20150108 THE BASIS
FOR HOLINESS AND MISSION LIES IN GOD’S LOVE FOR US
Readings at Mass
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First reading
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1 John 4:19 - 5:4
©
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Let us love, then,
because he first loved us.
Anyone who says 'I
love God' and hates his brother, is a liar, since whoever does not love the
brother whom he can see cannot love God
whom he has not seen.
Indeed this is the
commandment we have received from him, that whoever loves God, must also love
his brother.
Whoever believes that
Jesus is the Christ is a child of God,
and whoever loves the father loves the son.
In this way we know
that we love God's children, when we love God
and keep his commandments.
This is what the love
of God
is: keeping his commandments. Nor are his commandments burdensome,
because every child
of God
overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world -- our
faith.
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Psalm
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Psalm 72:1-2, 14
and 15bc and 17 ©
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God, endow the king
with your own fair judgement, the son of the king with your own saving justice,
that he may rule your
people with justice, and your poor with fair judgement.
From oppression and violence
he redeems their lives, their blood is precious in his sight.
May his name be
blessed for ever, and endure in the sight of the sun. In him shall be blessed
every race in the world, and all nations call him blessed.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Luke 4:18
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The spirit
of the Lord
is on me, for he has anointed me to bring the good
news to the afflicted. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives, sight to
the blind, to let the oppressed go free,
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 4 : 14-22 ©
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Jesus, with the power
of the Spirit
in him, returned to Galilee; and his reputation spread throughout the
countryside.
He taught in their
synagogues and everyone glorified him.
He came to Nazareth,
where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue
on the Sabbath
day as he usually did. He stood up to read,
and they handed him
the scroll of the prophet
Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written:
The spirit
of the Lord
is on me, for he has anointed me to bring the good
news to the afflicted. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives, sight to
the blind, to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim a year of
favour from the Lord.
He then rolled up the
scroll, gave it back to the assistant and sat down. And all eyes in the synagogue
were fixed on him.
Then he began to
speak to them, 'This text is being fulfilled today even while you are
listening.'
And he won the
approval of all, and they were astonished by the gracious words that came from
his lips. They said, 'This is Joseph's son, surely?'
THE BASIS FOR
HOLINESS AND MISSION LIES IN GOD’S LOVE FOR US
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: 1 Jn 4:19-5:4; Lk 4:14-22
There are three
great central Christian mysteries, namely, the Incarnation, Eucharist and
Trinity. In the incarnation, we cannot but ask the question why did God
become man? What does it mean for God to assume our humanity? It is truly
unimaginable that God could become a man like us. Furthermore, we know
that the incarnation is destined for the passion. It follows then that
the incarnation implies that God would even suffer and die for us. So why
must He suffer and die for us in order to save us? Can’t there be a
better way to save us without so much suffering?
The feast of the
Epiphany celebrates the manifestation of God’s love for us in Christ
Jesus. By becoming man, Christ has to bring into effect this love of God
throughout His life. Incarnation is meant for the paschal
mystery. If only we could grasp this truth, we will be transformed. That
God would become man and give His life for us truly express the heart of God’s
love and His identity with us. But most of the time, we believe it only
in our head. We cannot feel it in our heart. We substitute
intellectual knowledge with personal knowledge of Christ. We feel safe
simply because we can rationally understand and explain our faith. Yet if
we are honest with ourselves, few of us experience Him deeply in our lives and
in our hearts what we learn and teach. We know that God loves us, at
least theologically, but we don’t feel that He loves us personally and
individually. We cannot say with the same conviction that St Paul said,
“He loves me and died for me.” But until we are personally taken up by His
personal love for us, we cannot truly speak of the enthusiasm and joy of
mission.
The feast of the
Epiphany celebrates the manifestation of God’s love for us in Christ
Jesus. We too are called to manifest God in our love for our fellowmen
and to be the light in darkness. Indeed, we are called to share in the
mission of Christ as proclaimed in today’s gospel, the call “to bring the good
news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight,
to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour.”
Yet, we must be clear
about what we are doing. We must not reduce Christianity to a humanistic
religion. The works of compassion of Christianity is not reducible to
mere social and humanitarian deeds. Rather, the basis for Christian love
and compassion springs from the love of God for us. This is
primary. Indeed, John reminds us, “We are to love, then, because God
loved us first.” Our love for others finds its source in God’s love
for us. It is but a response to God’s love.
Of course, at
Christmas, we are saying that God’s love is made present in Jesus. In the
incarnation, Jesus identified Himself with every man and revealed to us that we
are the children of God. Accordingly, if we are God’s children, then
those of us who claim that we love God our Father would also love His
children. Hence, John emphatically declares, “Whoever believes that
Jesus is the Christ has been begotten by God; and whoever loves the father that
begot him loves the child whom he begets.” The basis for mission is
that because we have experienced the Father’s love for us, as a result, we too
desire to love all those whom He loves. We are only concerned in
bringing joy and delight to the Heavenly Father.
Indeed, the concrete
proof of our love for God is when we share His heart and His love for
humanity. This is what John meant when he said, “Anyone who says, “I love
God”, and hates his brother, is a liar, since a man does not love the brother
that he can see cannot love God, whom he has never seen. So this is the commandment
that he has given to us, that anyone who loves God must also love his
brother.” Indeed, loving our brothers implies that we have the heart of
God in us. We have “been begotten by God” for Jesus now is born in our
hearts. And because we share in His love, we can overcome the world.
In the same vein, it
must be noted, that not only is the experience of God’s love the basis for
mission but it is also the basis for holiness of life as well. We
observe the commandments not merely on the moral level. It is not a
matter of doing what is right and avoiding what is wrong. Rather, because
of His love for us, we want to love. St Paul tells us that the only debt
we owe to each other is the debt of love. And when we love, there is no
law. So being loved by God is the strength by which we seek to do
justice and charity to our brothers and sisters.
Today, in the gospel,
we see Jesus as a man imbued with the mission of proclaiming the Good News.
He declared, “The Spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed
me.” Yes, Jesus has the Spirit and heart of the Father. For this
reason, He gave His whole life towards the proclamation of the Good News.
Yet, it is noteworthy that this happened only after His baptism and His return
from the desert experience. He was praying and fasting for forty days
before He returned “with the power of the Spirit in him.” We too cannot
be filled with the Spirit of the Lord and the heart and compassion of the
Father for our brothers and sisters unless we have met Him in prayer.
This, then, is the key to our mission of love and service to the world.
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP OF
SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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