[stephenkhoo]

26 October 2013, Saturday, 29th Week, Ordinary Time

CULTIVATING A STRONG SPIRITUAL LIFE AS THE ONLY DEFENCE AGAINST CRISES IN OUR LIVES

SCRIPTURE READINGS: ROM 8:1-11; LK 13:1-9http://www.universalis.com/20131026/mass.htmEvil and suffering is a mystery that cannot be answered adequately.  This question has troubled humankind for centuries.  Many people think that all sufferings are connected with sin.  This is not to be ruled out entirely.   It is true that many evils and sufferings in the world are due to the selfishness and injustices of human beings.  A case in point would be the massacre of the Galileans reported in today’s gospel.  It was due to Pilate’s fears of a rebellion that caused him to act in such a barbarous and sacrilegious manner.  However, we cannot explain all sufferings as due to man’s sinfulness.  The truth is that there are many sufferings such as natural catastrophes that cannot be attributed to sin.  This is certainly true in the case of the eighteen on whom the tower at Siloam fell and killed.For this reason, Jesus refused to give a clear answer to the cause of human sufferings.  It is the same response that God gave to Job in his innocent sufferings.  It is also significant that Jesus Himself never questioned the why of suffering.  He suffered the most and yet never asked why.  Jesus never gave a treatise on the meaning or mystery of suffering.  He simply tells us to carry the cross after Him.  Instead of indulging in vain speculation on the mystery of suffering, He used such occasions to help us to make the best of suffering and to see it in the context of the eschatological life that has already begun.  Indeed, this is what we must do as well.  Every time when we see, read or hear of a tragedy, an illness, a crime or an accident, what is our reaction?  Instead of just being curious about what happened, it is even more important to ask ourselves whether it will be my turn one day to commit that crime which I condemn or the accident that could have been avoided.  The sufferings of life are the means by which the loving God alerts us to the potential dangers that can destroy us.Indeed, it would be a wrong attitude and a defeating one as well that in the face of suffering, we use someone as our scapegoat to take the blame.  If we cannot find one, then it must be God.  No wonder, He is the ultimate scapegoat for our redemption.  Hence, He died on the cross to carry all our burdens and sins in His very body.  Indeed, how often have we in our misery and desperation hit out at God!  As a result, we cut ourselves from Him, which is what the Devil wants us to do.  Such blockages we put in our relationship with God will cause us to stray further away from Him, looking to the world and ourselves for solutions or even turning to false gods and idols for spiritual intervention.  In many cases, sicknesses will lead one to depression, making one vulnerable to spiritual attacks from evil spirits.What is even more important than just the fact that we suffer for whatever reasons, is that the real suffering is not the pains that are caused to us by others or as a result of the imperfections of nature but the sufferings that we cause to ourselves due to our own foolishness and ignorance.  In the words of St Paul in the first reading, it is due to the fact that we live unspiritual lives, that is, the life of the flesh.  This means that we, according to our whims and fancies, allow ourselves to be ruled by our passions and by the values of the world.  In living worldly lives and being interested “only in what is unspiritual”, St Paul says, we bring death to ourselves, for “life and peace can only come with concern for the spiritual.”This is because living an unspiritual life is to go against our very self, since we are all called to possess the Spirit of God.  More importantly, it brings about serious consequences in our attitudes towards life that make us really unhappy people.  Why?  Because at least if we suffer from natural disasters, we can put the blame on God; and if we suffer on account of the sins of others, we can blame those responsible.  But when we suffer on account of our own self-destructive works, then we have no one to blame but ourselves.  If we do not humbly acknowledge our failures and instead assign the culpability to others, we become resentful of the whole world.  We hurt ourselves further when we become angry, bitter, vindictive and hateful of them.However, if we cultivate a deep spiritual life, then even physical sufferings that come from whichever source cannot really harm us.  For as St Paul says, “he who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to your own mortal bodies through his Spirit living in you.”   This means that even if our mortal bodies are hurt, injured or even dead, we will be able to overcome all sufferings and transcend them in such a way that they cannot affect us.  Thus, if we have the Spirit of Christ in us, then we would not become resentful of God when we encounter sufferings as a result of natural causes, but instead we will use such crises to help us grow in empathy and generosity by reaching out to others in need.   And if we encounter sufferings due to the injustices of our fellow human beings, we will respond with compassion and forgiveness and eventually conquer them by our love and patience.  To be able to conquer our foes by forgiveness and love is greater win than compelling them to submit to us by strength or force.  This was certainly the case with Jesus.  He never responded to His detractors and enemies using might or retaliation.  Consequently, by acting positively, we will never be crushed by sufferings and all sufferings become moments of growth.  In this way, as St Paul says, we will never die because our spirit, which is the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ, cannot be crushed, just as Jesus did not succumb to evil when He was at the cross.That being so, today’s gospel also comes with a warning. Jesus tells us: “Unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.”  Yes, unless we prepare ourselves spiritually and grow in the depth of our relationship with God in good times, when we do not need God so much in our lives, we will not be able to meet life’s crises when they come.  This is what the parable of the barren fig tree is teaching us.  God is patient with us.  He wants us to use the time we already have to build up our spiritual self.  There will be a day of reckoning.  It will come. There is no escape. This would be the day when we have to face crises.  If we are not prepared, then we will be overwhelmed by our sufferings.  But if we are well prepared, then we will be able to overcome all sufferings no matter what form they take.  Not only sufferings, but we will also be able to stay alive in spirit even when we have to meet physical death.  To be complacent and to continue living unenlightened and unspiritual lives is to court eternal death, which is to be at enmity with God, with ourselves and the whole world.  The choice is ours.But how can we who so easily succumb to sins and temptations be able to climb the mountain of the Lord, as the psalmist invites us to?  For according to his terms, only those “whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what is vain” may “stand in his holy place.”  This is why salvation and holiness cannot simply be pure effort alone, for only in Christ can we find justification, as St Paul says, “the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.  God has done what the Law, because of our unspiritual nature, was unable to do.”Necessarily, if we want to acquire the Spirit of the Lord, we must meditate on the passion of Christ and His resurrection.  Through meditation on His passion, we will come to appreciate the love of Christ for us.  This is the strength of St Paul’s conviction and passion for the gospel when he realized that “God dealt with sin by sending his own Son in a body as physical as any sinful body, and in that body God condemned sin.  He did this in order that the Law’s just demands might be satisfied in us, who behave not as our unspiritual nature but as the spirit dictates.Finally, whilst it is true that God is patient with us and He is merciful, the time of judgment is inevitable.  This is what the parable of the barren fig tree is all about. Let us not test the patience of God only to find that we are too late in responding to His love.  The consequences of our sins will be experienced not only in this life but hereafter in an even more intense manner than on earth.  So let us live well for our sake, regardless of the situation we are in.  Let not the mistakes be made and the sufferings of others carried in vain.  Let them teach us and awaken us to the truth of the reality of our folly and bring us to sincere repentance.- See more at: http://www.csctr.net/reflections/#sthash.DnKe62Nm.dpuf