20150425 FACING THE CHALLENGES IN THE PROCLAMATION OF THE GOOD NEWS

20150425 FACING THE CHALLENGES IN THE PROCLAMATION OF THE GOOD NEWS

Readings at Mass

First reading

1 Peter 5:5-14 ©

All wrap yourselves in humility to be servants of each other, because God refuses the proud and will always favour the humble. Bow down, then, before the power of God now, and he will raise you up on the appointed day; unload all your worries on to him, since he is looking after you. Be calm but vigilant, because your enemy the devil is prowling round like a roaring lion, looking for someone to eat. Stand up to him, strong in faith and in the knowledge that your brothers all over the world are suffering the same things. You will have to suffer only for a little while: the God of all grace who called you to eternal glory in Christ will see that all is well again: he will confirm, strengthen and support you. His power lasts for ever and ever. Amen.

  I write these few words to you through Silvanus, who is a brother I know I can trust, to encourage you never to let go this true grace of God to which I bear witness.

  Your sister in Babylon, who is with you among the chosen, sends you greetings; so does my son, Mark.

  Greet one another with a kiss of love.

Psalm

Psalm 88:2-3,6-7,16-17 ©

I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.

or

Alleluia!

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.

or

Alleluia!

The heavens proclaim your wonders, O Lord;

  the assembly of your holy ones proclaims your truth.

For who in the skies can compare with the Lord

  or who is like the Lord among the sons of God?

I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.

or

Alleluia!

Happy the people who acclaim such a king,

  who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face,

who find their joy every day in your name,

  who make your justice the source of their bliss.

I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.

or

Alleluia!

Gospel Acclamation

1Co1:23-24

Alleluia, alleluia!

We are preaching a crucified Christ,

who is the power and the wisdom of God.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Mark 16:15-20 ©

Jesus showed himself to the Eleven, and said to them: ‘Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation. He who believes and is baptised will be saved; he who does not believe will be condemned. These are the signs that will be associated with believers: in my name they will cast out devils; they will have the gift of tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and be unharmed should they drink deadly poison; they will lay their hands on the sick, who will recover.’

  And so the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven: there at the right hand of God he took his place, while they, going out, preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the signs that accompanied it.

FACING THE CHALLENGES IN THE PROCLAMATION OF THE GOOD NEWS

SCRIPTURE READINGS:  1 PT 5:5-14; Mk 16:15-20

Like the evangelist, this feast invites us to “Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation.”  No Christian must ever think that the work of evangelization is unimportant or irrelevant today, especially in the light of the recognition that God’s grace can reach out in ways unknown to us through non-Christian religions.  This fact does not diminish the truth that Jesus is Lord, the revealer of the Father and the revealed as established by His resurrection.  He is the Saviour of the world, the Way, the Truth and the Life.  St Peter declared, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) St Paul reiterated the universality of Christ as our Saviour when he wrote, “This is good, and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.  For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself, as a ransom for all.”  (1 Tim 2:4-5)  The words of the gospel remains true when Jesus said, “He who believes and is baptised is saved; he who does not believe will be condemned.”  Faith in Jesus is necessary for salvation.

However, baptism is not the same as proselytizing.  It is not a matter of making converts.  Baptism is more than just a ritual cleansing and external admission to the Church.  It is to embrace Christ as our Lord and Savior, accepting the gospel of repentance for our sins on account of the Good News that God has forgiven us our sins and set us free unconditionally.  More than that, the proclamation of the Good News is more than just mere words alone but in deeds.  The work of evangelization is more than just going around sharing the Word of God; it must be accompanied by actions and deeds.  The gospel reminds us that we must confirm “the word by the signs that accompany it.”  In some instances, the signs must precede the Word even.

In the final analysis, the proclamation of the Gospel is the sharing of Jesus, the Word of God made flesh.  It is to bring people into a personal encounter with Jesus as the Risen Lord and the Saviour of their lives.  Proclamation is of a person, Jesus who is the Christ.  It is for this reason that we must make Jesus alive in our lives and incarnated in our midst.  Christianity is not the propagation of an ideology or some kind of ethical values and social programs.  It is to reveal to the world that Jesus is Lord and that He is the compassion of the Father in person, the embodiment of the reign of God.

What are these signs that the believer and the evangelizer must produce to establish that Jesus is truly the Lord of all creation?  “These are the signs that will be associated with believers: in my name they will cast out devils; they will have the gift of tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and be unharmed should they drink deadly poison; they will lay their hands on the sick, who will recover.”  Concretely, it means that we are called to liberate humanity from being held in bondage by the Evil One, especially from their sins.

The disciples of Christ proclaimed the gospel by healing the sick, whether physical, emotional or psychological.   As Christians, we are called to proclaim the love and mercy of God through forgiveness, healing and reconciliation.  There are many people today who are deprived of the love of God.  Many are wounded in relationships and sick in the heart and mind.  Many are living lives of loneliness and rejection.  Christians are called to reach out to such people so that they come into contact with the love and mercy of God.  This is the promise of Christ when He said, “they will lay their hands on the sick, who will recover.”

However, the proclamation of the Gospel is never an easy task.  We must be ready to accept persecution from within and without.  St Peter reminds us that this is “because your enemy the devil is prowling round like a roaring lion, looking for someone to eat. Stand up to him, strong in faith and in the knowledge that your brothers all over the world are suffering the same things.”  We will face opposition when we try to speak the truth about Jesus.  Just trying to live the gospel life will bring about hostility, especially when the selfish interests of others are challenged.

But today, the scripture readings ask us to remain firm in the proclamation of the gospel.  In the face of difficulties, Jesus assures us, “they will pick up snakes in their hands, and be unharmed should they drink deadly poison.”   Indeed, God will protect us, as St Peter wrote, “Stand up to him, strong in faith and in the knowledge that your brothers all over the world are suffering the same things.”  Indeed, we must realize that being Christians require us to share the same rejection and suffering that our Lord Jesus went through for the sake of us sinners.  We take consolation that we are not alone in our sufferings but that Jesus and His Church are with us.  We do not suffer alone.   Many priests, bishops and Christians are suffering for their faith all over the world.  We just have to think how much our Holy Father is suffering today from the persecution of the world, all trying to discredit him.  Let us take consolation that even if we suffer, St Peter said, “You will have to suffer only for a little while: The God of all grace who called you to eternal glory in Christ will see that all is well again: he will confirm, strengthen and support you. His power lasts for ever and ever. Amen.”   Suffering is temporal and passing.  We must continue to trust in God and that Christ is all powerful and victorious.  Just as He overcomes sin and death, we too will triumph in Him. Indeed, we read that Jesus “was taken up to heaven: there at the right hand of God he took his place.”  Christ the Exalted One will see us through to the end.

In the meantime, we must remain humble as the servants of the gospel.  We should not be too unduly worried or anxious about the effectiveness of the gospel.  What we must do is to surrender our mission to the Father as Jesus did on the cross.  After all that we have done, we must realize that the work of conversion is the work of the Holy Spirit.  We must depend entirely on the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit to bring about conversion of heart.  One must never think that conversion is a matter of using the right techniques or a display of showmanship and eloquence.  It is solely His work and we are only His servants.  Indeed, the gospel makes it clear that if the gospel was preached to all nations, it was because “while they, going out, preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the signs that accompanied it.”

We must never allow our ego and impatience to deter us from being servants of the gospel.  in the face of failure in their mission, so many Christians give up easily.  That is why we must, as St Peter warns us, to be alert of the temptations of the evil one.  He wrote, “Be calm but vigilant, because your enemy the devil is prowling round like a roaring lion, looking for someone to eat.”  So we must be watchful and not to be too anxious about success. Rather, we should be concerned about doing the will of God.  As Blessed Mother Teresa reminded us, we are called to be faithful, not successful. Let us learn perseverance from the examples of the Christians who suffered persecution for Christ.

Most of all, we must take courage and be in solidarity with our fellow Christians.  We must avoid infighting among ourselves.  We should desire to serve God alone and all for His glory.  It does not matter who gets the credit.  What is important is that God’s kingdom is served. The sad reality is that we allow the Devil to sow the work of division among ourselves, workers in the vineyard of the Lord.  Instead of supporting each other and affirming each other in this daunting task of serving the Lord and extending the Good News, we allow the Devil to use us to harm each other by words, deeds and manipulation because of our ego, ambition and selfish interests.

As collaborators in the work of the gospel, let us work together in communion and in love, encouraging each other the same way St Peter encouraged the early Christians in communion and love, saying, “I write these few words to you through Silvanus, who is a brother I know I can trust, to encourage you never to let go this true grace of God to which I bear witness.  Your sister in Babylon, who is with you among the chosen, sends you greetings; so does my son, Mark.”  The mission of the Church must be accomplished in communion, otherwise we contradict the very gospel we are proclaiming, which is communion with the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit, and our communion with each other.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore

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