20150513
EVANGELIZATION DEMANDS THE EXPLICIT PROCLAMATION OF
JESUS AS THE LORD AND SAVIOUR WITH THE HELP OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Readings at Mass
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First reading
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Acts
17:15,22-18:1 ©
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Paul’s escort took
him as far as Athens, and went back with instructions for Silas and Timothy to
rejoin Paul as soon as they could.
So Paul
stood before the whole Council of the Areopagus and made this speech:
‘Men of
Athens, I have seen for myself how extremely scrupulous you are in all
religious matters, because I noticed, as I strolled round admiring your sacred
monuments, that you had an altar inscribed: To An Unknown God. Well, the God
whom I proclaim is in fact the one whom you already worship without knowing it.
‘Since
the God who made the world and everything in it is himself Lord of heaven and
earth, he does not make his home in shrines made by human hands. Nor is he
dependent on anything that human hands can do for him, since he can never be in
need of anything; on the contrary, it is he who gives everything –
including life and breath – to everyone. From one single stock he not only
created the whole human race so that they could occupy the entire earth, but he
decreed how long each nation should flourish and what the boundaries of its
territory should be. And he did this so that all nations might seek the deity
and, by feeling their way towards him, succeed in finding him. Yet in fact he
is not far from any of us, since it is in him that we live, and move, and
exist, as indeed some of your own writers have said:
“We are all his
children.”
‘Since we are the
children of God, we have no excuse for thinking that the deity looks like
anything in gold, silver or stone that has been carved and designed by a man.
‘God
overlooked that sort of thing when men were ignorant, but now he is telling
everyone everywhere that they must repent, because he has fixed a day when the
whole world will be judged, and judged in righteousness, and he has appointed a
man to be the judge. And God has publicly proved this by raising this man from
the dead.’
At this mention
of rising from the dead, some of them burst out laughing; others said, ‘We
would like to hear you talk about this again.’ After that Paul left them, but
there were some who attached themselves to him and became believers, among them
Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman called Damaris, and others besides.
After
this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.
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Psalm
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Psalm
148:1-2,11-14 ©
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Your glory fills
all heaven and earth.
or
Alleluia!
Praise the Lord from
the heavens,
praise
him in the heights.
Praise him, all his
angels,
praise
him, all his host.
Your glory fills
all heaven and earth.
or
Alleluia!
All earth’s kings and
peoples,
earth’s
princes and rulers,
young men and
maidens,
old men
together with children.
Your glory fills
all heaven and earth.
or
Alleluia!
Let them praise the
name of the Lord
for he
alone is exalted.
The splendour of his
name
reaches
beyond heaven and earth.
Your glory fills
all heaven and earth.
or
Alleluia!
He exalts the
strength of his people.
He is the
praise of all his saints,
of the sons of
Israel,
of the
people to whom he comes close.
Your glory fills
all heaven and earth.
or
Alleluia!
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Col3:1
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Since you have been
brought back to true life with Christ,
you must look for the
things that are in heaven, where Christ is,
sitting at God’s
right hand.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Jn14:16
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Alleluia, alleluia!
I shall ask the
Father,
and he will give you
another Advocate
to be with you for
ever.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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John 16:12-15 ©
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Jesus said:
‘I still have many
things to say to you
but they would be too
much for you now.
But when the Spirit
of truth comes
he will lead you to
the complete truth,
since he will not be
speaking as from himself
but will say only
what he has learnt;
and he will tell you
of the things to come.
He will glorify me,
since all he tells
you
will be taken from
what is mine.
Everything the Father
has is mine;
that is why I said:
All he tells you
will be taken from
what is mine.’
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EVANGELIZATION DEMANDS THE EXPLICIT
PROCLAMATION OF JESUS AS THE LORD AND SAVIOUR WITH THE HELP OF THE HOLY
SPIRIT
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SCRIPTURE
READINGS: ACTS 17:15,
22-18:1; JN 16: 12-15
The
scripture readings of today are very instructive for us Christians in the work
of evangelization. This is particularly so when we speak so much about
inter-religious dialogue and respect for other religions. As a
consequence, Christians have become diffident or even indifferent in
proclaiming the centrality of Christian faith, namely, that Jesus is the Lord
and Savior of the world. Reduction of the identity and person of Christ
to one of the great prophets or teachers would be shortchanging our listeners.
How then does one go about this work of proclamation of Christ as the Saviour
of humanity?
Firstly,
we cannot but be amazed at St Paul’s ability and sensitivity to speak to such a
diverse crowd in his missionary journeys. He could communicate to both
the peasants and the educated class. Long before the Church spoke of the
need for inculturation, St Paul was able to incarnate the message of the gospel
according to the needs and mentality of the people without compromising the
centrality of Christian faith, namely, that Jesus is Lord.
In the
case of the highly cultural and sophisticated intellectuals of the people of
Athens, St Paul employed the use of reason to help them to come to faith in
Christ as the Saviour of humankind. Positively, he began by acknowledging,
recognizing and praising them for their love and worship of the Supreme God
even though unknown to them. He then drew the conclusion that since God
is the creator of all things that exist; He does not “make his home in shrines
made by human hands. Nor is he dependent on anything that human hands can do
for him.”
On the
contrary, this God, although so great and omnipotent, chose to live in
us. Indeed, “he is not far from any of us, since it is in him that we
live, and move, and exist, as indeed some of your own writers have said: ‘We
are all his children.’” And because He lives in us, He Himself has
appointed the man, Jesus to be His Judge and the Savior of the world.
Jesus as the personal representative of God is proven by His passion, death and
resurrection. As Jesus declared, “Everything the Father has is mine.”
Indeed,
the centrality of the Christian faith is the proclamation of the death and
resurrection of Jesus. Why is this so important? Because the truth
of the Christian Faith stands or falls with this proclamation! If He is
Lord, then we must therefore take His life and all His teachings seriously.
His
death and resurrection also means that this is the way to salvation. His
death reveals to us the consequences of sin, selfishness and pride. But
the resurrection also reveals to us that God has the last word and that He can
overcome death and suffering. Most of all, in His death and resurrection,
God is revealed as unconditional love and forgiveness. It is this experience
of the unimaginable love of God in Christ Jesus that will change us because of
the love we have received from Him.
However,
this fundamental proclamation that Jesus is risen and therefore Lord is also
the greatest scandal and difficulty for unbelievers. They can accept that
Jesus was a good man or a good teacher, but not the Lord. It is absurd
and against logic to believe that God could become man and worse still, to be
crucified and be raised! Hence, it was not surprising that when Paul
reached the heart of his proclamation, he received half-hearted and a negative
response to his teaching. Indeed already, “At this mention of rising from
the dead, some of them burst out laughing; others said, ‘We would like to hear
you talk about this again … but there were some who attached themselves to him
and became believers.”
Apparently,
therefore he met with little success. The most polite response was that
they would think about it. Others actually made fun of his
teaching. Nevertheless, a few did respond positively. All in
all, it could be said to be a failure as most were not convinced. Perhaps
for this reason, we read that “after this Paul left Athens and went to
Corinth.”
Why was
it so difficult for them to believe that the Lord is risen? The truth is
that believe in the resurrection of the Lord requires faith. Reason can
only supply the foundations for faith. But reason cannot be substituted
for faith. Reason at most can help us to recognize that God exists, but
the inner life of God is only known through revelation. Thus, the resurrection
cannot be proven but must be received by faith in the testimonies of those who
have seen Him and through the help of the Holy Spirit.
The
gospel tells us that without the grace of faith from the Holy Spirit, we cannot
hear the interior words of Jesus. The Holy Spirit enlightens our hearts
and opens our ears to accept Jesus and to confess Him as the Lord. This
is because He is the Spirit who leads us to the complete truth, since “he will
not be speaking as from himself but will say only what he has learnt; and he
will tell you of the things to come.”
For
this reason, Jesus in today’s gospel prepares His disciples to receive the Holy
Spirit. There were things He said to His disciples which they also could not
understand or accept. He said to them, “I still have many things to say
to you but they would be too much for you now.” Jesus knew better that
without the illumination of the Holy Spirit, we will not be able to comprehend
heavenly things. Only the Holy Spirit who comes to glorify Jesus and make
known Jesus to us can reveal to us who Jesus is. Yes, the Holy Spirit
does not come to reveal himself but to reveal Jesus “since all he tells you
will be taken from what is mine.”
Tomorrow
we will celebrate the feast of Ascension where Jesus enters into His
glory. On account of His exaltation and restoration to share in His
Father’s glory, He will send us the Holy Spirit to empower us in the work of
evangelization. Appropriately, after the Ascension, the Church invites us
to have a Novena to the Holy Spirit so that we can prepare for the fullness of
His coming at Pentecost.
Yes, we
must never think that the work of evangelization is simply our human
effort. We must not think that the success of our proclamation is simply
the result of hard work, great and scholarly ideas, eloquent preaching and
strategy. Nay, notwithstanding all these, it is the work of God, not the
work of man. If God does not grace our listeners and if the Holy Spirit
does not enlighten them, they would not be able to come to faith. That is
why we must pray as much as we preach or work.
Indeed,
the Holy Father in his address to the Pontifical Mission Societies underscores
that “The real missionary is the saint and the world needs saintly
missionaries.” It is prayer and holiness of the missionary that will
convert the hearts of people. He said, “The secret to a true and
efficacious evangelization is in the search for holiness. The Church and the
world need credible witnesses of love for God and a life of holiness. It is in
the contemplation of Christ’s face that we are filled with an irrepressible
passion to preach Him and give Him to others and recognize Him in the face of
the poor and suffering. Only if one is led by the Spirit, can he truly
experience the depth of Christ’s love, the source of the fruitfulness of the
mission and testimony that should fill the Church and the world with the aroma
of Christ (cf. 2 Cor 2:14-15).”
Let us
work with all our might but depend totally on His Spirit to bring about the
conversion of hearts.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh
Roman
Catholic Archbishop of Singapore
© All Rights Reserved
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