20150503 COMMUNION IN MISSION: ROOTED IN CHRIST AND HIS CHURCH

20150503 COMMUNION IN MISSION: ROOTED IN CHRIST AND HIS CHURCH

Readings at Mass

First reading

Acts 9:26-31 ©

When Saul got to Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him: they could not believe he was really a disciple. Barnabas, however, took charge of him, introduced him to the apostles, and explained how the Lord had appeared to Saul and spoken to him on his journey, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. Saul now started to go round with them in Jerusalem, preaching fearlessly in the name of the Lord. But after he had spoken to the Hellenists, and argued with them, they became determined to kill him. When the brothers knew, they took him to Caesarea, and sent him off from there to Tarsus.

  The churches throughout Judaea, Galilee and Samaria were now left in peace, building themselves up, living in the fear of the Lord, and filled with the consolation of the Holy Spirit.

Psalm

Psalm 21:26-28,30-32 ©

You, Lord, are my praise in the great assembly.

or

Alleluia!

My vows I will pay before those who fear him.

  The poor shall eat and shall have their fill.

They shall praise the Lord, those who seek him.

  May their hearts live for ever and ever!

You, Lord, are my praise in the great assembly.

or

Alleluia!

All the earth shall remember and return to the Lord,

  all families of the nations worship before him;

They shall worship him, all the mighty of the earth;

  before him shall bow all who go down to the dust.

You, Lord, are my praise in the great assembly.

or

Alleluia!

And my soul shall live for him, my children serve him.

  They shall tell of the Lord to generations yet to come,

declare his faithfulness to peoples yet unborn:

  ‘These things the Lord has done.’

You, Lord, are my praise in the great assembly.

or

Alleluia!

Second reading

1 John 3:18-24 ©

My children,

our love is not to be just words or mere talk,

but something real and active;

only by this can we be certain

that we are children of the truth

and be able to quieten our conscience in his presence,

whatever accusations it may raise against us,

because God is greater than our conscience and he knows everything.

My dear people,

if we cannot be condemned by our own conscience,

we need not be afraid in God’s presence,

and whatever we ask him,

we shall receive,

because we keep his commandments

and live the kind of life that he wants.

His commandments are these:

that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ

and that we love one another

as he told us to.

Whoever keeps his commandments

lives in God and God lives in him.

We know that he lives in us

by the Spirit that he has given us.

Gospel Acclamation

Jn15:4,5

Alleluia, alleluia!

Make your home in me, as I make mine in you.

Whoever remains in me bears fruit in plenty.

Alleluia!

Gospel

John 15:1-8 ©

Jesus said:

‘I am the true vine,

and my Father is the vinedresser.

Every branch in me that bears no fruit

he cuts away,

and every branch that does bear fruit

he prunes to make it bear even more.

You are pruned already,

by means of the word that I have spoken to you.

Make your home in me, as I make mine in you.

As a branch cannot bear fruit all by itself,

but must remain part of the vine,

neither can you unless you remain in me.

I am the vine,

you are the branches.

Whoever remains in me, with me in him,

bears fruit in plenty;

for cut off from me you can do nothing.

Anyone who does not remain in me

is like a branch that has been thrown away – he withers;

these branches are collected and thrown on the fire,

and they are burnt.

If you remain in me

and my words remain in you,

you may ask what you will

and you shall get it.

It is to the glory of my Father that you should bear much fruit,

and then you will be my disciples.’

COMMUNION IN MISSION: ROOTED IN CHRIST AND HIS CHURCH

SCRIPTURE READINGS: Acts 9:26-31; PS 21:26-28,30-32; 1 John 3:18-24; John 15:1-8

We read of the dramatic conversion of St Paul.  He was once a persecutor of the Christians.  But one day on his way to persecute the Christians at Damascus, the Lord appeared to Him.  That encounter with the Lord was a life-changing experience.  His life was never the same again.  He was struck blind temporarily by the light of truth, the light of Christ.   He was enlightened on his ignorance about the Christians, symbolized by his blindness and regaining of his sight.  He was forgiven and later on, from persecutor turned missionary and preacher for Christ. 

What does it take to have this new life?  When we have a kergymatic experience through faith in Christ’s love and mercy!  This is the only condition.  It is the experience of being loved, forgiven and healed by Christ.  This is what the kerygma is all about.   Justification is not through our efforts or merits.  No one can be saved by doing good works because we know that our hearts are never pure and what we do is not always without conditions.  Otherwise, many of us would be condemned by our conscience.  John assures us, “My dear people, if we cannot be condemned by our own conscience, we need not be afraid in God’s presence and whatever we ask him, we shall receive, because we keep his commandments and live the kind of life that he wants.”   The only way to calm our conscience is to rely not on our efforts and merits because we will never be good enough to go to heaven but to depend on His mercy and grace.

This explains why St John tells us this that “His commandments are these: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and that we love one another as he told us to.  Whoever keeps his commandments lives in God and God lives in him. We know that he lives in us by the Spirit that he has given us.”  Salvation and peace comes from believing in Christ who is the mercy of God and His forgiveness.  Realizing that we are always loved and forgiven in spite of our sinfulness, we now find the strength to keep His commandment of love.  We live a good life, the life of Christ, not out of fear or obligation but simply because we want to share the joy and love in our hearts.

What are the signs that we have had a real conversion experience?

The sure sign that we have encountered the Lord and had a conversion experience is firstly the change of lifestyle and the desire to be a disciple of the Lord.   We will not go back to that life of sin and slavery anymore, having tasted the joy and freedom of the life of the Spirit.  This was what we read about St Paul.   “When Saul got to Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him: they could not believe he was really a disciple.”  They could not believe that a persecutor of Christians could overnight be transformed to a disciple of the Lord.

Secondly, the corollary sign is that of evangelization.   If there is no real desire and passion to announce the Good News to others, it means that our conversion is weak.  If the experience is an overpowering experience, we will want to share with others simply out of love for others whom we hope might be able to also share our indescribable joy, peace and freedom. Once we are touched by the Lord, like St Paul, we want to proclaim the Good News about Jesus and give testimony to His work in our lives.  Indeed, we read “Saul now started to go round with them in Jerusalem, preaching fearlessly in the name of the Lord. But after he had spoken to the Hellenists, and argued with them, they became determined to kill him.”

Thirdly, it is to live a life of integrity.  “My dear people, if we cannot be condemned by our own conscience, we need not be afraid in God’s presence, and whatever we ask him, we shall receive, because we keep his commandments and live the kind of life that he wants.”  The proclamation of the Good News goes beyond words and sharing.  It involves living a life of love and compassion.  This is the clearest sign of conversion.  St John wrote, “My children, our love is not to be just words or mere talk, but something real and active; only by this can we be certain that we are the children of the truth.”  The proclamation of the truth when not matched with a life of truth puts our proclamation in question.  The early Christians could accept St Paul only because they saw a tremendous change in his lifestyle and most of all, his sincerity demonstrated by his actions.

However, this lifestyle cannot be taken for granted.  Conversion is an ongoing experience and process.   We need to grow in Christian maturity.  Consequently, we need to be intentional disciples like St Paul.  We need to be purified in our faith.  Jesus says, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that bears no fruit he cuts away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes to make it bear even more.”   There are still many areas in our lives that need healing.  We are like onions.  When one layer of skin is peeled away, we see another layer.  We have been putting on so many masks in lives.  We have allowed many hurtful incidents in our lives to be kept in our unconscious.  This causes us to react when we face new situations or respond with selfish motives.  So we all need pruning. 

Disciples of Christ, like St Paul, must take formation seriously.  The real problem with many of us after a conversion experience is the desire to spread the gospel.  Many are keen to help out in the Church ministry or to be involved in the social apostolate of mercy.  Such desires are certainly noble and must be commended.  Unfortunately, most of us are only interested to serve but do not have the foundation.  We want to serve before we are formed.  That was the same mistake of St Paul.  We read that several days later, he started to proclaim that Christ is the Son of God.  He was not only rejected by the people but also among the disciples of Christ.  Without a strong spiritual formation, the residues of the old Adam will come back to haunt us.  In the process of serving others, the old wounds will resurface as we meet other wounded people whom we try to help.  Instead of healing them, we become wounded ourselves because we are still not healed sufficiently to be wounded healers.

Consequently, we need first and foremost to be one with Christ.  Jesus said, “Make your home in me, as I make mine in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit all by itself, but must remain part of the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, with me in him, bears fruit in plenty; for cut off from me you can do nothing.”  We must always stay close to the Lord in prayer and in our life.

A strong prayer life demands a good foundation of the Word of God and a love for the Word.  We cannot grow and mature in faith unless we are pruned by the Word.  This was what Jesus said, “You are pruned already, by means of the word that I have spoken to you.” We must read the scriptures daily and be challenged, inspired and motivated by the Word of God.  Praying the scriptures is the way by which Christ speaks to us.

Secondly, we also must be grafted to the body of Christ, the Church.  We need to be in communion with the Church.  We have in the first reading, the kindness of Barnabas who introduced Paul to the community.  “Barnabas, however, took charge of him, introduced him to the apostles, and explained how the Lord had appeared to Saul and spoken to him on his journey, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.”  We need constant support from the Body of Christ.  We are not alone in the mission.  Without the acceptance of our fellow Catholics, the love of the community, we cannot carry out the mission of the Church.  We read that after Paul had spoken to the Hellenists, and argued with them, they became determined to kill him. When the brothers knew, they took him to Caesarea, and sent him off from there to Tarsus.”   It is the love and care of the Christian community that Christ becomes real to us and to others. 

We must therefore find a Catholic group or small community to belong to.   However, it is not a matter of being a member of a ministry or some church organizations.  More importantly, we need to belong to a cell group of four or five members who gather weekly to pray and share the Word of God together.  Without a community to support us, we will eventually stray from the truth because we are weak and easily distracted.  Jesus warns us, “Anyone who does not remain in me is like a branch that has been thrown away – he withers; these branches are collected and thrown on the fire, and they are burnt.”

Indeed, if we are faithful to what the Lord tells us in today’s gospel, then we can be sure our prayers will always be heard.  We are guaranteed of success in our mission.  “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask what you will and you shall get it. It is to the glory of my Father that you should bear much fruit, and then you will be my disciples.”  When the Word of Christ is in us, we share His mind and heart.  Whatever we do, it is with the same intention of Christ who comes to serve and not to be served.  With the Spirit of Christ in us, we live the life of Christ.  St John says, “Whoever keeps his commandments lives in God and God lives in him. We know that he lives in us by the Spirit that he has given us.”

Written by The Most Rev William Goh

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore

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