20210909 CHRISTIAN MORALITY
09 September, 2021, Thursday, 23rd Week, Ordinary Time
First reading |
Colossians 3:12-17 © |
Be clothed in love
You are God’s chosen race, his saints; he loves you, and you should be clothed in sincere compassion, in kindness and humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with one another; forgive each other as soon as a quarrel begins. The Lord has forgiven you; now you must do the same. Over all these clothes, to keep them together and complete them, put on love. And may the peace of Christ reign in your hearts, because it is for this that you were called together as parts of one body. Always be thankful.
Let the message of Christ, in all its richness, find a home with you. Teach each other, and advise each other, in all wisdom. With gratitude in your hearts sing psalms and hymns and inspired songs to God; and never say or do anything except in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 150 © |
Let everything that lives and that breathes give praise to the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
Praise God in his holy place,
praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his powerful deeds,
praise his surpassing greatness.
Let everything that lives and that breathes give praise to the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
O praise him with sound of trumpet,
praise him with lute and harp.
Praise him with timbrel and dance,
praise him with strings and pipes.
Let everything that lives and that breathes give praise to the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
O praise him with resounding cymbals,
praise him with clashing of cymbals.
Let everything that lives and that breathes
give praise to the Lord.
Let everything that lives and that breathes give praise to the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation | Jm1:21 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Accept and submit to the word
which has been planted in you
and can save your souls.
Alleluia!
Or: | 1Jn4:12 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
As long as we love one another
God will live in us
and his love will be complete in us.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 6:27-38 © |
Love your enemies
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I say this to you who are listening: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly. To the man who slaps you on one cheek, present the other cheek too; to the man who takes your cloak from you, do not refuse your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and do not ask for your property back from the man who robs you. Treat others as you would like them to treat you. If you love those who love you, what thanks can you expect? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what thanks can you expect? For even sinners do that much. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what thanks can you expect? Even sinners lend to sinners to get back the same amount. Instead, love your enemies and do good, and lend without any hope of return. You will have a great reward, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
‘Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge, and you will not be judged yourselves; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned yourselves; grant pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap; because the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back.’
CHRISTIAN MORALITY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [COL 3:12-17; PS 150:1-6; LK 6:27-38 ]
What does it mean to call ourselves “Christian”? It simply means that we have put on Christ in our lives. This is why Baptism is also called Christening. We are not only given a new name but a new identity because we are now a new creature in Christ. St Paul declares, “You are God’s chosen race, his saints; he loves you.” To be chosen, to be loved and to be His saints, were formerly reserved only for Israel, the Chosen People of God. The Jews believed that they were the only chosen ones of God, loved and are holy. All others were considered unclean and salvation was not given to them. But Paul now extends the same privileges given to the People of God in the Old Covenant to all Gentiles as well in the New Covenant.
Because we are His saints, and since saints are those who reflect the love of God and His presence in our lives, then we must live and act in a way that gives praise and glory to God our Father. Jesus said, “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 5:16) This is the basis of Christian morality. It is not so much a set of moral laws that we are obliged to obey, otherwise we will be condemned to hell. Rather, it is about being true to our identity as God’s children. When we live a life like our Father, Jesus assures us, “You will have a great reward, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.”
Christian morality is simply living God’s life of compassion expressed in charity and forgiveness. In Matthew’s gospel, after inviting us not just to love those who love us but to love our enemies and do good too them, Jesus said, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mt 5:43-48) St Luke’s gospel is more explicit, “Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge, and you will not be judged yourselves; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned yourself; grant pardon, and you will be pardoned.”
Indeed, the perfection of a Christian is not so much moral perfection but thinking and acting like our Lord in our relationship with others, one that is marked by love and forgiveness. This was what St Paul also told the Colossians. “You should be clothed in sincere compassion, in kindness and humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with one another; forgive each other as soon as a quarrel begins. The Lord has forgiven you; now you must do the same.” Forgiveness is the hallmark of a Christian. It is not just forgiving those who have done wrong or even wronged us, but also those we regard as our enemies. Jesus said, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly.”
Most of all, it is marked by love and charity. Jesus said, “To the man who slaps you on one cheek, present the other cheek too; to the man who takes your cloak from you, do not refuse your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and do not ask for your property back from the man who robs you.” Unless we are generous even towards those who are unreasonable to us, it shows that our hearts are still not like God’s, because “he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.” (Mt 5:45) Indeed, when we give and forgive like Jesus, then we will receive even greater blessings from God because we have the mind and heart of God in us. As the Lord assures us, “Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap; because the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back.”
Having laid down the principles of what it means to be the face of Christ to others, yet, we are often confused with what is right and wrong today. In a world of moral relativism, internet and social media, we are overwhelmed by a deluge of diverse viewpoints on moral issues, whether it is in regard to marriage, divorce, gender, abortion, or euthanasia. And the difficulty is that most views are equally convincing, even if they are opposed to each other, because there is some truth in what is articulated. Some lies are masqueraded as truths as well. It is said, half-truths are worse than lies. Hence, most of us, even after hearing all the arguments, are no wiser. As a consequence, we swing from one end of the spectrum to the other. We feel guilty in breaking the moral laws of the Church and the bible on one hand, but very much attracted to doing things like the rest of the world, such as consensual sex, regardless of gender, co-habitation, abortion, IVF, and the list goes on. There is no peace when we go against the scripture and no love when we obey the moral laws strictly. So we are torn between wanting to find love from our friends and peace with God.
How, then, can we find peace? St Paul wrote, “may the peace of Christ reign in your hearts, because it is for this that you were called together as parts of one body.” To find peace we must let Christ rule our lives. He must be the centre and reference point in all that we do. We must always ask the question, “‘what would our Lord do?” This discernment must be done honestly. A clear sign that what we do is truly of God is not just an experience of inner peace of mind and heart, but it is a corporate peace, which means that our actions and words do not give rise to the breaking up of Christ’s body. It is therefore critical that not only must a Christian seek God’s rule in his own life, but the Christian community must be under the rule of Christ as well, for as St Paul wrote, “because it is for this that you were called together as parts of one body.” Peace must go beyond an experience of calmness and joy in our hearts but that peace must be extended to all as well so that all can truly live in peace and harmony.
To let Christ rule our hearts concretely means that we need to surrender ourselves to the Word of God; that we read it, and especially when it is expounded by mature Christians. St Paul wrote, “Let the message of Christ, in all its richness, find a home with you. Teach each other, and advise each other, in all wisdom. With gratitude in your hearts sing psalms and hymns and inspired songs to God.” We need to take reference from the written Word of God in the scriptures and the oral Word of God as passed down to us by the Church. Our hearts must be docile in reading the Word of God, asking the Holy Spirit for enlightenment. But we must be humble to allow people who are schooled in scriptures, theology and morality to enlighten us as well. We must be ready to search honestly with an open mind to what scriptures and the Church want to teach us through prayer, study and counsel. We must not be one-sided, listening to the arguments of the world and not be disposed to the Word of God as preached and taught in the Church. This is what the Church speaks about with regard to a conscientious dissent to the Church’s teaching. We must have very clear reasons and convictions for us to act according to our conscience.
Finally, perhaps the best guideline that is simple for all to follow is this, “never say or do anything except in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” If we can truly from our hearts claim that what we do is what God wants us to do, and that we are doing it in His name, and are able to praise and thank God for what we have done, then we should find peace in our moral decisions. However, if we cannot truly say from our hearts that what we are doing gives glory to God and inspires lives, brings true love in what we do, promotes peace and justice, then certainly what we do is not from God. The psalmist says, “Let everything that lives and that breathes give praise to the Lord.” We are called to praise Him not just with words, psalms and hymns but to praise Him with our lives. If we cannot praise Him in what we do, it is because “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 3:19f)
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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