20231111 USING YOUR RICHES FOR THE SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL
11 November 2023, Saturday, 31st Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
Romans 16:3-9,16,22-27 © |
The mystery kept secret for endless ages must be broadcast everywhere
My greetings to Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked death to save my life: I am not the only one to owe them a debt of gratitude, all the churches among the pagans do as well. My greetings also to the church that meets at their house.
Greetings to my friend Epaenetus, the first of Asia’s gifts to Christ; greetings to Mary who worked so hard for you; to those outstanding apostles Andronicus and Junias, my compatriots and fellow prisoners who became Christians before me; to Ampliatus, my friend in the Lord; to Urban, my fellow worker in Christ; to my friend Stachys. Greet each other with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings.
I, Tertius, who wrote out this letter, greet you in the Lord. Greetings from Gaius, who is entertaining me and from the whole church that meets in his house. Erastus, the city treasurer, sends his greetings; so does our brother Quartus.
Glory to him who is able to give you the strength to live according to the Good News I preach, and in which I proclaim Jesus Christ, the revelation of a mystery kept secret for endless ages, but now so clear that it must be broadcast to pagans everywhere to bring them to the obedience of faith. This is only what scripture has predicted, and it is all part of the way the eternal God wants things to be. He alone is wisdom; give glory therefore to him through Jesus Christ for ever and ever. Amen.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 144(145):2-5,10-11 © |
I will bless your name for ever, O Lord.
I will bless you day after day
and praise your name for ever.
The Lord is great, highly to be praised,
his greatness cannot be measured.
I will bless your name for ever, O Lord.
Age to age shall proclaim your works,
shall declare your mighty deeds,
shall speak of your splendour and glory,
tell the tale of your wonderful works.
I will bless your name for ever, O Lord.
All your creatures shall thank you, O Lord,
and your friends shall repeat their blessing.
They shall speak of the glory of your reign
and declare your might, O God.
I will bless your name for ever, O Lord.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Ac16:14 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O Lord,
to accept the words of your Son.
Alleluia!
Or: | 2Co8:9 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Jesus Christ was rich,
but he became poor for your sake,
to make you rich out of his poverty.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 16:9-15 © |
Use money, tainted as it is, to win you friends
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I tell you this: use money, tainted as it is, to win you friends, and thus make sure that when it fails you, they will welcome you into the tents of eternity. The man who can be trusted in little things can be trusted in great; the man who is dishonest in little things will be dishonest in great. If then you cannot be trusted with money, that tainted thing, who will trust you with genuine riches? And if you cannot be trusted with what is not yours, who will give you what is your very own?
‘No servant can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or treat the first with respect and the second with scorn. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money.’
The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and laughed at him. He said to them, ‘You are the very ones who pass yourselves off as virtuous in people’s sight, but God knows your hearts. For what is thought highly of by men is loathsome in the sight of God.’
USING YOUR RICHES FOR THE SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Rom 16:3-9,16,22-27; PS 145:2-5,10-11; LK 16:9-15]
In the first reading, we come to the end of the letter of St Paul to the Romans. St Paul was writing from Corinth in AD 57. He himself had not been to Rome. But he heard of the Christians in Rome and so he wanted to introduce himself to them. Even though he was so far from them, he felt close to them because they were all brothers and sisters in Christ. After giving a long treatise on justification by faith through God’s grace alone, he concluded with a great doxology, thanking God for the wonderful plan of salvation. What can we learn from today’s scripture readings?
Firstly, the gospel is meant for all, irrespective of race, language or status in life. It is significant that there were many Jewish and Gentile Christians in Rome even before St Paul went there. He wrote, “Greetings to my friend Epaenetus, the first of Asia’s gifts to Christ; greetings to Mary who worked so hard for you; to those outstanding apostles Andronicus and Junias, my compatriots and fellow prisoners who became Christians before me.” The gospel was received by all kinds of people; influential and ordinary, slaves and free people, Jews and Gentiles, men and women. In this way, we see how the gospel had indeed reached the ends of the world, as the Lord prophesied. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
Secondly, the gospel went out to the whole world because of the Christians in Rome. The economic, political and cultural centre of the Roman Empire was in Rome. It was the heart of the Roman Empire and all decisions were made there. It was also a cosmopolitan city where peoples from all over the world would gather. This made it a very strategic location to spread the gospel to the whole world. Indeed, it was from Rome that Christianity became a world religion. However, until the conversion of the Roman Emperor Constantine, Christians were persecuted for their faith in the first three centuries. It was only in AD 313, by the Edict of Milan, that persecutions formally ended. Later on in 324, the Emperor was converted to Catholicism and, eventually, Christianity became the religion of the Empire. It was then that the Church extended to the whole world, beginning from Europe.
Thirdly, many missionaries besides St Paul brought the gospel to others. In his letter, St Paul mentioned his many collaborators. It is edifying that some were married couples working as a team in the spread of the Good News as in Prisca and Aquila; Andronicus and Junias, whom he called as his fellow workers and apostles. Each in his or her own way spread the gospel and they all helped each other in this common mission to bring Christ to all. We do not see them being inward-looking or protectionist, as we are in our churches, parishes, organizations and religious orders. They were all clear that they were working for the glory of God and for the spread of the gospel. It was not about themselves but all about Christ and for Christ and the people.
Indeed, when St Paul took an overview of the spread of the Gospel to the heart of the world in Rome, he could not but give glory to God in thanksgiving. “Glory to him who is able to give you the strength to live according to the Good News I preach, and in which I proclaim Jesus Christ, the revelation of a mystery kept secret for endless ages, but now so clear that it must be broadcast to pagans everywhere to bring them to the obedience of faith. This is only what scripture has predicted, and it is all part of the way the eternal God wants things to be. He alone is wisdom; give glory therefore to him through Jesus Christ for ever and ever. Amen.” Truly, God’s plan for humanity is too wonderful for us to grasp. His plan for the salvation of humanity is unfolded each day, gradually, slowly but surely.
In the light of what we read in today’s first reading, we cannot but ask ourselves whether we who live in a cosmopolitan society like Singapore, also imitate St Paul and the early Christians in making use of the opportunity to spread the Good News to all peoples. The truth is that we are rather complacent in the work of evangelization. We are too inward-looking and are contented with our so-called spiritual life, living in our own world, where there is security, self-sufficiency and we do not want to be disturbed. We bury ourselves in our work and in our homes and the little community we have. We are not excited about reaching out to the many who are lost, who are seeking hope, meaning and purpose in life.
And the truth is that we are blessed with the greatest of all gifts, which is the gift of faith, as St Paul mentioned. We have inherited the gospel of grace and the revelation of Christ as the mystery of God, showing us our identity and our goal in life. We have come to know that Christ is our Saviour and that we are saved by grace and restored to the dignity of His sonship. We now belong to Him and belong to one another in Christ. United as the family of God, living in freedom, love, unity and charity, we witness His love to everyone. We who have been blessed with the gospel, do we follow St Paul and the early Christians to ask for the “strength to live according to the Good News” and to “broadcast to pagans everywhere to bring them to the obedience of faith?”
Jesus is challenging us today, as He did in the gospel with those who were blessed with riches. These riches go beyond money and wealth but include talents and resources. Jesus reminds us that these riches that we have, tainted as they are, can be used to “win you friends, and thus make sure that when it fails you, they will welcome you into the tents of eternity.” Indeed, we can use our riches for good or for evil. In themselves, they are neutral. We can use our talents, not just our wealth, to destroy people for our selfish gains and promotion. But we can also use them for the good and service of humanity and the glory of God. Indeed, all riches are meant to be shared with others who do not have so that together we become a loving, caring and supportive family.
Unfortunately, many of us do not go beyond the blessings and riches we have received. Like the Jewish leaders, they prided themselves for being rich as they saw riches and prosperity as God’s blessings on them for the kind of life that they lived. But Jesus said to them, “You are the very ones who pass yourselves as virtuous in people’s sight, but God knows your hearts. For what is thought highly of by men is loathsome in the sight of God.” In truth, they were living self-centred lives. Their hearts were far from God. They were making use of religion to gain power, status and wealth for themselves. When we serve ourselves, we cannot find real happiness in life because our hearts remain closed to the hearts of humanity and of God.
Consequently, let us remember that God has entrusted us with the things of this world so that we can employ them for the service of the gospel. Jesus said, “No servant can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or treat the first with respect and the second with scorn. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money.” We need to check ourselves whether we are slaves of money or slaves for God. If it is money, then everything we do and decide is based on the benefits that we can get out of what we do. If it is for the glory of God and the service of humanity, then we will be more than happy to do everything for the love of God and our fellowmen.
So, let us be grateful to God and bless His name for everyone to hear and come to faith in Christ. With the psalmist, we must glorify God with our words and with our lives. “The Lord is great, highly to be praised, his greatness cannot be measured. Age to age shall proclaim your works, shall declare your mighty deeds, shall speak of your splendor and glory, tell the tale of your wonderful works. All your creatures shall thank you, O Lord. They shall speak of the glory of your reign and declare your might, O God.” In this way, all will come to know the Lord and submit in obedience in faith.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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