20210902 SEEKING THE WILL OF GOD TO FIND PEACE
02 September, 2021, Thursday, 22nd Week, Ordinary Time
First reading |
Colossians 1:9-14 © |
God has taken us out of the power of darkness
Ever since the day we heard about you, we have never failed to pray for you, and what we ask God is that through perfect wisdom and spiritual understanding you should reach the fullest knowledge of his will. So you will be able to lead the kind of life which the Lord expects of you, a life acceptable to him in all its aspects; showing the results in all the good actions you do and increasing your knowledge of God. You will have in you the strength, based on his own glorious power, never to give in, but to bear anything joyfully, thanking the Father who has made it possible for you to join the saints and with them to inherit the light.
Because that is what he has done: he has taken us out of the power of darkness and created a place for us in the kingdom of the Son that he loves, and in him, we gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 97(98):2-6 © |
The Lord has made known his salvation.
The Lord has made known his salvation;
has shown his justice to the nations.
He has remembered his truth and love
for the house of Israel.
The Lord has made known his salvation.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
ring out your joy.
The Lord has made known his salvation.
Sing psalms to the Lord with the harp
with the sound of music.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
acclaim the King, the Lord.
The Lord has made known his salvation.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.2Thess2:14 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Through the Good News God called us
to share the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Alleluia!
Or: | Mt4:19 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Follow me, says the Lord,
and I will make you into fishers of men.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 5:1-11 © |
They left everything and followed him
Jesus was standing one day by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the crowd pressing round him listening to the word of God, when he caught sight of two boats close to the bank. The fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats – it was Simon’s – and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
When he had finished speaking he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch.’ ‘Master,’ Simon replied, ‘we worked hard all night long and caught nothing, but if you say so, I will pay out the nets.’ And when they had done this they netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear, so they signalled to their companions in the other boat to come and help them; when these came, they filled the two boats to sinking point.
When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus saying, ‘Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.’ For he and all his companions were completely overcome by the catch they had made; so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were Simon’s partners. But Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on it is men you will catch.’ Then, bringing their boats back to land, they left everything and followed him.
SEEKING THE WILL OF GOD TO FIND PEACE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Col 1:9-14; Ps 98:2-6; Lk 5:1-11 ]
Many of us cannot find peace in life because what we are doing is not in accordance with our conscience and so not in accordance with the will of God. What, then, is the will of God? This is a question we need to ask in whatever we do. Clarity of His will for us will determine how we act accordingly. The less conscious we are of His divine will for us, the less likely we will do what is right and good for us and for others. This is why St Paul prayed for the Colossians “that through perfect wisdom and spiritual understanding you should reach the fullest knowledge of his will.” But what does knowledge of His will entail?
There are many in the world who live their lives according to their whims and fancies, more so in this era of moral relativism. They do not know the will of God. Indeed, St Paul says they are like children, “tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming.” (Eph 4:14) They will pay the price of their folly eventually because what we sow is what we reap. “If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit.” (Gal 6:8) Often, on hindsight, we regret what we have done but it is too late. They will have to pay the price for their foolishness.
Then there are those who apparently know the will of God. They are good Christians instructed in the faith and even read the bible and pray. However, many of us find difficulties accepting the will of God as expressed in the teachings of scripture and the tradition of the Church. We find it difficult to apply the truths of what is taught in our lives. So we try to find loopholes to circumvent the laws of God. We use the technique of contextualization to make redundant the teaching of scriptures or reinterpret it to suit our will. This is what many so-called theologians and Church leaders are doing so that the gospel would be more acceptable to the modern generation.
We try to soften the hard teachings of Jesus. But this has never been the way of our Lord. When His disciples could not accept His teaching on the Eucharist, and many left Him, He said to Peter and the rest, “Do you also wish to go away?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (Jn 6:67f) It was same as well when Jesus spoke about giving everything away to the poor and follow Him. He said to His disciples, “Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” (Mt 19:23f) And the disciples were in dismay and said, “Then who can be saved?” (Mt 19:25) The bottom line when we reject the will of God as expressed in the scriptures is because we lack a real understanding of what is taught. We understand the laws superficially. Hence, we do not embrace them in our mind and heart.
However, even if we know the will of God and are convinced that this is the truth of how we should live and conduct ourselves, it does not mean we can do it. We know the will of God and even believe sincerely what is taught but we are too weak to do what we should do. This was the same experience of St Paul. He wrote, “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? (Rom 7:15f, 22-24) We are powerless to resist the temptations of the world, the flesh and the Evil One. We succumb so easily because although the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. (Mt 26:41)
Indeed, to overcome the incapacity of finding peace in doing God’s will, we need to pray for “perfect wisdom and spiritual understanding.” Only the Holy Spirit can enlighten our minds. St Paul said a beautiful prayer for the Ephesians, “I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.” (Eph 1:17-19) When we truly understand from our heart, we will be empowered to also carry out His divine will. The lack of capacity to carry out His will is most of the time due to the lack of personal conviction that this is what God really intends us to do. This is made more complex and confusing today because the Word of God is interpreted not just in many ways but in contradictory ways that we become unsure what is truly the will of God for us modern man today. Due to the lack of clarity and conviction, we allow our personal preferences to dictate how we should conduct ourselves.
How, then, can we know what is His will in such ambiguous situations? St Paul tells us the fruits of our action will reveal to us whether it is truly from God or from our selfish desires. Paul gives us two indications. Firstly, “you will be able to lead the kind of life which the Lord expects of you, a life acceptable to him in all its aspects; showing the results in all the good actions you do and increasing your knowledge of God.” When we live a life of love and selfless service for humanity, then we know that we are walking in the truth. Again, as St Paul told the Galatians, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Gal 5:22f) Charity is always the fruit of doing the will of God. Such a life is one of true liberation and freedom. This is “because that is what he has done: he has taken us out of the power of darkness and created a place for us in the kingdom of the Son that he loves, and in him, we gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins.”
Secondly, we will have the capacity to do His will joyfully even in the face of difficulties and opposition. St Paul wrote, “You will have in you the strength, based on his own glorious power, never to give in, but to bear anything joyfully, thanking the Father who has made it possible for you to join the saints and with them to inherit the light.” Doing God’s will is never easy. But because we know that it is His will, we will be able to overcome all trials and sufferings and to suffer with joy. A clear sign that we do not truly understand the will of God is when we suffer in the process of carrying out our duties and responsibilities. When what we do, the office we undertake, the work we do, is not clearly the expressed will of God, we will begin to hesitate and give up when the going gets tough. This is because we choose to do God’s work. But if God chooses us, then there is no question of giving up because we know that He always qualifies those He has chosen. It is the lack of conviction that what we are doing is God’s will for us that we hesitate when faced with challenges. It was in the garden of Gethsemane that Jesus came to full consciousness that the Father wanted Him to accomplish His mission through the cross. When He arrived at this conviction, He said, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” (Mt 26:42)
Today, we are called to imitate St Peter who was docile to the Lord’s call and will. He allowed the Lord to make use of his boat to teach. When the Lord asked him to put down the nets for a catch, even though, as a professional fisherman all his life and knowing the conditions for a good catch were not there, yet in humility and obedience, he obeyed. In surrendering to the Lord, he came to a greater self-awareness of his limitations, his pride and his sinfulness. But the Lord healed him and helped him to experience His forgiveness, for it was God who would make him great. Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on it is men you will catch.’ Then, bringing their boats back to land, they left everything and followed him.” We are invited to do the same today by clarifying for ourselves His will through discernment aided by prayer, study and spiritual direction. When we arrive with conviction of His will, and when we do it, we will find peace and joy even in trials.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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