20211020 EXERCISE OF FREEDOM
20 October, 2021, Wednesday, 29th Week, Ordinary Time
First reading | Romans 6:12-18 © |
Make every part of your body a weapon fighting on the side of God
You must not let sin reign in your mortal bodies or command your obedience to bodily passions, you must not let any part of your body turn into an unholy weapon fighting on the side of sin; you should, instead, offer yourselves to God, and consider yourselves dead men brought back to life; you should make every part of your body into a weapon fighting on the side of God; and then sin will no longer dominate your life, since you are living by grace and not by law.
Does the fact that we are living by grace and not by law mean that we are free to sin? Of course not. You know that if you agree to serve and obey a master you become his slaves. You cannot be slaves of sin that leads to death and at the same time slaves of obedience that leads to righteousness. You were once slaves of sin, but thank God you submitted without reservation to the creed you were taught. You may have been freed from the slavery of sin, but only to become ‘slaves’ of righteousness.
Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 123(124) © |
Our help is in the name of the Lord.
‘If the Lord had not been on our side,’
this is Israel’s song.
‘If the Lord had not been on our side
when men rose up against us,
then would they have swallowed us alive
when their anger was kindled.
Our help is in the name of the Lord.
‘Then would the waters have engulfed us,
the torrent gone over us;
over our head would have swept
the raging waters.’
Blessed be the Lord who did not give us
a prey to their teeth!
Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Our life, like a bird, has escaped
from the snare of the fowler.
Indeed the snare has been broken
and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Gospel Acclamation | Jn10:27 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice,
says the Lord,
I know them and they follow me.
Alleluia!
Or: | Mt24:42,44 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Stay awake and stand ready,
because you do not know the hour
when the Son of Man is coming.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 12:39-48 © |
The Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘You may be quite sure of this, that if the householder had known at what hour the burglar would come, he would not have let anyone break through the wall of his house. You too must stand ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.’
Peter said, ‘Lord, do you mean this parable for us, or for everyone?’ The Lord replied, ‘What sort of steward, then, is faithful and wise enough for the master to place him over his household to give them their allowance of food at the proper time? Happy that servant if his master’s arrival finds him at this employment. I tell you truly, he will place him over everything he owns. But as for the servant who says to himself, “My master is taking his time coming,” and sets about beating the menservants and the maids, and eating and drinking and getting drunk, his master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know. The master will cut him off and send him to the same fate as the unfaithful.
The servant who knows what his master wants, but has not even started to carry out those wishes, will receive very many strokes of the lash. The one who did not know, but deserves to be beaten for what he has done, will receive fewer strokes. When a man has had a great deal given him, a great deal will be demanded of him; when a man has had a great deal given him on trust, even more will be expected of him.’
EXERCISE OF FREEDOM
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Rom 6:12-18; Ps 124:1-8; Lk 12:39-48]
After expounding on our justification in Christ through faith in Him and through grace given to us by His death on the cross for us, St Paul asked, “What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it?” The question is of course rhetorical. Christ has freed us from the laws of the Old Testament but this is not a license to sin since we are no longer bound by the laws. St Paul said, “Does the fact that we are living by grace and not by law mean that we are free to sin? Of course not. You know that if you agree to serve and obey a master you become his slaves.” On the contrary, Christians by virtue of our baptism in Christ are buried with Him in death and raised with Him to walk in the newness of life. Baptism is not a ritual we merely go through or an emotional and sentimental experience of being forgiven of our sins and becoming a new creation in Christ.
Having been ransomed from death by Christ, we must now decide how we want to use our body, for good or for evil. The body that God gives us is for good but it can also be used for evil as St Paul reminded the Romans, “you must not let sin reign in your mortal bodies or command your obedience to bodily passions, you must not let any part of your body turn into an unholy weapon fighting on the side of sin; you should, instead, offer yourselves to God, and consider yourselves dead men brought back to life.” Indeed, instead of living a life of licentiousness and sin, the only way to stay in our new state of life, St Paul says, is to “make every part of your body into a weapon fighting on the side of God, and then sin will no longer dominate your life, since you are living by grace and not by law.”
Paul makes a distinction between the old and new life. The former way of life was one of impurity and lawlessness. The new life is one of righteousness. If we allow the old life to dominate us, we will become more lawless for sin begets sin. When we sin the first time, we feel terrible, but the second time becomes easier, and soon we are numbed to our sins because sin has lost its terror and has possessed us. Indeed, for a soldier to kill his enemy the first time brings him much grief and soon, his heart is hardened and he could kill his enemies without much guilt. The new life is different because it is one of righteousness. Having been justified, he seeks to live that justified life by living a life of grace. The Christian will not use people to gratify his pleasures or serve his selfish interests but when God is given His proper place, he becomes more and more like Him. This is called sanctification.
Indeed, after baptism, we no longer belong to the Evil One because we belong to God. St Paul wrote, “You were once slaves of sin, but thank God you submitted without reservation to the creed you were taught. You may have been freed from the slavery of sin, but only to become ‘slaves’ of righteousness.” In other words, we are freed from sin so that we can be free for love. As “slaves” of righteousness, we offer ourselves, our entire body, all our resources to the Lord because we belong to the Lord exclusively. As St Paul wrote, “If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.” (Rom 14:8) Everything we have therefore belongs to God. There is nothing we can call our own. So we cannot be giving part of ourselves to God but everything we have must be given back to God for His service. Christ is the master of our life.
But we might feel incapable of resisting sin. St Paul offers us encouragement. Even when we sin, it is only momentary and out of weakness. We can always turn back to Him for He is all forgiving. We no longer live under the law of condemnation but the grace of justification. To be on the side of Jesus does not mean that we are perfect and that we will not sin but our fidelity is to the Lord. It is because of His grace, love and mercy that will give us the strength to resist sin more and more. The more radically we are in union with Jesus through baptism and the Eucharist, the more we will be able to resist sin. Sanctification is a gradual process, it is not yet a completed state. But as we give ourselves to Jesus, our mind, heart and body to Him, we become more perfect. The struggle against sin is not over by any means but it does mean that we will receive His grace to combat against the temptations of life.
This same theme on exercising our freedom wisely is also reflected in the gospel on the question of stewardship. We read that the steward was entrusted with the master’s household. Jesus asked, “What sort of steward, then, is faithful and wise enough for the master to place him over his household to give them their allowance of food at the proper time?” We are all leaders and responsible also in exercising the gifts of God given to us. Clearly the parable is addressed to us all when Peter asked, “Lord, do you mean this parable for us, or for everyone?” We are to manage God’s household, whether in the church, in organizations, in the family or in businesses. Such gift of leadership requires responsible management. The job of a leader is to exercise power but more to serve. Authority is given over others is for the sake of service.
A good steward will therefore exercise his gift of leadership responsibly. Using the authority he has been invested with, he uses it freely and wisely for the good of all. Like a good servant, he does not just wait for the master to return before he starts working but he is always in action. Jesus said, “Happy that servant if his master’s arrival finds him at this employment. I tell you truly, he will place him over everything he owns.” The Lord blesses those who give themselves to the service of God and as a reward increases their scope of responsibility. Indeed, the good steward was not just given responsibility over the house and its servants but the entire estate of the master. God has given us a share in His authority to rule over creation. However, we must choose either to be responsible and faithful stewards or not.
For the tragedy of life is that often power corrupts, and corrupts absolutely. The irresponsible servant says to himself, “‘My master is taking his time coming’, and sets about beating the menservants and the maids and eating and drinking and getting drunk. Instead of being grateful for the trust the master had given to him, he abused that trust. Instead of looking after the welfare of the servants, he abused them and took care of his own pleasures and interests. How many of us waste the resources that the Lord has given to us for the service of others? We have been given the gift of faith so that we can share with others. But we do not grow in our faith and deprive others of coming to faith.
When we do not exercise our freedom and the resources the Lord has given to us, we will live a life of regret because the master will call us to account when we least expect it. We must not think that we have plenty of time to repent. The consequences of our negligence in this life and in the life to come might be too heavy a price for us to pay. We cannot be sure of what is coming tomorrow. If we are ignorant as the Lord said, the guilt would be lesser, but if we are fully aware that we should not be doing what we are doing, then the guilt will be heavy. Indeed, “when a man has had a great deal given him, a great deal will be demanded of him; when a man had had a great deal given him on trust, even more will be expected of him.” So too is the gift of faith and baptism when we become negligent.
Let us therefore live our lives in such a way, that we are always ready to face the Lord. There can be no greater joy and peace to know that we have accomplished what the Lord has tasked us to do. This shows that we have gained mastery over ourselves and no longer a slave to sin but a servant of righteousness. This means that we are living the new life that God has given us. Jesus is truly our Lord who is in charge of our lives. As St Paul says, we must use our body “as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.” In this way, we will always do the will of God instead of being conformed to the world. (cf Rom 12:1-3)
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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