20240219 CHARITY IS THE PERFECTION OF HOLINESS
19 February 2024, Monday, 1st Week of Lent
First reading |
Leviticus 19:1-2,11-18 © |
Only pass judgement on your neighbour according to justice
The Lord spoke to Moses; he said: ‘Speak to the whole community of the sons of Israel and say to them:
‘“Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.
‘“You must not steal nor deal deceitfully or fraudulently with your neighbour. You must not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God. I am the Lord. You must not exploit or rob your neighbour. You must not keep back the labourer’s wage until next morning. You must not curse the dumb, nor put an obstacle in the blind man’s way, but you must fear your God. I am the Lord.
‘“You must not be guilty of unjust verdicts. You must neither be partial to the little man nor overawed by the great; you must pass judgement on your neighbour according to justice. You must not slander your own people, and you must not jeopardise your neighbour’s life. I am the Lord. You must not bear hatred for your brother in your heart. You must openly tell him, your neighbour, of his offence; this way you will not take a sin upon yourself. You must not exact vengeance, nor must you bear a grudge against the children of your people. You must love your neighbour as yourself. I am the Lord.”’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 18(19):8-10,15 © |
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.
The law of the Lord is perfect,
it revives the soul.
The rule of the Lord is to be trusted,
it gives wisdom to the simple.
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
they gladden the heart.
The command of the Lord is clear,
it gives light to the eyes.
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.
The fear of the Lord is holy,
abiding for ever.
The decrees of the Lord are truth
and all of them just.
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.
May the spoken words of my mouth,
the thoughts of my heart,
win favour in your sight, O Lord,
my rescuer, my rock!
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.
Gospel Acclamation | Ezk18:31 |
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Shake off all your sins – it is the Lord who speaks –
and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Or: | 2Co6:2 |
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Now is the favourable time:
this is the day of salvation.
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Gospel |
Matthew 25:31-46 © |
I was naked and you clothed me; sick, and you visited me
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, escorted by all the angels, then he will take his seat on his throne of glory. All the nations will be assembled before him and he will separate men one from another as the shepherd separates sheep from goats. He will place the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left.
‘Then the King will say to those on his right hand, “Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take for your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you made me welcome; naked and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me.” Then the virtuous will say to him in reply, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you; or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and make you welcome; naked and clothe you; sick or in prison and go to see you?” And the King will answer, “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.”
‘Next he will say to those on his left hand, “Go away from me, with your curse upon you, to the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you never gave me food; I was thirsty and you never gave me anything to drink; I was a stranger and you never made me welcome, naked and you never clothed me, sick and in prison and you never visited me.” Then it will be their turn to ask, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, a stranger or naked, sick or in prison, and did not come to your help?” Then he will answer, “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you neglected to do this to one of the least of these, you neglected to do it to me.”
‘And they will go away to eternal punishment, and the virtuous to eternal life.’
CHARITY IS THE PERFECTION OF HOLINESS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [LEV 19:1-2,11-18; PS 19:8-10,15; MATT 25:31-46]
As we begin the first Monday of the first week of Lent, the cry of the entire Church is the call to holiness. “Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.” Indeed, the call to holiness is the fundamental vocation of every Christian. By virtue of our baptism, we are seeking holiness. Since God is holy, every son and daughter of God must seek to be like Him to grow in holiness. “Everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” (1 Jn 3:30)
But what is holiness? We must not confuse holiness with the means to holiness. Right from the outset, after setting out the program for holiness in the first four days of Lent last week, the Church needs to put on record that holiness cannot be reduced to piety and good works. Certainly, prayer, almsgiving and mortification are necessary for us to attain a deeper union with God and the purification of motives of love and service. But they are means and not the ends in themselves. We can perform all these tasks and yet not be holy. This is because we do them for all the wrong reasons.
How do we know that we are holy? Not by the length of prayers and penances we do. Not by the service we do for the Church and for others. The sure sign that we love God is our love for our neighbour. We might think we are loving God but we might not be if we search deeper into our motives. The clearest sign that we love God is when we love our neighbours. St John wrote, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.” (1 Jn 4:20) Holiness is therefore identified with love of neighbour, as we read in today’s scripture readings. Indeed, the quality, purity and depth of our love for God is expressed in our love for our neighbours.
What does love of neighbour mean? Firstly, it means that we live a just life. This is spelt out in terms of right relationship with our brothers and sisters. “You must not steal nor deal deceitfully or fraudulently with your neighbour. You must not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God. You must not exploit or rob your neighbour. You must not keep back the labourer’s wage until next morning. You must not curse the dumb, nor put an obstacle in the blind man’s way, but you must fear your God.”
It is a counter-witness that we have many apparently good Catholics involved in the Church and in social work for the poor who treat their domestic helpers or workers badly, not giving them sufficient rest and monetary remuneration. We make them work day and night like machines, as if they do not need rest. Good Catholics must be good employers and have respect for their staff, treating them justly and kindly. Conversely, good Catholics must be good workers, doing an honest day’s work and even going the extra mile. They should show themselves to be honest, diligent, proactive and responsible in their work.
Justice also requires that we do not pass false judgement on others or make presumptuous judgement on the motives of others. Moses said, “You must not be guilty of unjust verdicts. You must neither be partial to the little man nor overawed by the great; you must pass judgement on your neighbour according to justice. You must not slander your own people, and you must not jeopardise your neighbour’s life.” So often, those in authority are not fair and just in judgement. They are coloured by their prejudices and favour those whom they like. We need to make sure that we are transparent and objective in our decisions and that no one is unjustly treated or discriminated in their jobs because of riches and social or political status.
Secondly, Christian charity requires us to be proactive in reaching out to our neighbours. Justice is only the beginning of charity. We will be called to account not only for the sins we have committed but also for the sins of omission as well. It is not enough to say that we have done nothing wrong towards our brothers and sisters. Not helping them is itself already a sin because we are ignoring the Christ in them. This is what Jesus is teaching us in the gospel today. In the final judgement, we will not be asked how many masses we have attended on Sundays, or how much money we have donated, but whether we have shown compassion to the needy, the sick, the elderly, those in prison, in depression and those in material and financial need. Holiness is when we show our love for these people in a concrete way.
Even then, in serving the poor and attending to the needs of our brothers and sisters, the motive is purely supernatural. Christian charity goes beyond mere philanthropism and giving out material needs. The parable of the Last Judgement makes it clear that the motive of reaching out to the poor and the suffering is because Christ is identified with them. “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.” The Church is not another NGO or agency for doing good. We love the poor simply because it is done out of love for Christ.
Serving the poor is not about attending to another case, but we are called to see the poor as a person. He or she is a child of God and a brother and sister of Jesus Christ. So our service to the poor and the suffering is founded on the fact that we see the face of Christ in every person in need. Christ comes to meet us in our brothers and sisters. To serve them is to serve the Lord. So Christian charity goes beyond giving of material needs but to help each person to attain the fullness of life in Christ. Charity to the poor is fundamentally to restore their dignity as God’s children. It involves more than filling their stomachs but giving them dignity and, most of all, helping them to grow in emotional and spiritual maturity.
Thirdly, holiness also presumes that we love ourselves as much. The command to love our neighbour presumes that we love ourselves. “You must love your neighbour as yourself.” This means that we must live a holistic life. We should not do things to harm our body, like eating too much, indulging in unhealthy foods, excessive drinking and smoking, not resting enough, being over ambitious in our studies and career, leading to a neglect of our loved ones and even our spiritual life. In other words, we must ensure that we have a balanced lifestyle, of work, service, prayer and play, and to be with people whom we love. Otherwise, we are doing injustice to our body and our soul.
In the final analysis, holiness is simply to live the life of God which is a life of love. Holiness is the perfection of love, and vice versa. Charity is the soul of holiness. We know we are holy when we live a holistic life. We know we are holy when we love God, our neighbours and ourselves, never doing anything that will harm our integrity and relationship with them. Love of God alone is the motivating factor in all that we do. St Theresa of the Child Jesus said, “I realized that this love alone was the true motive force which enabled the other members of the Church to act; if it ceased to function, the apostles would forget to preach the Gospel, the martyrs would refuse to shed their blood. Love, in fact, is the vocation which includes all others; it’s a universe of its own, comprising all time and space – it’s eternal! (St. Therese of Lisieux, Autobiography of a Saint)
Hence, we can appreciate why holiness and mission are deeply intertwined. St John Paul II wrote, “I have no hesitation in saying that all pastoral initiatives must be set in relation to holiness. Stressing holiness remains more than ever an urgent pastoral task.” (NMI 30) The universal call to mission presupposes that we seek to live a life of holiness. Without holiness of life, there is no mission since the Church’s mission is to call all into holiness by being configured to Christ in baptism and through a life of love and service to our brothers and sisters. Through our life and love for the suffering, may they see Christ’s face in us!
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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