06-21-2014, 04:51 PM
BEING SUCCESSFUL IN THE LORD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: 2 CH 24:17-25; MT 6:24-34
http://www.universalis.com/20140621mass.htm
What is the fundamental cause of all our failures in life? Both scripture readings give us the same diagnosis: the failure to put God as the center of our lives. As Zechariah said, when we do not observe the commandments of the Lord, we will not prosper. Indeed, when we abandon God or put Him as secondary to the other things in life, we will lose our bearing and perspective and as a result fall into fear and anxiety about the future. We see this happening to many leaders, religious, political, civil and corporate leaders. They begin well by putting their faith and their trust in God, making Him as the focus of their lives but in their success, they become proud and arrogant, relying on themselves, their popularity, wide appeal and techniques.
We have an example in the person of King Joash who abandoned the Lord and His Covenant. His reign ended so tragically, all because he was not faithful to the Covenant. As King and the representative of Yahweh, his duty was to lead the people to keep the laws of the Covenant so that the nation could be united as the people of God. Instead, he allowed the officials to mislead him and followed them in abandoning the “Temple of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, for the worship of sacred poles and idols.” When they forgot the God of the Covenant and worshipped false gods instead, division and decadence set in. Many great nations and leaders have fallen because they had displaced God in their lives and in so doing, their leadership suffered from the lack of wisdom and values needed to form their people in truth and in love.
What was even more tragic for Joash was that although God was merciful and patient with him by sending the prophet Zechariah to redirect him to walk the right path, he spurned his advice. Not only did he not take heed of the prophet’s rebuke and reprimands but he put to death a true prophet who stood for God’s truth and His righteous ways and took the courage to testify against the apostasy of the king and the people. Instead of listening to God he listened to his irreligious officials. A lesson to learn indeed! Appointing right leaders who are all for the Lord and His people, who make God as their Lord, will save us from much trouble.
Misled and confused without God and His laws to guide him, he lost all gratitude and sensibility. He forgot that Zechariah was the son of Jehoiada the former High Priest who saved him and risked his life to put him on the throne. Yes, when we abandon God, we sink lower and lower until we lose our conscience and sensitivity to our sins. Absorbed in our selfish needs and irrational fears, we would do anything to destroy our enemies. Indeed, this is the consequence of abandoning the Lord in our lives.
This is the warning of Jesus in today’s gospel too. The point of today’s gospel is that if we do not enthrone God as the center of our lives, we will only live a fearful and anxious life. We will think that we are ultimately in charge of our lives. The truth is that there are many things that are unpredictable in life. We do not know when we will fall sick or we might meet a fatal accident. We do not know how the economy will grow, how successful our business will be or how long we can stay in our jobs. The more we worry, the more we will think that we are in charge and the more we will leave God out of our minds and hearts.
Of course, there are those who make false compromises. They want to serve God and the world. But Jesus enunciated that the choice for Him must be clear. He taught His disciples, “No one can be the slave to two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or treat the first with respect and the second with scorn. You cannot be the slave both of God and money.” The point that Jesus wants to drive at is not that we cannot be at the service of the world or that the things of the world, money and riches, are all evil. No, such things are good so long as we place God above all things and remember that all that we have, our goods and talents, wealth and health are at His disposal and for the service of the people of God, especially the poor and the needy.
Truly, we are called to embrace the most important key to success in life, which is to set our hearts on His kingdom so that everything else will be given to us. This “everything” refers not to all that we want or desire but all that He desires for us. But this “everything” would mean that we would be given what we all desire most in our hearts, namely, love, joy, peace, unity and freedom. Did not Jesus remark, “Surely life means more than food, and the body more than clothing!”
To give us an example of what this joy and freedom is all about, Jesus invites us to reflect on nature and creation. He said, “Look at the birds in the sky. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they are? Can any of you, for all his worrying, add one single cubit to his span of life? And why worry about clothing? Think of the flowers growing in the fields; they never have to work or spin; yet I assure you that not even Solomon in all his regalia was robed like one of these.“ Creation is fruitful because they are receptive to the love of God and His divine providence. They are completely given to God and His laws of nature. Thus, plants and animals do not live in fear about their needs but place their lives entirely in the hands of the loving heavenly Father.
Let us therefore learn from them as well. Let us seek the Kingdom and His righteousness by taking heed of the commandments and the teaching of our Lord in the gospel. Let us walk in the path of truth and love, making God as the glory of our lives. Whatever we do and say and think, we must seek to render Him the glory that is due. Only God can fulfill our needs and our hearts. Only He can allay our fears and worries. Such anxiety about tomorrow comes only from one who does not know the love of the heavenly Father and therefore has no trust in Him.
Today, let us reflect on the love of the Heavenly Father. Consider how He has blessed creation, animals, plants and the universe. Consider how He has already blessed us in so many ways. Do you still doubt Him when He has looked after you all these years till this moment? Isn’t it true that most of the time our sufferings are caused by our follies and selfish will? So let these words of Jesus be the motto of our life from now on: “Set your hearts on his kingdom first, and on his righteousness, and all these other things will be given you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble if its own.”
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOH
- See more at: http://www.csctr.net/reflections/#sthash...ZVEVu.dpuf
SCRIPTURE READINGS: 2 CH 24:17-25; MT 6:24-34
http://www.universalis.com/20140621mass.htm
What is the fundamental cause of all our failures in life? Both scripture readings give us the same diagnosis: the failure to put God as the center of our lives. As Zechariah said, when we do not observe the commandments of the Lord, we will not prosper. Indeed, when we abandon God or put Him as secondary to the other things in life, we will lose our bearing and perspective and as a result fall into fear and anxiety about the future. We see this happening to many leaders, religious, political, civil and corporate leaders. They begin well by putting their faith and their trust in God, making Him as the focus of their lives but in their success, they become proud and arrogant, relying on themselves, their popularity, wide appeal and techniques.
We have an example in the person of King Joash who abandoned the Lord and His Covenant. His reign ended so tragically, all because he was not faithful to the Covenant. As King and the representative of Yahweh, his duty was to lead the people to keep the laws of the Covenant so that the nation could be united as the people of God. Instead, he allowed the officials to mislead him and followed them in abandoning the “Temple of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, for the worship of sacred poles and idols.” When they forgot the God of the Covenant and worshipped false gods instead, division and decadence set in. Many great nations and leaders have fallen because they had displaced God in their lives and in so doing, their leadership suffered from the lack of wisdom and values needed to form their people in truth and in love.
What was even more tragic for Joash was that although God was merciful and patient with him by sending the prophet Zechariah to redirect him to walk the right path, he spurned his advice. Not only did he not take heed of the prophet’s rebuke and reprimands but he put to death a true prophet who stood for God’s truth and His righteous ways and took the courage to testify against the apostasy of the king and the people. Instead of listening to God he listened to his irreligious officials. A lesson to learn indeed! Appointing right leaders who are all for the Lord and His people, who make God as their Lord, will save us from much trouble.
Misled and confused without God and His laws to guide him, he lost all gratitude and sensibility. He forgot that Zechariah was the son of Jehoiada the former High Priest who saved him and risked his life to put him on the throne. Yes, when we abandon God, we sink lower and lower until we lose our conscience and sensitivity to our sins. Absorbed in our selfish needs and irrational fears, we would do anything to destroy our enemies. Indeed, this is the consequence of abandoning the Lord in our lives.
This is the warning of Jesus in today’s gospel too. The point of today’s gospel is that if we do not enthrone God as the center of our lives, we will only live a fearful and anxious life. We will think that we are ultimately in charge of our lives. The truth is that there are many things that are unpredictable in life. We do not know when we will fall sick or we might meet a fatal accident. We do not know how the economy will grow, how successful our business will be or how long we can stay in our jobs. The more we worry, the more we will think that we are in charge and the more we will leave God out of our minds and hearts.
Of course, there are those who make false compromises. They want to serve God and the world. But Jesus enunciated that the choice for Him must be clear. He taught His disciples, “No one can be the slave to two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or treat the first with respect and the second with scorn. You cannot be the slave both of God and money.” The point that Jesus wants to drive at is not that we cannot be at the service of the world or that the things of the world, money and riches, are all evil. No, such things are good so long as we place God above all things and remember that all that we have, our goods and talents, wealth and health are at His disposal and for the service of the people of God, especially the poor and the needy.
Truly, we are called to embrace the most important key to success in life, which is to set our hearts on His kingdom so that everything else will be given to us. This “everything” refers not to all that we want or desire but all that He desires for us. But this “everything” would mean that we would be given what we all desire most in our hearts, namely, love, joy, peace, unity and freedom. Did not Jesus remark, “Surely life means more than food, and the body more than clothing!”
To give us an example of what this joy and freedom is all about, Jesus invites us to reflect on nature and creation. He said, “Look at the birds in the sky. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they are? Can any of you, for all his worrying, add one single cubit to his span of life? And why worry about clothing? Think of the flowers growing in the fields; they never have to work or spin; yet I assure you that not even Solomon in all his regalia was robed like one of these.“ Creation is fruitful because they are receptive to the love of God and His divine providence. They are completely given to God and His laws of nature. Thus, plants and animals do not live in fear about their needs but place their lives entirely in the hands of the loving heavenly Father.
Let us therefore learn from them as well. Let us seek the Kingdom and His righteousness by taking heed of the commandments and the teaching of our Lord in the gospel. Let us walk in the path of truth and love, making God as the glory of our lives. Whatever we do and say and think, we must seek to render Him the glory that is due. Only God can fulfill our needs and our hearts. Only He can allay our fears and worries. Such anxiety about tomorrow comes only from one who does not know the love of the heavenly Father and therefore has no trust in Him.
Today, let us reflect on the love of the Heavenly Father. Consider how He has blessed creation, animals, plants and the universe. Consider how He has already blessed us in so many ways. Do you still doubt Him when He has looked after you all these years till this moment? Isn’t it true that most of the time our sufferings are caused by our follies and selfish will? So let these words of Jesus be the motto of our life from now on: “Set your hearts on his kingdom first, and on his righteousness, and all these other things will be given you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble if its own.”
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOH
- See more at: http://www.csctr.net/reflections/#sthash...ZVEVu.dpuf