20260109 WHO CAN OVERCOME THE WORLD?
09 January 2026, Friday After Epiphany Sunday
First reading | 1 John 5:5-13 |
There are three witnesses: the Spirit and the water and the blood
Who can overcome the world?
Only the man who believes that Jesus is the Son of God:
Jesus Christ who came by water and blood,
not with water only,
but with water and blood;
with the Spirit as another witness –
since the Spirit is the truth –
so that there are three witnesses,
the Spirit, the water and the blood,
and all three of them agree.
We accept the testimony of human witnesses,
but God’s testimony is much greater,
and this is God’s testimony,
given as evidence for his Son.
Everybody who believes in the Son of God
has this testimony inside him;
and anyone who will not believe God
is making God out to be a liar,
because he has not trusted
the testimony God has given about his Son.
This is the testimony:
God has given us eternal life
and this life is in his Son;
anyone who has the Son has life,
anyone who does not have the Son does not have life.
I have written all this to you
so that you who believe in the name of the Son of God
may be sure that you have eternal life.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 147:12-15,19-20 |
O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
or
Alleluia!
O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
Zion, praise your God!
He has strengthened the bars of your gates
he has blessed the children within you.
O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
or
Alleluia!
He established peace on your borders,
he feeds you with finest wheat.
He sends out his word to the earth
and swiftly runs his command.
O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
or
Alleluia!
He makes his word known to Jacob,
to Israel his laws and decrees.
He has not dealt thus with other nations;
he has not taught them his decrees.
O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation | cf.1Tim3:16 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Glory to you, O Christ,
proclaimed to the pagans;
glory to you, O Christ,
believed in by the world.
Alleluia!
Or: | cf.Mt4:23 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Jesus proclaimed the Good News of the kingdom
and cured all kinds of diseases among the people.
Alleluia!
Or: | Mt4:16 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The people that lived in darkness
has seen a great light;
on those who dwell in the land and shadow of death
a light has dawned.
Alleluia!
Or: | Lk4:17 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord has sent me to bring the good news to the poor,
to proclaim liberty to captives.
Alleluia!
Or: | Lk7:16 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
A great prophet has appeared among us;
God has visited his people.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 5:12-16 |
'If you want to, you can cure me'
Jesus was in one of the towns when a man appeared, covered with leprosy. Seeing Jesus he fell on his face and implored him. ‘Sir,’ he said ‘if you want to, you can cure me.’ Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him and said, ‘Of course I want to! Be cured!’ And the leprosy left him at once. He ordered him to tell no one, ‘But go and show yourself to the priest and make the offering for your healing as Moses prescribed it, as evidence for them.’
His reputation continued to grow, and large crowds would gather to hear him and to have their sickness cured, but he would always go off to some place where he could be alone and pray.
WHO CAN OVERCOME THE WORLD?
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 JOHN 5:5-13; PSALM 147:12-15, 19-20; LUKE 5:12-16]
“Who can overcome the world?” This is the question that St John asked of his Christian community. The world, in this case, refers to the sensual world – of flesh and of sin, of weakness and of temptations. Indeed, we all face many struggles in daily life, and we often feel so helpless in carrying our daily crosses. What we go through each day is symbolic of what the leper in today’s Gospel was experiencing.
Leprosy was the most frightening disease in the time of Christ. It caused a person to suffer not just physically, but also psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually. Physically, the leper gradually lost his limbs, as parts of the flesh slowly withered away until only stumps were left. It was a terrifying, unsightly, and infectious disease, leaving a person totally disfigured and often beyond recognition. Because the disease was infectious, lepers were separated from the community. He had to live alone, away from the village, and endure the humiliation of crying out, “Unclean, unclean,” whenever they saw someone approaching. This resulted in isolation, loneliness, rejection, and marginalisation from both loved ones and the wider community. They were, in effect, exiled from their families. We can therefore imagine the immense psychological and emotional pain they carried within themselves. They were truly undergoing a living death. In such circumstances, some, unable to bear the pain, shame, and rejection – with no hope for any cure – ended their lives in despair. Beyond the physical and emotional suffering, they also suffered spiritually, as they were considered unclean and excluded from worship. As a result, many felt rejected by God.
This explains why leprosy is symbolic of every human person. We too suffer illnesses in our bodies. We carry all kinds of physical pains, and at times we feel deeply frustrated when no cure can be found, or worse still, when an illness cannot be detected even after numerous medical tests. More devastating still is having to accept a terminal illness. Beyond physical suffering, many of us experience emotional and psychological pain arising from failed relationships, betrayal, shame, discrimination, and rejection. The emotional and psychological trauma and hurts that we bury in our subconscious – and even unconscious – can become hidden enemies, crippling us and preventing us from moving forward and letting go of the past. Most of all, leprosy symbolises our alienation from God and from one another because of our sins, selfishness, and guilt. We are not at peace with ourselves, and our sins continue to torment us as we suffer the consequences of guilt, the effects of our actions, and the punishments that arise from our mistakes.
In the face of almost insurmountable problems – physical, spiritual or emotional – who, then, can overcome the world? The answer is clear; faith in Jesus Christ is the way by which we can overcome all our trials in life. “God has given us eternal life and this life is in his Son; anyone who has the Son has life, anyone who does not have the Son does not have life.” However, this faith in Christ must be confessed in its fullness, because there are some people – just as there were among the early Christians during the time of St John – who taught that there were two persons in Jesus Christ: the man Jesus and the Christ who is divine. They believed that at Jesus’ baptism, the heavenly Christ descended upon Jesus the man, and that at the crucifixion, the divine Christ ascended back to heaven. This is the heresy of Adoptionism in the early Church, a branch of Gnosticism. Even today, many Christians do not fully confess the humanity and divinity of Christ in one person. Christ is one person with two natures – distinct, not divided, not separated and unmixed.
In other words, we confess that God who became man in Jesus, although emptied Himself of His divine powers, truly suffered in His body that He assumed. This truth is important because unless He became a man like us, He could not save us; otherwise, we could claim that we cannot live the kind of life Jesus lived because we are not God, and hence cannot do the will of the Father. The truth, however, is that Jesus, who is divine, fulfilled the Father’s will as a man. He was completely identified with us, except for sin. Thus, the Lord Jesus understands all our sufferings, trials, fears, struggles and the effects of our sins. This explains why He is full of compassion, for He bore our infirmities and sins in His body. (cf Mt 8:17; Isa 53:4; 1 Pt 2:24) Jesus accomplished the divine will of God through His human will. For this reason, we too can follow Hm in doing the will of God, even when faced with death.
Secondly, only if Jesus, who is God, is also truly man can He reveal to us the face of God, because only the One who is begotten of God truly knows Him. Eternal life can come only through the Son. “God has given us eternal life and this life is in his Son; anyone who has the Son has life, anyone who does not have the Son does not have life. I have written all this to you so that you who believe in the name of the Son of God may be sure that you have eternal life.” Indeed, only Christ knows the Father. “No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.” (Jn 1:18) St Matthew writes, “All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” The letter to the Hebrews teaches that only Christ can lead us into the presence of God. “Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way which he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh.” (Heb 10:19f)
What is the basis of our faith in the incarnation? St John writes, “Only the man who believes that Jesus is the Son of God: Jesus Christ who came by water and blood, not with water only, but with water and blood, with the Spirit as another witness – since the Spirit is the truth – so that there are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water and the blood, and all three of them agree.” For anything to be true, there must be more than one witness. (Cf Dt 19:5) We cannot rely on a single witness alone. We have the testimony of the Father at the baptism of Jesus – the water as a witness; the testimony of the blood in the death of our Lord; and finally, the testimony of the Holy Spirit in His resurrection and in the continuing work of the Holy Spirit in the early Church. With these three witnesses – baptism, the passion, and the raising of Christ from the dead in the power of the Holy Spirit – we can no longer doubt the full divinity and true humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Indeed, today we take courage from the compassion and mercy of God, manifested in the person of Jesus. This is what the feast of Epiphany calls us to experience – the divine face of God revealed through the human face of Jesus. In Him, we can sense the compassion and mercy of God, for we read that when “a man appeared, covered with leprosy” and asked for healing, Jesus, filled with compassion, immediately responded without hesitation: “Of course I want to! Be cured!” But more than that, knowing that the man had not been touched all these years by others and alienated from his fellow human beings, Jesus gave the healing touch when He “stretched out his hand, touched him.” Jesus set aside His fears – whether of possibly contracting the illness or making Himself unclean spiritually. He wanted the man to know that He had been reconciled, loved, and accepted. To ensure that he would be integrated back to his community, Jesus told him, “But go and show yourself to the priest and make the offering for your healing as Moses prescribed it, as evidence for them.”
What should also be noted are Jesus’ instructions to the man not to tell anyone. For Jesus, when He worked miracles, it was never for show, display, or create an impression. All His miracles were performed out of compassion and a genuine concern for the sick and the poor. Unlike some faith healers today, His works were not done to gain publicity, make a spectacle, or serve selfish interests. Quite often, contemporary “miracles” are performed for egotism, popularity, or even financial gain. For Jesus, however, every healing was done out of love.
Hence, it behooves us, as instruments of mercy, to act like Jesus – remaining humble and selfless. Jesus must shine, and, like John the Baptist, our task is to lead others to Jesus, the Bridegroom. We must never be tempted to think that we are the Bridegroom ourselves. Indeed, Jesus was able to keep His focus at all times. We read that even as “His reputation continued to grow, and large crowds would gather to hear him and to have their sickness cured, but he would always go off to some place where he could be alone and pray.” We, too, need to pray and be connected with God. Although Jesus was God, He made it a point to be in daily communion with His Father so that He could be strengthened by the Father’s love and continue to act in accordance with His will. For us as well, whether in our ministry or in our struggle to do the Father’s will, we need to follow Jesus in drawing strength from the Father as we pray in the Spirit of Christ.
Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections
- Encounter 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.
Note: You may share this reflection with someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will they be available via email request.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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