20150420
BECOMING CHRIST THROUGH FAITH BY ACQUIRING HIS
SPIRIT IN THE EUCHARIST
Readings at Mass
First reading
|
Acts 6:8-15 ©
|
Stephen was filled
with grace and power and began to work miracles and great signs among the
people. But then certain people came forward to debate with Stephen, some from
Cyrene and Alexandria who were members of the synagogue called the Synagogue of
Freedmen, and others from Cilicia and Asia. They found they could not get the
better of him because of his wisdom, and because it was the Spirit that
prompted what he said. So they procured some men to say, ‘We heard him using
blasphemous language against Moses and against God.’ Having in this way turned
the people against him as well as the elders and scribes, they took Stephen by
surprise, and arrested him and brought him before the Sanhedrin. There they put
up false witnesses to say, ‘This man is always making speeches against this Holy
Place and the Law. We have heard him say that Jesus the Nazarene is going to
destroy this Place and alter the traditions that Moses handed down to us.’ The
members of the Sanhedrin all looked intently at Stephen, and his face appeared
to them like the face of an angel.
Psalm
|
Psalm
118:23-24,26-27,29-30 ©
|
They are happy
whose life is blameless.
or
Alleluia!
Though princes sit
plotting against me
I ponder
on your statutes.
Your will is my
delight;
your
statutes are my counsellors.
They are happy
whose life is blameless.
or
Alleluia!
I declared my ways
and you answered;
teach me
your statutes.
Make me grasp the way
of your precepts
and I
will muse on your wonders.
They are happy
whose life is blameless.
or
Alleluia!
Keep me from the way
of error
and teach
me your law.
I have chosen the way
of truth
with your
decrees before me.
They are happy
whose life is blameless.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel
Acclamation
|
Jn20:29
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
‘You believe, Thomas,
because you can see me.
Happy are those who
have not seen and yet believe.
Alleluia!
Or
|
Mt4:4
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
Man does not live on
bread alone,
but on every word
that comes from the mouth of God.
Alleluia!
Gospel
|
John 6:22-29 ©
|
After Jesus had fed
the five thousand, his disciples saw him walking on the water. Next day, the
crowd that had stayed on the other side saw that only one boat had been there,
and that Jesus had not got into the boat with his disciples, but that the disciples
had set off by themselves. Other boats, however, had put in from Tiberias, near
the place where the bread had been eaten. When the people saw that neither
Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into those boats and crossed to
Capernaum to look for Jesus. When they found him on the other side, they said
to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’
Jesus
answered:
‘I tell you most
solemnly,
you are not looking
for me because you have seen the signs
but because you had
all the bread you wanted to eat.
Do not work for food
that cannot last,
but work for food
that endures to eternal life,
the kind of food the
Son of Man is offering you,
for on him the
Father, God himself, has set his seal.’
Then they said to
him, ‘What must we do if we are to do the works that God wants?’ Jesus gave
them this answer, ‘This is working for God: you must believe in the one he has
sent.’
BECOMING
CHRIST THROUGH FAITH BY ACQUIRING HIS SPIRIT IN THE EUCHARIST
|
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: ACTS 4:23-31;
JOHN 3:1-8
What is
it that man fears most in life? It is death. For this reason, man
seeks security in prolonging his life. Naturally, the most fundamental
requirement for man to survive is food. Without physical sustenance, we
will die. But can food really bring life? Can material satisfaction
alone bring life? This is the question that Jesus is posing to us.
The truth is that no matter how much wealth and material things we have, our
life is never secure. Material wealth is false security.
This
explains why Jesus says, “Do not work for food that cannot last, but work for
food that endures to eternal life, the kind of food the Son of Man is offering
you, for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.” These words
were of course directed at the apostles who were still preoccupied with the
food after the multiplication of loaves. They were unable to go beyond
their earthly needs to see where true security lies. Of course, we are no
better than them. We are more concerned with our needs and present enjoyment
or happiness than about our eternal life.
Subsequently,
the next question is “what must we do if we are to do what God wants?” In
other words, what kind of work endures to eternal life? Jesus gave
them this answer, “This is working for God: you must believe in the one he has
sent.” It is strange that the work that is required for us is simply to
believe in Jesus, whom the Father has sent. Jesus was playing with the
word “work.” For the Jews, they believed that eternal life could be
merited through works such as the observance of the laws and the rituals.
But such kind of work only makes them proud and egoistic. Works therefore
are not only false security but also destructive for our well-being. Our
security therefore must lie in Christ alone who is sent by the Father. In
truth, to believe in Jesus is a more difficult task than to work for it
ourselves because we are not in control. We want to supplant the
authority of God.
Why is
it that only faith in Jesus as the One sent by Father can assure us of eternal
life? The point is that one is saved not by accumulating more wealth,
power or status or merit. One is saved by a relationship that recognizes
the supremacy of God’s sovereignty. Eternal life is a life lived
with God and in God. Such a life demands a relationship based on faith
alone. Through faith, we share in the life of Christ and in sharing that
life, produce good works, which are not works as such but the fruits of one’s
relationship with Christ. Such good works when performed will never
make us proud or arrogant because we know that they are possible only because
of God’s grace and Christ’s love at work in us. Indeed, in yesterday’s
gospel, St Peter was asked to follow Jesus only after he was affirmed in
love. And in that strength, we know that St Peter, formerly a coward, was
able to follow his master’s passion and death in a real way when he himself
suffered martyrdom too.
How,
then, can we find faith in Christ as the Son of the Father? Unlike the
disciples, we must go beyond the signs provided by the Lord. We have the
signs and affirmation of God’s love in our lives. We need only to count
our blessings, the miracles happening in our lives.
The
tragedy is that we are not sincere in our relationship with the Lord. We
are more interested in what He gives us and whether He fulfills our personal
gains, rather than whether we are growing in relationship with Him. Of
course, there are others like the Jewish leaders in the first reading who were
incensed enough to take revenge in the face of the signs performed by Stephen.
Today,
we are exhorted to imitate the faith of St Stephen, who is an exemplar of one
who has imitated Christ so faithfully, reproducing in himself the paschal
mystery of Christ. He was truly the other Christ, for in his docility to
the Spirit of the Risen Christ, and filled with His grace and power, he not
only perpetuated the works of the Lord through his miracles and signs performed
among the people, but he also testified with courage and tranquility before leaders
and rulers about Jesus. Indeed, his accusers “found they could not get
the better of him because of his wisdom, and because it was the Spirit that
prompted what he said.” It is even noted that when “the members of the
Sanhedrin all looked intently at Stephen, and his face appeared to them like
the face of an angel.” And like Jesus, in spite of false accusations, he
bore no hatred or malice towards his enemies except compassion and forgiveness.
How,
then, can we acquire the same Spirit of Jesus that St Stephen had? This
week the gospel readings will focus on the discourse on the Bread of
Life. If we are intent on having a portion of that Spirit of Jesus which
St Stephen received, then we must deepen our faith and love for the Bread of Life.
Jesus who is our Bread of Life, both in the Word of God and in the Eucharist,
impart to us His Spirit. By imbibing in His words and receiving Him in
the Eucharist, we too will be like St Stephen, filled with the Spirit of the
Risen Lord. Sharing in His life, we will then be able to share in His
death by following St Stephen and St Peter in giving our lives for others
through a life of selfless sacrifice and humble service for God and our
fellowmen.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh
Roman
Catholic Archbishop of Singapore
©
All Rights Reserved
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