03-10-2014, 09:36 AM
BEING SAVED AND CHOSEN BY GRACE DEMANDS A RESPONSE IN FAITH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: GEN 2:7-9; 3:1-7; ROM 5:12-19 (OR >< 5:12.17-19); MT 4:1-11
http://www.universalis.com/20140309/mass.htm
It has always been the plan of God that we share in His life and love and His happiness. This is the meaning of the first reading taken from the Book of Genesis. The author wants to convey to us that God desires humanity to be happy and enjoy life in paradise. “The Lord God fashioned man of dust from the soil. Then he breathed into his nostrils a breath of life, and thus man became a living being. The Lord God planted a garden in Eden which is in the east, and there he put the man he had fashioned. The Lord God caused to spring up from the soil every kind of tree, enticing to look at and good to eat, with the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the middle of the garden.” He also wants us to share in the joys of creation, but most of all, to share in His light, love and life. We are invited to share in His knowledge, truth and love. This is what it means to be created in God’s image and likeness.
Hence, the mistake of man is to think that he can find his own happiness without God. Instead of finding happiness in God, he wants to find happiness by himself. This was what happened to Adam and Eve. Because of pride, they willfully disobeyed God’s command and chose their own way to satisfy their knowledge. The woman said, “We may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden. But of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden God said, ‘You must not eat it, nor touch it, under pain of death. Then the serpent said to the woman, No! You will not die! God knows in fact that on the day you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.’”
Isn’t this the same kind of mindset in the world today? Because of science and technology, man has become proud of himself. He does not look to God anymore to solve his problems. In fact some think that God is an obstacle to the full flowering of man’s dignity and freedom. This is the challenge from secularism and humanism. God must be eliminated so that man can be free and regain his true identity. So what is happening in the world today is this willful denial of God and the attempt to extol humanity to replace Him. Man thinks too highly of himself. He fails to realize that he is but only a man, a human being, a creature and not the creator and therefore not God. He is not the absolute ground of reality. It is true that he has been gifted with stewardship of creation and made co-creator because he shares in the intellect and will of God. But there are limits to what man can do, especially the happiness of the heart and mind. Man cannot find meaning in this world but beyond himself.
In a nutshell, man has forgotten his true identity. He is not a god, as the New Age Spirituality is promoting. He is not only a material creature that has no soul, which secularism teaches. He is a human being with both body and an immortal soul. He is created to be like God but not as god. Indeed, man no longer knows his identity. He lives in a world without God and can no longer explain himself, his existence and the meaning of his existence. He lives in this world like an orphan without any foundation of his existence or knowledge of his destiny.
This was the same temptation that Jesus faced in today’s gospel. He was confronted by the Devil who placed doubts in the mind of Jesus about His real identity. Notice that he began by seducing Jesus the way he did with Adam and Eve, “If you are the Son of God … if you fall at my feet and worship me…” The Devil sows doubts and then gives us illusory promises. He wanted to weaken Jesus’ confidence in His identity as the Son of God. He wanted Jesus to take things into His own hands instead of trusting God His Father. Wasn’t this the same temptation of Adam and Eve?
The consequence of the loss of our identity is death. This is the warning of God to Adam and Eve. This death is not so much physical but spiritual. By cutting our communion with God, man breaks communion with each other. As was the case of Adam and Eve, they begin to blame each other for disobeying God. The knowledge they received was not one of enlightenment but of fear and shame. After eating the forbidden fruit, we read, “then the eyes of both of them were opened and they realised that they were naked. So they sewed fig-leaves together to make themselves loin-cloths.” They began to distrust each other and fearful of each. Man has become each other’s enemies because of selfishness driven by fear.
By not living a life of God, a life of love and communion, regardless of what he has achieved, life has no meaning. Those who live a life without God of course are ignorant about their identity and calling in life. Those who know but don’t live according to the laws of God also face death. This is what St Paul wrote, “Sin entered the world through one man, and through sin death, and thus death has spread through the whole human race because everyone has sinned. Sin existed in the world long before the Law was given.” So it is immaterial whether we break the law knowingly or unknowingly, the truth is that we all suffer the consequence of our ignorance and sin.
The good news is this. Jesus came to reveal to us our true identity and show us who we are. He wants us to know that God is our Father and Origin of life. Christ also reveals to us His Father’s unconditional love and mercy to us all. “Adam prefigured the One to come, but the gift itself considerably outweighed the fall. If it is certain that through one man’s fall so many died, it is even more certain that divine grace, coming through the one man, Jesus Christ, came to so many as an abundant free gift … If it is certain that death reigned over everyone as the consequence of one man’s fall, it is even more certain that one man, Jesus Christ, will cause everyone to reign in life who receives the free gift that he does not deserve, of being made righteous.” Do you really believe this? That His grace can save the whole world because He is greater than Adam? God has forgiven us in Christ and set us free from condemnation. We are now reconciled with God if we are in union with Christ. We no longer have to live in guilt and fear or self-condemnation even if the world condemns us. He accepts us and loves us without conditions. He came for us so that we might have life abundantly.
If that were the case, we must now respond to His grace. We cannot live without Him and we need to live from Him because we come from Him. We are contingent beings, not absolute. “Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Accordingly, we must rest in His love and mercy. Regular personal prayer, especially praying the Word of God, is indispensable if we were to share in His love and wisdom. Secondly, we are called to place our trust in Him and His divine providence, and never doubt Him by putting Him to the test. “Scripture also says: You must not put the Lord your God to the test.” Harden not your heart if you hear the voice of The Lord, says the psalmist in Ps 95. We know that God is merciful but we cannot take His love for granted, otherwise we will lose Him. For our sake, we need to act on His Word and just listen. This must be seen in a life of holiness and service and compassion to the poor. And thirdly, because God is our Father, the corollary is this, “You must worship the Lord your God, and serve him alone.” We need to know the essentials of life. Whom do we worship? Idolatry is to worship the things of this world which are passing and elusive. Even to love man before God is to make them the ultimate in our lives. We must love God with all our heart and soul and mind first so that we can love others and use things rightly for the service of love.
Finally, there is a warning from Jesus. We read in the gospel, “Then the devil left him, and angels appeared and looked after him.” We must be alert at all times for the Devil is rather subtle and deceitful. Let us remain on guard against the temptations of the Evil One by standing firm with Christ in rejecting his empty promises. And let us also take comfort that when we fail, Christ’s mercy and forgiveness is always there for us. He is full of tenderness, compassion and mercy. We must never condemn ourselves even if the whole world condemns. Jesus loves you forever!
SCRIPTURE READINGS: GEN 2:7-9; 3:1-7; ROM 5:12-19 (OR >< 5:12.17-19); MT 4:1-11
http://www.universalis.com/20140309/mass.htm
It has always been the plan of God that we share in His life and love and His happiness. This is the meaning of the first reading taken from the Book of Genesis. The author wants to convey to us that God desires humanity to be happy and enjoy life in paradise. “The Lord God fashioned man of dust from the soil. Then he breathed into his nostrils a breath of life, and thus man became a living being. The Lord God planted a garden in Eden which is in the east, and there he put the man he had fashioned. The Lord God caused to spring up from the soil every kind of tree, enticing to look at and good to eat, with the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the middle of the garden.” He also wants us to share in the joys of creation, but most of all, to share in His light, love and life. We are invited to share in His knowledge, truth and love. This is what it means to be created in God’s image and likeness.
Hence, the mistake of man is to think that he can find his own happiness without God. Instead of finding happiness in God, he wants to find happiness by himself. This was what happened to Adam and Eve. Because of pride, they willfully disobeyed God’s command and chose their own way to satisfy their knowledge. The woman said, “We may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden. But of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden God said, ‘You must not eat it, nor touch it, under pain of death. Then the serpent said to the woman, No! You will not die! God knows in fact that on the day you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.’”
Isn’t this the same kind of mindset in the world today? Because of science and technology, man has become proud of himself. He does not look to God anymore to solve his problems. In fact some think that God is an obstacle to the full flowering of man’s dignity and freedom. This is the challenge from secularism and humanism. God must be eliminated so that man can be free and regain his true identity. So what is happening in the world today is this willful denial of God and the attempt to extol humanity to replace Him. Man thinks too highly of himself. He fails to realize that he is but only a man, a human being, a creature and not the creator and therefore not God. He is not the absolute ground of reality. It is true that he has been gifted with stewardship of creation and made co-creator because he shares in the intellect and will of God. But there are limits to what man can do, especially the happiness of the heart and mind. Man cannot find meaning in this world but beyond himself.
In a nutshell, man has forgotten his true identity. He is not a god, as the New Age Spirituality is promoting. He is not only a material creature that has no soul, which secularism teaches. He is a human being with both body and an immortal soul. He is created to be like God but not as god. Indeed, man no longer knows his identity. He lives in a world without God and can no longer explain himself, his existence and the meaning of his existence. He lives in this world like an orphan without any foundation of his existence or knowledge of his destiny.
This was the same temptation that Jesus faced in today’s gospel. He was confronted by the Devil who placed doubts in the mind of Jesus about His real identity. Notice that he began by seducing Jesus the way he did with Adam and Eve, “If you are the Son of God … if you fall at my feet and worship me…” The Devil sows doubts and then gives us illusory promises. He wanted to weaken Jesus’ confidence in His identity as the Son of God. He wanted Jesus to take things into His own hands instead of trusting God His Father. Wasn’t this the same temptation of Adam and Eve?
The consequence of the loss of our identity is death. This is the warning of God to Adam and Eve. This death is not so much physical but spiritual. By cutting our communion with God, man breaks communion with each other. As was the case of Adam and Eve, they begin to blame each other for disobeying God. The knowledge they received was not one of enlightenment but of fear and shame. After eating the forbidden fruit, we read, “then the eyes of both of them were opened and they realised that they were naked. So they sewed fig-leaves together to make themselves loin-cloths.” They began to distrust each other and fearful of each. Man has become each other’s enemies because of selfishness driven by fear.
By not living a life of God, a life of love and communion, regardless of what he has achieved, life has no meaning. Those who live a life without God of course are ignorant about their identity and calling in life. Those who know but don’t live according to the laws of God also face death. This is what St Paul wrote, “Sin entered the world through one man, and through sin death, and thus death has spread through the whole human race because everyone has sinned. Sin existed in the world long before the Law was given.” So it is immaterial whether we break the law knowingly or unknowingly, the truth is that we all suffer the consequence of our ignorance and sin.
The good news is this. Jesus came to reveal to us our true identity and show us who we are. He wants us to know that God is our Father and Origin of life. Christ also reveals to us His Father’s unconditional love and mercy to us all. “Adam prefigured the One to come, but the gift itself considerably outweighed the fall. If it is certain that through one man’s fall so many died, it is even more certain that divine grace, coming through the one man, Jesus Christ, came to so many as an abundant free gift … If it is certain that death reigned over everyone as the consequence of one man’s fall, it is even more certain that one man, Jesus Christ, will cause everyone to reign in life who receives the free gift that he does not deserve, of being made righteous.” Do you really believe this? That His grace can save the whole world because He is greater than Adam? God has forgiven us in Christ and set us free from condemnation. We are now reconciled with God if we are in union with Christ. We no longer have to live in guilt and fear or self-condemnation even if the world condemns us. He accepts us and loves us without conditions. He came for us so that we might have life abundantly.
If that were the case, we must now respond to His grace. We cannot live without Him and we need to live from Him because we come from Him. We are contingent beings, not absolute. “Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Accordingly, we must rest in His love and mercy. Regular personal prayer, especially praying the Word of God, is indispensable if we were to share in His love and wisdom. Secondly, we are called to place our trust in Him and His divine providence, and never doubt Him by putting Him to the test. “Scripture also says: You must not put the Lord your God to the test.” Harden not your heart if you hear the voice of The Lord, says the psalmist in Ps 95. We know that God is merciful but we cannot take His love for granted, otherwise we will lose Him. For our sake, we need to act on His Word and just listen. This must be seen in a life of holiness and service and compassion to the poor. And thirdly, because God is our Father, the corollary is this, “You must worship the Lord your God, and serve him alone.” We need to know the essentials of life. Whom do we worship? Idolatry is to worship the things of this world which are passing and elusive. Even to love man before God is to make them the ultimate in our lives. We must love God with all our heart and soul and mind first so that we can love others and use things rightly for the service of love.
Finally, there is a warning from Jesus. We read in the gospel, “Then the devil left him, and angels appeared and looked after him.” We must be alert at all times for the Devil is rather subtle and deceitful. Let us remain on guard against the temptations of the Evil One by standing firm with Christ in rejecting his empty promises. And let us also take comfort that when we fail, Christ’s mercy and forgiveness is always there for us. He is full of tenderness, compassion and mercy. We must never condemn ourselves even if the whole world condemns. Jesus loves you forever!