20230317 THE RECIPE FOR HAPPINESS
17 March 2023, Friday, 3rd Week of Lent
First reading | Hosea 14:2-10 © |
A call to conversion and promise of safety
The Lord says this:
Israel, come back to the Lord your God;
your iniquity was the cause of your downfall.
Provide yourself with words
and come back to the Lord.
Say to him, ‘Take all iniquity away
so that we may have happiness again
and offer you our words of praise.
Assyria cannot save us,
we will not ride horses any more,
or say, “Our God!” to what our own hands have made,
for you are the one in whom orphans find compassion.’
– I will heal their disloyalty,
I will love them with all my heart,
for my anger has turned from them.
I will fall like dew on Israel.
He shall bloom like the lily,
and thrust out roots like the poplar,
his shoots will spread far;
he will have the beauty of the olive
and the fragrance of Lebanon.
They will come back to live in my shade;
they will grow corn that flourishes,
they will cultivate vines
as renowned as the wine of Helbon.
What has Ephraim to do with idols any more
when it is I who hear his prayer and care for him?
I am like a cypress ever green,
all your fruitfulness comes from me.
Let the wise man understand these words.
Let the intelligent man grasp their meaning.
For the ways of the Lord are straight,
and virtuous men walk in them,
but sinners stumble.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 80(81):6,8-11,14,17 © |
I am the Lord your God: listen to my warning.
A voice I did not know said to me:
‘I freed your shoulder from the burden;
your hands were freed from the load.
You called in distress and I saved you.
I am the Lord your God: listen to my warning.
‘I answered, concealed in the storm cloud;
at the waters of Meribah I tested you.
Listen, my people, to my warning.
O Israel, if only you would heed!
I am the Lord your God: listen to my warning.
‘Let there be no foreign god among you,
no worship of an alien god.
I am the Lord your God,
who brought you from the land of Egypt.
I am the Lord your God: listen to my warning.
‘O that my people would heed me,
that Israel would walk in my ways!
But Israel I would feed with finest wheat
and fill them with honey from the rock.’
I am the Lord your God: listen to my warning.
Gospel Acclamation |
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
The seed is the word of God, Christ the sower;
whoever finds this seed will remain for ever.
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
Or: | Mt4:17 |
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
Repent, says the Lord,
for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
Gospel | Mark 12:28-34 © |
'You are not far from the kingdom of God'
One of the scribes came up to Jesus and put a question to him, ‘Which is the first of all the commandments?’ Jesus replied, ‘This is the first: Listen, Israel, the Lord our God is the one Lord, and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: You must love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.’ The scribe said to him, ‘Well spoken, Master; what you have said is true: that he is one and there is no other. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself, this is far more important than any holocaust or sacrifice.’ Jesus, seeing how wisely he had spoken, said, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ And after that no one dared to question him any more.
THE RECIPE FOR HAPPINESS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [HOSEA 14:2-10; PS 81:6,8-11,14,17; MARK 12:28-34]
What is the cause of our misery in life? How is it that your happiness is so elusive? Can one be truly happy in this life? Happiness is ours only if we know where to find it. Because of the lack of wisdom and understanding, we seek happiness at the wrong places. The Lord says, “Let the wise man understand these words. Let the intelligent man grasp their meaning. For the ways of the Lord are straight, and virtuous men walk in them, but sinners stumble.”
In the first place, we tend to seek happiness in our sins. “The Lord says this: Israel, come back to the Lord your God; your iniquity was the cause of your downfall.” The world is demanding absolute freedom by promoting individuality, relativism and pragmatism. If we look at our woes, they all come from our sins, of greed that leads to cheating and dishonesty; lust that leads to infidelity and family breakup; pride that leads to ambition, slander, selfishness and enmity; envy that leads to hatred; anger that leads to revenge, resentment, hatred and even killing; sloth that leads to irresponsibility, causing others to suffer; gluttony that leads to ill-health.
Secondly, it is because we worship false gods. We rely on ourselves and our ingenuity. Like the Israelites, we rely on our military, technological might and power instead of on God. The truth, as Israel learnt is this: “Assyria cannot save us, we will not ride horses any more, or say, ‘Our god!’ to what our own hands have made, for you are the one in whom orphans find compassion.” We think power and strength can resolve all our problems. The sad reality is that our leaders no longer have the foresight to consider the long-term consequences and implications of what they do. It is always from hindsight that we learn, albeit too late. A case in point is population control. Now, many countries are suffering the consequences of policies which were thought to be the solution to poverty. Not only are they facing depopulation now, but also the lack of resources and manpower to look after the growing number of elderly. Then, we promoted contraceptives and divorce and as a result, the institution of the family, the bedrock of society, is weakening. Now, we want to promote same-sex union, etc. Most of our policies are knee jerk reactions to the immediate needs, but we lack the wisdom to see ahead for our future generations. We are keener to find solutions just for ourselves without thinking of the next generation. That is why policy makers have tremendous responsibility to ensure that what they do is not just good for today but also for tomorrow.
So what must we do to find real happiness? We must turn back to the Lord. “Provide yourself with words and come back to the Lord. Say to him, ‘Take all iniquity away so that we may have happiness again and offer you our words of praise.'” This is the first step. Like the Israelites, let us humbly admit that we have not found happiness following the ways of the world. The psalmist invites us to take heed of the warning of the Lord. “I am the Lord your God: listen to my warning. Let there be no foreign god among you, no worship of an alien god. I am the Lord your God, who brought you from the land of Egypt. O that my people would heed me, that Israel would walk in my ways! But Israel I would feed with finest wheat and fill them with honey from the rock.”
The key to real happiness in life is simple and straight forward. The principles never change, and that was why Jesus cited from the Book of Deuteronomy, chapter 6:5 and Leviticus chapter 19:18; bringing together the commandments of love of God and neighbour. When asked what the first of all the commandments was, Jesus replied, “This is the first: Listen, Israel, the Lord our God is the one Lord, and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You must love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.” They are called the greatest commandments because they hold the fundamental keys to real happiness in life, but they are not to be understood as rules to follow blindly or slavishly.
The commandment to love God is truly the foundation for everything in life. So important is this commandment that the Jews would recite this Shema twice a day. “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Dt 6:6-9)
Only when we love God with our whole being, can we truly become one with God in loving, thinking and doing. This is what it means to love God with all our heart, mind and our strength. When there is love, there is always a union of heart and mind as well. Love enables us to understand a person intimately, to feel with the person. Lovers and friends share intimacy simply because they are of one heart and mind. When we are deeply in love, we will always give ourselves completely to the person. So too, we are called to love God deeply so that God becomes the centre, the foundation, the focus of our lives. When we direct all our energy to God, then our lives will become like His.
The second commandment flows from the first. If we truly love God, then we will also love our neighbours and have the strength to love them even when they do not love us. Those who seek to love their neighbours without God’s love will fall into the temptation of humanism, where such love is rooted in human sentiment and compassion. It is one of pity, guilt, and the desire for recognition and appreciation. This is the pagan love that Jesus spoke about in the scriptures. But altruistic love is given simply because we see in them the face of God and the face of Christ. We love them as much as we love God because they are loved by God. The motivation is always rooted in our love for God. We see everyone as Jesus sees them. We love them because Jesus loves. Indeed, when we love our friends, we also love their friends as well. Their loved ones become ours, since our hearts sync with that of our friends.
But how is it possible for us to practise these commandments? We cannot love God with all our heart, mind and strength unless we are first loved by God. This is what the Lord is saying through the prophet Hosea. He assures us of His forgiveness, compassion and love. “I will heal their disloyalty; I will love them with all my heart, for my anger has turned from them.” Most of all, the Lord guarantees fecundity for those who draw strength, wisdom and love from Him. “I will fall like dew on Israel. He shall bloom like the lily, and thrust out roots like the poplar, his shoots will spread far; He will have the beauty of the olive and the fragrance of Lebanon. They will come back to live in my shade; they will grow corn that flourishes, they will cultivate vines as renowned as the wine of Helbon. What has Ephraim to do with idols any more when it is I who hear his prayer and care for him? I am like a cypress ever green, all your fruitfulness comes from me.”
So before we can even love God, let us come back to Him, be healed of our brokenness through the forgiveness of sins. Then let us allow God to come to our lives as we spend time in prayer, worship, meditation and silent adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. We need to bask ourselves in His love for renewal. If we truly want to regain our focus in life, take time off to do a retreat, either a personal retreat or a guided retreat. If Jesus needed time off to pray, what about us? He too went to His Father for renewal of His mission. Like us, He needed consolation, inspiration and the love of His Father. Be loved by the Lord!
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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