20221024 LIVING AS CHILDREN OF LIGHT
24 October, 2022, Monday, 30th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
Ephesians 4:32-5:8 © |
Follow Christ by loving as he loved you
Be friends with one another, and kind, forgiving each other as readily as God forgave you in Christ.
Try, then, to imitate God as children of his that he loves and follow Christ loving as he loved you, giving himself up in our place as a fragrant offering and a sacrifice to God. Among you there must be not even a mention of fornication or impurity in any of its forms, or promiscuity: this would hardly become the saints! There must be no coarseness, or salacious talk and jokes – all this is wrong for you; raise your voices in thanksgiving instead. For you can be quite certain that nobody who actually indulges in fornication or impurity or promiscuity – which is worshipping a false god – can inherit anything of the kingdom of God. Do not let anyone deceive you with empty arguments: it is for this loose living that God’s anger comes down on those who rebel against him. Make sure that you are not included with them. You were darkness once, but now you are light in the Lord; be like children of light.
Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 1:1-4,6 © |
Try to imitate God, as children of his that he loves.
Happy indeed is the man
who follows not the counsel of the wicked;
nor lingers in the way of sinners
nor sits in the company of scorners,
but whose delight is the law of the Lord
and who ponders his law day and night.
Try to imitate God, as children of his that he loves.
He is like a tree that is planted
beside the flowing waters,
that yields its fruit in due season
and whose leaves shall never fade;
and all that he does shall prosper.
Try to imitate God, as children of his that he loves.
Not so are the wicked, not so!
For they like winnowed chaff
shall be driven away by the wind:
for the Lord guards the way of the just
but the way of the wicked leads to doom.
Try to imitate God, as children of his that he loves.
Gospel Acclamation | Jn17:17 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your word is truth, O Lord:
consecrate us in the truth.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 13:10-17 © |
Was it not right to untie this woman's bonds on the sabbath day?
One sabbath day Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who for eighteen years had been possessed by a spirit that left her enfeebled; she was bent double and quite unable to stand upright. When Jesus saw her he called her over and said, ‘Woman, you are rid of your infirmity’ and he laid his hands on her. And at once she straightened up, and she glorified God.
But the synagogue official was indignant because Jesus had healed on the sabbath, and he addressed the people present. ‘There are six days’ he said ‘when work is to be done. Come and be healed on one of those days and not on the sabbath.’ But the Lord answered him. ‘Hypocrites!’ he said ‘Is there one of you who does not untie his ox or his donkey from the manger on the sabbath and take it out for watering? And this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan has held bound these eighteen years – was it not right to untie her bonds on the sabbath day?’ When he said this, all his adversaries were covered with confusion, and all the people were overjoyed at all the wonders he worked.
LIVING AS CHILDREN OF LIGHT
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [EPHESIANS 4:32-5:8; LUKE 13:10-17]
As Christians, we are called to live as children of light. Our lives must be distinguished from those who live a life of darkness and sin. St Paul writes, “It is for this loose living that God’s anger comes down on those who rebel against him. Make sure that you are not included with them. You were darkness once, but now you are light in the Lord: be like children of light.” The real struggle of a Christian is to stay away from the temptations of the Evil One on one hand; and on the other, from falling into legalism and self-righteousness. Either of these extreme forms of lifestyle disqualifies us from being children of light.
Indeed, there are those of us who are weak and often succumb to sin, especially of the flesh, as St Paul describes in the first reading. Not many people can overcome the temptation to lust because of the sensual nature of human beings. Like those in the world, many Christians struggle with sexual sins, of fornication, impurity, lustful thoughts, and actions. Many indulge in salacious talk and jokes, influenced by a promiscuous society. With the mass media and Internet, many are tempted into pornography. Of course, lust is not the only temptation of man. There are other equally destructive sins such as greed, envy, gluttony, and anger. But lust remains one of the most difficult sins to resist. That is why, whilst we know the evil and destructive force of the sin of lust, we can and should show compassion for those who fail in the area of chastity as Jesus did with the adulterous woman. Concupiscence, which is the effect of original sin, remains with us even after baptism. So even though we are baptized, our will remains wounded and would have to struggle against the sin of lust.
Another sin that St Paul mentioned in today’s first reading is the inability to forgive. That is why he exhorted the Christians to “Be friends with one another, and kind, forgiving each other as readily as God forgave you in Christ.” Again, forgiveness is not so easy for most people, especially when you have suffered much because of injustices, the trauma we went through, the sleepless nights, the shame and agony. We find it difficult to forgive those who have betrayed us, destroyed our lives and our families or taken away our livelihood. We want to forgive but the hurts are so deep and the painful memories of the past are not easily forgotten. Again, for those who cannot forgive, we can understand where they are coming from. We can empathize with their psychological and emotional pain that would not go away. Even if they wish to forgive, often forgiveness is in the mind but not from the heart. Forgiveness is a process. Time is needed. So we can only pray for their healing and hopefully, with the grace of God, a day would come when they would be able to let go of their past.
Regardless of whether it is the sin of lust or any of the capital sins, or of the incapacity to let go of our hurts, we remain in bondage. Those who live in sin and unforgiveness cannot be set free for life and for love. When we live in sin, St Paul says, we are “worshipping a false god” and therefore cannot “inherit anything of the kingdom of God.” A life that is lived in selfishness, a life that is reduced to an animalistic life of sensuality and a life of hatred cannot set us free. Indeed, what the world claims about freedom is nothing but a slavery to self and to the world and to one’s passions. Whenever we are addicted to our passions and the pleasures of this world, we have lost control over ourselves. Most of all, we forget that we have a soul, a heart and an intellect that seeks the spiritual things of life. Man cannot be satisfied just with food and carnal pleasures alone but his intellect needs to be enlightened in the truth and the heart satiated by love. For this reason, we cannot inherit the Kingdom of God because the Kingdom of God is a reign of love, joy, peace, and freedom in the Spirit.
Yet, the irony of Christian life is not just avoiding the temptations of the sin of the flesh or overcoming our anger over those who have hurt us, but falling into the other extreme of self-righteousness. This comes about through the sin of pride. Some of us pride ourselves in being such good Christians because we live a righteous life. We boast about our merits, as in the parable of the Tax-Collector and the Pharisee. A righteous life becomes an end in itself. Purity and righteous living become something for us to be proud about giving us a superiority complex over others. It has to do with our ego. We want to be better than others. Like the Pharisees, we end up despising those who fail in Christian perfection.
Such an attitude is even worse than that of being a sinner who succumbs to the temptations of the sin of the flesh. At least for those who are tempted by pleasure, we know that they are weak because they are creatures with a fallen nature. But for those who are self-righteous, they lack mercy and compassion. They are no longer human beings because their pride rules their lives. The sin of pride prevents them from feeling with others. They become insensitive to the struggles and pains of humanity. They become indifferent to their sufferings because they only see things from the perspective of the laws detached from the human being. The law becomes the end itself rather than the means to the end.
This was what happened in today’s gospel when the Pharisees expressed no compassion for the woman who was under the bondage of the Evil One and left her enfeebled and bent double for eighteen years. They had no compassion for her suffering. Instead, they were focused on finding fault with Jesus on whether He could cure on the Sabbath. For them, the observance of the laws was more important than alleviating the sufferings of others. And that is the way many Christians behave. They are judgmental of others. They are strict in observing the laws and are critical of those who do not. Often, some Catholics squabble over Church laws, liturgical laws, and moral laws. This is not to say that we can simply break the laws or discard them but we need to apply the laws to the concrete situation. This was the question that Jesus posed to His adversaries, “And this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan has held bound these eighteen years – was it not right to untie her bonds on the sabbath day?’ When he said this, all his adversaries were covered with confusion, and all the people were overjoyed at all the wonders he worked.”
In the final analysis, we must ask whether observance of the laws bring about charity and compassion. Laws are meant to serve humanity, to preserve order, harmony, and justice. But they cannot be applied blindly and without consideration of the concrete situation. For that reason, on Sabbath day, rest from work does not mean rest from doing good. To live as children of light is more than just living according to the laws of the gospel but to live according to the Spirit of the gospel.
What, then, is the Spirit of the gospel? St Paul says, “Try, then, to imitate God, as children of his that he loves, and follow Christ by loving as he loved you, giving himself up in our place as a fragrant offering and a sacrifice to God.” We are called to imitate God who loves us all as His children. It means following Christ who sacrificed Himself for us all so that we can find fullness of life in God. Jesus lived a life of compassion and selfless service. He was not interested in the laws but His sole concern was love of God and love of humanity. This is all that matters at the end of the day. Christianity is concerned with love and love is the fulfillment of all laws.
Indeed, the motivation of a Christian for living the life of the gospel is solely to give praise to God in all that we do and say. God is seen through us when we live a life of love and service. We live a life of perfection not so much to gain glory or even gain salvation but so that we can share in the joy of Christ by sharing His life of love. Failing to live an authentic life means that we forfeit our share in the life of God. At the same time, we remain humble because of God’s grace. We do not judge or condemn others who could not observe the laws because we know that we are all sinners. Rather, we pray for God’s grace for them.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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