20210605 EXEMPLARS OF UNDIVIDED LOVE FOR GOD AND MAN
05 June, 2021, Saturday, 9th Week, Ordinary Time
First reading |
Tobit 12:1,5-15,20 © |
'I am one of the seven angels who stand ever ready to enter the presence of the glory of the Lord'
When the feasting was over, Tobit called his son Tobias and said, ‘My son, you ought to think about paying the amount due to your fellow traveller; give him more than the figure agreed on.’ So Tobias called his companion and said, ‘Take half of what you brought back, in payment for all you have done, and go in peace.’
Then Raphael took them both aside and said, ‘Bless God, utter his praise before all the living for all the favours he has given you. Bless and extol his name. Proclaim before all men the deeds of God as they deserve, and never tire of giving him thanks. It is right to keep the secret of a king, yet right to reveal and publish the works of God. Thank him worthily. Do what is good, and no evil can befall you.
‘Prayer with fasting and alms with right conduct are better than riches with iniquity. Better to practise almsgiving than to hoard up gold. Almsgiving saves from death and purges every kind of sin. Those who give alms have their fill of days; those who commit sin and do evil, bring harm on themselves.
‘I am going to tell you the whole truth, hiding nothing from you. I have already told you that it is right to keep the secret of a king, yet right too to reveal in worthy fashion the works of God. So you must know that when you and Sarah were at prayer, it was I who offered your supplications before the glory of the Lord and who read them; so too when you were burying the dead. When you did not hesitate to get up and leave the table to go and bury a dead man, I was sent to test your faith, and at the same time God sent me to heal you and your daughter-in-law Sarah. I am Raphael, one of the seven angels who stand ever ready to enter the presence of the glory of the Lord.
‘Now bless the Lord on earth and give thanks to God. I am about to return to him above who sent me.’
Responsorial Psalm | Tobit 13:2,6-8 © |
Blessed be God, who lives for ever.
By turns he punishes and pardons;
he sends men down to the depths of the underworld
and draws them up from supreme Destruction;
no one can escape his hand.
Blessed be God, who lives for ever.
If you return to him
with all your heart and all your soul,
behaving honestly towards him,
then he will return to you
and hide his face from you no longer.
Blessed be God, who lives for ever.
Consider how well he has treated you;
loudly give him thanks.
Bless the Lord of justice
and extol the King of the ages.
Blessed be God, who lives for ever.
I for my part sing his praise
in the country of my exile;
I make his power and greatness known
to a nation that has sinned.
Blessed be God, who lives for ever.
Sinners, return to him;
let your conduct be upright before him;
perhaps he will be gracious to you
and take pity on you.
Blessed be God, who lives for ever.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Lk8:15 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are those who,
with a noble and generous heart,
take the word of God to themselves
and yield a harvest through their perseverance.
Alleluia!
Or: | Mt5:3 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
How happy are the poor in spirit:
theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 12:38-44 © |
This poor widow has put in more than all
In his teaching Jesus said, ‘Beware of the scribes who like to walk about in long robes, to be greeted obsequiously in the market squares, to take the front seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets; these are the men who swallow the property of widows, while making a show of lengthy prayers. The more severe will be the sentence they receive.’
He sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the treasury, and many of the rich put in a great deal. A poor widow came and put in two small coins, the equivalent of a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, ‘I tell you solemnly, this poor widow has put more in than all who have contributed to the treasury; for they have all put in money they had over, but she from the little she had has put in everything she possessed, all she had to live on.’
EXEMPLARS OF UNDIVIDED LOVE FOR GOD AND MAN
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Tb 12:1. 5-15. 20; Can Tb 13:2,6-8; Mk 12:38-44 ]
Earlier on when one of the scribes asked Jesus the most crucial question regarding the practice of religion, “Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mk 12:28-31) It is therefore clear that God must be given undivided and total devotion, which is then expressed by our love for our neighbours in the same measure that we love ourselves.
Unfortunately, not all scribes were sincerely following the scriptures that they interpreted and taught. They were hypocritical in the practice of their religion. This was the denunciation of our Lord when He said, “Beware of the scribes that like to walk about in long robes, to be greeted obsequiously in the market squares, to take the front seats in the synagogue and the places of honour at banquets; these are the men that swallow the property of widows, while making a show of lengthy prayers. The more severe will be the sentence they receive.” Indeed, those of us who are “professional” in religion are tempted to spiritual worldliness, as Pope Francis often warns us. This kind of hypocrisy is more difficult to detect because we might not be able to tell the motives of what these professionals externally do. It was not because they loved God or loved their fellowmen but themselves.
The Lord condemned the scribes for their obsession with appearance. They took pride in wearing long robes to show their piety and perhaps their authority as faithful Jews practicing the Law. This is the same temptation of the world today. We all want to look good in social media. We present the wonderful side of ourselves to wow the world, making them think that we are so kind, compassionate, loving and selfless. But we know that it is all for show because deep inside us or in our private life, we can be mean, nasty, unreasonable and selfish to our loved ones, our workers and our helpers. Indeed, today, it is all about presentation, cosmetic changes and publicity but there is no real substantial change in what we do.
Secondly, like the Scribes, professionals and dignitaries, and of course priests, religious and our laity are always concerned about their status, their position of honour and recognition. This is why State and Church protocols are a very serious matter, otherwise our guests would be slighted. We think that honour is very important, whether we deserve it or not. Wasn’t this what the Lord said of the scribes, that they sought “to be greeted obsequiously in the market squares, to take the front seats in the synagogue and the places of honour at banquets”? When we are more concerned about our privileges than our responsibilities, we have got it all wrong. We are more concerned with our status than service. The honour is not given to the person but the office. Only those deserving of the office because of the responsibilities the office bears are given that respect due to them.
Thirdly, the Scribes were condemned for their performance and not living out their spiritual life. They made “a show of lengthy prayers.” Indeed, there are some of us who cover up our sins by appearing to be holy and devout. Some of us have been given the gift to pray eloquently, using the most beautiful words and imagery, to pray aloud for others to hear, and not so much for God to hear. We are keener to impress people with what we say so that people will tell us that they were touched by our prayers, rather than praying sincerely and deeply from the depths of our hearts to God. So, it was not the long prayers that the Lord condemned but that it was the performance that made the prayer false.
Fourthly, their hypocritical practice of the faith was shown in their greed and their dishonesty in ripping the widows of their property and savings by not paying them for the work they do to support them. By using the Law to tell them that it was noble to support the work of the scribes, they were making use of their position. They sponged on the generosity of the ordinary people and the widow’s savings. There is always a danger of priests and religious exploiting the generosity of the faithful and their goodness. We have many cases of so-called Catholics making use of their fellow Catholics’ kindness by borrowing or asking money from them without paying them back and sometimes using the money for gambling and entertainment.
In contrast, Jesus gave us all a model, an exemplar of what it means to love God. There was this poor widow at the treasury of the Temple who “put in two small coins, the equivalent of a penny.” Jesus remarked to His disciples, “I tell you solemnly, this poor widow has put more in than all who have contributed to the treasury; for they have all put in money they had over, but she from the little she had has put in everything she possessed, all she had to live on.” In giving whatever little she had, she showed her deep faith in God and her undivided and loyal love for Him. Her giving was not to replace faith. Indeed, good works cannot substitute faith. Rather, her giving of everything she had to the Temple treasury was an expression of her faith in God that He would provide. Otherwise, she would have kept the coins for her own upkeep and food. She knew that everything came from God and therefore everything belonged to Him. By so doing, she lived out what the Lord had earlier on told the religious leaders when they asked Him, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” (Mk 12:14) Jesus’ response was “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Mk 12:17) This woman truly rendered to God everything, including her life. She had no claim to anything since all belong to God.
How many of us have this faith and devotion to God, believing that all we have belong to Him? It is not about giving even 10% of our income to God as tithes, but to be conscious that all we have belong to God. We are just His stewards when it comes to our property and wealth. We are called to be prudent in using them not for ourselves but for the glory of God and for the good of our fellowmen. For many of us unfortunately, we are possessive of our wealth and property. We think they belong to us and we can do what we like with them, especially when it comes to providing for ourselves a good and luxurious life. We give little to the Church or to the poor.
Even when we give, we give out of our abundance. So it is not a big sacrifice for us at all since it does not cause us much pain. When giving does not hurt and is not a sacrifice, it also means that our love is also little. Real love requires tremendous sacrifice on our part. When love is real, we give until it hurts. Something is not quite right in our churches today when we have to coax people to give, whether it be their time, services or money, when all they have belong to God. Worse still when those who give demand honour, recognition or even privileges in exchange for their gifts.
We are called to imitate Tobit and Tobias in their generosity to their fellowmen, and most of all in their devotion to God. As the angel Raphael said, “when you and Sarah were at prayer, it was I who offered your supplications before the glory of the Lord and who read them; so too when you were burying the dead. When you did not hesitate to get up and leave the table to go and bury a dead man, I was sent to test your faith, and at the same time God sent me to heal you and your daughter-in-law Sarah.” Let us heed the advice of the angel, “‘Prayer with fasting and alms with right conduct are better than riches with iniquity. Better to practise almsgiving than to hoard up gold. Almsgiving saves from death and purges every kind of sin. Those who give alms have their fill of days; those who commit sin and do evil, bring harm on themselves.” If we truly love God, then almsgiving is the sign of that love.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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