20201128 LIVING FULLY IN THE PRESENT FOR THE FUTURE BY REMEMBERING THE PAST
29 November, 2020, 1st Sunday of Advent
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: Violet.
First reading |
Isaiah 63:16-17,64:1,3-8 © |
O that you would tear the heavens open and come down
You, Lord, yourself are our Father,
‘Our Redeemer’ is your ancient name.
Why, Lord, leave us to stray from your ways
and harden our hearts against fearing you?
Return, for the sake of your servants,
the tribes of your inheritance.
Oh, that you would tear the heavens open and come down!
– at your Presence the mountains would melt.
No ear has heard,
no eye has seen
any god but you act like this
for those who trust him.
You guide those who act with integrity
and keep your ways in mind.
You were angry when we were sinners;
we had long been rebels against you.
We were all like men unclean,
all that integrity of ours like filthy clothing.
We have all withered like leaves
and our sins blew us away like the wind.
No one invoked your name
or roused himself to catch hold of you.
For you hid your face from us
and gave us up to the power of our sins.
And yet, Lord, you are our Father;
we the clay, you the potter,
we are all the work of your hand.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 79(80):2-3,15-16,18-19 © |
God of hosts, bring us back; let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.
O shepherd of Israel, hear us,
shine forth from your cherubim throne.
O Lord, rouse up your might,
O Lord, come to our help.
God of hosts, bring us back; let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.
God of hosts, turn again, we implore,
look down from heaven and see.
Visit this vine and protect it,
the vine your right hand has planted.
God of hosts, bring us back; let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.
May your hand be on the man you have chosen,
the man you have given your strength.
And we shall never forsake you again;
give us life that we may call upon your name.
God of hosts, bring us back; let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.
Second reading |
1 Corinthians 1:3-9 © |
We are waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed
May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ send you grace and peace.
I never stop thanking God for all the graces you have received through Jesus Christ. I thank him that you have been enriched in so many ways, especially in your teachers and preachers; the witness to Christ has indeed been strong among you so that you will not be without any of the gifts of the Spirit while you are waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed; and he will keep you steady and without blame until the last day, the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, because God by calling you has joined you to his Son, Jesus Christ; and God is faithful.
Gospel Acclamation | Ps84:8 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Let us see, O Lord, your mercy
and give us your saving help.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 13:33-37 © |
If he comes unexpectedly, he must not find you asleep
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Be on your guard, stay awake, because you never know when the time will come. It is like a man travelling abroad: he has gone from home, and left his servants in charge, each with his own task; and he has told the doorkeeper to stay awake. So stay awake, because you do not know when the master of the house is coming, evening, midnight, cockcrow, dawn; if he comes unexpectedly, he must not find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake!’
LIVING FULLY IN THE PRESENT FOR THE FUTURE BY REMEMBERING THE PAST
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Is 63:16-17,64:1,3-8; 1 Cor 1:3-9; Mk 13:33-37 ]
What is life? What are we living for? These are fundamental questions that we need to ask before we can truly live. Otherwise, our life lacks a purpose. Without purpose, there is no orientation, direction or motivation. If people live aimless and meaningless lives, it is because they do not have a purpose in life that could drive them to give themselves completely. Because there is no higher purpose in life, many are just living for themselves, for the passing pleasures of life, for achievements to fulfill their ego, for a love that cannot last. At the end of the day, the conclusion is that life is a vanity.
Indeed, the tragedy is that the world lives only for today. They have no thought of tomorrow because the greatest deception of the Evil One is to make us believe that there is no tomorrow. There is only today. When we die, it will be the end of everything. So there is no future for us. That being the case, let us enjoy as much as we can. Do whatever we can do. Forget about sacrifices and using our time to serve people. Just take care of ourselves and our needs. We have only one life to live. So live fully by enjoying life.
Christian life is our hope in the glorious future. St Paul reminds us that, “If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied.” (1 Cor 15:19) St Paul said, we are “waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.” St John says, “we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” (1 Jn 3:2) The season of Advent precisely celebrates our hope of the Second Coming of Christ more than the First Coming of Christ. The First Coming is past. The future is yet to be. Our fullness of life is in Christ when He comes again on the last day.
How do we prepare for His coming? We do not prepare for His coming by indulging in vain speculations on the coming of Christ. All such talks are a waste of time because we do not know the date of His return. On the other hand, we must not postpone life till the next world. Some of us have a negative outlook on this world. They are forever in the valley of tears and in exile from their homeland. Their life consists of suffering, pain and sacrifices. They are just waiting to be delivered from this world. Whilst these might be true, it might lead to a joyless life. How could a Christian live without joy in this life? Jesus promised us that He will come to give us a joy that the world cannot give. (cf Jn 16:20)
So the best way to prepare for His Second Coming is to live the life of Christ here and now. This is our foretaste of the life that is to come. This is what the Lord is urging us. “Be on your guard, stay awake, because you never know when the time will come.” The Lord will come again any time when we least expect it. His coming is not known through calculation but preparation. No one knows when He would be coming again. We only know that He is coming.
To stay awake means to live fully. Those who live in sin are sleeping in their ignorance and wasting their life away. They are blind to what truly being alive means, other than keeping ourselves physically alive. To live fully means that we must be responsible with the life that the Lord has given to us. We must live it well and expend it in laboring for the Lord. This is what the gospel said, “It is like a man travelling abroad: he has gone from home, and left his servants in charge, each with his own task; and he has told the doorkeeper to stay awake.” We are given responsibilities in life according to our charisms, vocation and state of life. To be awake is to live in the light and in truth.
Secondly to stay awake means to live fully by using our gifts for service and love. St Paul reminds us not to forget that we “have been enriched in so many ways, especially in your teachers and preachers” and we are not “without any of the gifts of the Spirit.” Indeed, in the Christian community, the gifts of the Spirit abound. (cf 1 Cor 12:4-7) All gifts must be used not for ourselves but for the greater good of the community. Only by using our gifts for service and love, can we make a difference in the lives of others. Knowing that we have given hope and life to someone gives us a joy that cannot be compared to the worldly joys of success and pleasures.
To live or to die is not the question that Christians ask. Life is not about physical life and biological death. Life is a question of how well we live in Christ. If we live the life of Christ now, we are alive whilst still on this earth and fully alive when we finish our life on this earth. This explains why St Paul could not choose between staying on this earth and being with Christ. (cf Phil 2:20-26) So for our sake only, did St Paul choose to stay in this world so that he could continue to give us hope and lead us to Christ. In the same way, if we live, it must be for the same reason, that we might give life to others. We do not live for ourselves but for others. This is the real purpose and meaning of life; living for God so that we can live fully for others.
Thirdly, to be awake means to be a witness of Christ coming into our lives. This means witnessing how He comes into our lives. St Paul affirmed the Christian community that their “witness to Christ has indeed been strong.” Indeed, to be awake means that we are a Christ to anyone and everyone at any time. We can be a witness to Christ only when we allow Christ to live in us. Hence, when Christ is in us, then Christ has already come into our lives. Whenever we reach out to others, Christ comes into our lives through the poor. That was what we read in last week’s gospel about the final judgment. Indeed, Christ comes to us every day in our daily encounters with people and with creation. If only we open our eyes and love them. When we love, He comes at every hour and not just at the end of time.
So how can we find the courage to live fully in the present? We can do this by remembering our past. This is why from the 3rd Week of Advent, the Church brings us back to the immediate preparations for the First Christmas. There are many things and lessons in life that we can learn from our past. The past has much to teach us, the wisdom gained, the lessons learnt, the examples set. If we celebrate the First Christmas, it is in order that we remember what God has done for us in Christ’s coming to earth, to share in our humanity, poverty and suffering. Through our reflection on the life of Christ and Mary and the history of Israel, we find encouragement and hope for today.
Secondly, we must learn from our sins and the sins of others. This is what the prophet Isaiah is saying. When we reflect on our woes and problems in life, it is because we have caused ourselves to suffer by our sins. “You were angry when we were sinners; we had long been rebels against you.” Sin blinds us to the deeper meaning of life. We end up living on the sensual level, which reduces us to an animal, not a human being who has a spirit and a soul. When we sin, the Lord abandons us to our sins. “For you hid your face from us and gave us up to the power of our sins.” The punishment for sin is to commit more sins, till sins overpower us and we lose our freedom to do what is truly good and life-giving.
On this First Sunday of Advent, the Church is appealing us to see the destiny ahead of us and not to be short-sighted by simply living for this world and for ourselves. So let us come back to God by seeking repentance. God is our Father and He will bring us back to Him. “Return, for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your inheritance.” He wants us to start our life anew again as we begin the new liturgical calendar. “Lord, you are our Father; we the clay, you the potter, we are all the work of your hand.” He will intervene in our lives again if we ask Him for that grace. With the psalmist, we pray, “Lord of hosts, bring us back; let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.” St Paul assures us that God is faithful.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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