THE JOY AND REWARDS OF THE MINISTRY

20151003 THE JOY AND REWARDS OF THE MINISTRY

Readings at Mass

First reading

Baruch 4:5-12,27-29 ©

Take courage, my people,

constant reminder of Israel.

You were sold to the nations,

but not for extermination.

You provoked God;

and so were delivered to your enemies,

since you had angered your creator

by offering sacrifices to demons, not to God.

You had forgotten the eternal God who reared you.

You had also grieved Jerusalem who nursed you,

for when she saw the anger fall on you

from God, she said:

Listen, you neighbours of Zion:

God has sent me great sorrow.

I have seen my sons and daughters taken into captivity,

to which they have been sentenced by the Eternal.

I had reared them joyfully;

in tears, in sorrow, I watched them go away.

Do not, any of you, exult over me,

a widow, deserted by so many;

I suffer loneliness because of the sins of my own children,

who turned away from the Law of God.

Take courage, my children, call on God:

he who brought disaster on you will remember you.

As by your will you first strayed away from God,

so now turn back and search for him ten times as hard;

for as he brought down those disasters on you,

so will he rescue you and give you eternal joy.

Psalm

Psalm 68:33-37 ©

The Lord listens to the needy.

The poor when they see it will be glad

  and God-seeking hearts will revive;

for the Lord listens to the needy

  and does not spurn his servants in their chains.

Let the heavens and the earth give him praise,

  the sea and all its living creatures.

The Lord listens to the needy.

For God will bring help to Zion

  and rebuild the cities of Judah

  and men shall dwell there in possession.

The sons of his servants shall inherit it;

  those who love his name shall dwell there.

The Lord listens to the needy.

Gospel Acclamation

Mt11:25

Alleluia, alleluia!

Blessed are you, Father,

Lord of heaven and earth,

for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom

to mere children.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Luke 10:17-24 ©

The seventy-two came back rejoicing. ‘Lord,’ they said ‘even the devils submit to us when we use your name.’ He said to them, ‘I watched Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Yes, I have given you power to tread underfoot serpents and scorpions and the whole strength of the enemy; nothing shall ever hurt you. Yet do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you; rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven.’

  It was then that, filled with joy by the Holy Spirit, he said, ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do. Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.’

  Then turning to his disciples he spoke to them in private, ‘Happy the eyes that see what you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.’

THE JOY AND REWARDS OF THE MINISTRY

SCRIPTURE READINGS: BARUCH 4:5-12. 27-29; LK 10:17-24

What is the challenge of the ministry?  We are called to share in the mission of Christ of restoring Israel back to God.  Our ministry is fundamentally the ministry of reconciliation.  This is what St Paul wrote, “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor 5:18-21)

In the first reading, we read of the consequences of the infidelities of Israel and also the encouraging words to repent.  Like a mother, Jerusalem consoled her unfaithful children in exile and invited them to repent so that God will restore their fortunes.  She says, “Take courage, my children, call on God: he who brought disaster on you will remember you. As by your will you first strayed away from God, so now turn back and search for him ten times as hard; for as he brought down those disasters on you, so will he rescue you and give you eternal joy.”   Indeed, we must give hope and encouragement to sinners to return to God with all their heart and soul.

As Christ’s co-workers, we, too, are called to preach the message of repentance and conversion.  Like Jesus we are called to proclaim the Father’s unconditional love and mercy.  Indeed, what most people need to hear is that God has forgiven their sins.  Forgiveness of sins and the unconditional love of God is the basic proclamation of the gospel.  That is why St Paul wrote, “As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.  For he says, ‘In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.’ I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor 6:1f)  With the psalmist we must assure those who have abandoned God that God has not abandoned them.  “The Lord listens to the needy. For God will bring help to Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah and men shall dwell there in possession. The sons of his servants shall inherit it; those who love his name shall dwell there.” God will restore our sonship and bring us back to His dwelling place.   Our people need to hear the message of hope in order to find strength to come back to God.

How can we bring about this work of reconciliation?   It begins with compassion.  This is the origin of our ministry.  In the first reading, we can feel the pain and sorrows of the prophet Baruch who cried for his sinful and rebellious people.  We can feel the pain of the prophet who saw his people suffering in exile, just like any parent who sees his child going the wrong way.  Truly, the greatest sorrow of parents is to see their children taking the wrong path and unable to do anything to assist them.  The prophet expressed his grief in these words.  “God has sent me great sorrow. I have seen my sons and daughters taken into captivity, to which they have been sentenced by the Eternal. I had reared them joyfully; in tears, in sorrow, I watched them go away. Do not, any of you, exult over me, a widow, deserted by so many; I suffer loneliness because of the sins of my own children, who turned away from the Law of God.”  Before we undertake the ministry of reconciliation, we must do it not out of self-righteousness but out of empathy and mercy for those who are suffering on account of their sins and rejection of God who is their creator and source of life.

This is then followed by an examination of conscience.  He enumerated the sins of his people and brought them to consciousness, lest they forgot why they were suffering.  He said, “You were sold to the nations, but not for extermination. Your provoked God; and so were delivered to your enemies, since you had angered your creator by offering sacrifices to demons, not to God. You had forgotten the eternal God who reared you.”   Unless sinners are aware of their sins and wrongdoings, they tend to assign blame to God and to others.  No repentance is possible unless they first come to awareness of their role in causing hurts to others and as a consequence are paying the price of the effects of their sins.

However, the prophet not only appealed to their conscience but he also appealed to their hearts.  He said, “You had also grieved Jerusalem who nursed you, for when she saw the anger fall on you from God.”  Quite often, people will not be transformed and converted simply by having their mistakes pointed out to them.  More importantly, we need to appeal to the goodness of their hearts.  If people do not change because of pride, they will listen to our cries of appeals.

Yet the proclamation of the gospel is always accompanied by signs, namely healing, be it spiritual, physical or inner healing and exorcism.  For this reason, Jesus sent out the disciples to heal and to deliver those under the clutches of the Evil One. “The seventy-two came back rejoicing. ‘Lord,’ they said ‘even the devils submit to us when we use your name.’”  In this way the Lordship of Christ is seen and faith in Jesus as the Son of the Father is strengthened.  Such manifestations of the presence of the Risen Lord are still present today.  Proclamation of the Good News must be concretely experienced by those who give themselves to Jesus by being set free from their slavery to sins and fear.   Otherwise, the Good News lack power, as they would be mere words alone.   Truly, the Israelites could sing praises to God only because they experienced the mercy of God.  The psalmist wrote, “The poor when they see it will be glad and God-seeking hearts will revive; for the Lord listens to the needy and does not spurn his servants in their chains.”

Yet the greatest joy in our ministry must not rest on these external signs of God’s power over evil. In fact, when the seventy-two came back rejoicing saying, “Lord, even the devils submit to us when we use your name.”   Like the apostles, sometimes we can get carried away by our success in the ministry, especially when we see that people are touched by our ministering or when we see miracles happening in our midst.  This is egoism!  The desire to have power and control over others is the wrong motive for the ministry.  Instead, Jesus tells us “I watched Satan fall like lightening from heaven.  Yes.  I have given you power to tread underfoot serpents and scorpions and the whole strength of the enemy; nothing shall ever hurt you. Yet do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you; rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven.”

How are our names written in heaven?  Firstly, we save our souls as we grow in holiness through our faith in Him and demonstrated in a life of service and love. Indeed, more importantly is that in the process of proclaiming repentance and conversion we ourselves are converted.  How does this take place? When we witness the goodness and power of God in the lives of our people through our ministry!  For this reason, those of us who serve the Lord are rewarded more abundantly than what we give.  This is true for those of us who are involved in healing ministry, in teaching and ministering.  The greatest joy is not just seeing those whom we minister healed, enlightened and liberated but that we in the process have our faith strengthened as we see how loving and merciful our God is who will even make use of us, His poor and unworthy servants to do His work.

Yet the greatest seeing is not the miracles or even the joy of seeing them converted but to know Jesus, as the Son of the Father, comes for our salvation when we acknowledge Him as the Son of the Father.  Hence Jesus remarked to His disciples, “Happy the eyes that see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.”  Truly, for us to recognize the love of the Father who revealed His love to us in the Son’s paschal mystery is a far greater reward anyone can get.

Indeed the greatest joy of Jesus is His intimacy with His Father.  We, too, should rejoice in our conviction and faith in Jesus through the ministry of reconciliation and healing.  The more we serve the Lord in this ministry and seeing His love and power manifested in the lives of these people, we can truly vouch that Jesus indeed is the Lord and the Son of the compassionate Father.  Through Jesus too we share in His intimacy with His Father.  Through Jesus we share in the Trinitarian life.  That is why our greatest joy as the disciples of Jesus is not just in working for the Lord, but the privilege of being intimate with the Lord through the celebration of the Liturgy, especially the Eucharist, and being with His people in service and love.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore

© All Rights Reserved

FINDING FAITH AND BELIEVING IN THE REALITY OF ANGELS IN A SCIENTIFIC AGE

20151002 FINDING FAITH AND BELIEVING IN THE REALITY OF ANGELS IN A SCIENTIFIC AGE

Reading 1, Exodus 23:20-23

 'Look, I am sending an angel to precede you, to guard you as you go and bring you to the place that I have prepared.

Revere him and obey what he says. Do not defy him: he will not forgive any wrong-doing on your part, for my name is in him.

If, however, you obey what he says and do whatever I order, I shall be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.

My angel will precede you and lead you to the home of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, whom I shall exterminate.

Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 91:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 10-11

You who live in the secret place of Elyon, spend your nights in the shelter of Shaddai,

saying to Yahweh, 'My refuge, my fortress, my God in whom I trust!'

He rescues you from the snare of the fowler set on destruction;

he covers you with his pinions, you find shelter under his wings. His constancy is shield and protection.

You need not fear the terrors of night, the arrow that flies in the daytime,

the plague that stalks in the darkness, the scourge that wreaks havoc at high noon.

No disaster can overtake you, no plague come near your tent;

he has given his angels orders about you to guard you wherever you go.

Gospel

Matthew 18:1-5,10

The disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ So he called a little child to him and set the child in front of them. Then he said, ‘I tell you solemnly, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. And so, the one who makes himself as little as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

  ‘Anyone who welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. See that you never despise any of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven are continually in the presence of my Father in heaven.’

FINDING FAITH AND BELIEVING IN THE REALITY OF ANGELS IN A SCIENTIFIC AGE

SCRIPTURE READINGS: EX 23:20-23; MT 18:1-5, 10

In a world of science it is difficult to speak of the existence of angels.  The premise of science is based on empirical evidence and observation.  Science does not deal with spirits as they are non-corporeal.  Hence, we Christians who believe in angels appear to non-believers to be rather childish and mythological.  We cannot see angels.  We do not even feel them, so how can we verify our claims that angels exist?  Indeed, how many of our Catholics really pray to their angels every day?  In the past, Catholics were taught at least to pray the prayer to the Guardian Angel, especially to Archangel Michael, for protection from the Evil One.  But today, such prayer to angels might sound superstitious.

Yet the Church’s official teaching is clear with respect to the existence, work and intercessory role of angels.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that “in the meantime, the whole life of the Church benefits from the mysterious and powerful help of angels.”  (CCC 334)  “In her liturgy, the Church joins with the angels to adore the thrice-holy God. She invokes their assistance (in the funeral liturgy In Paradisum deducant te angeli… “May the angels lead you into Paradise…”). Moreover, in the “Cherubic Hymn” of the Byzantine Liturgy, she celebrates the memory of certain angels more particularly (St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Raphael, and the guardian angels).   (CCC 335)  “From its beginning until death, human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession. “Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life.”  Already here on earth the Christian life shares by faith in the blessed company of angels and men united in God.”  (CC 336)  Consequently, today’s commemoration of the Guardian Angels can help to strengthen our faith in God.

In the first place, the rejection of this celebration is very much connected with the secularized world that denies the reality of the spirit world.  This over emphasis on the material has reduced human beings to no more than a material animal.  This would result in the rejection that a human person is constituted of body and soul.  As a consequence, it means there is no need to believe in a world beyond death, since a human person disappears into nothingness at death.  He has “no soul” that lives on.  In other words, the human person is not immortal.  That being the case, committing suicide or practicing euthanasia would be the best way to end a meaningless life on earth, since with death, suffering ends.

Secondly, the rejection of angels is also an attempt to undermine the reality of evil spirits.  Belief in angels is a counterpart to the recognition of a spirits world. One cannot believe in the existence of evil spirits whilst at the same time reject the reality of angels, since Satan and his fallen angels were really angels.   Conversely, the rejection of evil spirits will also lead to a rejection of angels.  Perhaps, the lack of devotion and exposition of the reality of angels is the cause of skepticism in today’s world over the reality of evil spirits.  Many no longer believe in the work of Satan and evil spirits.  Some Catholics even think it is a farfetched reality and very rare.  Pope Paul VI warns us that the double smokescreen the Devil is using today is to deceive us into believing that he does not exist and to be ignorant of him.  In this way, we are no longer alert to the temptations and oppression of the Evil One.  This allows him to work in our lives unnoticed and thereby destroy us.  In truth, St Paul speaks of the different hierarchy of beings. He speaks of Christ as the head of all creation, “for in him were created all things in heaven and on earth; everything visible and everything invisible, Thrones, Dominations, Sovereignties, Powers” (Col 1:16)  And in his letter to the Ephesians, he warns us to “Put God’s armour on so as to be able to resist the devil’s tactics.  For it is not against human enemies that we have to struggle, but against the Sovereignties and the Powers who orginate the darkness in this world; the spiritual army of evil in the heavens.” (Eph 6:10-12)

Faith therefore is required to believe in the angels.  The Gospel speaks of a child-like faith that is required of us.  Jesus said, “I tell you solemnly, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. And so, the one who makes himself as little as this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Most of all, Jesus warns us to “never despise any of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven are continually in the presence of my Father in heaven.” It is therefore of a dogma of faith to believe in the existence of spirits, namely, angels and the devil.  Not having faith in angels will lead us to a denial of other truths of faith, namely, that God is pure Spirit; the existence of devils; our spiritual nature; and the truth about the bible as the inspired Word of God.  So a rejection of angels puts all other truths of faith in question.

In the light of such explicit and clear declaration of the existence of angels, both in scripture, Tradition and in the teaching of the magisterium, what kind of devotion is expected of us to our Guardian Angels?  In the first reading, we are told that they are God’s messengers sent to guard and lead us.   They are the ministering spirits of God who guide us in our daily life.  The Lord instructed Moses to tell the people thus, “I myself will send an angel before you to guard you as you go and to bring you to the place that I have prepared.”

Secondly, our Guardian Angels relay God’s message to us so that we can walk in the truth.  For this reason, we are called to be docile to the Word of God that is relayed through the angels.  The Lord said, “Give him reverence and listen to all that he says. Offer him no defiance; he would not pardon such a fault, for my name is in him. If you listen carefully to his voice and do all that I say, I shall be enemy to your enemies, foe to your foes. My angel will go before you and lead you to where the Amorites are and the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, the Jebusites; I shall exterminate these.”  It behooves us especially in this scientific, technological and materialistic age to have a greater sensitivity to the world of spirits.  It is bad enough not to be conscious of the presence of the angels in our lives, but to be ignorant of the work of the evil spirits as if they are no longer a menace in the world is to think that the world is already completely redeemed and evil overcome.  Ignorance of the work of evil spirit causes us to fall into Satan’s snares without even knowing it.

Thirdly, since Angels are pure intellectual spirits, they can think, choose, and feel like us.  This means that we can communicate with the angels as we communicate with the saints.  For this reason, the Church invites us to pray to our Guardian Angels and seek the protection and help of the Archangels in our battle against the forces of evil.  Cultivating a devotion to the angels certainly can be a great help in our spiritual life as in the case of our devotion to Mary and the saints.  We should seek their help; ask for their prayers, protection and guidance.  Of course, we should also imitate their good examples of guarding and guiding people under our care; being messengers of the Good News to others and be healers and reconcilers in the world.  Like the angels, we are called to enlighten and inspire others by speaking God’s words and be the mouth piece of God.

Finally, we are called in a special way to protect the little ones just as Jesus exhorts us.  “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.  See that you never despise any of these little ones.”  Let us protect our babies from being aborted; take care of our children well, nurture them with love and guide them in the right values; and most of all, do not scandalize them or abuse their trust in us, making them lose faith in God’s love and in humanity.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore

© All Rights Reserved

HAPPINESS BELONGS TO THOSE WHO HAVE A CHILDLIKE FAITH

20151001 HAPPINESS BELONGS TO THOSE WHO HAVE A CHILDLIKE FAITH

Isaiah 66:10-14

Rejoice with Jerusalem, be glad for her, all you who love her! Rejoice, rejoice with her, all you who mourned her!

So that you may be suckled and satisfied from her consoling breast, so that you may drink deep with delight from her generous nipple.

For Yahweh says this: Look, I am going to send peace flowing over her like a river, and like a stream in spate the glory of the nations. You will be suckled, carried on her hip and fondled in her lap.

As a mother comforts a child, so I shall comfort you; you will be comforted in Jerusalem.

At the sight your heart will rejoice, and your limbs regain vigour like the grass. To his servants Yahweh will reveal his hand, but to his enemies his fury.

Psalms 130

From the depths I call to you, Yahweh:

Lord, hear my cry. Listen attentively to the sound of my pleading!

If you kept a record of our sins, Lord, who could stand their ground?

But with you is forgiveness, that you may be revered.

I rely, my whole being relies, Yahweh, on your promise.

My whole being hopes in the Lord, more than watchmen for daybreak; more than watchmen for daybreak

let Israel hope in Yahweh. For with Yahweh is faithful love, with him generous ransom;

and he will ransom Israel from all its sins.

Matthew 18:1-5

At this time the disciples came to Jesus and said, 'Who is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven?'

So he called a little child to him whom he set among them.

Then he said, 'In truth I tell you, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven.

And so, the one who makes himself as little as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven.

'Anyone who welcomes one little child like this in my name welcomes me.

HAPPINESS BELONGS TO THOSE WHO HAVE A CHILDLIKE FAITH

SCRIPTURE READINGS: Isaiah 66:10-14; Ps 130; Matthew 18:1-5

The disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” This question of the disciples smacks of worldly connotations of greatness.  In asking this question, they were ignorant of what they were asking.  Greatness for the disciples was seen in terms of power, honour, glory and being better than others.   In asking this question, they were seeking for the wrong things in the first place.  Such greatness cannot bring happiness.  For this reason, Jesus “called a little child to him and set the child in front of them.”  A child during the time of Jesus was considered to be insignificant.  So by bringing the child in front of Him, Jesus wanted to underscore that greatness must not be seen in terms of being more important than others.

So what do we mean by being the greatest in the Kingdom of God?  Greatest must be conceived in terms of the depth of love, joy and peace.  Greatness is a question of the extent of God’s reign in our hearts.  Are we ruled by love and joy or ruled by hatred and anxiety and fear?  To be great in the kingdom of God is to find true and lasting happiness that the world cannot give, which is love, peace and joy.  This is what makes us truly happy and at rest.

Truly, the lack of peace and joy comes from deep insecurity in us.  We are all insecure people suffering from low self-esteem.  Today, the world is desperately in need of security in terms of relationships, in self-acceptance and in material needs.  We are seeking for attention and for true friendship and companionship.  We are concerned whether people accept us and recognize us for who we are.  We are always anxious about tomorrow, our career, our health; about what to wear and eat, etc.   That is why we have no peace because anxiety and fear rob us of our ability to live life freely and courageously.  We end up fighting with others for attention, power, wealth and glory.  We want to accumulate more and more because we are never satisfied with what we have regardless of how much we have.  

So where do we find peace and security?  St Paul wrote, “In short, there are three things that last: faith, hope and love; and the greatest of these is love.”(1Cor13:13)   Indeed, love is the foundation of peace and joy.  All insecurities in life spring from the lack of love.  This is particularly true in children.  Of course, now that we are adults, many of us remain infantile in our attitudes towards ourselves and others.  Deprived of love from young and affection, as adults now, we seek for attention and acceptance.

For this reason, the Lord is inviting us to adopt the attitude of a child, presupposing that this child has loving parents.  He said, “I tell you solemnly, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”   In normal situations, parents love their children, and would do all they can to protect, feed, nurture and help them in whatever ways possible.  They provide emotional security, financial needs, take care of the children physically, spiritually, and materially and provide them with sound and holistic formation.   But the fact remains that today; we have very few truly loving and caring parents.  Many of our parents are themselves broken, wounded and lack the capacity to love freely.

As a consequence instead of being childlike we are childish, even later on as adults.  Who is a childish person?  A childish person is one who likes to argue in order to win.  He likes attention.  He competes to show off his talents.  He is inward looking and selfish.   He is temperamental and always wants things his ways.  He is an ingrate who only knows how to receive but do not know how to give.  He is prideful and vindictive.  A child is childish only because he lacks love and security.

So if we do not want to be childish but childlike, what is needed?  We need to find security in the love of God.  Only God’s love can help us to overcome the deep insecurity within us and heal our wounded and dysfunctional childhood experiences.  We need to bask ourselves in the love of God.  This was what St Theresa of the Child Jesus did. We must be childlike before God our heavenly Father who loves us and cares for us as His child.  We are children of God and God is our Father who provides us all our needs. With God as our Father, we need not be afraid that we are not loved or we will not have enough needs.

This conviction of God as our loving Father is the basis of overcoming our insecurity and fears in life.  This is what the scripture readings of today are asking of us.  God told the exiled Israelites, “Rejoice Jerusalem, Rejoice; rejoice for her, all you who mourned her! That you may be suckled filled, from her consoling breast, that you may savour with delight her glorious breast.”  God is like our mother who wants to give us security just as a child finds security suckling the breast of his mother.  Indeed, breast is always a symbol of security.  From the breast, when we are young we lay at the bosom of our mothers.  From the breast, the mother feeds us with her milk.  So in such a graphic and beautiful manner, the Word of God invites us to regard God as our heavenly Mother who gives us security in both affection and in our material needs.

With the love of God in our hearts, we find peace and security.  This is what the prophet says, “For thus says the Lord: Now towards her I send flowing peace, like a river, and like a stream in spate the glory of the nations. At her breast will her nurslings be carried and fondled in her lap.”   Indeed, to be carried by our mothers and be fondled in their laps, such great joy, love, security and peace we find.  Isn’t it true that when a child cries, he is asking not just for milk but for security in affection, especially when he wakes up and finds himself alone?    The cry of a baby is the cry of every man today, seeking for security, peace and fulfillment.

Love builds trust.  Again the prophet says, “Like a son comforted by his mother will I comfort you.” The psalmist says this as well, “And like a child at rest close to its mother’s breast, safe in your arms my soul is calmed.”  If there is a lack of trust between parents and children or between spouses, it is because love is lacking.  Trust is strengthened through love.   Trust builds relationship especially between parents and children; and between spouses. Trust begets trust. So in order to win someone over, we need first to begin by loving unconditionally.  This is the way God loves us, without conditions.  The Lord invites us to trust in Him and He does this by showing us His unconditional and total love for us.

A trust that comes from love is the basis of hope of greater things to come.  When we trust, we begin to see greater things and have us a greater capacity to hope for a fuller love.  So long as there is love, trust will grow.  As trust grows, hope never dies.  So long as there is love, we will never lose hope in God or in those people who are in charge of us. If God loves me He will do greater things for me.  So too when we know that our parents or friends care for us, we will never lose hope in ourselves or in the future, even when we do not see things clearly because we know that we will never be left alone in this long journey.

Consequently, we are now called to live from His love.  We are called to place our total trust in Him.  When we live from His love, we will find strength to overcome all trials.  With His love in us, we can learn to depend on Him rather than on ourselves.  To know that He loves us so much and so unconditionally, we will be filled with humility and gratitude.  Indeed like the psalmist, we say, “O my Lord, within my heart pride will have no home.  Every talent that I have comes from you alone.”

Since our joy and peace come from His love, the fruit of this love is to love others in return with the same love we have received.  Having experienced this love, we too want to share that love.  This is precisely the love of God and it is this same love we are called to impart.

Love of God and of others is our response to His love.  This talk of love is not mere words but in actions, ordinary deeds.  God does not demand of us to do extraordinary things, otherwise we will become proud of ourselves.  He wants us, as St Theresa tells us, to do small things with extraordinary love.  It is not what we do that pleases God but how much love we put into our hearts.  This is what the psalmist prays, “Lord, my eyes do not look high nor my thoughts take wings for I can find treasures in ordinary things. Great affairs are not for me, deeds beyond my scope. In the simple things I do, I find joy and hope.”

Indeed, a childlike faith is one that lives in faith, hope and love.  When we live a life of total trust and resting in His love, such a life is always lived in contentment and joy.  We are not searching for anything more. To have the love of God is to have everything because we know He will provide and He is our security, the one in whom I can place my trust and hope absolutely.  Only those who lack love and security, ask for things to fulfill the vacuum in their hearts.  A child who is raised in an ambience of love and acceptance, will in turn be a holistic person, able to love himself and accept others.  So the greatest indeed in the kingdom of God is a childlike person who is living a heavenly life on earth in peace, love and joy.  He is living in the Kingdom of love because the love of God rests in Him.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore

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