20141101 THE IMPLICATIONS OF CHRISTIAN
HOPE
First
reading
Apocalypse
7:2-4,9-14 ©
I,
John, saw another angel rising where the sun rises, carrying the seal of the
living God; he called in a powerful voice to the four angels whose duty was to devastate
land and sea, ‘Wait before you do any damage on land or at sea or to the trees,
until we have put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.’ Then I
heard how many were sealed: a hundred and forty-four thousand, out of all the
tribes of Israel.
After that I saw a huge number, impossible to
count, of people from every nation, race, tribe and language; they were
standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white
robes and holding palms in their hands. They shouted aloud, ‘Victory to our
God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ And all the angels who were
standing in a circle round the throne, surrounding the elders and the four
animals, prostrated themselves before the throne, and touched the ground with their
foreheads, worshipping God with these words, ‘Amen. Praise and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honour and power and strength to our God for ever and
ever. Amen.’
One of the elders then spoke, and asked me,
‘Do you know who these people are, dressed in white robes, and where they have
come from?’ I answered him, ‘You can tell me, my lord.’ Then he said, ‘These
are the people who have been through the great persecution, and they have
washed their robes white again in the blood of the Lamb.’
Psalm Psalm 23:1-6 ©
Such
are the men who seek your face, O Lord.
The
Lord’s is the earth and its fullness,
the world and all its peoples.
It
is he who set it on the seas;
on the waters he made it firm.
Such
are the men who seek your face, O Lord.
Who
shall climb the mountain of the Lord?
Who shall stand in his holy place?
The
man with clean hands and pure heart,
who desires not worthless things.
Such
are the men who seek your face, O Lord.
He
shall receive blessings from the Lord
and reward from the God who saves him.
Such
are the men who seek him,
seek the face of the God of Jacob.
Such
are the men who seek your face, O Lord.
Second
reading 1 John 3:1-3 ©
Think
of the love that the Father has lavished on us,
by letting us be called God’s children;
and that is what we are.
Because
the world refused to acknowledge him,
therefore it does not acknowledge us.
My
dear people, we are already the children of God
but what we are to be in the future has not
yet been revealed;
all
we know is, that when it is revealed
we shall be like him
because we shall see him as he really is.
Surely
everyone who entertains this hope
must purify himself, must try to be as pure
as Christ.
Gospel
Acclamation Mt11:28
Alleluia,
alleluia!
Come
to me, all you who labour and are overburdened
and
I will give you rest, says the Lord.
Alleluia!
Gospel Matthew 5:1-12 ©
Seeing
the crowds, Jesus went up the hill. There he sat down and was joined by his
disciples. Then he began to speak. This is what he taught them:
‘How
happy are the poor in spirit;
theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Happy
the gentle:
they shall have the earth for their heritage.
Happy
those who mourn:
they shall be comforted.
Happy
those who hunger and thirst for what is right:
they shall be satisfied.
Happy
the merciful:
they shall have mercy shown them.
Happy
the pure in heart:
they shall see God.
Happy
the peacemakers:
they shall be called sons of God.
Happy
those who are persecuted in the cause of right:
theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
‘Happy
are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny
against you on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great
in heaven.’
THE
IMPLICATIONS OF CHRISTIAN HOPE
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: REV 7:2-4, 9-14; JN 3:1-3; MT 5:1-12
Some
years ago, it was reported in the papers that a survey conducted in Britain
found that most people live their lives without any thought of life beyond
death. These people are only concerned about this life; that they
enjoy it to the fullest. For them, only this life matters.
This is rather unfortunate because if our life is only meant for this world,
then we are a most pitiable lot. Such a limited purpose of life will not
bring us to great heights, since life and its meaning are reduced to an earthly
fulfillment, one that is transitory.
For
this reason, as the Church liturgical year is drawing to its close, the Church
commemorates the Feast of All Saints. This feast is important, lest in
our daily struggles we forgot our real destiny and may be tempted to give up
hope in life. Like the Anawim in today’s gospel, when we are poor,
hungry, unjustly treated and persecuted, we might feel that life is unfair and
that life has no real meaning at all. But the truth is
that our life goes beyond this earthly life. We have a greater
destiny before us. And this is what the Feast of all Saints wants to
remind us. What then is our Christian Hope?
Firstly,
it is our belief that we are all called to be with God.
This is what the second reading tells us. St John tells us “we shall be
life him because we shall see him as he really is.” In other words, we
are called to share in the life of God, in love, unity and communion.
This is our true calling because right from the outset, God has meant us to
share in His life. That is why we are called the children of God.
Hence, our destiny is to recover our real identity as children of God, sharing
in His life and love.
Secondly,
it is our Christian hope too that we would all come together
as a family of God in the eschaton. St John had the vision of the 144
thousand and “a huge number, impossible to count, of people from every nation,
tribe, and language.” Yes, it is our hope that all humankind will be
gathered together into one, living a life of love and unity. This
gathering of people of every kind means that all of us, each in his own way,
will find fulfillment. One need not be somebody in life to attain to the
community of the glorified. It is only necessary that he becomes the
person that he is meant to be. Hence, we are consoled that
the victory of God is overwhelming and that countless people have been saved.
Thirdly,
it is our hope too that God’s kingdom will prevail in the end, which
implies that the people of God would be vindicated. Within this context,
we can therefore understand better today’s gospel reading. The
beatitudes, which are to be understood within the context of the Kingdom
Message of Jesus, speak of the vindication of the poor, those who are oppressed
and persecuted. In this way, life becomes more meaningful. For
those of us who are struggling with life, we know that somehow our sufferings
will be vindicated in the end. Even for those who are not suffering, they
will come to understand the meaning of their lives.
But what
is the basis of our Christian hope so that it would not be seen as a
dream? Firstly, our hope is founded on the fact that Christ has been
victorious over death and sin. Christ’s death and resurrection is our
certain hope that God will be victorious over sin and death in the end.
Secondly, Christian hope rests on the fact that some of our brothers and
sisters are already there in the bosom of God and among the community of
the glorified. On these two facts, rest our Christian hope and
goal. Where they are, we too will be there.
Having
spoken so confidently about Christian Hope and that our lives should not be
lived as if it is meant only for this world, we must now insist on the importance
of this life. This is because our ability to realize our goal and
destiny is dependent on how we live this life. In other words, the
fullness of next life should in some ways be already experienced in this
life. For this reason, St John in the second reading tells us that since
we are already the children of God we must continue to live our lives in such a
way so that we can be truly like God when the eschaton arrives. How
can we then recover our filiations with God?
Firstly,
we need to purify ourselves. This is what St John tells us in the
second reading. “Surely, everyone who entertains this hope must purify
himself, must try to be as pure as Christ.” This means that we are called
to be Christ in our way of life. This is the only way to recover our
divine sonship. Christ is for us the way to become once again identified
with God and be incorporated into him.
Secondly,
this purification is achieved by being faithful to our baptismal vows.
Yes, like the saints in heaven we are called to be faithful to the white robes
given to us on the day of our baptism. To keep our robes white and clean,
the first reading tells us that we need to wash it with the blood of the
Lamb. In other words, we need to die to ourselves.
Thirdly,
the way of purification is by following the beatitudes taught by
Jesus. The beatitudes are the blue print to the kingdom life. It is
the way of poverty in spirit, the way of compassion, the way of love, justice
and peace that will see us perfected in Christ.
Consequently,
whilst we wait for our reunion with the Saints in heaven, the time on earth is
but a time of recovery and purification. God is patient with us.
This is what St John tells us in the vision. God would not destroy the
earth yet until he has “put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of God.”
At the same time, it is a time of mission as well. We are not only to
purify ourselves but we who have been anointed with the seal, which is the
sacrament of confirmation, are called to establish the kingdom of God in the
world. In this way, all will be gathered together in the community love
and peace with God carrying the palms of victory in our hands.
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV
WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP
OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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