20141004 THE MYSTERY OF LIFE CAN ONLY BE KNOWN IN THE LIGHT OF THE MYSTERY GOD HIMSELF

20141004 THE MYSTERY OF LIFE CAN ONLY BE KNOWN IN THE LIGHT OF THE MYSTERY GOD HIMSELF

First reading

Job 42:1-3,5-6,12-17 ©

This was the answer Job gave to the Lord:

I know that you are all-powerful:

  what you conceive, you can perform.

I am the man who obscured your designs

  with my empty-headed words.

I have been holding forth on matters I cannot understand,

  on marvels beyond me and my knowledge.

I knew you then only by hearsay;

  but now, having seen you with my own eyes,

I retract all I have said,

  and in dust and ashes I repent.

The Lord blessed Job’s new fortune even more than his first one. He came to own fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand she-donkeys. He had seven sons and three daughters; his first daughter he called ‘Turtledove’, the second ‘Cassia’ and the third ‘Mascara.’ Throughout the land there were no women as beautiful as the daughters of Job. And their father gave them inheritance rights like their brothers.

  After his trials, Job lived on until he was a hundred and forty years old, and saw his children and his children’s children up to the fourth generation. Then Job died, an old man and full of days.

Psalm

Psalm 118:66,71,75,91,125,130 ©

Let your face shine on your servant, O Lord.

Teach me discernment and knowledge

  for I trust in your commands.

It was good for me to be afflicted,

  to learn your statutes.

Let your face shine on your servant, O Lord.

Lord, I know that your decrees are right,

  that you afflicted me justly.

By your decree it endures to this day;

  for all things serve you.

Let your face shine on your servant, O Lord.

I am your servant, give me knowledge;

  then I shall know your will.

The unfolding of your word gives light

  and teaches the simple.

Let your face shine on your servant, O Lord.

Gospel Acclamation           Mt11:25

Alleluia, alleluia!

Blessed are you, Father,

Lord of heaven and earth,

for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom

to mere children.

Alleluia!

Gospel           Luke 10:17-24 ©

The seventy-two came back rejoicing. ‘Lord,’ they said ‘even the devils submit to us when we use your name.’ He said to them, ‘I watched Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Yes, I have given you power to tread underfoot serpents and scorpions and the whole strength of the enemy; nothing shall ever hurt you. Yet do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you; rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven.’

  It was then that, filled with joy by the Holy Spirit, he said, ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do. Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.’

  Then turning to his disciples he spoke to them in private, ‘Happy the eyes that see what you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.’

THE MYSTERY OF LIFE CAN ONLY BE KNOWN IN THE LIGHT OF THE MYSTERY GOD HIMSELF

SCRIPTURE READINGS: JB 42:1-3, 5-6, 12-17; LK 10: 17-24
http://www.universalis.com/20141004/mass.htm

The question of suffering and evil has intrigued humankind since the beginning of creation.  Why must we suffer? Perhaps, many of us can accept if the sufferings we are going through come from our human sinfulness and irresponsibility in the way we conduct our lives. But the more problematic mystery of evil and suffering is that of innocent suffering, as in natural catastrophes.

The truth is that the answer to the mystery of life can only be known in the light of the mystery God Himself.  Man cannot answer the mystery of evil using human logic and his wisdom.  The friends of Job tried to do so by deducing that his suffering was on account of his hidden sins.  Job vehemently denied that was the case.  Hence, mere human rationalization can result in us passing a wrong judgment with respect to God and the sufferer.  So what is the cause of suffering and evil?  Job tried to press God for an answer.  The irony is that God answered Job by asking him where he was when the world was created.  (Readers can read the full account of God’s response to Job in the Book of Job 38-41.)

In the face of God’s power and wisdom as demonstrated in creation, Job was dumbstruck and dumbfounded.  Truly, who are we to question God?  We are finite beings, not God.  We are not the ground of life but only a recipient of life.  When we contemplate on the wonders of creation, the universe or the human body, we cannot but be humbled at the wisdom of God and His marvelous works.  How majestic is our God whom we call the Creator and our Father.  In today’s gospel we read how the disciples were amazed that they could overcome Satan and his works in their ministry. “The seventy-two came back rejoicing. ‘Lord,’ they said ‘even the devils submit to us when we use your name.’”  But take note of the response given by Jesus.  “I watched Satan fall like lightening from heaven.  Yes.  I have given you power to tread underfoot serpents and scorpions and the whole strength of the enemy; nothing shall ever hurt you.”  Indeed the battle against the Evil One cannot be fought with mere human strength alone.  We are dealing with spiritual powers.  With spirits, we need spiritual weapons.  This is what St Paul advised us when he said, “Put God’s armour on so as to be able to resist the devil’s tactics.  For it is not against human enemies that we have to struggle, but against the Sovereignties and the Powers who originate the darkness in this world, the spiritual army of evil in the heavens.”  (Eph 6:11-12)  If the disciples had power, it was because of their faith in Jesus, given to those who are humble, docile and obedient to the Holy Spirit.

But more importantly, Jesus enjoined this reminder with the power that was given to them.  He said, “Yet do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you; rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven.”  Filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, Jesus prayed, “I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children.  Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do.  Everything has been entrusted to me bY my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

Truly to know Jesus and to know the Father is even more important than any miracles we can perform in His name.   The answer to the mystery of suffering is found in knowing who the Father is in Jesus.  If we know the heart of the Father through Jesus’ love for us, especially in His passion, death and resurrection, then we will no longer fear death or suffering, for our master and Lord has gone through the length and breadth of what we are going through.  Most of all, through His loving acceptance of sufferings, especially unjust suffering, He demonstrated how evil and sin and suffering can be overcome by unconditional love and mercy.

Consequently St Paul calls Jesus the mystery of God, the mystery that “was unknown to any men in past generations…” (cf Eph 3:1-21).  St John would go on to have Jesus telling Philip that to see Him is to see the Father. (cf John 14:5-11)  Indeed, because Jesus is the son of the Father, only He can reveal to us the Father’s face.

To be able to recognize this truth is the greatest privilege as Jesus remarked, “Happy the eyes that see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.”  If only we know who God is, namely, that He is our Father and that His Son Jesus is our Lord, we can surrender our lives in faith to Him, since we know that He will never allow anything to happen to us without His permission, and that His grace will see us through.  And even if we have to suffer for our sins or the sins of others, or because of natural disasters, He will give us the grace to bear all our sufferings.  And through our sufferings, we will learn obedience, surrender and most of all, know that our happiness in the final analysis is to rest in Him.

How then can this faith in God’s love grow? The responsorial psalm provides us some guidelines.  Only God can reveal His plan to us.  Hence we must turn to God, not to the world for guidance.  The trouble with us is that we seek truth from the world rather than from God Himself.  We must therefore pray for this grace with the psalmist, “Lord, let your face shine on me. Teach me wisdom and knowledge, for in your commands I trust.”

Secondly, with His grace, we will come to know that in and through our suffering we will discover His Face, His Love and His Presence, as the psalmist said, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn your statutes.”  Through suffering in life, God’s love is revealed.  Unfortunately due to our blindness, we, like Job, only know this on hindsight.

Thirdly, the wisdom of God is founded in His word, of which Christ is the Word of God in person.  He is the mystery of God, the revelation of the Father and His divine plan for humanity.  Meditating on His word and on the mystery of God revealed in Christ is the way to have access to God’s wisdom.

Fourthly, only the Holy Spirit can lead us to the Father and to Jesus.  In the gospel, even Jesus prayed in the Holy Spirit.   As Christians, Christ has given us His Spirit, for the mind of God is only known in the Spirit through the Word.  Just as the Spirit accompanied Jesus in His ministry, we too must seek the Holy Spirit when we pray and meditate on His Word, asking for enlightenment and wisdom.

In the final analysis what is most important is not to understand the plan and mind of God, nor to have a share in His powers, but rather to share in His divine life and love.  It was Jesus’ intimacy with His Father that gave Him the real strength in His ministry, because of the joy of being loved by the Father.  Hence He exhorted His euphoric disciples to go beyond earthly joy to spiritual joy. The paradox of intimacy with God is that when we lose everything for Him, He returns everything to us a hundred fold.  Job at the end of the story not only recovered his losses, but received double blessings of all that he had lost.  We too, will find our happiness and joy doubled when we surrender our lives, our will and our sufferings to His Father, regardless of whether we have our health or wealth or worldly status restored.  With God’s love, we are sufficient.

WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOH


ARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED