20150116 FAITH IN GOD AND HIS DIVINE PROVIDENCE AS THE KEY TO
FINDING ETERNAL REST
Readings at Mass
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First reading
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Hebrews 4:1-5,11
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Be careful: the
promise of reaching the place of rest that God had for the Israelites still
holds good, and none of you must think that he has come too late for it. We
received the Good News exactly as they did; but hearing the message did them no
good because they did not share the faith of those who listened. We, however,
who have faith, shall reach a place of rest, as in the text: And so, in
anger, I swore that not one would reach the place of rest I had for them.
God’s work was undoubtedly all finished at the beginning of the world; as one
text says, referring to the seventh day: After all his work God rested on
the seventh day. The text we are considering says: They shall not reach
the place of rest I had for them. We must therefore do everything we can to
reach this place of rest, or some of you might copy this example of
disobedience and be lost.
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Psalm
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Psalm 77:3-4,6-8
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Never forget the
deeds of the Lord.
The things we have
heard and understood,
the
things our fathers have told us,
these we will not
hide from their children
but will
tell them to the next generation:
Never forget the
deeds of the Lord.
the glories of the
Lord and his might
and the
marvellous deeds he has done,
that the next
generation might know it,
the
children yet to be born.
Never forget the
deeds of the Lord.
They too should arise
and tell their sons
that they
too should set their hope in God
and never forget
God’s deeds
but keep
every one of his commands,
Never forget the
deeds of the Lord.
so that they might
not be like their fathers,
a defiant
and rebellious race,
a race whose heart
was fickle,
whose
spirit was unfaithful to God.
Never forget the
deeds of the Lord.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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cf.Ep1:17,18
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Alleluia, alleluia!
May the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ
enlighten the eyes of
our mind,
so that we can see
what hope his call holds for us.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Lk7:16
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Alleluia, alleluia!
A great prophet has
appeared among us;
God has visited his
people.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 2:1-12 ©
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When
Jesus returned to Capernaum, word went round that he was back; and so many
people collected that there was no room left, even in front of the door. He was
preaching the word to them when some people came bringing him a paralytic
carried by four men, but as the crowd made it impossible to get the man to him,
they stripped the roof over the place where Jesus was; and when they had made
an opening, they lowered the stretcher on which the paralytic lay. Seeing their
faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, ‘My child, your sins are forgiven.’ Now
some scribes were sitting there, and they thought to themselves, ‘How can this
man talk like that? He is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God?’ Jesus,
inwardly aware that this was what they were thinking, said to them, ‘Why do you
have these thoughts in your hearts? Which of these is easier: to say to the
paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven” or to say, “Get up, pick up your stretcher
and walk”? But to prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to
forgive sins,’ – he turned to the paralytic – ‘I order you: get up,
pick up your stretcher, and go off home.’ And the man got up, picked up his
stretcher at once and walked out in front of everyone, so that they were all
astounded and praised God saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this.’
FAITH
IN GOD AND HIS DIVINE PROVIDENCE AS THE KEY TO FINDING ETERNAL REST
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: Heb 4:1-5.11; Mk 2:1-12
We are paralyzed by fear. Like the paralytic in today’s
gospel, although he was on the stretcher, presumably resting, yet he was
not! Patients in hospitals are all resting in bed, but in reality, they
are not. They are moaning, grumbling and impatient with everyone because
they live in fear of death, and the diagnosis of their illness, or whether they
can afford to pay the medical bill. So one can be at rest and yet not
restful.
This was the situation
of the Israelites
inferred in today’s first reading. God had just delivered them out of
their slavery in Egypt. They were slaves and had to work day and
night. God decided to bring them out to the desert to rest.
Instead, they complained against Moses and against God. Of course, in the
desert, one cannot expect to have discos and parties. The wilderness is
an invitation to be with God, with nature and with silence. But the
people remained restless because they were worried about their lack of water,
that they had no bread or no meat. So the desert experience did not bring
them rest.
In the final analysis, restfulness
has nothing to do with what we have or have not. It has to do with
the rest and peace in our minds and hearts. So how can we find rest and
security in life? We need to have faith in God and His divine providence.
That is why the author of Hebrews says, we “who have faith, shall reach a place
of rest.” Unfortunately, many of us are no better than the
Israelites. We do not have sufficient faith and trust in God.
Instead of relying on Him, we rely on human effort and ourselves. How
many of us would trust that God would help us in our difficulties? Isn’t
it true that we spend more time working at finding our own solutions to our
problems than praying before the Lord? Some of us might even feel that praying is
a waste of time.
This difficulty of
trusting that God can do the impossible and the right thing is poignantly
brought out in the gospel passage. The scribes knew that. Jesus knew that too.
If not why did the scribes think to themselves, “How can this man talk like
that? He is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God?” The
response of Jesus is even more telling for He said to them, “Why do you have
these thoughts in your hearts? Which of these is easier: to say to the
paralytic, “your sins are forgiven” or to say, “Get up, pick up your stretcher
and walk”? One would think that it is easier to say to someone “your sins
are forgiven” rather than “Get up, pick up your stretcher and walk”.
On the contrary, the subtle
message is that for both Jesus and the Scribes, they knew that the former is
more difficult to say than the latter. Why? Because most people do
not really believe in the love and forgiveness of God! It is difficult to
believe sincerely in our hearts that God loves us unconditionally,
whereas to get up and walk is not an impossible task. Prayers or even
autosuggestion can do the work. It is easier to rely on ourselves
and our human ingenuity than to rely on the providence of God. If the man
was paralyzed, it was because he was not able to forgive himself, since he
could not believe that God could forgive him. To believe from our hearts
that God forgives us is too good to be true, since in human relationships, we
are hardly loved and forgiven unconditionally. Hence, the gospel says that
in order for Jesus “to prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth
to forgive sins,’ – he said to the paralytic – ‘I order you: get up, pick up
your stretcher, and go off home.’”
In contrast, we have the
example of the four men who carried the paralytic to where Jesus was teaching.
They were people of tremendous faith in Jesus. They were able to surmount
all difficulties only because they had faith. They did not easily get
discouraged, unlike the Israelites in the desert. Their faith enabled them
to be creative and resourceful. When they saw the crowd blocking the
front of the door, they did not give up hope of bringing the paralytic to
Jesus. Instead, they thought of the ingenious way of stripping “the roof
over the place where Jesus was and when they had made an opening, they lowered
the stretcher on which the paralytic lay.”
Yes, today, we need acquire
this kind of faith. Only trust in Him and His power can deliver us
from our fears and anxieties. So how can this faith be ours? We
need to hear the Word as the gospel tells us. Listening to the Word
attentively will open our hearts to faith and faith will lead to prayer.
In prayer, we will come to remember the deeds of God. Indeed, if we are
fearful, it is because, as the responsorial psalm tells us, we have forgotten
the deeds of God. Like them, we are rebellious, defiant and unfaithful to
Him. Indeed, the tragedy of Israel was that God had demonstrated His
power and love for them when He performed the miracles in Egypt by bringing
about the ten plagues and especially at the crossing of the Red Sea. Yet
in spite of the might of God shown to them in Egypt, they forgot His fidelity
and love for them. Instead, they grumbled at Him and showed that they did
not trust in Him.
Similarly, when we look at
our lives, we must realize that if God has been taking care of us all these
years, then we can be certain that He will continue to look after us this
year and the next, and many more years to come. By remembering the
deeds of God, we would then strengthen our hope in Him. It is because
we have forgotten what He had done for us in the past that we are now anxious
about our future. Hence, the psalmist reminds us “never forget God’s
deeds.” Instead, we must “tell them to the next generation; the glories
of the Lord and his might and the marvelous deeds he has done.” By
setting our hope in the Lord, we can then “keep every one of his commands.”
Yes, let us heed the words
of the writer to the Hebrews “Be careful: the promise of reaching the place
of rest God had for the Israelites still holds good, and none of you must think
that he has come too late for it. We received the Good News exactly
as they did; but hearing the message did them no good because they did not
share the faith of those who listened.” Indeed, we receive this promise
when we commit ourselves to the Lord. By virtue of being chosen in Him,
God has promised us a share in the life of His Son. Hence, “we must
therefore do everything we can to reach this place of rest, or some of you
might copy this example of disobedience and be lost.” If, like Jesus, we
commend our lives to God in faith and trust even when we are hanging on the
cross, then God will raise us from the dead and give us fullness of life and
rest. Let us surrender ourselves in faith to His love for us so that we will
not continue to live in sin, especially the sin of disobedience that comes from
fear and anxiety.
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV
WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP
OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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