20150515 THE INDWELLING PRESENCE OF JESUS AS THE CAUSE OF OUR PERMANENT JOY IN THE WORLD

20150515 THE INDWELLING PRESENCE OF JESUS AS THE CAUSE OF OUR PERMANENT JOY IN THE WORLD

Readings at Mass

First reading

Acts 18:9-18 ©

At Corinth one night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision, ‘Do not be afraid to speak out, nor allow yourself to be silenced: I am with you. I have so many people on my side in this city that no one will even attempt to hurt you.’ So Paul stayed there preaching the word of God among them for eighteen months.

  But, while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a concerted attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal. ‘We accuse this man’ they said ‘of persuading people to worship God in a way that breaks the Law.’ Before Paul could open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, ‘Listen, you Jews. If this were a misdemeanour or a crime, I would not hesitate to attend to you; but if it is only quibbles about words and names, and about your own Law, then you must deal with it yourselves-I have no intention of making legal decisions about things like that.’ Then he sent them out of the court, and at once they all turned on Sosthenes, the synagogue president, and beat him in front of the court house. Gallio refused to take any notice at all.

  After staying on for some time, Paul took leave of the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had his hair cut off, because of a vow he had made.

Psalm

Psalm 46:2-7 ©

God is king of all the earth.

or

Alleluia!

All peoples, clap your hands,

  cry to God with shouts of joy!

For the Lord, the Most High, we must fear,

  great king over all the earth.

God is king of all the earth.

or

Alleluia!

He subdues peoples under us

  and nations under our feet.

Our inheritance, our glory, is from him,

  given to Jacob out of love.

God is king of all the earth.

or

Alleluia!

God goes up with shouts of joy;

  the Lord goes up with trumpet blast.

Sing praise for God, sing praise,

  sing praise to our king, sing praise.

God is king of all the earth.

or

Alleluia!

Gospel Acclamation

Jn14:26

Alleluia, alleluia!

The Holy Spirit will teach you everything

and remind you of all I have said to you.

Alleluia!

Or	cf.Lk24:46,26

Alleluia, alleluia!

It was ordained that the Christ should suffer

and rise from the dead,

and so enter into his glory.

Alleluia!

Gospel

John 16:20-23 ©

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘I tell you most solemnly,

you will be weeping and wailing

while the world will rejoice;

you will be sorrowful,

but your sorrow will turn to joy.

A woman in childbirth suffers,

because her time has come;

but when she has given birth to the child she forgets the suffering

in her joy that a man has been born into the world.

So it is with you: you are sad now,

but I shall see you again, and your hearts will be full of joy,

and that joy no one shall take from you.

When that day comes,

you will not ask me any questions.’

THE INDWELLING PRESENCE OF JESUS AS THE CAUSE OF OUR PERMANENT JOY IN THE WORLD

SCRIPTURE READINGS: ACTS 18:9-18; JN 16:20-23

It is understandable why the disciples were feeling rather sad as Jesus was not only leaving them but that he had to suffer an ignominious and tragic end.  The hostility between the authorities and Jesus was growing each day and His death seems imminent and inevitable.   Within this context, Jesus tried to reassure His disciples that their sorrow will turn into joy.

Indeed, it is one of the characteristics of human beings that we have a natural capacity to be open for new life and to forget our past.  It is this capacity that enables us to live in the midst of our struggles.  So long as we continue to endure, we can hope that one day the storms will end and sunshine would be here again.  And most of us have not been proven wrong.  Yesterday, we might have suffered a set-back in our project, business or career but through endurance and patience, we find that by picking up the pieces, success or fortune returns.  This is also true in relationships.   In going through bereavement, we cannot but yearn for the physical presence of our loved one.  But time heals because as we get back to life and start involving ourselves in other activities; very soon, we learn to live without the person and find that there are so many other ways to be happy and joyful.  We learn to live our lives meaningfully again.  So too in a broken relationship!  When we are having great difficulties living or relating with a person, we become bitter as a result of misunderstandings, accusations and harsh words that were spoken.  But once we become reconciled, all the pains and hurts are forgotten and we remember the good days again.

Indeed, if we were unable to go beyond our sufferings, it would be tragic for us.  By not looking beyond our world and our sufferings, depression will eventually set in.  Many people just cannot leave their past behind.  They cannot forgive their own mistakes or the mistakes of others.  They continue to harbour negative thoughts in their minds.  For such people, life has stopped.  They are not open to the newness of life, the unimaginable things that can happen and which God wants to give them.  Unfortunately, they only cling to what it might have been and what they have lost.  They cannot see that to leave something and someone is also to begin another new experience.   Indeed, we feel sorry for such people because they only know how to wallow in their miseries, unable to come out from the tombs that they have built for themselves.

But even if we were able to be positive and overcome our setbacks and mistakes, we cannot call this something exceptional or even really Christian.  For this is only natural, as Jesus tells us in today’s gospel. This natural tendency to forget about our sufferings when the joy returns is what Jesus said.  We are just like those women in childbirth who suffer; but after giving birth, they forget their sufferings because of the joy of a child.

But such kind of joy cannot be truly called Christian joy.  If happiness and joy were dependent on whether we are successful then we would be the most miserable people in the world.  For then, joy would be so illusive and temporary.  This would contradict Jesus’ promise in the gospel that our “hearts will be full of joy and that joy no one” shall take from us.  So, Christian joy is a permanent joy.  It is a joy even in sufferings.  When we consider the lives of the early Christians and even many Christians today, although not spared of sufferings and trials in life, yet they remained generally tranquil and peaceful.  Yes, even St Paul, in all his missionary journeys, when he had to encounter hostile forces and people who were against his preaching, he remained firm and calm in the face of opposition.

What, then, is the secret of this lasting joy that is full?  The key to this joy is seeing Jesus.  Yes, only an encounter with the Risen Lord can empower us to remain faithful and strong, especially when things are against us.  Unless our experience of the Risen Lord is real in our lives, we will not have the hope and courage to remain at peace within ourselves when we meet with problems.  But if the Risen Lord is experienced so intimately in us, then we know there is nothing to fear.  If the Lord is risen and is already seated at the right hand of the Father after putting all things, especially sin and death under His feet, then why should we worry?  On the contrary, we know that everything is in God’s hands and He will somehow see us through.  And indeed is this not the case for those who have faith in Jesus?  For quite often, from hindsight, we understand why we have to go through certain trials and difficulties in life.

Indeed, when we meet the Lord personally in our lives, then, as Jesus promised us, “when that day comes you will not ask me any questions.”  How is that so?  Because when we see how powerfully He is at work in us and in our lives, we will have no more questions and doubts, since His very presence and love is the ultimate guarantee that He is with us.  What we need in life is not answers to our problems.  What we really need is to know that people care and that God cares for us.  With this reassurance, we are ready to accept the mysteries of life.  Truly, if St Paul were able to have such confidence in his missions, it was because of the vision that he had received from the Lord who spoke to him, “Do not be afraid to speak out, nor allow yourself to be silenced: I am with you.”

Hence, we need to be more prayerful during these last few days of the Easter season in preparation for the Feast of Pentecost.  Only with the Holy Spirit, can the Lord become so present to us and in us that we will never doubt He is with us.  Yes, let us always, especially in our difficult moments, remind ourselves that He is with us.  Clinging in faith to the promise of the Risen Lord, we can then remain at peace even in the midst of the storms of life.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore

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