20220805 WHAT HAS A MAN TO OFFER IN EXCHANGE FOR HIS LIFE?
05 August, 2022, Friday, 18th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
Nahum 2:1,3,3:1-3,6-7 © |
Israel restored; Nineveh ruined
See, over the mountains the messenger hurries!
‘Peace!’ he proclaims.
Judah, celebrate your feasts,
carry out your vows,
for Belial will never pass through you again;
he is utterly annihilated.
Yes, the Lord is restoring the vineyard of Jacob
and the vineyard of Israel.
For the plunderers had plundered them,
they had broken off their branches.
Woe to the city soaked in blood,
full of lies,
stuffed with booty,
whose plunderings know no end!
The crack of the whip!
The rumble of wheels!
Galloping horse,
jolting chariot,
charging cavalry,
flash of swords,
gleam of spears...
a mass of wounded,
hosts of dead,
countless corpses;
they stumble over the dead.
I am going to pelt you with filth,
shame you, make you a public show.
And all who look on you will turn their backs on you and say,
‘Nineveh is a ruin.’
Could anyone pity her?
Where can I find anyone to comfort her?
Responsorial Psalm |
Deuteronomy 32:35-36,39,41 © |
It is the Lord who deals death and life.
It is close, the day of their ruin;
their doom comes at speed.
For the Lord will see his people righted,
he will take pity on his servants.
It is the Lord who deals death and life.
See now that I, I am He,
and beside me there is no other god.
It is I who deal death and life;
when I have struck it is I who heal.
It is the Lord who deals death and life.
When I have whetted my flashing sword
I will take up the cause of Right,
I will give my foes as good again,
I will repay those who hate me.
It is the Lord who deals death and life.
Gospel Acclamation | 1S3:9,Jn6:68 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Speak, Lord, your servant is listening:
you have the message of eternal life.
Alleluia!
Or: | Mt5:10 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Happy those who are persecuted
in the cause of right,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
Matthew 16:24-28 © |
Anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it. What, then, will a man gain if he wins the whole world and ruins his life? Or what has a man to offer in exchange for his life?
‘For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and, when he does, he will reward each one according to his behaviour. I tell you solemnly, there are some of these standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming with his kingdom.’
WHAT HAS A MAN TO OFFER IN EXCHANGE FOR HIS LIFE?
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [NAHUM 2:1,3,3:1-3,6-7; MT 16:24-28]
“What has a man to offer in exchange for his life?” This is perhaps the most important question we all need to answer for ourselves. We all want to find life and we want to live forever. Yet, very often, we search for life in the wrong places and end up in death. We have a herd mentality, following what most people in the world seek. But because we listen to the world, our lives are in ruins. We live a dishonest life, seeking to destroy our competitors. We cheat and grab for power, and wealth, and compete for positions. But as the Lord says, “What, then, will a man gain if he wins the whole world and ruins his life?”
This was the case with the Assyrians in Nineveh. In today’s reading, we hear the prophet Nahum assuring Judah that God was with them. God would restore the two vineyards of Israel and Judah plundered by Assyria. They had become proud and arrogant. But they got their just dessert when the Lord sent the Babylonians to destroy Assyria. “Woe to the city soaked in blood, full of lies, stuffed with booty, whose plunderings know no end! The crack of the whip! The rumble of wheels! Galloping horse, jolting chariot, charging cavalry, flash of swords, gleam of spears… a mass of wounded, hosts of dead, countless corpses; they stumble over the dead. I am going to pelt you with filth, shame you, make you a public show. And all who look on you will turn their backs on you and say, ‘Nineveh is a ruin’. Could anyone pity her? Where can I find anyone to comfort her?”
Lest we destroy our life which is what we all seek, we must reflect on what truly brings happiness in life and the way we should attain it. The first principle our Lord gave us is this, “Anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.” To find life, we must use our life for the service of others. We must give up our life for others. The more we use our life, our talents, and resources for others, the more meaningful and fulfilling life becomes. Indeed, we come alive when we feel that we are making a difference in the lives of others, when we put a smile on their faces and when we give them hope and encouragement.
But this calls for self-sacrifice and not being absorbed in oneself and in one’s security. So long as we are protecting our interests, we will not be able to share with others what we have. We will always feel we do not have enough or are not secured sufficiently. We will always be thinking of expanding our wealth, influence, and power. When we are busy trying to build up our wealth and empire, we will have no time to think of others. Even when we serve others or give to others, it is never pure but a stunt to get good publicity so that we have better prospects for promotion or experience. For this reason, Jesus is asking us whether we are willing to lose our life for others, and whether we are serious about giving up our life for others.
The opposite of trying to save our life is to lose it. In fact, Jesus is not giving us a choice. He is telling us the truth and reality of life. When we act selfishly, we can preserve our physical life, but we lose the fullness of life. Indeed, when we do not exercise and burn our energy, we will fall sick. If we do not use our brains, the cells will die, and soon we become demented. If we do not keep up with our musical instruments, we will not be able to play them. If we stop writing, we will find great difficulty even to compose a letter because ideas and words will not flow easily. If we do not reach out to others and just stay by ourselves, very soon, as we have experienced during the Covid restrictions, we will be unable to relate well with people. By keeping our money for ourselves, we will have few friends in life. By enjoying the pleasures of life by ourselves, we will deprive ourselves of a greater fellowship when we are one with others. Love is stronger and longer when we love each other as a community, supporting and caring for each other.
Consequently, we must focus on the mission of life, which is to give life to others so that we might find life for ourselves. We must not misunderstand the context of renunciation that Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me.” This must not be misunderstood as an invitation to discipline, mortification, and ascetical practices. In themselves, fasting, mortification, and disciplining the body cannot make us happy and cannot give life. They are means, not the ends themselves. Indulging in ascetical practices can boost our ego perhaps but not give us happiness.
Happiness entails true love of oneself, including our body and not just our soul. So, destroying our body, depriving ourselves of comfort or of food, or even of pleasures is to despise the gifts of God’s creation. God wants us to prosper, have good food and enjoy the gifts of creation. God did not create us to suffer and make us miserable. So ascetical discipline in themselves, when done for the wrong reasons, make life a chore and a burden. We must be free in the fullest sense of the term. Freedom is not just a question of doing what we like but freedom from all attachment and addictions to food and pleasure as well. Ascetical practices are meant to help us to be interiorly free.
But most of all, when Jesus advocated renunciation, it is in the context of fulfilling our mission. This text must be seen in connection with the earlier text when Jesus prophesied His imminent passion, death, and resurrection as He carried out His mission of being the Messiah. However, St Peter could not accept that Jesus would have to die to be the Messiah. But such a rejection is tantamount to a rejection of God’s plan when salvation is given through the death of His Son. Jesus knew that if He were to save His people, it would be by His passion and death on the cross.
As His disciples, we too are called to renounce ourselves, renounce our will, and take up the cross to walk after Him. We must be ready to make sacrifices for the service of others. At times, we will be misunderstood, taken for granted, made use of by others, and even betrayed and slandered by those we have served. But for the sake of the mission, we must be ready to carry the cross of self-denial. We must not labour under the illusion that helping and serving society and the poor is always appreciated. There will be some who are extremely difficult to please or to love. We can also be misunderstood.
But we should not be too overly concerned about how people respond to our offer of love and life. Jesus in the gospel made it clear that our task is to offer but it is up to them to respond. “As you enter the house, greet it. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town.” (Mt 10:12-14) Ultimately, we are only the servants and messengers of the Lord. God is the One who, as the responsorial psalm says, is the judge. “For the Lord will see his people righted, he will take pity on his servants. See now that I, I am He, and beside me there is no other god. It is I who deal death and life; when I have struck it is I who heal.”
Our task is to make the Kingdom of God present in our life. Jesus said what we do today will be rewarded, not just at the end of time but even now. What we sow is what we reap. “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and, when he does, he will reward each one according to his behaviour. I tell you solemnly, there are some of these standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming with his kingdom.” Indeed, those of us who love have life today. St John wrote, “We know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another. Whoever does not love abides in death.” (1 Jn 4:14) Hence, in a certain sense, we do not taste death when we love. So long as we love, we are alive. And even if we die, we are even more alive in the Lord. A person who loves is always alive, dead or alive on earth. This is why the Lord says, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.’ (JN 11:25f)
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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