Christianity and humanist, we share many
values in common, because the Christian faith also promotes the common good of
the individual and of society. We too speak about developing the person to the
fullest. And of course, we also have moral principles as well to guide us.
The humanists, they also subscribe to what St Paul teaches in Galatians 6,
what you sow is what you reap. So, if you sow good, you will reap goodness.
If you sow evil, you reap evil. The consequences, at the end of the day, will
determine whether you are living life rightly or wrongly. And therefore, my
dear brothers and sisters, in spite of all that we have said about what humanism
and Christianity shares, yet from our Christian perspective, those who
subscribe to humanism, it is an inadequate philosophy to fullness of
life. For what reason? The first reason is that humanism is based on human
reason alone. They believe that the human intellect would be able to explain
everything, and help a person to walk the way of truth and love, and to know
the ultimate things of life. The truth is that, human intellect, although there
is this possibility of arriving at God, human intellect will never be able to
come to know God as He is, unless divine revelation makes it possible. It's just
like it's impossible for me to know someone, unless the person reveals
himself to me. I might know about the person, but I do not know the person, until
the person shares his life with me. So too in our search for God. But that is
not all. Human intellect alone will be very difficult for us to arrive at the
truth, even though it is a necessary step. Simply because if you look at what
is happening in the world today, we have intelligent people everywhere. There are
intelligent people who have deep faith in God. And there are intelligent people
who are humanists, or who are agnostic. The same intelligent people, there are
some we cannot agree on issues like abortion, euthanasia, same sex union,
drug consumption, and the rest. No matter how we argue, at the end of the
day, we will never agree. If intellect can resolve the issue, if human reason
can resolve the issue, then all of us should come to some agreement. And the
fact is, today, the world is very polarised. That is the real challenge in
today's society. There are two extreme camps. There is no middle road. That is
why society will break apart, because there is no absolute truth that both
groups can refer to. Once we just accept relativism, then human reason alone will
not be able to justify anything that is true. We will disagree, no matter how
intelligent you are. That is the first thing. Secondly, humanism can lead to
annihilation of the human person, simply because humanism, they do not believe in
life after death. They only believe there is life on this earth. Humanism is
to help a person to live life as much as possible to the fullest in this world,
in this life. After death, we just diminish, we just disappear. The body
that you see is an empty shell. If that is the case, then what is the motivation
for us to do good? What is the motivation for us to build society, to
preserve this planet? Because what we try to save will be destroyed. Everything
that we build will be torn down. All the values that we uphold today,
they will all change. Nothing stays. Nothing is good. Nothing is evil. Then why do we
want to sacrifice ourselves for the future of our generation? Why can I just enjoy myself? After all,
there will be no consequences for my sins, for my selfishness, so long as I don't
hurt people. I make as much money as possible. I just take care of myself.
Why should I contribute to society? Why should I make sacrifices for the nation,
for others? Why do I want to make my life inconvenient? If there is no
continuation between this life and the next life, we will fall into despair.
Because we know that all the good we have done will be destroyed. It is precisely
because we have faith in the resurrection. We know there is a
continuity between this life and the next life. And that makes us live a good
life, make us sacrifice in this life, because we know a greater life,
a complete life will come to us, will be ours at the end of this journey. And
this journey is very short. Eighty, ninety years is very short compared to eternity. And
because Jesus rose from the dead, we are certain that we will follow suit. If
Jesus did not rise from the dead, of course, then it is better to become a
humanist. There is no reason to believe that there will be a life after death.
But for Jesus, He has already shown us the Way. He is the one who enlightens us in
the Truth. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He offers us a blessed life. What
is a blessed life? It is not a life of riches. A blessed life is one who lives
the life of God. A blessed life is one who lives the life of the Kingdom. A
blessed life is one who depends on God. A blessed life is one where we stand up for
the truth, where we live a life of compassion and love. A blessed life is
if we live this life to the fullest, like Jesus, then eternal life is waiting
for us.
