20241106 WORK OUT YOUR SALVATION
First reading |
Philippians 2:12-18 |
Work for your salvation, for God is working in you
My dear friends, continue to do as I tell you, as you always have; not only as you did when I was there with you, but even more now that I am no longer there; and work for your salvation ‘in fear and trembling.’ It is God, for his own loving purpose, who puts both the will and the action into you. Do all that has to be done without complaining or arguing and then you will be innocent and genuine, perfect children of God among a deceitful and underhand brood, and you will shine in the world like bright stars because you are offering it the word of life. This would give me something to be proud of for the Day of Christ, and would mean that I had not run in the race and exhausted myself for nothing. And then, if my blood has to be shed as part of your own sacrifice and offering – which is your faith – I shall still be happy and rejoice with all of you, and you must be just as happy and rejoice with me.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 26(27):1,4,13-14 |
The Lord is my light and my help.
The Lord is my light and my help;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
before whom shall I shrink?
The Lord is my light and my help.
There is one thing I ask of the Lord,
for this I long,
to live in the house of the Lord,
all the days of my life,
to savour the sweetness of the Lord,
to behold his temple.
The Lord is my light and my help.
I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness
in the land of the living.
Hope in him, hold firm and take heart.
Hope in the Lord!
The Lord is my light and my help.
Gospel Acclamation | Ps118:88 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Because of your love give me life,
and I will do your will.
Alleluia!
Or: | 1P4:14 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
It is a blessing for you
when they insult you for bearing the name of Christ,
for the Spirit of God rests on you.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 14:25-33 |
Anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple
Great crowds accompanied Jesus on his way and he turned and spoke to them. ‘If any man comes to me without hating his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes and his own life too, he cannot be my disciple. Anyone who does not carry his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
‘And indeed, which of you here, intending to build a tower, would not first sit down and work out the cost to see if he had enough to complete it? Otherwise, if he laid the foundation and then found himself unable to finish the work, the onlookers would all start making fun of him and saying, “Here is a man who started to build and was unable to finish.” Or again, what king marching to war against another king would not first sit down and consider whether with ten thousand men he could stand up to the other who advanced against him with twenty thousand? If not, then while the other king was still a long way off, he would send envoys to sue for peace. So in the same way, none of you can be my disciple unless he gives up all his possessions.’
06 November 2024, Wednesday, 31st Week in Ordinary Time
WORK OUT YOUR SALVATION
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [PHILIPPIANS 2:12-18; LUKE 14:25-33]
In the letter to the Philippians, St Paul urges the Christians, “work for your salvation in fear and trembling.” Why should one work for his salvation? There seems to be a contradiction, especially since St Paul was a champion of justification through faith in Christ by grace alone. Why, then, did he ask us to work for salvation when he clearly said in his letter to the Ephesians, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God – not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” (Eph 2:8-10)
Indeed, salvation is the work of God, but not without man’s response. It is God who works in us and draws us to Him through His grace. As St Paul wrote, “It is God, for his own loving purpose, who puts both the will and the action into you.” Although we are justified by faith in Christ by grace, we have to cooperate with Him and bring the work of God’s salvation in us to its completion. In other words, at every stage of the journey of salvation the grace of God is at work, but God wants to save us through our cooperation with His grace. Without our cooperation and free consent, God cannot save us because He gives us freedom to freely accept His grace or reject it.
So, we need to work for our salvation in fear, simply out of reverence and gratitude for the grace of salvation we have received. This fear is not of God but a recognition of our nothingness before Him and our dependence on Him. We also work for our salvation in trembling because of the gift of eternal life before us. As the psalmist says, “There is one thing I ask of the Lord, for this I long, to live in the house of the Lord, all the days of my life, to savour the sweetness of the Lord, to behold his temple. I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living. Hope in him, hold firm and take heart. Hope in the Lord!” Knowing the greatness of the gift before us, we do not want to receive the grace of God in vain. We do not want to forfeit what He has given to us.
Indeed, we must, as St Peter wrote, “be all the more eager to confirm your call and election, for if you do this, you will never stumble.” (2 Pt 1:10) Saved by grace and justified in Christ, we must confirm our sonship and daughtership in Christ by living as “innocent and genuine, perfect children of God among a deceitful and underhand brood”. Truly, we must not allow the world to contaminate us and take away our divine likeness and make us lose the goal of eternal life. When we do not use what we have, we lose them, whether it be our talents, skills or knowledge. However, salvation is not simply a question of fighting with the evil in the world or avoiding sins. Rather, it is to actively do good, “to shine in the world like bright stars because ‘we’ are offering it the word of life.” In other words, more than just condemning the evils of this world, we must light the candle of life and love by our good actions, and share the “Word of life.”
St Paul’s exemplary life shows us how we should work out our salvation. “This would give me something to be proud of for the Day of Christ, and would mean that I had not run in the face and exhausted myself for nothing. And then, if my blood has to be shed as part of your own sacrifice and offering – which is your faith – I shall still be happy and rejoice with all of you, and you must be just as happy and rejoice with me.” In his letter to Timothy, he also expressed in similar terms how he worked with the grace of God in him. “As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” (2 Tim 4:6-8)
Jesus also reminded His disciples of the cost of discipleship. Being a Christian is not simply just being a follower of our Lord, but it means ongoing discipleship and making a clear choice for Him. Many of us are like those among the great crowds who accompanied Jesus on His way. We have many Catholics, but in truth few are His disciples. We follow Jesus as if He is a rock-star. We follow Him because we see many following Him. We want to be counted among His followers. We are baptized in Him. But how many are truly His disciples?
In the gospel, Jesus spells out the cost of discipleship. He said, “If any man comes to me without hating his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes and his own life too, he cannot be my disciple. Anyone who does not carry his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” Discipleship means a total commitment to Him before everyone else, including our loved ones and most of all, life. How many of us put Jesus above everyone else and everything else? We want Jesus but we also want to cling to our loved ones. We want Jesus but we will sacrifice our faith by choosing our partner who not only does not believe in Jesus but prohibits us and our children from practising our faith. We want Jesus but we are not ready to sacrifice our ambition, our desire to be popular in the world, to be recognized and respected and accepted by society, so much so, we would compromise our faith in Him or try to hide our faith in Christ for fear that we would lose our place in the world. Indeed, many of us want to choose Christ and the false gods of this world. But for Jesus, it must be a total commitment.
Will choosing Jesus make us love our family and loved ones less? On the contrary, when we make Jesus the centre of our life, we will be able to love them even more, unconditionally, freely and without reservation because we will love them with the love of Christ in us. We will love them for themselves and not for ourselves. Our love will become like Christ’s, pure and selfless. Most relationships in this world are not truly born of God’s love but human love. We love with a selfish motive, so that we are loved in return. We love those who love us. The moment we do not receive love from that person, we stop loving him or her. Whereas, true love is a love that comes from the depth of our hearts and is independent of whether the other person loves us or not. It is not a pagan love, as the Lord says, “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?” (Mt 5:46f)
So, too, with regard to giving up our life for others. Some people think that when we give our lives for others, we live less because we live less for ourselves. The irony of life is that those who live for themselves find life meaningless and aimless. Those who spend all their money on themselves, living a life of luxury and pleasure, might initially find such a life a great blessing. But soon, they will tire of eating, drinking and “loving” themselves. The only way to live for oneself is to live for God and for others. Only when we live for others, will we find our life usefully spent for a good purpose, and this gives us real meaning in life and a joy that no amount of worldly pleasure can bring.
So, we must choose. The Lord gives us two analogies, one of building a tower and another of going for a battle. He said, “And indeed, which of you here, intending to build a tower, would not first sit down and work out the cost to see if he had enough to complete it?” We must think through the costs of true discipleship, otherwise we will be counter-witnesses to our faith. Unless we are ready to carry His cross and come after Him, we cannot be His disciples. Secondly, if we want to go for a battle, we must know the strength of our enemy. God is the only one who cannot be overcome. God is a better choice than the world – this is what the parables mean. Let us ask for peace by choosing Him, otherwise we will destroy ourselves. “So in the same way, none of you can be my disciples unless he gives up all his possessions.”
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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