20250911 NEW LIFE IN CHRIST
11 September 2025, Thursday, 23rd Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
Colossians 3:12-17 |
Be clothed in love
You are God’s chosen race, his saints; he loves you, and you should be clothed in sincere compassion, in kindness and humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with one another; forgive each other as soon as a quarrel begins. The Lord has forgiven you; now you must do the same. Over all these clothes, to keep them together and complete them, put on love. And may the peace of Christ reign in your hearts, because it is for this that you were called together as parts of one body. Always be thankful.
Let the message of Christ, in all its richness, find a home with you. Teach each other, and advise each other, in all wisdom. With gratitude in your hearts sing psalms and hymns and inspired songs to God; and never say or do anything except in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 150 |
Let everything that lives and that breathes give praise to the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
Praise God in his holy place,
praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his powerful deeds,
praise his surpassing greatness.
Let everything that lives and that breathes give praise to the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
O praise him with sound of trumpet,
praise him with lute and harp.
Praise him with timbrel and dance,
praise him with strings and pipes.
Let everything that lives and that breathes give praise to the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
O praise him with resounding cymbals,
praise him with clashing of cymbals.
Let everything that lives and that breathes
give praise to the Lord.
Let everything that lives and that breathes give praise to the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation | Jm1:21 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Accept and submit to the word
which has been planted in you
and can save your souls.
Alleluia!
Or: | 1Jn4:12 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
As long as we love one another
God will live in us
and his love will be complete in us.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 6:27-38 |
Love your enemies
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I say this to you who are listening: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly. To the man who slaps you on one cheek, present the other cheek too; to the man who takes your cloak from you, do not refuse your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and do not ask for your property back from the man who robs you. Treat others as you would like them to treat you. If you love those who love you, what thanks can you expect? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what thanks can you expect? For even sinners do that much. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what thanks can you expect? Even sinners lend to sinners to get back the same amount. Instead, love your enemies and do good, and lend without any hope of return. You will have a great reward, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
‘Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge, and you will not be judged yourselves; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned yourselves; grant pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap; because the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back.’
NEW LIFE IN CHRIST
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Col 3:12-17; Ps 150:1-6; Lk 6:27-38]
How does one live as a Christian after conversion? What does it mean to be baptized in Christ? Simply put, it requires a Christian to put on Christ. This is the point of departure for a Christian life. It is not even about living a moral life. Christian life is not merely observing the laws, otherwise, it would be no different from that of Judaism, which requires their followers to observe the laws meticulously. Rather, Christianity is a movement from darkness into light. The Christian has become a new self, because in Christ, he has put his old self to death and risen with Him in baptism. Christian morality does not dictate how a Christian should live; rather, it describes what a Christian becomes when he puts on Christ, who makes him a new creation. “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 2:10) “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (2 Cor 5:17) Being a new creation means being recreated, transformed into the image of Christ, and living in the Spirit–freed from legalism–as a member of the family of God.
Being a Christian is not so much about becoming a slave to a new set of laws, unlike the early Christians who converted from Judaism. St Paul insisted, “For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” (Gal 5:1) Being a Christian is to live the life of the Spirit. He said, “By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.” (Gal 5:22-26)
Within this context, we can appreciate what St Paul asked of the Christians, since they are the Chosen People of God – just as God chose the Israelites to be His people – they too are enrolled among the saints of God. God wants us all to live like His family. “And may the peace of Christ reign in your hearts, because it is for this that you were called together as parts of one body.” They are called to reflect the life of Christ in their lives by putting on Christ. This means being clothed “in sincere compassion, in kindness and humility, gentleness and patience.” In other words, they must show themselves to be like Christ in these virtues. As Christians, they must be like Christ to others. But this is possible only because God has loved them and chosen them in Christ. “You are God’s chosen race, his saints; he loves you.” This is especially true in the area of forgiveness. St Paul says, “The Lord has forgiven you; now you must do the same.” We forgive because we have been forgiven.
Like Jesus who revealed the compassion of the Father, Christians are called to do likewise. Compassion is perhaps the starting point of a Christian’s life of holiness. In the Gospel, Jesus commanded His disciples to “Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge, and you will not be judged yourselves; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned yourself; grant pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap; because the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back.”
Compassion is to be identified with our brothers and sisters. When Jesus said, “Give to everyone who asks you, and do not ask for your property back from the man who robs you. Treat others as you would like them to treat you”, He was commanding us to feel with those who are suffering and hurting. This is why, the starting point of compassion is to love others as we ourselves want to be loved. But Christian compassion goes beyond expecting a favour in return. He said, “If you love those who love you, what thanks can you expect? Even sinners love those who love them.”
The height of compassion is, of course, forgiveness and the love of our enemies. “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly. To the man who slaps you on one cheek, present the other cheek too; to the man who takes your cloak from you, do not refuse your tunic.” This is the only way to win them over and show that we are different. “And if you do good to those who do good to you, what thanks can you expect? For even sinners do that much. And if you lend to those from who you hope to receive, what thanks can you expect? Even sinners lend to get back the same amount. Instead, love your enemies and do good, and lend without any hope of return. You will have a great reward, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.”
Secondly, for compassion and forgiveness to take place, we must put on love. Only when we love our brothers and sisters, can we tolerate their misconduct, selfishness and nasty behaviour toward others and ourselves. With love, comes kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. This is why, St Paul wrote, “Over all these clothes, to keep them together and complete them, put on love.” We can be kind, gentle and patient with others only when there is love in our hearts. Without love, we will not be capable of loving in such a manner. And this is true even of humility: for the sake of love, we give up our pride in reconciling with those who have hurt us or those whom we have hurt.
However, we must always remember that being a Christian is not reducible to fulfilling an obligation to do good. Rather, it must spring from the heart because the love of God has been poured into our hearts in the Spirit. (cf Rom 5:5) We love only because, as St John wrote, “In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.” (1 Jn 4:10-12) Being in Christ and filled with His love is what makes us praise Him and glorify Him in all that we do and say. As the psalmist proclaims, “O praise him with sound of trumpet, praise him with lute and harp. Praise him with timbrel and dance, praise him with strings and pipes. O praise him with resounding cymbals, praise him with clashing of cymbals. Let everything that lives and that breathes give praise to the Lord.”
Indeed, our love for others comes from our deep gratitude to God for all that He has done for us. This is why St Paul wrote, “Always be thankful.” When we are grateful, we want to love everyone the way God has loved us. St Paul himself recounted his desire to give his life for others because he said, “For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them.” (2 Cor 5:14f)
Consequently, to continue to find the strength and capacity to love from our hearts, we must turn to Christ and the Church for strength. Hence, St Paul urges us, “Let the message of Christ, in all its richness, find a home with you. Teach each other, and advise each other, in all wisdom. With gratitude in your hearts sing psalms and hymns and inspired songs to God; and never say or do anything except in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” As a Christian community, through worship – hearing the Word of God, being instructed in the faith, celebrating His love and presence in the Eucharist, and giving thanks together in prayer and song – we find inspiration, encouragement, and most of all, the love of God in our hearts. In the final analysis, faith can thrive only when we belong to a lively community of faith, love, and caring for each. But this community is not yet perfect, and hence forgiveness, tolerance, forgiveness and charity remain essential.
Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections
- Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
- Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
- It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.
Note: You may share this reflection with someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will they be available via email request.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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