are weak
and lowly.
Then there are those who
swear falsely, using the name of God in vain. They have no conscience and no respect for the
name of God, using His name to serve their evil and selfish deeds.
Sometimes politicians even use the name of God for their political
interests. We slander the reputation of others through gossiping
and backbiting. Bearing grudges and not forgiving are all sins of
commission, especially when we take revenge upon our enemies. Cursing
others will make God sad. St Paul said, “Let no evil talk come out of
your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that
your words may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the
Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of
redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and
wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one
another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven
you.” (Eph 4:29-32)
However, it is not only
the sin of commission that will contradict our identity as God’s children but
also the sin of omission.
In the gospel, Jesus condemned those who were indifferent to the poor and their
sufferings. “Go away from me, with your curse upon you, to the eternal
fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you
never gave me food; I was thirsty and you never gave me anything to drink; I
was a stranger and you never made me welcome, naked and you never clothed me,
sick and in prison and you never visited me.” Like them we might
also ask, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, a stranger or naked,
sick or in prison, and did not come to your help?” Then he will answer, “I tell
you solemnly, in so far as you neglected to do this to one of the least of
these, you neglected to do it to me.”
Whenever we fail to see
the Christ in the poor, it means that we still do not have the heart of God and
His compassion.
Christian love for God is measured by our love for our brothers and
sisters. So orthodoxy in doctrines alone, or even so-called right worship
of God, is not sufficient if these do not lead us to a true love and compassion
for our brothers and sisters. It simply means that we have separated the
love of God from the love of man when these two commandments are distinct and
yet inseparably one.
If the Church today is
lacking credibility and losing members and not attracting new members, it is
because baptized Christians do not take the call to holiness seriously. As a result, we hear of many
scandals, the lack of integrity among her religious leaders, dishonesty and
abuses. All these have led to a loss of faith both in God and in the
institutions of the Church. This explains why St John Paul II insists
that all pastoral initiatives must be set in relation
to holiness. (cf Novo Millennio Ineunte, 30) Unless, we take
the path of holiness, all that we say and do will not have impact on others.
Indeed, this universal
call to holiness is much linked also to the universal call to mission. Christian mission is an obligation
for all the baptized. In the Encyclical of St John Paul II, he wrote,
“Every member of the faithful is called to holiness and to mission. This was
the earnest desire of the Council, which hoped to be able ‘to enlighten all
people with the brightness of Christ, which gleams over the face of the Church,
by preaching the Gospel to every creature.’ The Church’s missionary
spirituality is a journey toward holiness … Dear brothers and sisters: let us
remember the missionary enthusiasm of the first Christian communities.
Underlying this missionary dynamism was the holiness of the first Christians
and the first communities” (Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Missio, 90).
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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