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Scripture Reflections

02 September 2013, Monday, 22nd Week, Ordinary Time

PROCLAIMING LIBERATION THROUGH CHRIST’S EXISTENTIAL COMING

SCRIPTURE READINGS: 1 THESS 4:13-18; LK 4:16-30We are all seeking freedom.  It is freedom that makes us truly human.  To be free implies that we are capable of exercising our intellect and will.  The freedom that we seek ultimately is the freedom from suffering, injustice and meaninglessness.  The question is whether this promise of freedom is something that we can only realize in the future or something that belongs here and now.In the first reading, the early Christians thought that the day of liberation was near at hand as the Parousia was coming, albeit mistakenly.  This realization caused them to wonder what would happen to those who died before Him.  Consequently, Paul wrote to reassure them that those who died before Christ’s second coming would not be disadvantaged compared to those who are still alive when the Lord comes.  Since Christ is both Lord of the living and the dead, all will be raised to life.  Of course, we know that Paul and the early Christians were mistaken about the time of Christ’s return.  It was later on when the Second Coming was delayed that St Paul began to speak on the Exalted Christ who has already come.When we turn to the gospel, the emphasis of Jesus is certainly on the present liberation.  He astonished the audience by His proclamation that this prophecy “is being fulfilled today even as you listen.”  It is clear therefore that for Jesus, the Good News of liberation is not something which we experience only at the end of our lives.  We can already participate in this freedom from blindness, captivity and discouragement if we recognize that Jesus is both the bearer and message of the Kingdom of God in person, in His very being, in both word and deeds.There is certainly a tendency for us to fall into that Second Coming outlook which emphasizes the fulfillment at the end of time.  How can the coming of Christ with His Kingdom of authentic freedom from all suffering and sin be a reality in our lives now?  There are two ways to recognize and celebrate His living presence and His freedom in love in our midst, not only as a promise but also as a realized hope.Firstly, when we proclaim the Good News and live it in our lives. The Good News as enumerated in Isaiah and cited by Jesus indicated the way He lived His life.  If Jesus is the Good News in person, it is because Jesus Himself lived that life in freedom in love for His fellow human beings and for His Father.  By living a liberated life and by liberating others, He incarnates the Good News in person.  We do this too when we bring consolation to the poor, set people free to love, visit the sick, console the downhearted, etc.   Not only do we bring the Good News to others, but we also experience the Good News ourselves in doing so.More importantly, how do we proclaim the Good News concretely?  Who are the poor, the captives, the blind and the downtrodden among us?  We may not have those who are financially poor in our midst, but certainly those who are poor in love, poor in humility, poor in compassion and poor in eternal life.  Again, whilst none of us are physically blind, yet there are many of us who are blind to the reality about ourselves, the situations we are in or simply to the truth.  As for captives, we may be in bondage due to our hatred, unforgiveness and anger.  Finally, the downtrodden are those of us who are disheartened and discouraged because of repeated failures, low self-esteem or lack of faith and hope in the power of God to transform us and our situations.Being harbingers of Good News is not sufficient or even possible, unless we are also recipients of the Good News ourselves.  We cannot feel the Good News as real unless we are also open and humble to accept the Good News from others.  The Good News that comes from Jesus is the consequence of His personal experience of God as His loving Father.Why are we unable to receive the Good News from others?  Like the townsfolk of Jesus, we are too proud.  They thought they knew Jesus too well.  He was just one of them.  They knew His father.   But this was not the only reason they could not accept the teaching of Jesus.  What truly angered them was Jesus’ proclamation that the Good News prophesied by Isaiah is given to people who are non-Jews.  For them, it was simply impossible because they considered themselves to be the chosen people of God.  This explains why they never felt the need to reach out to others beyond their kind.  They kept the Good News to themselves.  They were not willing to share.  When we suffer from a myopic vision of God, then we will not be able to truly experience the Good News in our lives.  Unless we are able to see God present in everyone, especially in the poor and underprivileged and in sinners, we would have cut ourselves off from the Good News.What, then, is needed to empower us to receive the Good News and be Good News to others?  We need the same Holy Spirit that empowered Jesus and united Him with the Father.  Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of love, the Spirit of the Father’s love for His Son.  Only the Holy Spirit can enable us to be His messengers of love and also to recognize Him present in our midst, in our trials, struggles and even in our sinfulness.  To the extent we recognize the presence of the Messiah, of Christ in others and in our struggles – we become proclaimers of the Good News ourselves.  The liberation that Christ intends to bring to us is then already a reality here and now.

WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV MSGR WILLIAM GOHARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED___________________________

Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture ReflectionsEncounter 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.Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Catholic Spirituality Centre Singapor​e

01 September 2013, 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time

TRUE HUMILITY AS THE WAY TO AUTHENTIC LIVING

SCRIPTURE READINGS: ECCL 3:19-21, 30-31; HEB 12:18-19, 22-24; LK 14:7-14Humility is the hallmark of all great people.  The first reading reminds us that the greater we are, the more humble we should be.  By His very life, Jesus illustrates to us what true humility is.  The virtue ofhumility, however, is not what the world is promoting.  Today, the stress on individuality urges us to assert ourselves.  In a world of power where the fittest survives, it does not pay to appear weak.  Humility is considered as losing out to others.  If practising humility is seen as weakness and not the in-thing today, it is because many of us have a false understanding of humility as self-abasement.  Humility is far from it.  True humility is not weakness but power and strength.  True humility is a liberating not an enslaving experience.  This is true for Jesus and true for us.  Hence, it is necessary that we clarify the real meaning of humility.What is true humility?  The answer to this question is found in the key phrase at the center of today’s readings.  Jesus says, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the man who humbles himself will be exalted.”   In similar terms, it is written in the letter to the Hebrews, that “in the heavenly Jerusalem … the whole church …  everyone is a ‘first-born son’ and a citizen of heaven.”  What do these two texts mean?  It implies that true humility is not being honoured or not honoured.  True humility is above honour or disgrace.  True humility is simply to be the child of God.  In other words, to be what we are, no more, no less.  Like God, the truly enlightened person does not make a distinction between one person and another.True humility therefore is simply an honest recognition of oneself, one’s strength and weaknesses.  It isto see ourselves as God sees us.  This calls for sincerity and truthfulness to oneself.  It is taking an honest recognition of oneself, realizing that we are what we are before God and our fellowmen and nothing more.  Humility recognizes that whatever one has comes from God and is grateful to Him for His blessings.  It is an honest acceptance of the gifts that God has given us.  It is therefore never arrogant.  Consequently, there is nothing to boast about oneself.   At the same time, one is aware that no one is perfect and has a monopoly of gifts.With this realization of who we are, we do not feel the need to feel superior nor inferior to another. So humility does not mean thinking less of oneself than other people.  Nor does it mean having an undervaluation of one’s talent.  Neither is it weakness of self-abasement.   One is no greater or lesser than others.   We know we are perfect in our own ways according to what God has bestowed on us; and yet we are imperfectly perfect in the sense that we need to complete others and others need to complete us. It is therefore a realization of one’s own uniqueness and therefore the uniqueness of others.  We are mutually complementary to each other.It therefore makes us humble and compassionate.  Because we know our own limits, we can be patient and compassionate with others in their own lack and limitations.   We are just different and we have been blessed with different gifts to serve in different ways in society.  Thus, there is no competition but only completion.  Indeed, we are here not to compete with each other but to complete each other.  There is no basis for comparison anymore.  Yes, we are all equal unequally; equal in our own ways.  We are what we are and what we can be.  When we let go of this competitive spirit; this superiority or inferiority complex, the result is that we become secure and normal people with fewer hang-ups.We can now be ourselves.  We can express ourselves freely and be courageous to make mistakes without feeling embarrassed.  Of course when we are able to accept ourselves, we can also accept everyone else without distinction.  And when we render service, we do it simply because we enjoy doing it and not for any ulterior motives.  When giving to the poor, it is not done in a condescending manner but simply because we recognize their rights and our abundance and that we are called to share with others whatever gifts we have.  Giving, therefore, is done willingly and unconditionally.  It comes from the realization of our oneness with each other.  Indeed, the truly humble person is a true giver, because he gives without expecting any reward.  He gives without knowing whom he gives.  True humility flows from oneself unconsciously since it comes forth from one’s very being.How can one learn to be truly humble?  The paradox is that humility cannot be strived at.  The very striving in humility leads to egoism.  Why?  Because a truly humble person does not think nor know that he is humble.   Because the moment one thinks one is humble one becomes proud; because the feeling of being humble is an indication already that we have made a comparison with pride.  In reacting to pride with humility, we create pseudo-humility in ourselves.  By so doing, one is caught in this vicious cycle.  Our ego is always working against us in so subtley always.  That does not mean that we should not practise humble acts.  These are good, but that does not mean that we are humble yet.  The heart still has to be converted, not just the external actions.Hence, the way to humility is not simply to behave humbly but to realize that we are all equal in our own ways; and that ultimately what we have comes from God.  Humility is a self-realization of who we are and who others are.  That is why a truly humble person does not despise honour nor seeks honour. It makes no difference to him.  He knows himself already.  He accepts honour graciously when he recognizes it as genuine.  But what people say or think cannot really influence him because he knows himself already. A humble person is an authentic person.On the other hand, a proud man is destructive to himself.  Pride is self-deception.  It makes us self-centered, living in illusion thinking that we are so great.  Pride cuts us from reality and makes us prisoners of ourselves.  That is why the gospel warns us of all pride and self-glorification.  However,those who practise false humility also live in illusion. When they are praised, they deny their talents only with a subtle hope to receive more praises.  Of course, some people genuinely degrade themselves and really believe that they are totally useless.  This is not the right attitude either because they have failed to recognize the gifts God has bestowed on them.  They are equally living in ignorance and end up living in insecurity.Yes, the paradox of life is that when a person does not seek to be honoured, he is honoured by others.  For those who crave for recognition and glory, even if they get it, they are not really honoured by others.  They have allowed others to cheat them into believing that they are great.   But most of all, the humble person can just be himself without having to live in anxiety trying to please people or to compete with them.  That is why he lives an authentic life.  With such humility, he becomes a man of real power because he can never be defeated.   Truly, the paradox of life is that the one who exalts himself will be humbled and the one who humbles himself gets exalted.  And the one who appears weak is really the strong one.

WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV MSGR WILLIAM GOHARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE

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