20151202 CHRIST THE HOPE OF OUR SALVATION
Readings at Mass
|
First reading
|
Isaiah 25:6-10 ©
|
On this mountain,
the Lord of hosts
will prepare for all peoples
a banquet of rich
food.
On this mountain he
will remove
the mourning veil
covering all peoples,
and the shroud
enwrapping all nations,
he will destroy Death
for ever.
The Lord will wipe
away
the tears from every
cheek;
he will take away his
people’s shame
everywhere on earth,
for the Lord has said
so.
That day, it will be
said: See, this is our God
in whom we hoped for
salvation;
the Lord is the one
in whom we hoped.
We exult and we
rejoice
that he has saved us.
|
Psalm
|
Psalm 22:1-6 ©
|
In the Lord’s own
house shall I dwell for ever and ever.
The Lord is my
shepherd;
there is
nothing I shall want.
Fresh and green are
the pastures
where he
gives me repose.
Near restful waters
he leads me,
to revive
my drooping spirit.
In the Lord’s own
house shall I dwell for ever and ever.
He guides me along
the right path;
he is
true to his name.
If I should walk in
the valley of darkness
no evil
would I fear.
You are there with
your crook and your staff;
with
these you give me comfort.
In the Lord’s own
house shall I dwell for ever and ever.
You have prepared a
banquet for me
in the
sight of my foes.
My head you have
anointed with oil;
my cup is
overflowing.
In the Lord’s own
house shall I dwell for ever and ever.
Surely goodness and
kindness shall follow me
all the
days of my life.
In the Lord’s own
house shall I dwell
for ever
and ever.
In the Lord’s own
house shall I dwell for ever and ever.
|
Gospel
Acclamation
|
Is33:22
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord is our
judge, the Lord our lawgiver,
the Lord our king and
our saviour.
Alleluia!
|
Or
|
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
Look, the Lord will
come to save his people.
Blessed those who are
ready to meet him.
Alleluia!
|
Gospel
|
|
Matthew 15:29-37
©
|
Jesus reached the
shores of the Sea of Galilee, and he went up into the hills. He sat there, and
large crowds came to him bringing the lame, the crippled, the blind, the dumb and
many others; these they put down at his feet, and he cured them. The crowds
were astonished to see the dumb speaking, the cripples whole again, the lame
walking and the blind with their sight, and they praised the God of Israel.
But
Jesus called his disciples to him and said, ‘I feel sorry for all these people;
they have been with me for three days now and have nothing to eat. I do not
want to send them off hungry, they might collapse on the way.’ The disciples
said to him, ‘Where could we get enough bread in this deserted place to feed
such a crowd?’ Jesus said to them, ‘How many loaves have you?’ ‘Seven’ they
said ‘and a few small fish.’ Then he instructed the crowd to sit down on the
ground, and he took the seven loaves and the fish, and he gave thanks and broke
them and handed them to the disciples who gave them to the crowds. They all ate
as much as they wanted, and they collected what was left of the scraps, seven
baskets full.
CHRIST
THE HOPE OF OUR SALVATION
|
|
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: IS 25:6-10;
PS 22:1-6; MT 15:29-37
What
the world needs most today is hope. Truly, many people live without much
hope for tomorrow. They do not have a future. Some are just
dragging their feet each day, going through the drudgery of life, and drifting
through life. They live without purpose and without meaning. At the
same time, we have to contend with life’s challenges, pain and sicknesses,
division, injustices, betrayals, addictions, work and financial difficulties.
Indeed, when you are left alone, because your spouse has left you and even your
children, upon growing up, have abandoned you, life becomes empty and
meaningless.
If we
are in this situation, then the scripture readings present Jesus as our Hope.
Advent is a season of Hope. We are asked to look forward to the New
Year with hope and confidence. This hope is not an imaginary paradise but
based on Christ who is the Hope of humanity. Indeed, He is the
fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah who said: “That day, it will be said:
See, this is our salvation; the Lord is the one in whom we hoped. We exult and
we rejoice that he has saved us; for the hand of the Lord rests on this
mountain.”
How is
Jesus the fulfillment of the Hope of Israel and that of humanity?
Firstly,
Jesus is the New Moses who will shepherd His people, the One who will ascend
the Mountain of Jerusalem. St Matthew deliberately mentioned at the beginning
of the gospel that when “Jesus reached the shores of the Sea of Galilee… he
went up into the hills.” Going up to the hill to teach reminds us of
Moses who went up to Mount Sinai to receive the Commandments from God.
Jesus is the teacher of the New Covenant, just as Moses was the teacher of the
Old Covenant. That is why we sing in the responsorial psalm.
“The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. Fresh and green are
the pastures where he gives me repose. Near restful waters he leads me, to
revive my drooping spirit.” In fact, in the gospel, we have Jesus
who sat down like a teacher and taught the crowd for three days and they
listened to Him attentively, almost as if they were on a retreat with the Lord.
Secondly,
Jesus is the fulfillment of the One who gives hope to us by leading us out of
darkness into His wonderful light. To underscore this as well, St
Matthew began by saying that He “reached the shores of the Sea of
Galilee.” This is a reference to his earlier citation in Mt 4:15f from the prophet Isaiah 9:1f who said, “The
land of Zeb′ulun and the land of Naph′tali, toward the sea, across the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles – the people who sat in darkness have seen a great
light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has
dawned.” Again the responsorial psalm reiterates this message when it
says, “He guides me along the right path; he is true to his name. If I should
walk in the valley of darkness no evil would I fear. You are there with your
crook and your staff; with these you give me comfort.”
Thirdly,
not only is Jesus our shepherd who gives us hope, but He fulfills our
hopes. We read in the gospel how in His compassion, like a shepherd for
His sheep, He healed all those who were sick, crippled in life, blind, whether
physically or spiritually, possessed and wounded. St Matthew noted, “large
crowds came to him bringing the lame, the crippled, the blind, the dumb and
many others; these they put down at his feet, and he cured them. The
crowds were astonished to see the dumb speaking, the crippled whole again, the
lame walking and the blind with their sight, and they praised the God of
Israel.” He is our healer.
Fourthly,
as the hope of humanity, He fulfills our hunger. The prophet Isaiah says,
“On this mountain, the Lord of hosts will prepare for all peoples a banquet of
rich food, a banquet of fine wine, of food rich and juicy, of wine strained
wines.” This prophecy is fulfilled in Christ when we read in the gospel
how He multiplied bread and fish to feed the crowd of four thousand. As
if it was not marvelous enough that He could feed all with only seven loaves
and a few small fish, after eating as much as they wanted, “they collected what
was left of the scraps, seven baskets full.” Of course, we know
that the multiplication of loaves anticipates the Eucharist, His own body and
blood that He gave to us at the Last Supper. Indeed, today we still
continue this feast whenever we celebrate the Eucharist, when He comes to feed
us with His Word and nourish us with the Bread of Life and allow us to touch
Him sacramentally in the Eucharist. That is why with the psalmist, we sing, “In
the Lord’s own house shall I dwell for ever and ever. You have prepared a
banquet for me in the sight of my foes. My head you have anointed with oil; my
cup is overflowing.” With Jesus, our spiritual hunger is filled by
His love and by His Word.
Fifthly,
Jesus is the Hope of humanity because He takes away all our sins and
guilt. Many of us are not able to forgive ourselves, especially the
mistakes that we have made in life. At times, we cannot forgive the
mistakes of others and those who have hurt us or have been unfaithful to
us. Jesus comes to assure us that our sins are forgiven. Through
the sacrament of baptism, He has restored our dignity as the children of God by
forgiving us our sins. As the prophet said, “The Lord God will wipe away
the tears from every cheek; he will take away his peoples shame everywhere on
earth, for the Lord has said so.” Even when we sin today, let us remember
that no sin is too difficult for the Lord to forgive. All sins can be
forgiven unless we do not want to be forgiven. The Lord does not want us
to live in shame. He invites us to come and seek forgiveness and healing
in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Finally,
Jesus is our Hope, indeed, the last and the fullness of Hope because by His
death and resurrection, He has taken away our fear of death and our attachment
to this earthly life. Indeed, Isaiah had already prophesied, “On this
mountain he will remove the mourning veil covering all peoples, and the shroud
enwrapping all nations, he will destroy Death for ever.” As the psalmist
says, “Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me all the days of my
life. In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell for ever and ever.
” With Jesus, we no longer need to fear death because we will live
with the Lord forever in His dwelling where there is eternal rest, peace, love
and reunion with God and with our loved ones.
Having
recognized that Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah, the Hope of
humanity, what must we do? We must respond to His invitation to find
hope. Advent therefore is an invitation to take the step of coming to
Jesus to find hope in life again by connecting with Jesus. If we want to
renew our hope in life and refresh ourselves, we must listen to Him attentively
by praying the Word of God daily, receiving Him in Holy Communion, celebrating
the Sacrament of Reconciliation for healing and reconciliation. Indeed, Jesus
our Good Shepherd is full of compassion for us. He cares for us more than
we think. He knows our needs as He told His disciples, “I feel sorry for
all these people; they have been with me for three days now and have nothing to
eat. I do not want to send them off hungry, they might collapse on the
way.” He wants to strengthen us in our journey of life.
Secondly,
we must also be like the disciples who supplied Jesus with the seven loaves and
a few small fishes. For those who have been blessed by Him, we are called
to be the channels of His hope to humanity. We are called to play our
part by reaching out to others in compassion and service. We should take
the initiative of reconciling with those whom we have hurt, or with those who
have hurt us. We can visit our elderly who are lonely or sick. We
could give encouragement to our colleagues or children or friends who need our
support because they feel so alone in their struggles and pains. We
can also reach out to the poor and those who are hungry and without
support. Most of all, let us be a light and hope to others by
enlightening them, by giving them a smile, or reaching out to them in service
and love. In this way, we become the hope of Christ for
others. Only then will others truly believe that Christ is the Hope
of humanity because they can see that our hope in Christ has transformed us to
be people of Hope as well.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh
Roman
Catholic Archbishop of Singapore
©
All Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment