20141007 OUR LADY STAR OF THE NEW EVANGELIZATION
First
reading
Galatians
1:13-24 ©
You
must have heard of my career as a practising Jew, how merciless I was in
persecuting the Church of God, how much damage I did to it, how I stood out
among other Jews of my generation, and how enthusiastic I was for the
traditions of my ancestors.
Then God, who had specially chosen me while I
was still in my mother’s womb, called me through his grace and chose to reveal
his Son in me, so that I might preach the Good News about him to the pagans. I
did not stop to discuss this with any human being, nor did I go up to Jerusalem
to see those who were already apostles before me, but I went off to Arabia at
once and later went straight back from there to Damascus. Even when after three
years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and stayed with him for fifteen
days, I did not see any of the other apostles; I only saw James, the brother of
the Lord, and I swear before God that what I have just written is the literal
truth. After that I went to Syria and Cilicia, and was still not known by sight
to the churches of Christ in Judaea, who had heard nothing except that their
one-time persecutor was now preaching the faith he had previously tried to
destroy; and they gave glory to God for me.
Psalm
Psalm
138:1-3,13-15 ©
Lead
me, O Lord, in the path of life eternal.
O
Lord, you search me and you know me,
you know my resting and my rising,
you discern my purpose from afar.
You
mark when I walk or lie down,
all my ways lie open to you.
Lead
me, O Lord, in the path of life eternal.
For
it was you who created my being,
knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I thank
you for the wonder of my being,
for the wonders of all your creation.
Lead
me, O Lord, in the path of life eternal.
Already
you knew my soul,
my body held no secret from you
when
I was being fashioned in secret
and moulded in the depths of the earth.
Lead
me, O Lord, in the path of life eternal.
Gospel
Acclamation Jn15:15
Alleluia,
alleluia!
I
call you friends, says the Lord,
because
I have made known to you
everything
I have learnt from my Father.
Alleluia!
Or Lk11:28
Alleluia,
alleluia!
Happy
are those
who
hear the word of God
and
keep it.
Alleluia!
Gospel Luke 10:38-42 ©
Jesus
came to a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. She
had a sister called Mary, who sat down at the Lord’s feet and listened to him
speaking. Now Martha who was distracted with all the serving said, ‘Lord, do
you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself?
Please tell her to help me.’ But the Lord answered: ‘Martha, Martha,’ he said
‘you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only
one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part; it is not to be taken from
her.’
OUR
LADY STAR OF THE NEW EVANGELIZATION
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: : AC 1:12-14; LUKE 1:26-38
http://www.universalis.com/20141006/mass.1.htm
At the beginning of my
episcopal ministry, I consciously included Mary, the first evangelizer,
to be or guide and inspiration in the work of the New Evangelization.
This is expressed both in my crest and also my anthem, Ut Vivant. My
devotion to Mary is an integral and essential aspect of my vocation. In
the first place, my involvement in serving the church sprung from my love for
our blessed mother. She has been the one who has guided me all my
life. Without doubt, it must be said that my priestly calling sprang from
my love for our Blessed Mother and my devotion to her from the age of 8 years
old and through my teenage years in school, to my aspiration to become a
priest. And if I were to look back at my life as a seminarian, priest and
bishop, I know it was through Mary’s guiding hand and support that I have
managed to remain committed to my ministry without losing enthusiasm, but
rather growing from strength to strength. The truth is, no Evangelization
can take off without turning to Mary who is the Star of the New Evangelization.
Why is she called the
Star of the New Evangelization? Long before the inventions of science, the star was used to be
the guide for sailors and for people to find their direction. Thus, it
was a guide for the Magi in their wild estimation of the birth of the
Messiah. So Mary, as the Star, obviously is the one that leads us to
Jesus, the Rising Sun. No one could do better than Mary the mother of
Jesus. How, then, is she the star to Jesus the Son of God, the
light of the world? She shows us how to respond to God’s call to
be the messenger of the Good News.
To be an evangelizer, we
must firstly be the recipient of the Good News ourselves. This is the first prerequisite.
Jesus is the Eternal Word of the Father. We must be hearers of the Word
before we can proclaim to others. Listening to the Lord attentively like
Mary is a critical and necessary step for the work of Evangelization.
Unless we are moved and inspired and converted by the Word of God, we cannot
proclaim to others. This is the real temptation. Many of us
have not yet been salted by the Word of God but are trying to evangelize
others. We can’t give what we have not got. Evangelization
must begin with the evangelizers.
We must first experience
the joy of the gospel. The Good News is good only because it brings great
joy. This was
how the angels announced the message of the birth of the Saviour when they told
the shepherds. That was how Mary announced the message to Elizabeth as
well. She exclaimed, “My soul magnifies the Lord for He that is mighty
has done great things for me.” And Elizabeth and John the Baptist were so
filled with joy that he leapt in the womb of Elizabeth. When the Lord
appeared to the disciples after His shameful death on the cross, we are told
that when the disciples saw the Lord, they were filled with joy. So from
beginning to the end, the message has always been one of Joy. So the gospel
must always be received as such so that we can announce the gospel with joy.
What is this joy if not
the gift of Jesus to us as our saviour? The Good News is not reducible to a set
of doctrines or even rituals. It is about Jesus the Son of God who has
come to save us from our sins. It is about the unconditional mercy and
love of God our Father in the gift of His Son, Jesus. Evangelization is
not indoctrination but the Good News of what God has done for us in
Jesus. The Good News is essentially about a person, Jesus our Lord
and savior, who came to give us life to the fullest by His life, teaching,
passion, death and resurrection. In Him we find our identity and
destiny. In Him we find life and conquer sin and death. Mary
teaches us in the work of the New Evangelization to help people to find Jesus
who was lost at the Temple.
Secondly, from Mary, we
see the urgency of the work of the New Evangelization. Upon receiving
the good news that her cousin was pregnant with the precursor, John the
Baptist, Mary hurried to Elizabeth to announce the Good News and to celebrate
it with her. She did not wait any longer than was necessary. When
we receive the Good News, we must share first and foremost with those whom we
love. Have we shared the Good News with our loved ones and our
friends? Or have we been speaking only of mundane things, such as about
the latest restaurant or café in town, but never share what our faith in Christ
has done for us?
Thirdly, this Good News
is to be announced both by words and deeds of charity. Mary did not simply proclaim the
greatness of God in the Magnificat. She demonstrated her joy in the Lord
by going out of the way to help Elizabeth in her pregnancy. Then
again, at the wedding at Cana, she was sensitive to the predicament her hosts
were facing when they ran short of wine. She took courage to ask
Jesus to anticipate His hour of glory even though His time had not yet come.
She taught us compassion and forgiveness even of our enemies. We must
reach out to them in charity. In fact, in the scriptures, she
witnessed less by her words but mainly by her deeds and the way she
lived. She hardly spoke in the scriptures but she would quietly
support Jesus in His ministry. She would appear again only at the end of
His ministry at the Cross and at Pentecost.
Fourthly, Mary was ready
to take risks in the proclamation of the Good News. Surely, she was
aware that no one would believe her, not even Joseph. But against all
odds, she was ready to take risks for the love of God. She said “yes” to
God’s call, not knowing how it could be possible and what would happen to
her. She was ready to take risks in crossing the hill to visit Elizabeth
who was in her old age even though she herself was now pregnant. She took
the risk of carrying the cross after the Lord when all His disciples abandoned
Him on His way to Calvary. Whilst all the disciples, save for John,
abandoned Jesus, she bravely stood at the cross of Jesus, supporting Him all
the way, sharing His disgrace and suffering. She showed us that this work
requires us to suffer with Jesus and a sword will pierce our hearts when we
have to sacrifice for the good of our people, especially in standing up for the
truth and being prophets of the Good News. She took the risk of staying
with the disciples to encourage them in prayer at the Upper Room.
Finally, she taught us
that the work of the New Evangelization cannot be done alone. Like the apostles, we must
gather together as Church, as members of His body. We do not evangelize
alone but with Jesus as our leader and our brothers and sisters. This was
why, Jesus sent the disciples out two by two. Most of all, for this work
to be effective, it must be accomplished in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Like St Paul, we need to proclaim the Good News in the power of the Holy
Spirit, not through human philosophy. This explains why she was with the
disciples in the Upper Room praying for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit
before they began their mission.
Indeed, in the final
analysis, the work of the New Evangelization must be rooted in a spirit of
prayer and penance.
Necessarily, we need to conceive Jesus in our hearts if we are to give birth
in the hearts of others. We need time to meditate and contemplate.
We need to enter into the joy of the Good News. Without this
constant contemplation of the Word, we cannot deepen our love for the Lord and
the truth and joy of the Good News. Indeed, Mary pondered at every event
of her life and that of her son from the incarnation to His birth, right up to
Pentecost. She shows us the necessity of prayer, especially contemplative
prayer. Whenever we see Mary in the gospel, we see her in the spirit of
prayer.
Pope St John Paul II
reminds us in his apostolic letter, the necessity of holiness before
undertaking any pastoral planning through personal contemplative, communal and
intercessory prayers.
Today, as we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Rosary, we want to respond to Pope
John Paul’s exhortation to contemplate on the face of Christ and to contemplate
His face most effectively with Mary at our side. It was for this reason
too that he wrote the apostolic letter on the rosary and included the luminous
mysteries to give a full and complete contemplation on the life of
Christ. Prayers must be accompanied by fasting and penance to be
efficacious as our Lady would tell us again and again. In the New
Testament, our Lord and the apostles taught us that great miracles and conversion
require us to pray and fast for our ministry.
So, let us put into the
deep as Pope John Paul II tells us at the beginning of this new millennium. This celebration will not be
complete if we do not listen to Mary’s exhortation, “Do whatever He tells
you to do.” Upon the invitation to be the Mother of God, her response
was firm and yet humble. Her whole life was to do the will of God the
Father. At the wedding in Cana, she again instructed the people to do
what the Lord asked of them. So much so that Jesus said of her, that not
only did she hear the Word of God but that she put it into practice. For
that reason, He added, “whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my
brother, sister and mother.” Mary is super eminently His mother because
she is our teacher of how one should be focused on doing the will of God.
She describes herself as the handmaid of the Lord. She remains for us the
model of one who listens to the Word of God and keeps it. Let us then be like
Mary, the servant of the gospel, to our loved ones and to the whole world as we
proclaim His love and mercy in words and deeds. This is how we consecrate
ourselves, our family, our parish, our diocese and the country to Mary the star
of the New Evangelization, not just words or prayers or actions but our whole
lives.
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No comments:
Post a Comment