20141224 CHRIST IS THE RISING SUN FOR THOSE WHO LIVE IN DARKNESS
Readings at Mass
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First reading
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2 Samuel
7:1-5,8-12,14,16 ©
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Once David had
settled into his house and the Lord had given him rest from all the enemies
surrounding him, the king said to the prophet Nathan, ‘Look, I am living in a
house of cedar while the ark of God dwells in a tent.’ Nathan said to the king,
‘Go and do all that is in your mind, for the Lord is with you.’
But that
very night the word of the Lord came to Nathan:
‘Go and
tell my servant David, “Thus the Lord speaks: Are you the man to build me a
house to dwell in? I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be
leader of my people Israel; I have been with you on all your expeditions; I
have cut off all your enemies before you. I will give you fame as great as the
fame of the greatest on earth. I will provide a place for my people Israel; I
will plant them there and they shall dwell in that place and never be disturbed
again; nor shall the wicked continue to oppress them as they did, in the days
when I appointed judges over my people Israel; I will give them rest from all
their enemies. The Lord will make you great; the Lord will make you a House.
And when your days are ended and you are laid to rest with your ancestors, I
will preserve the offspring of your body after you and make his sovereignty
secure. I will be a father to him and he a son to me; if he does evil, I will
punish him with the rod such as men use, with strokes such as mankind gives.
Your House and your sovereignty will always stand secure before me and your
throne be established for ever.”’
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Psalm
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Psalm
88:2-5,27,29 ©
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I will sing for
ever of your love, O Lord.
I will sing for ever
of your love, O Lord;
through
all ages my mouth will proclaim your truth.
Of this I am sure,
that your love lasts for ever,
that your
truth is firmly established as the heavens.
I will sing for
ever of your love, O Lord.
‘I have made a
covenant with my chosen one;
I have
sworn to David my servant:
I will establish your
dynasty for ever
and set
up your throne through all ages.
I will sing for
ever of your love, O Lord.
‘He will say to me:
“You are my father,
my God,
the rock who saves me.”
I will keep my love
for him always;
with him
my covenant shall last.’
I will sing for
ever of your love, O Lord.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Morning star,
radiance of eternal light,
sun of justice,
come and enlighten
those who live in darkness
and in the shadow of
death.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 1:67-79 ©
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John’s father
Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke this prophecy:
‘Blessed be the Lord,
the God of Israel
for he has visited
his people, he has come to their rescue
and he has raised up
for us a power for salvation
in the House of his
servant David,
even as he
proclaimed,
by the mouth of his
holy prophets from ancient times,
that he would save us
from our enemies
and from the hands of
all who hate us.
Thus he shows mercy
to our ancestors,
thus he remembers his
holy covenant
the oath he swore
to our father Abraham
that he would grant
us, free from fear,
to be delivered from
the hands of our enemies,
to serve him in
holiness and virtue
in his presence, all
our days.
And you, little
child,
you shall be called
Prophet of the Most High,
for you will go
before the Lord
to prepare the way
for him,
to give his people
knowledge of salvation
through the
forgiveness of their sins;
this by the tender
mercy of our God
who from on high will
bring the rising Sun to visit us,
to give light to
those who live
in darkness and the
shadow of death
and to guide our feet
into
the way of peace.’
CHRIST
IS THE RISING SUN FOR THOSE WHO LIVE IN DARKNESS
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: 2 SAMUEL 7:1-5, 8-12, 14, 16; LUKE 1:67-79
“By the
tender mercy of our God who from on high will bring the rising Sun to visit
us, to give light to those who live in darkness and the shadow of
death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.” These words of
Zechariah are very consoling as we arrive at the threshold of the birthday of
our Lord. We are awaiting the visitation of God as Zechariah said.
Indeed, for many of us, life is not easy. Like the Jews, we face all
kinds of threat from our enemies. The Jews were under foreign
domination. But for us, our enemies are fears and anxiety about our
material well-being and matters related to our finances, housing, employment
and health. Some of us are in debt; others are struggling in their
jobs and many are in pain because of poor physical health. But our
enemies are not only external forces – they are also related to relationships
with our spouses, in-laws, siblings, colleagues and superiors. Difficult,
estranged, hostile or indifferent relationships are very trying. Life seems to
be meaningless without relationships and marriage is hell when we are living
with our enemies and traitors. Is there light in this dark tunnel?
Who will lead us to the way out? Can God take away our insurmountable
problems or restore our lives?
The
answer is a resounding ‘Yes’! This is what Zechariah prophesied, “Blessed
be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has visited his people, he has come to
their rescue and he has raised up for us a power for salvation in the House of
his servant David, even as he proclaimed, by the mouth of his holy prophets
from ancient times, that he would save us from our enemies and from the hands
of all who hate us.” Indeed, God who is faithful to His promise
will come to deliver us from our enemies, seen and unseen. He will
deliver us from the forces of evil and give us peace from our fears and
anxieties. How will He do it?
This
God is a God of surprises. We will not know how He will do it. He
comes in surprising ways and beyond our expectations. In the first
reading, King David wanted to build a House for the Lord. Perhaps he was
living in guilt and his conscience was unsettling him for he said, “Look, I am
living in a house of cedar while the ark of God dwells in a tent.” Nathan
agreed to his proposal initially using his logical reasoning but upon God’s
prompting, he retracted his permission. Why did God not want King David
to build Him a House?
Firstly,
God wants us to know that He does not need us, least of all our great and
magnificent plans. There is nothing we can do to thwart the plans of
God. There is nothing that God needs from us. As He told David, “I took
you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be a leader of my people
Israel; I have been with you on all your expeditions; I have cut off all your
enemies before you.” If David was now resting on his laurels, it was not
because of his hard work but through the mercy and power of God. God was
not dependent on David for a house. Rather, He protected David and his
family. It was David who was totally dependent on God. To think
otherwise is to become presumptuous and arrogant. So regardless of what we do
for God, we must realize that whatever we can offer to God is purely through
His grace and mercy. Without God giving us health, talents,
opportunities, the right connections and resources, we would not be able to do
anything for God or anyone. So we must remain humble even when we seek to
glorify God in our service to Him. Instead of feeling great about
ourselves, we should be grateful that we can even give ourselves at all.
All that we have, come from Him alone and that is why we glorify Him by seeking
to give Him glory in our lives.
Secondly,
God did not want King David to build a House for Him because He wants to
enter into our lives and our history. The God we worship is not a
retired architect, a remote maker who is indifferent to the lives we
live. This God wants to be in our midst, living among us and being in us
by being one of us! This is truly amazing. God comes as the Rising
Sun in Christ to live amongst us. He does not want to dwell in a splendid
Temple as for more than two hundred years, He lived in a shepherd’s or nomad’s
tent. His presence was sacramentally represented in the Ark of the
Covenant. In this way, God could follow wherever the people went since
the Tent could easily be collapsed and transported wherever the people wandered
in the desert.
By rejecting the
proposal of King David, God is underscoring that He belongs to the people and
He desires to be with His people. He wants to be enshrined in the hearts of every person in
their daily lives. God does not wish to be relegated to a Temple where
people compartmentalize Him such that His presence is not felt keenly.
This is the real temptation of the secularized world. Today, God is kept
in the recesses of some churches and temples, so much away from the world that God
is absent from people’s lives. This absence of God leads to the loss of
the sacred and consciousness of His presence. When we live a
compartmentalized faith, God becomes a thing that we can call upon if and when
we wish. He is no longer in charge of our lives, but He has become a pawn
that we make use of according to our whims and fancies as if He is at our back
and call.
Thirdly, by rejecting
King David’s offer, God is making a statement that He is not accessible only by
the rich and powerful, those who live in luxury and are influential.
God prefers the poor and the marginalized. The mighty walls of the Temple
and the permanence of the Temple might hinder the common people from
worshipping God because they feel unworthy or they do not meet the necessary
criteria. Again, it is a good reminder that no one is barred from coming
to God. In Jesus, we are told, He comes for sinners and the
marginalized. Jesus chose to live in poverty and among the poor, not in
palaces and luxury. This is what John the Baptist was to announce: “To give his
people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins; this by
the tender mercy of our God who from on high will bring the rising Sun to visit
us, to give light to those who live in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
In conclusion, as the dawn
of salvation is breaking into our midst, let us remember that God is both a
transcendent and immanent God. He is above us and yet He is with
us. This is the meaning of the Incarnation. In Jesus, we have the
unity and the distinction in one person who is both God and man. God’s
coming is always sudden and surprising and defies all conceptions of man about
God. Indeed, only in Christianity dare we make this unique claim that
Christ is not merely God or merely a great prophet but He is both God and man
in one person. Jesus who comes from on high is now with us. We must
never forget that God transcends the world but at the same time, the world is
in Him. In Jesus, we come to God and God comes to us in a real way.
Truly, salvation is near
at hand. Jesus has come to give us light in darkness, hope in
despair, peace in persecution, joy in suffering and life in death. He
comes to us in every way in our daily lives. He has pitched His tent in
our midst and made His home in us in the Holy Spirit. He is being born
again in our hearts. But, will we have room for Him when He comes?
Will we still allow our sins to drive Him out of our lives? Will we allow
unforgiveness to hinder Him from bringing us love and healing? Will we
allow the material things of this life, the merry making of Christmas to make
us forget whose birthday we are celebrating? There can be no real joy
this Christmas, no real peace if we have not yet made peace with Him in the
Sacrament of Reconciliation and receive Him at Christmas in the Holy
Eucharist. So if we want the Rising Sun to shine through the darkness and
misery of our lives, let us respond in freedom to this God who comes to us in
freedom, in surprising and unimaginable ways. Only those who have eyes of
faith and love can see Him when He comes!
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV
WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP
OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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