20150318 GOD IS FAITHFUL TO US IN LOVE
Readings at Mass
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First reading
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Isaiah 49:8-15 ©
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Thus says the Lord:
At the favourable
time I will answer you,
on the day of
salvation I will help you.
(I have formed you
and have appointed you
as covenant of the
people.)
I will restore the
land
and assign you the
estates that lie waste.
I will say to the
prisoners, ‘Come out’,
to those who are in
darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
On every roadway they
will graze,
and each bare height
shall be their pasture.
They will never
hunger or thirst,
scorching wind and
sun shall never plague them;
for he who pities
them will lead them
and guide them to
springs of water.
I will make a highway
of all the mountains,
and the high roads
shall be banked up.
Some are on their way
from afar,
others from the north
and the west,
others from the land
of Sinim.
Shout for joy, you
heavens; exult, you earth!
You mountains, break
into happy cries!
For the Lord consoles
his people
and takes pity on
those who are afflicted.
For Zion was saying,
‘The Lord has abandoned me,
the Lord has
forgotten me.’
Does a woman forget
her baby at the breast,
or fail to cherish
the son of her womb?
Yet even if these
forget,
I will never forget
you.
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Psalm
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Psalm
144:8-9,13-14,17-18 ©
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The Lord is kind
and full of compassion.
The Lord is kind and
full of compassion,
slow to
anger, abounding in love.
How good is the Lord
to all,
compassionate
to all his creatures.
The Lord is kind
and full of compassion.
The Lord is faithful
in all his words
and
loving in all his deeds.
The Lord supports all
who fall
and
raises all who are bowed down.
The Lord is kind
and full of compassion.
The Lord is just in
all his ways
and
loving in all his deeds.
He is close to all
who call him,
who call
on him from their hearts.
The Lord is kind
and full of compassion.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Jn3:16
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Glory and praise to
you, O Christ!
God loved the world
so much that he gave his only Son:
everyone who believes
in him has eternal life.
Glory and praise to
you, O Christ!
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Or
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Jn11:25, 26
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Glory and praise to
you, O Christ!
I am the resurrection
and the life, says the Lord;
whoever believes in
me will never die.
Glory and praise to
you, O Christ!
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Gospel
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John 5:17-30 ©
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Jesus said to the
Jews, ‘My Father goes on working, and so do I.’ But that only made them even
more intent on killing him, because, not content with breaking the sabbath, he
spoke of God as his own Father, and so made himself God’s equal.
To this
accusation Jesus replied:
‘I tell you most
solemnly,
the Son can do
nothing by himself;
he can do only what
he sees the Father doing:
and whatever the
Father does the Son does too.
For the Father loves
the Son
and shows him
everything he does himself,
and he will show him
even greater things than these,
works that will
astonish you.
Thus, as the Father
raises the dead and gives them life,
so the Son gives life
to anyone he chooses;
for the Father judges
no one;
he has entrusted all
judgement to the Son,
so that all may
honour the Son
as they honour the
Father.
Whoever refuses
honour to the Son
refuses honour to the
Father who sent him.
I tell you most
solemnly,
whoever listens to my
words,
and believes in the
one who sent me,
has eternal life;
without being brought
to judgement
he has passed from
death to life.
I tell you most
solemnly,
the hour will
come – in fact it is here already –
when the dead will
hear the voice of the Son of God,
and all who hear it
will live.
For the Father, who
is the source of life,
has made the Son the
source of life;
and, because he is
the Son of Man,
has appointed him
supreme judge.
Do not be surprised
at this,
for the hour is
coming when the dead will leave their graves
at the sound of his
voice:
those who did good
will rise again to life;
and those who did
evil, to condemnation.
I can do nothing by myself;
I can only judge as I
am told to judge,
and my judging is
just,
because my aim is to
do not my own will,
but
the will of him who sent me.’
GOD
IS FAITHFUL TO US IN LOVE
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: ISAIAH 49:8-15; JOHN 5:17-30
If you are feeling
abandoned by the Lord and doubt His love for you because of the trials you are going
through in your life, then today’s scripture readings will be of great
consolation to you. The first reading from Deutero-Isaiah was written to the
Israelites in exile. Their city, Jerusalem, had been ravaged and in total
ruins. Those who escaped death were banished from their homeland and exiled to
Babylon. Like them, we too are living in exile in a foreign land because
of our sins or the sufferings we are going through. What is worse is that
the Lord seems to be so far away from us. He does not seem to hear our
cries and our prayers for mercy. In such a situation, it is only normal
for one to wonder whether this God cares for us at all and whether He could
answer our prayers. Indeed, that was what the Israelites were feeling when they
lamented, “Yahweh has abandoned me, the Lord has forgotten me.”
The assurance of the
Prophet to the exiled Israelites was that God does care. They must not
lose hope and trust that the Lord will deliver them. In fact, the prophet
portrayed for the Israelites in exile that God would once again show His
favour to them. “Thus says Yahweh: At the time of my favour I have
answered you, on the day of salvation I have helped you. I have formed you and
have appointed you to be the covenant for a people, to restore the land, to
return ravaged properties, to say to prisoners, ‘Come out,’ to those who are in
darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’”
Truly, God is always
faithful to His covenant. God’s love for Israel was always faithful
even when His people were not. He was patient with them as He is with us
also. He is totally unlike us because we are only loving and faithful to those
who reciprocate our love and fidelity. If, like the Israelites, we at times
feel abandoned by God, we must realize that it is not because God does not
care. Rather, through our sufferings and chastisement, God wants to lead
us back to Him by making us realize the consequences of our sins. He is
ever ready to take us back the moment we repent of our sins. This is
echoed by the Psalmist when he said, “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow
to anger and of great kindness. The Lord is good to all and compassionate
toward all his works. The Lord is faithful in all his words and holy in
all his works. The Lord lifts up all who are falling and raises up all who are
bowed down.”
For this reason, together
with the Israelites, we can truly rejoice. Isaiah says, “Shout for
joy, you heavens; earth, exult! Mountains, break into joyful cries! For Yahweh
has consoled his people, is taking pity on his afflicted ones … Can a woman
forget her baby at the breast, feel no pity for the child she has borne? Even
if these were to forget, I shall not forget you.” The answer is clear.
God will never forget us even if we were forgotten by our mothers who give
birth to us, which is quite unthinkable! God’s love for us is not only
like a Father who disciplines us, but He is also like a mother, rather, more
than a mother who would never abandon us regardless of how ungrateful we
are. How could a mother abandon her own child when her child is from her
own flesh and blood! Now, if that were true for a mother, God is saying
to us that we too are His children and because He is our Father, He will not
abandon us as well.
The truth about God’s
fidelity to us is confirmed by Christ in the gospel. Jesus, who is one
with the Father, has been sent to set us free from our misery and to give us
eternal life. He assures us that the Father never stops looking after
us, since His is always working. He said, “My father goes on working, and
so do I.” Indeed, since the beginning of creation, the Father has been
constantly at work to sustain us. More than that, through Jesus, the
Father wants to give us eternal life and a share of His life.
What is this life if not
that of the relationship between Jesus and His Father? If Jesus was able to do all the works
that He did and proclaimed the love of His Father, it was because Jesus is
totally identical with the Father in thinking and willing. He is truly
one with the Father in every way. His life is one of total dependence on
the Father’s love. This intrinsic unity between Jesus and the Father is
expressed in His obedience to the Father to the extent of His dying on the
cross for us so that we will come to know for certain the total love of the
Father.
This life however is
ours only if we believe in His Son, Jesus. “I tell you most solemnly, whoever
listens to my words, and believes in the one who sent me, has eternal life.”
What is the basis for us to believe in Jesus if not the fact that Jesus is the
self-communication of the Father? The gospel today speaks of this unity
of mind and will of Jesus with the Father in terms of doing whatever the Father
wills. “My aim is to do not my own will, but the will of him who sent
me.” Indeed, His authority and power come from the Father. “The Son
can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees the Father doing: and
whatever the Father does the Son does too. For the Father loves the Son and
shows him everything he does himself, and he will show him even greater things
than these, works that will astonish you.” Not only this, the Father also
gives the work of judgment to His Son and makes Him the source of life.
As Jesus said, “Thus, as the Father raises the dead and gives them life,
so the Son gives life to anyone he chooses; for the Father judges no one; he
has entrusted all judgement to the Son, so that all may honour the Son as they
honour the Father. …I tell you most solemnly, whoever listens to my words, and
believes in the one who sent me, has eternal life; without being brought to
judgement he has passed from death to life.”
Consequently, today if we
seek to have eternal life, we must also be totally submissive and obedient to
the Father’s will. If we are now in exile, it is because we have not
followed the path of sonship that Jesus has set out for us. As we approach
nearer the feast of the Easter, we must deepen our intimacy with the Lord so
that, like Jesus, we too will share in the mind and will of the Father.
In this way, we can truly become the image of His Son, which is to share in His
sonship and His intimacy with the Father. When we get to know the Father
more personally, then even during trials and persecutions, we will not be
disheartened or fearful or anxious, because we know that the Father is faithful
to us. He too will give us the power to do even greater works as Jesus
told us and thereby reveal His love to all of humanity. With the Father
and Jesus in our midst, we have nothing to fear about our future, for His love
in us and for us will help us to overcome all difficulties and suffering in
life.
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV
WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP
OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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