20141211 WE ARE GREATER THAN JOHN THE BAPTIST!
Readings at Mass
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First reading
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Isaiah 41:13-20 ©
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I, the Lord, your
God,
I am holding you by
the right hand;
I tell you, ‘Do not
be afraid,
I will help you.’
Do not be afraid,
Jacob, poor worm,
Israel, puny mite.’
I will help
you – it is the Lord who speaks –
the Holy One of
Israel is your redeemer.
See, I turn you into
a threshing-sled,
new, with doubled
teeth;
you shall thresh and
crush the mountains,
and turn the hills to
chaff.
You shall winnow them
and the wind will blow them away,
the gale will scatter
them.
But you yourself will
rejoice in the Lord,
and glory in the Holy
One of Israel.
The poor and needy
ask for water, and there is none,
their tongue is
parched with thirst.
I, the Lord, will
answer them,
I, the God of Israel,
will not abandon them.
I will make rivers
well up on barren heights,
and fountains in the
midst of valleys;
turn the wilderness
into a lake,
and dry ground into
waterspring.
In the wilderness I
will put cedar trees,
acacias, myrtles,
olives.
In the desert I will
plant juniper,
plane tree and
cypress side by side;
so that men may see
and know,
may all observe and
understand
that the hand of the
Lord has done this,
that the Holy One of
Israel has created it.
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Psalm
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Psalm 144:1,9-13
©
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The Lord is kind
and full of compassion, slow to anger, abounding in love.
I will give you
glory, O God my king,
I will
bless your name for ever.
How good is the Lord
to all,
compassionate
to all his creatures.
The Lord is kind
and full of compassion, slow to anger, abounding in love.
All your creatures
shall thank you, O Lord,
and your
friends shall repeat their blessing.
They shall speak of
the glory of your reign
and
declare your might, O God,
to make known to men
your mighty deeds
and the
glorious splendour of your reign.
The Lord is kind
and full of compassion, slow to anger, abounding in love.
Yours is an
everlasting kingdom;
your rule
lasts from age to age.
The Lord is kind
and full of compassion, slow to anger, abounding in love.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Come, Lord, with your
peace
that we may rejoice
in your presence with sincerity of heart.
Alleluia!
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Or
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cf.Is45:8
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Send victory like a
dew, you heavens,
and let
the clouds rain it down.
Let the earth open
and bring forth the saviour.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 11:11-15
©
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Jesus
spoke to the crowds: ‘I tell you solemnly, of all the children born of women, a
greater than John the Baptist has never been seen; yet the least in the kingdom
of heaven is greater than he is. Since John the Baptist came, up to this
present time, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence and the
violent are taking it by storm. Because it was towards John that all the prophecies
of the prophets and of the Law were leading; and he, if you will believe me, is
the Elijah who was to return. If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen!’
WE
ARE GREATER THAN JOHN THE BAPTIST!
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: ISAIAH 41:13 – 20; MATTHEW 11:11-15
“I tell
you solemnly, of all the children born of women, a greater than John the
Baptist has never been seen; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater
than he is.” This is such an amazing statement, too good to be
true! How could anyone of us claim that we are greater than John the
Baptist? None of us is as holy as he was. None of us has ever
fasted and ate the meager food that he did. None of us ever lived in the
desert, in the extreme weather of cold and heat. And surely, none of us
can claim that we are so passionately in love with the Lord that we are willing
to let go of everything and give our lives to Him completely. So how
could we ever dare to hope that we can be greater than John the Baptist?
What is the basis of
Jesus’ promise to us? The truth is that John the Baptist is great not because of what
he did and how he lived an austere life in the desert. Whilst all the
great works that he did and the sacrifices he made cannot be denied, yet what
made him truly great was simply because the Lord worked in and through Him.
Indeed, the greatness of what we do and who we are cannot be based on our own
strength but purely on the grace of God. What made John the Baptist great
was that he allowed the grace of God to operate in and through him!
This is what the first
reading is saying to us. When the Israelites were discouraged during
their exile in Babylon and wanted to give up hope, God sent the prophet Isaiah
to console them. God is not only the Lord of history but He also has a
personal interest in the lives of His people. With tender words of
assurance and consolation, the Lord said, “For I, the Lord, your God, I am
holding you by the right hand; I tell you, ‘Do not be afraid, I will help you’.
Do not be afraid, Jacob, poor worm, Israel, puny mite.’ I will help you –
it is the Lord who speaks – the Holy One of Israel is your redeemer.”
However, it will not be
on our own terms but His. He is our redeemer. Hence, He told
the Israelites that He will transform and restore Israel from that of a desert
and wilderness back to a forest of greenery. Truly, the restoration of
Israel was not to be mistaken as the work of men but the work of God.
Only then will people come to know that the Lord is God and there is no other
besides Him.
That is why the coming
of the Kingdom of God is also a gift. Jesus who is the Kingdom of God
in person is the gift of God at Christmas. In Jesus we see the Kingdom of
God at work, firstly in His life and in His ministry. Everything
that Jesus did was in the power of the Holy Spirit. Freely, Jesus came
from His Father to manifest His love for us. In Jesus, we see how the
power of God was at work, in His miracles and in His work of healing and
reconciliation. He is the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah, “The
poor and needy ask for water, and there is none, their tongue is parched with
thirst. I, the Lord, will answer them,
I, the
God of Israel, will not abandon them.” Through Jesus, we see the
manifestation of the power of God. This same power of God is given to us
too in the Holy Spirit. As a consequence, we are now children of God, the
adopted sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. The gift of sonship is
not within our power but can only be received as a gift. For this reason,
we are greater than John the Baptist because the Holy Spirit lives in us and
makes us His adopted sons and daughters. This great dignity that is
bestowed on us comes purely from His grace alone. We do not deserve to be
God’s children. But He chose us in Christ just as He chose Israel
to be His people out of His goodness and bounty.
But what does it take
for His kingdom to work in our lives? What God requires of us is that we make
ourselves available.
If we want God to work in and through us, we must be docile and submissive to
His grace. God only works through those who are humble and lowly, like
John the Baptist, Mary, the apostles and the saints. If God permitted the
Israelites to suffer exile and humiliation, it was precisely because they
needed to be brought low before the Lord could raise them high. They were
depending on their own strength and might to fight against their enemies.
They were arrogant and relied on their wealth, army and resources instead of
trusting in the Lord.
Secondly, we must be in
love with Him. John
the Baptist was deeply in love with the Lord. He was singular minded in
His mission. His whole life was given to the Lord. He had no
purpose in life other than to fulfill his mission as the messenger to prepare
for the Lord’s coming. That was what Jesus said about him when he
confirmed John the Baptist as the Elijah who was to return. Like Elijah,
John the Baptist was filled with the Spirit of the Lord. (cf Lk
1:17) Like Elijah, he was to prepare the world to welcome the Lord. (cf
Mal 3:23-24)
Accordingly we too are
called to learn from John the Baptist in his docility to the grace of God.
Jesus remarks, “Since John the Baptist came, up to this present time, the
kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence and the violent are taking it
by storm.” What does He mean by this? It does not mean that the
kingdom of God is brought about by violence. What Jesus is demanding of
us is that we seize the opportunity since it is a time of grace. We must
not allow grace to pass us by. Are we ready to seize the grace that the
Lord is giving to us during this time of Advent, a time of hope and a time of
renewal in His love?
If so, we must imitate
the spirit of St John the Baptist and be receptive to his message of
repentance. The
way to repentance begins by hearing the Word of God. Like John, we need
to make time to withdraw into the desert to listen to what the Lord is saying
to us. A sincere response to the Word of God is demonstrated in
repentance of heart and a turning to the Lord. If we have not done so, we
must quickly celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation with a contrite and
repentant heart. Before the Lord can bestow upon us His graces, we must remove
the hardness of our heart.
Like John the Baptist,
we must show our sincerity in loving Him. We must also become His messenger in our own
way. We must point people towards Jesus. They too are looking for
signs of the presence of God and His love in their lives. Yet all the
time, we must never forget that God’s love for us is not dependent on whether
we do big or small things but that we do everything out of love for Him.
When we cooperate with Him, He will act. He is looking for those who will
accept Him, for those who are receptive to His graces. He will make use of us
as He did with John the Baptist to bring glory to Him.
Truly, if, like the
Israelites, we are discouraged in life, then know that God wants to restore us
all to the fullness of life. There is no need to be afraid in the face of
failure, disappointments and setbacks. This is because with the Lord we
can overcome all things. We just need to hold on to the promise of the
Lord in faith and in hope that He will fulfill His promises in due time for God
is the Faithful One. He is after all our creator and our
redeemer. So let us not lose sight of this gift of the Kingdom that
God is offering us in Christ as we open our hearts to receive Him.
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV
WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP
OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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