20210623 THE SHIELD OF FAITH AND LOVE
23 June, 2021, Wednesday, 12th Week, Ordinary Time
First reading |
Genesis 15:1-12,17-18 © |
Count the stars: such shall be your descendants
It happened that the word of the Lord was spoken to Abram in a vision, ‘Have no fear, Abram, I am your shield; your reward will be very great.’
‘My Lord,’ Abram replied ‘what do you intend to give me? I go childless…’. Then Abram said, ‘See, you have given me no descendants; some man of my household will be my heir.’ And then this word of the Lord was spoken to him, ‘He shall not be your heir; your heir shall be of your own flesh and blood.’ Then taking him outside he said, ‘Look up to heaven and count the stars if you can. Such will be your descendants’ he told him. Abram put his faith in the Lord, who counted this as making him justified.
‘I am the Lord’ he said to him ‘who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldaeans to make you heir to this land.’ ‘My Lord,’ Abram replied ‘how am I to know that I shall inherit it?’ He said to him, ‘Get me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon.’ He brought him all these, cut them in half and put half on one side and half facing it on the other; but the birds he did not cut in half. Birds of prey came down on the carcases but Abram drove them off.
Now as the sun was setting Abram fell into a deep sleep, and terror seized him. When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, there appeared a smoking furnace and a firebrand that went between the halves. That day the Lord made a Covenant with Abram in these terms:
‘To your descendants I give this land,
from the wadi of Egypt to the Great River,
the river Euphrates.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 104(105):1-4,6-9 © |
The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or
Alleluia!
Give thanks to the Lord, tell his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples.
O sing to him, sing his praise;
tell all his wonderful works!
The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or
Alleluia!
Be proud of his holy name,
let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice.
Consider the Lord and his strength;
constantly seek his face.
The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or
Alleluia!
O children of Abraham, his servant,
O sons of the Jacob he chose.
He, the Lord, is our God:
his judgements prevail in all the earth.
The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or
Alleluia!
He remembers his covenant for ever,
his promise for a thousand generations,
the covenant he made with Abraham,
the oath he swore to Isaac.
The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation | Ps118:18 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open my eyes, O Lord, that I may consider
the wonders of your law.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn15:4,5 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Make your home in me, as I make mine in you,
says the Lord;
whoever remains in me bears fruit in plenty.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Matthew 7:15-20 © |
You will be able to tell them by their fruits
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Beware of false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep but underneath are ravenous wolves. You will be able to tell them by their fruits. Can people pick grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, a sound tree produces good fruit but a rotten tree bad fruit. A sound tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a rotten tree bear good fruit. Any tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown on the fire. I repeat, you will be able to tell them by their fruits.’
THE SHIELD OF FAITH AND LOVE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Gen 15:1-12, 17-18; Ps 105:1-4,6-9; Mt 7:15-20 ]
Why did the Lord say to Abram in a vision, “Have no fear, Abram, I am your shield; your reward will be very great”? This was because Abram began to doubt whether God’s promises could be fulfilled. He had just escaped the clutches of Pharaoh and also had to fight against the tribal kings who attacked Lot, his nephew, who was living in Sodom, taking him away and all his possessions. So he had to mount an attack against the five kings to rescue Lot and take back his possessions. Indeed, the journey was rather risky because of the uncertainties facing him and his family each day. It is within this context, realizing how Abram was feeling, that the Lord in His compassion sought to strengthen his faith. God assured Abram that He would be His shield and his reward would be great.
Indeed, all of us face struggles in life. We have enemies within and without. Many things in life are not as clear as we think they are. Life is very complicated. As Jesus said in the gospel, “Beware of false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep but underneath are ravenous wolves.” Indeed, we do not know who are the real shepherds and who are the wolves waiting to devour us. This is because whether they are real shepherds or wolves, they wear sheep’s clothing. There are many people who appear to be serving the community, when in fact they are serving themselves. Just because they are conferred certain status in society, such as priest or religious, hold leadership positions, etc, it does not mean that they are genuine shepherds.
Indeed, naïve and undiscerning people often cannot distinguish the true shepherd from the wolves. Not only them, even those of us are who supposedly educated and well-informed can easily by impressed by the wisdom of the world. They present their case so logically and convincingly that many are misled. They advocate abortion in the name of compassion for the mother and the child so that their future would not be compromised and the fear that they might have to suffer more when the child is born. Again, in the name of compassion, the world promotes euthanasia so that when life is no longer worth living, we should not prolong it, not just the physical suffering of the person but more importantly, his or her emotional pain. In the name of love, the world advocates same-sex union because everyone deserves a partner in life. In the name of freedom and truth, everyone is entitled to articulate his views even when others get hurt or insulted in the process. In the name of relativism, everything is reduced to mere personal preferences.
So how do we discern whether something is from God, as in the case of Abram, or the false shepherds, as Jesus warned us in the gospel? Jesus had just told His disciples not to judge. “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get.” (Mt 7:1f) But in today’s gospel, Jesus asked us to discern. Is there a contradiction? Discernment is objective, not subjective. In other words, we cannot judge the motives of people but we can judge the works of people. Hence, the Lord said, “You will be able to tell them by their fruits.” So, we need to carefully discern the person based on the fruits that we see.
But this is not an easy task because there is a lot of ambiguity. Having said that, we judge a person by the fruits, but even then, often these fruits are not so clear as well. When Jesus said, “Can people pick grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?” He was also warning us of a superficial judgment. The truth is that there is more than meets the eye. In Israel, there was a certain buckthorn that bear black berries that look like grapes. And there was a certain thistle that had flowers resembling figs from a distance. Hence, the call to discernment is certainly not an easy process.
Nevertheless, we know the truth by the fruits of love. As the Lord said, “In the same way, a sound tree produces good fruit but a rotten tree bad fruit. A sound tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a rotten tree bear good fruit.” We can judge a person’s authenticity or the truth and wisdom of a policy by the fruits they produce. Of course, such fruits must be lasting and bear the qualities of the Spirit. As St Paul taught us, “Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.” (Gal 5:19-23)
So the shield of love of the Holy Spirit will protect us from falling into the traps of the wolves around us. The shield of authentic love is at the same time the shield of truth. Because truth ultimately is love. Hence, in whatever we do and, in all discernment, we must always look for the lasting fruits of the Spirit. When what we do brings about the works of the flesh, then we must shield ourselves from being trapped into carrying out activities that bring division. The Lord made it clear, “Any tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown on the fire. I repeat, you will be able to tell them by their fruits.”
But the shield of love must be supplemented by the shield of faith. Without faith, we would not be able to persevere when love demands self-sacrifice and generosity. Unless we have faith that God will shield us and protect us from death, we will not be able to give ourselves selflessly in the works of charity. We are naturally self-defensive. Abram needed to understand and be assured that his faith in God was not in vain. So he asked the Lord. “My Lord, what do you intend to give me? I go childless… See, you have given me no descendants; some man of my household will be my heir.” God knew he needed assurance.
Indeed, even when we have faith in someone, we will still need signs to assure us that our faith is not wrongly placed. This is true in relationship, in work and in marriage as well. It is not enough to hear words of love from our loved ones or our bosses. We need to see the actions of love, forgiveness, understanding and compassion from them. When we take each other for granted, when we are no longer loving in our words and actions towards each other, when we are no long kind and patient and forgiving, then of course faith, which is trust, will be weakened gradually. We begin to wonder whether the love is sincere. If many relationships have turned sour it is because the couple takes each other for granted, and fail to assure each other of their love for each other and see the works of love.
When the shield of love is complemented by the shield of faith, love and faith will grow in tandem. The more love we give, the stronger the faith. The greater the faith, the more we love. In the case of Abram, when he was assured of God’s promises even though he had not yet seen it, he was able to surrender in faith and trust. When the Lord took him outside and said, “‘Look up to heaven and count the stars if you can. Such will be your descendants’ he told him”, we read that “Abram put his faith in the Lord, who counted this as making him justified.” This was followed by the Lord making a Covenant with him, giving him another sign that He would not just be blessed with descendants but land as well. Abram who was worshipping the Moon God, upon seeing the stars knew for certain who the true God really was. It must be remembered that the promises were gradually fulfilled, not in his life time but hundreds of years later. But more than just earthly promises, the author of Hebrew said, “All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. (cf Heb 11:13-16) This, too, is our ultimate hope in life, that at the end of our sojourn on earth, we will arrive at the heavenly city of Jerusalem, where we will be united with God and with all our departed loved ones. So in faith, in love, we must journey each day in hope knowing that in God’s time, His divine plan will be fulfilled in our lives with our cooperation.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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