20230503 A GROWING FAITH REQUIRES COMMITMENT
03 June 2024, Monday, 9th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading | 2 Peter 1:2-7 © |
You will be able to share the divine nature if you add goodness to your faith
May you have more and more grace and peace as you come to know our Lord more and more.
By his divine power, he has given us all the things that we need for life and for true devotion, bringing us to know God himself, who has called us by his own glory and goodness. In making these gifts, he has given us the guarantee of something very great and wonderful to come: through them you will be able to share the divine nature and to escape corruption in a world that is sunk in vice. But to attain this, you will have to do your utmost yourselves, adding goodness to the faith that you have, understanding to your goodness, self-control to your understanding, patience to your self-control, true devotion to your patience, kindness towards your fellow men to your devotion, and, to this kindness, love.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 90(91):1-2,14-16 © |
My God, in you I trust.
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
and abides in the shade of the Almighty
says to the Lord: ‘My refuge,
my stronghold, my God in whom I trust!’
My God, in you I trust.
His love he set on me, so I will rescue him;
protect him for he knows my name.
When he calls I shall answer: ‘I am with you.’
My God, in you I trust.
I will save him in distress and give him glory.
With length of life I will content him;
I shall let him see my saving power.
My God, in you I trust.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Col3:16a,17 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Let the message of Christ, in all its richness,
find a home with you;
through him give thanks to God the Father.
Alleluia!
Or: | cf.Rv1:5 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
You, O Christ, are the faithful witness,
the First-born from the dead;
you have loved us and have washed away our sins with your blood.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 12:1-12 © |
They seized the beloved son, killed him and threw him out of the vineyard
Jesus began to speak to the chief priests, the scribes and the elders in parables: ‘A man planted a vineyard; he fenced it round, dug out a trough for the winepress and built a tower; then he leased it to tenants and went abroad. When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce from the vineyard. But they seized the man, thrashed him and sent him away empty-handed. Next he sent another servant to them; him they beat about the head and treated shamefully. And he sent another and him they killed; then a number of others, and they thrashed some and killed the rest. He had still someone left: his beloved son. He sent him to them last of all. “They will respect my son” he said. But those tenants said to each other, “This is the heir. Come on, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.” So they seized him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. Now what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and make an end of the tenants and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this text of scripture:
It was the stone rejected by the builders
that became the keystone.
This was the Lord’s doing
and it is wonderful to see?
And they would have liked to arrest him, because they realised that the parable was aimed at them, but they were afraid of the crowds. So they left him alone and went away.
A GROWING FAITH REQUIRES COMMITMENT
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [2 PT 1:2-7; PS 91; MK 12:1-12]
The beginning of spiritual life is always faith. There is no substitute for faith. We need to take the first step of faith to begin our journey with the Lord. Salvation is through faith in Christ. But having chosen Him, we need to grow in discipleship. This is what St Peter wished for the Christians, “May you have more and more grace and peace as you come to know our Lord more and more.” Faith can grow only if we grow in our relationship with Him. To know the Lord more and more is the way to acquire His mind and heart so that we can become like Him. St Peter wrote, “By his divine power, he has (brought) us to know God himself, who has called us by his own glory and goodness. In making these gifts, he has given us the guarantee of something very great and wonderful to come: through them you will be able to share the divine nature.”
The good news is that He has given us all that is necessary to know Him. It is not as if we are in the dark. We have received the gospel and His love. We have come to know Him as our Lord and God. The Lord has given us not just the gospel but His Church, the Magisterium to teach, nurture and strengthen us in our journey of God. He has left behind His ordained ministers as shepherds to pastor the people of God, as teachers to instruct us about the faith and the Word of God, and as ministers to celebrate the sacraments as tangible and assured means to encounter His love and mercy and a sure assurance of His grace. Indeed, we have also the liturgy and devotions to help us to grow in personal relationship with the Lord. Indeed, as St Peter wrote, “By his divine power, he has given us all the things that we need for life and for true devotion, bringing us to know God himself, who has called us by his own glory and goodness.”
St Peter warns us “to escape corruption in a world that is sunk in vice.” St Paul also wrote, “But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; for those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.” (1 Th 5:4-8) St John warns us, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world; for all that is in the world – the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches – comes not from the Father but from the world. And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever.” (1 Jn 2:15-17)
We must therefore strive to live a life of holiness. What is this holiness if not a life of virtue, especially a life of charity? St Peter said, “But to attain this, you will have to do your utmost yourselves, adding goodness, self-control to your understanding, patience to your self-control, true devotion to your patience, kindness towards your fellowmen to your devotion, and, to this kindness, love.” Cultivating virtues is to cultivate stable dispositions and good habits that will direct the way we live our life. In other words, we want to strengthen the goodness in us. When there is goodness or virtues in our life, we will radiate the goodness of God to others. St Peter said, “you will have to do your utmost yourselves.” This implies that we need effort, and not just depend on grace alone. We need to cooperate with grace using our human effort to perfect ourselves in virtue.
Self-control is a necessary virtue in life because unless we are in control of ourselves and of our will, and even of our thoughts, we will easily be swayed by our emotions and the temptations of the Evil One. Self-control is a virtue that is ours through consistent practice and commitment. Unfortunately, some modern psychologists are advocating that we must express our anger and our emotions, and even our desires, including sexual desires, as controlling them will inhibit our growth. Consequently, we are raising a generation of people who are intolerant of others, who will not hesitate to retaliate with nasty words without thinking or controlling their thoughts, words and actions. These can be disastrous because it can lead to violence and even killing. If we have no control over ourselves, how can we take charge of the lives of others?
Self-control, however, is a virtue cultivated not through self-will alone. Rather, it is easier to practise self-control when we grow in understanding of the motives and consequences of our actions. This is why St Peter says, “self-control to your understanding, patience to your self-control.” When we understand the source of our anger or frustration, we will find better ways to deal with them, so that we do not release them on innocent people. This is why it is important for us to be in touch with ourselves through silence and prayerful contemplation. Instead of reacting to every stimulus, we should pause to think through our real source of irritation, our desires that have been denied, or a wounded ego.
Understanding is the key to practising self-control. For example, when we understand why someone is hurting us because he himself was once a victim of hurt in that manner, then we are able to forgive that person. After all, hurting people hurt people. When we lack understanding of the struggles and circumstances of others, and we judge them strictly by the letter of the law, we will lack compassion and seek only raw justice. But understanding their pain and also ours, we will be able to act instead of react, in a measured manner.
Another important virtue in growing in faith is patience. We need to understand that impatience is a manifestation of pride, whether impatience at our own spiritual growth, or that of others. The pride of wanting to be perfect overnight is the cause of impatience. But once again, a godly man who is aware of himself, his own limitations, accepts his human frailty, will be patient with himself, knowing that growth is a process. We must be patient, as Jesus tells us in the parables of the mustard seed, the tares and the wheat, and the seed that grows by itself. (Mt 13:31f; 24-33; Mk 4:26-29) Patience with our loved ones, those under our charge and those who wrong us, is a sign of godliness because we know how patient God is with us and with His people who constantly rebelled against Him since the foundation of the world.
But faith needs to be expressed in a life of charity. St Peter said, “kindness towards your fellowmen to your devotion, and, to this kindness, love.” In choosing Christ, we choose to imitate His love for our brothers and sisters. We must be careful not to reduce faith to mere verbal belief. St James warned the Christians, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.” (cf Jms 2:14,18-20) Holiness is not merely individual holiness, but seen in social holiness as well. Earlier on, St Peter called upon the newly baptized Christians, “Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more eager to confirm your call and election, for if you do this, you will never stumble. For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.” (2 Pt 1:10f) In the final analysis, we will be judged by the way we love our brothers and sisters.
Finally, we need to have a discerning heart. In practising self-control and patience, and even when we do works of charity, we must be discerning. A discerning heart presumes that we know truly what is good and what is evil. We must seek to do the will of God and what pleases Him. In other words, as St Paul exhorts us, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.” (1 Cor 10:31) We must not fall into the blindness of the religious leaders who could not recognize Christ as the Son of the Father of the vineyard. Ultimately, knowing Christ as our foundation stone is the key to growing in truth and in love. If we fail to take responsibility for the grace given to us, like the Jewish leaders, it will be taken away from us. Let us make full use of the grace of baptism to live a godly life.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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