20210807 FAITH COMMITMENT BY REMEMBERING
07 August, 2021, Saturday, 18th Week, Ordinary Time
First reading |
Deuteronomy 6:4-13 © |
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart
Moses said to the people:
‘Listen, Israel: the Lord our God is the one Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength. Let these words I urge on you today be written on your heart. You shall repeat them to your children and say them over to them whether at rest in your house or walking abroad, at your lying down or at your rising; you shall fasten them on your hand as a sign and on your forehead as a circlet; you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
‘When the Lord has brought you into the land which he swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that he would give you, with great and prosperous cities not of your building, houses full of good things not furnished by you, wells you did not dig, vineyards and olives you did not plant, when you have eaten these and had your fill, then take care you do not forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You must fear the Lord your God, you must serve him, by his name you must swear.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 17(18):2-4,47,51 © |
I love you, Lord, my strength.
I love you, Lord, my strength,
my rock, my fortress, my saviour.
I love you, Lord, my strength.
My God is the rock where I take refuge;
my shield, my mighty help, my stronghold.
The Lord is worthy of all praise,
when I call I am saved from my foes.
I love you, Lord, my strength.
Long life to the Lord, my rock!
Praised be the God who saves me,
He has given great victories to his king
and shown his love for his anointed.
I love you, Lord, my strength.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Ep1:17,18 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
enlighten the eyes of our mind,
so that we can see what hope his call holds for us.
Alleluia!
Or: | cf.2Tim1:10 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Our Saviour Jesus Christ abolished death
and he has proclaimed life through the Good News.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
Matthew 17:14-20 © |
If your faith were the size of a mustard seed, the mountain would move
A man came up to Jesus and went down on his knees before him. ‘Lord,’ he said ‘take pity on my son: he is a lunatic and in a wretched state; he is always falling into the fire or into the water. I took him to your disciples and they were unable to cure him.’ ‘Faithless and perverse generation!’ Jesus said in reply ‘How much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.’ And when Jesus rebuked it the devil came out of the boy who was cured from that moment.
Then the disciples came privately to Jesus. ‘Why were we unable to cast it out?’ they asked. He answered, ‘Because you have little faith. I tell you solemnly, if your faith were the size of a mustard seed you could say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it would move; nothing would be impossible for you.’
FAITH COMMITMENT BY REMEMBERING
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Dt 6:4-13; Ps 18:2-4,47,51; Mt 17:14-20 ]
Moses asked the Israelites for their commitment to the Covenant that God had established with them. What is decisive in this commitment is reducible just to one commandment, namely, “Listen, Israel: the Lord our God is the one Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength.” This is the Shema which every Jew would recite three times a day at the beginning of their prayers. Because it is a covenant relationship, God demands absolute, total and faithful commitment to Him. Only God could protect the people and ensure their safety and well-being. Other than the God of Israel, there are no other gods to compete with Him. To worship other gods would be tantamount to worshipping a delusion or nothing. It also implies that they lack faith in Him.
Indeed, to give our heart and soul to God and to love Him with all our strength demands faith in Him. Without faith, without trust, no love relationship can develop. Trust is fundamental to any relationship. Otherwise, we will always be suspicious of the other person or party, and this leads to defensive measures to shield us from betrayal. This is what the gospel is asking of us as well. When Jesus came down from the mountain after radiating the glory of God, He was thrust once again into the demands and hassles of daily life.
A man whose son was suffering from epilepsy was diagnosed as a demonic possession. He “came up to Jesus and went down on his knees before him. ‘Lord,’ he said, ‘take pity on my son: he is a lunatic and in a wretched state; he is always falling into the fire or into the water. I took him to your disciples and they were unable to cure him.'” This man, in spite of being let down by His disciples, still clung on to his faith in Jesus. He knelt down on his knees in worship and addressed Him as the “Lord” who could save his son. Jesus’ response was one of great disappointment, “Faithless and perverse generation!” This was particularly unacceptable, considering that the Lord had earlier sent them out to heal and to cast out devils. Hence, He said, “‘How much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.’ And when Jesus rebuked it the devil came out of the boy who was cured from that moment.”
Faith is the key to do what Jesus did. The disciples came privately to Jesus and asked, “Why were we unable to cast it out?” Jesus answered, “Because you have little faith. I tell you solemnly, if your faith were the size of a mustard seed you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’, and it would move; nothing would be impossible for you.” We can move mountains, perhaps not literally but symbolically, if we have faith in God. With faith, we can surmount very challenge and trial in our lives. Just a little faith in God, the size of a mustard seed, and great things can happen to us. What more if we have the faith of Mary!
How, then, can we strengthen our faith in Him so that we can give our faith commitment to God with all our heart, soul and strength? In the gospel of Mark, the evangelist gives us the key to faith, which is prayer. When His disciples asked him “Why could we not cast it out?” Jesus said to them, “This kind can come out only through prayer.” (Mk 9:28f) Why prayer? It is not just a kind of repetitive intercessory pray that will bring about God’s assistance to our needs. Rather, it is a prayer of intimacy with Him. When we relate with Him as a child to a Father, as a friend, we will have confidence in His love and care for us. Prayer and intimacy create trust, confidence and assurance. So the way forward in strengthening our faith in God is by way of prayer, remembering His love for us. Unless we relate with God and come to understand Him, and experience His love and presence, we cannot increase in faith and trust.
Faith and trust require remembrance. This is why Moses cautioned the people before they entered the Promised Land not to forget what the Lord had done for them and their forefathers. “When the Lord has brought you into the land which he swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that he would give you, with great and prosperous cities not of your building, houses full of good things not furnished by you, wells you did not dig, vineyards and olives you did not plant, when you have eaten these and had your fill, then take care you do not forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Forgetfulness is not just the result of a lapse of memory but a negligence. Forgetfulness of what the Lord had done for us is what leads to a relationship that is taken for granted. How often in human relationships, especially with our loved ones, family members and friends, or even colleagues, when we take each other for granted, that relationship gets weaker each day because we fail to appreciate each other and be grateful for that relationship.
How, then, can we remember His love and goodness for us? Moses gave the people some guidelines to REMEMBER. For us, the only way to remember is through the Word of God. The scriptures are testimonies of faith and God’s love for His people. Through the Word of God passed on to us, we remember what God had done for our forefathers and what He can still do for us. Through the scriptures, we learn to avoid the mistakes of our ancestors so that we can avoid paying the price of suffering. Through the scriptures, we find inspiration to help us go through life with faith, love, hope and fortitude. St Paul sums up beautifully in his letter to Timothy, “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim 3:16f)
How do we remember the scriptures? Firstly, he said, “Let these words I urge on you today be written on your heart.” We must memorize some significant scripture texts so that they become part of our thinking as well. Jesus said, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.” (Jn 14:23f) But it is more than memorizing the scripture texts. It is interiorizing the Word of God and making them our own. Whenever we face new situations in life, then we are called upon to draw from the treasury of our heart, the Word of God to help us respond as how God wants us to respond, with wisdom, love and compassion.
Secondly, we remember by teaching others about the Word of God. It is only when we share the Word of God with others that the Word becomes more reinforced and engraved in our hearts and minds. Moses said, “You shall repeat them to your children and say them over to them whether at rest in your house or walking abroad, at your lying down or at your rising.” To repeat to our children means to continue sharing the Word in every possible situation so that the Word of God is not just informative but formative, relevant and inspiring to the daily life situation. Many are not familiar with scriptures because they hardly talk about it.
Finally, we remember by publicly witnessing our faith. Moses said, “you shall fasten them on your hands as a sign and on your forehead as a circlet; you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” We should not be diffident in expressing our faith publicly even when the secular world seeks to privatize our faith. We can do it in words or in images. Wearing symbols of faith, displaying banners or Words of Scripture are means by which we remember that we are Catholics or that God is present in our daily life, and we must act according to what we proclaim or manifest. But we must avoid reducing the symbols of faith or using sacramentals in a superstitious manner. Rather, they are tokens to strengthen our faith in His presence and also to manifest His love for us to everyone. More than ever in today’s world, where rationalism has transformed God and faith into an intellectual proposition, we must make use of symbols, signs, arts, and music in a creative way to draw people to God and to encounter Him through sacramentals and incarnational means.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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