ENTERING INTO THE KERGYMA, THE SALVIFIC EVENT

20150721 ENTERING INTO THE KERGYMA, THE SALVIFIC EVENT

Readings at Mass

First reading

Exodus 14:21-15:1 ©

Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove back the sea with a strong easterly wind all night, and he made dry land of the sea. The waters parted and the sons of Israel went on dry ground right into the sea, walls of water to right and to left of them. The Egyptians gave chase: after them they went, right into the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

  In the morning watch, the Lord looked down on the army of the Egyptians from the pillar of fire and of cloud, and threw the army into confusion. He so clogged their chariot wheels that they could scarcely make headway. ‘Let us flee from the Israelites,’ the Egyptians cried. ‘The Lord is fighting for them against the Egyptians!’

  ‘Stretch out your hand over the sea,’ the Lord said to Moses, ‘that the waters may flow back on the Egyptians and their chariots and their horsemen.’

  Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and, as day broke, the sea returned to its bed. The fleeing Egyptians marched right into it, and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the very middle of the sea. The returning waters overwhelmed the chariots and the horsemen of Pharaoh’s whole army, which had followed the Israelites into the sea; not a single one of them was left. But the sons of Israel had marched through the sea on dry ground, walls of water to right and to left of them.

  That day, the Lord rescued Israel from the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. Israel witnessed the great act that the Lord had performed against the Egyptians, and the people venerated the Lord; they put their faith in the Lord and in Moses, his servant.

  It was then that Moses and the sons sang this song in honour of the Lord:

Canticle

Exodus 15 ©

I will sing to the Lord, glorious his triumph!

At the breath of your anger the waters piled high;

  the moving waters stood up like a dam.

The deeps turned solid in the midst of the sea.

  The enemy said: ‘I will pursue and overtake them,

I will divide my plunder, I shall have my will.

  I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.’

I will sing to the Lord, glorious his triumph!

You blew with your breath, the sea closed over them.

  They went down like lead into the mighty waters.

  You stretched forth your hand, the earth engulfed them.

I will sing to the Lord, glorious his triumph!

You will lead your people and plant them on your mountain,

  the place, O Lord, where you have made your home.

  the sanctuary, Lord, which your hands have made.

I will sing to the Lord, glorious his triumph!

Gospel Acclamation

1Jn2:5

Alleluia, alleluia!

Whenever anyone obeys what Christ has said,

God’s love comes to perfection in him.

Alleluia!

Or

Jn14:23

Alleluia, alleluia!

If anyone loves me he will keep my word,

and my Father will love him,

and we shall come to him.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Matthew 12:46-50 ©

Jesus was speaking to the crowds when his mother and his brothers appeared; they were standing outside and were anxious to have a word with him. But to the man who told him this Jesus replied, ‘Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?’ And stretching out his hand towards his disciples he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother.’

ENTERING INTO THE KERGYMA, THE SALVIFIC EVENT

SCRIPTURE READINGS: Ex 14:21-15:1; Exodus 15; Mt 12:46-50

In the gospel, the evangelist noted that when Jesus was speaking to the crowds, “his mother and his brothers appeared; they were standing outside and were anxious to have a word with him.”   It is not insignificant that the relatives of Jesus were outside the circle. (cf Mk 3:31)  In St Mark’s gospel, he tells us the reason why the family members wanted to bring Jesus back home.   Jesus went home and “the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for people were saying, “He is beside himself.”  (Mark 3:20f)  This charge against Jesus is supported by the fact that the religious leaders also alleged that Jesus casted out the evil spirits through Beelzebul, the prince of demons.  (Mt 12:32//Mk 3:20-27)  It must be noted that both of these charges were similar because it was commonly believed that one who suffered a mental illness was possessed by the devil.

The significance of those “being outside” means those who do not know Jesus spiritually will not be able to understand Him.  Natural family relationship alone will not suffice for one to know Jesus even if we were His own relatives.  Indeed, only those who were seated around Jesus (twice, in Mk 3:32, 33) could accept Jesus’ teaching and therefore belong to the family of Jesus.   Out of respect, in St Matthew’s gospel, the harsh tone towards Mary was softened by not referring to the disciples as sitting inside, but simply having Jesus say, “Who is my mother?  Who are my brothers?’”  In other words, only those who are in union in mind and heart, not so much biological connection, that make us true disciples of Jesus.   This is true of us baptized Catholics as well.  Just because we are baptized does not mean that we know Jesus or have experienced His saving love or are in union with Him in mind and heart.   It is not enough to be ritually baptized but truly baptized in Christ, sharing His death and resurrection, one in mind and heart with Jesus.

Indeed, the experience of Jesus being misunderstood even by His own relatives is not surprising.  Even today, those of us who have had a personal encounter with the Lord should not expect to be understood by those who have not had a similar encounter.  Indeed, it is frustrating for someone who has experienced God’s love so deeply to express this joy and experience with others, especially non-believers.  At best they will listen to us with respect but they will remain skeptical and most likely classify us as being too emotional or hallucinating, or worse still, have gone bonkers like Jesus!  This has always been the case of mystics and founders of religious congregations.  St Francis was thought to be mad by his parents and relatives, so too were the seers of Fatima.  When such a situation happens, we should not react with anger or disappointment because they are not able to feel with us since they are outside the realm of faith and a God-experience.  Until they have gone through such a God-encounter or Christ experience, they will remain “outside” and we remain an enigma to them.

Consequently, what binds us together as a family of God, a spiritual family, is our common experience of God in our lives.  But it is more than a common experience.  It must be a kergymatic experience, that is, an experience of the saving grace and mercy of God personally in our lives.  For the Israelites, their kergymatic experience is the memory of the Exodus when God delivered them from slavery by sending the angel to pass over the houses of the Hebrews so that their first-born were saved unlike the Egyptians; and most of all through His mighty hand, He worked wonders in leading them through the Red Sea into the Promised Land.

For us Christians, our common kerygmatic experience is the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus, and through Him, especially in His life, passion, death and resurrection.  Every Christian who is baptized is presumed to have entered into the kerygma, the passion, death and resurrection of the Lord.  He must have come to a personal conviction of Christ as His Lord and Saviour.  Without an experience of the kerygma, that is the saving grace of God through Christ the mercy and compassion of God, we will not be able to appreciate what it means to be saved or how Christ is our Saviour.  Until we come to realize how inadequate and helpless we are without Christ, we can never truly experience the saving grace of Christ.

So if we do not wish to remain outside the family of Jesus, the circle of faith, then we need to relive this kerygmatic experience of salvation if we were to enter into a personal relationship with the Lord.  How could this happen for us?  How can we get inside the heart of our Lord so that we can feel with Him in mind and in heart?

The Israelites and the Jews relive this salvific experience in the celebration of the Passover.   For all ages, they would recount this entire Exodus experience so that the people would remain grateful and obedient to the Lord their God.

For us Christians, we relive the kerygma experience in the celebration of the Eucharist which is the memorial of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection.  As St Paul says about the Eucharist, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” (1 Cor 11:26)  The Eucharist as the summit of worship and our kerygmatic experience must above all unite Catholics with each other and with the Lord.  This is true theologically and liturgically.  But can we truly say that every celebration of the Eucharist brings about an experience of the kerygma which we proclaim at Mass, “We proclaim your death, O Lord, and profess your resurrection, until you come again”?   Does the celebration of the Mass have an effect in our lives and bring about a real encounter with the Lord leading to a transformation of life?

The danger is that such celebrations can be reduced to mere rituals, routine and, worst of all, a superstitious exercise.  Even if the Eucharist is properly celebrated according to the rubrics, many of us are unable to enter into the passion, death and resurrection of the Lord.  In other words, we cannot connect with God at Mass and likewise in the recitation of the liturgy of hours, especially the psalms.  Some Catholics find the Mass boring and irrelevant.  It could be due to the lack of faith or negligence on our part.  Sometimes, the celebrant is ill prepared and undisposed for the celebration.  As a result, the Mass is celebrated in a perfunctory manner without devotion, love, fervor and breaking the Word of God in a meaningful way.  In a word, although we are physically present, we remain outside the circle and family of faith.  If we are merely observers, spectators during the liturgical celebration, we will not have a real experience of His love and presence, and we leave the service empty and unfulfilled.  We can receive communion but our hearts are far from God.

So the challenge is for us to see how we help our people to come into the inner circle of faith and the spiritual family.  How can we help them to encounter the Lord especially in worship?  We need to help them to enter into the experience of the kerygma.  This calls for a proclamation of the mercy and love of God in Christ.  It calls for the celebrant to connect the readings of the Mass with the love of Christ and with their lives.  The celebrant must help the worshippers to connect the saving mystery that is being celebrated in the context of Christ’s saving love for us.  It is for this reason that throughout the year we have different seasons and feasts to help us encounter the saving event of Christ in our lives.   We must of course do our part by preparing ourselves for the Eucharistic celebration by observing silence and creating a disposition to celebrate the Eucharist.  It would be most helpful if those who come for the Eucharistic celebration have already prayed over and meditated on the readings of the day in advance and not depend on the homily alone for the spiritual food for the day.

Finally, during the Eucharistic celebration, we must participate with our minds and hearts like the way the Hebrews sang their song of liberation in today’s responsorial psalm.  Without an active participation of the Eucharist, whether in prayer, worship, songs or sacramental gestures, we will delimit our personal experience of His love.  Choirs must bear in mind that their role is to help the congregation to pray and sing with their hearts and not reduce them to mere concert listeners without an active participation.  Choirs are not there to dominate the singing but to be a catalyst and involve all in the singing of the hymns.   When the Eucharist or the sacraments or the liturgy of the Hours are celebrated with a lively faith, understanding and active participation, our hearts will be touched by the Lord, and we will be moved to share the joy with others in Christian fellowship and charity.   As we share the love of Christ with others, this experience of God’s love is reinforced further.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore

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