20210728 IGNITE AND SHINE
28 July, 2021, Wednesday, 17th Week, Ordinary Time
First reading | Exodus 34:29-35 © |
Moses passes on to the people the orders given by the Lord
When Moses came down from the mountain of Sinai – as he came down from the mountain, Moses had the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands – he did not know that the skin on his face was radiant after speaking with the Lord. And when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, the skin on his face shone so much that they would not venture near him. But Moses called to them, and Aaron with all the leaders of the community came back to him; and he spoke to them. Then all the sons of Israel came closer, and he passed on to them all the orders that the Lord had given him on the mountain of Sinai. And when Moses had finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. Whenever he went into the Lord’s presence to speak with him, Moses would remove the veil until he came out again. And when he came out, he would tell the sons of Israel what he had been ordered to pass on to them, and the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he returned to speak with the Lord.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 98(99):5-7,9 © |
You are holy, O Lord our God.
Exalt the Lord our God;
bow down before Zion, his footstool.
He the Lord is holy.
You are holy, O Lord our God.
Among his priests were Aaron and Moses,
among those who invoked his name was Samuel.
They invoked the Lord and he answered.
You are holy, O Lord our God.
To them he spoke in the pillar of cloud.
They did his will; they kept the law,
which he, the Lord, had given.
You are holy, O Lord our God.
Exalt the Lord our God;
bow down before his holy mountain
for the Lord our God is holy.
You are holy, O Lord our God.
Gospel Acclamation | Ps118:105 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your word is a lamp for my steps
and a light for my path.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn15:15 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I call you friends, says the Lord,
because I have made known to you
everything I have learnt from my Father.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
Matthew 13:44-46 © |
He sells everything he owns and buys the field
Jesus said to the crowds: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which someone has found; he hides it again, goes off happy, sells everything he owns and buys the field.
‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls; when he finds one of great value he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it.’
IGNITE AND SHINE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Ex 34:29-35; Ps 99:5-7,9; Mt 13:44-46]
As Christians, we are called to give glory to God by our lives, especially in our service to Church and society, beginning in our own homes. Earlier on, the Lord told us in the gospel, “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” (Mt 5:14-16) But many of us have lost the glory in us, that radiant joy when we were ordained to the ministry, made our profession in religious life, baptized in the Lord, received the Holy Spirit anew in the Renewal, assumed an office entrusted to us, or the gratitude and passion we had when we were given a new job or assignment. This is even truer in relationships, in marriage and in family life. The love, joy, intimacy and happiness that a couple used to share before marriage has now turned stale and sour, without any passion, romance or joy. There is only quarrelling and bickering each day.
What has happened? How did we lose our zeal, joy and brightness towards people, life and the work we have been appointed to do? It is simply because we have not met the Lord face to face. We have not encountered Him personally, spoken to Him like a friend, basked in His love and presence. We have not spent time with the Lord sufficiently to allow Him to speak to our hearts and reveal His love and mercy for us. We do not know His mind and His heart and so cannot share His joy, passion and love for us and for humanity. As a consequence, under trial, or even just falling into routine and complacency, our zeal slackens. Ministry, work, service, relationships become a burden and a drudgery. Worse still, because we lack contact with God, we eventually lose our authority to lead or serve because people no longer see us as the face of God, or the glory of God in us, even if we are officially appointed to the office. We have lost our personal and moral authority.
Today, we are called to take a page from Moses who was recognized and accepted by the people as having been given authority by God. This authority came from his intimate relationship with God who spoke to him as with a friend. Moses was intimate with God and could speak freely to Him. After the rebellion, Moses was so grieved by the sins of his people and God’s withdrawal of His presence from them that he went into the mountain for forty days and nights to seek His presence. God appeared to him and revealed His face, as “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means clearing the guilty, but visiting the iniquity of the parents upon the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” (Ex 34:6f)
When Moses came down from the mountain after his meeting with God, “the skin on his face was radiant.” So much so, “when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, the skin on his face shone so much that they would not venture near him.” As a consequence, after passing to them “all the orders that the Lord had given him on the mountain of Sinai, he put a veil over his face. Whenever he went into the Lord’s presence to speak with him, Moses would remove the veil until he came out again.” Truly, those who have spent time with the Lord will always radiate the likeness of God, the joy and glory of the Lord. Moses gives us the key to keeping the radiance of God shining in us.
But there is also the unintended consequence as well. Sinful people cannot bear to see the holiness of God and in His servants. This was why when the sons of Israel saw Moses, they withdrew from him and were afraid of him. This was the same experience of Isaiah when he encountered the glory of God. “And I said: ‘Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!'” (Isa 6:5) This is why evil and selfish people hate the gospel and Christians. Jesus said, “The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.” (Jn 3:19-21)
As Christians, we are to turn to Jesus who is the New Moses, incomparable to anyone. Jesus is the glory of God in person, not just a mediator reflecting the glory of God. “He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word.” (Heb 1:3) In the transfiguration, Jesus once again manifested His glory to His disciples. “Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white.” (Mt 17:1f) Most of all, the glory of Jesus shone at His resurrection. This was what the Lord said to His Father at the end of His life. “So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.” (Jn 17:5)
St Paul reminds us that Moses was just foreshadowing the coming of Christ’s glory. Moses “put a veil over his face to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of the glory that was being set aside. Indeed, to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds; but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.” (cf 2 Cor 3:13-18) Today, we are called to shine out the glory of God. “For it is the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Cor 4:6)
Encountering the Lord’s glory is also the grace of God. This is what the parables of the Hidden Treasure and Fine Pearls tell us. The one who found a treasure in the field would probably be just a servant digging the earth for his master. But once he found it, “he hides it again, goes off happy, sells everything he owns and buys the field.” It was by chance, that he found the treasure. So too, some of us encounter God’s glory in ways and circumstances beyond our imagination. We could be thinking that God is the last thing on our mind, then one day, unexpectedly, we encounter Him, perhaps in a vision, at prayer, in an accident or a failure, then suddenly He becomes the most important person in our lives. In the case of the merchant who found a pearl of great value, he was intentionally searching. So too for some of us. We have been looking for God in this or that religion, and one day, we meet Christ in a retreat, a seminar, or in a rally. Hence, for those of us who are searching for an encounter with God, we must not give up until we have found Him.
This search for the Lord is an ongoing reality. It is significant that after the man found the treasure, he hid it again. It is a reminder that God often allows us to see the hidden treasure of His glory, but He will hide it again so that we will continue to yearn for that treasure. Otherwise, for too many of us, we take our faith and ministry for granted. We forget the privilege of encountering the Lord. Unlike Moses, the glory of God tends to fade in our lives after a while because we are forgetful. By hiding the treasure from us, God wants us to pay the price, like the man and the merchant who sold everything to buy it. So we must continue to work out our “salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Phil 2:12f)
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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