20151203
PROCLAIMING THE GOSPEL AS THE PRIMARY WORK OF MERCY
Readings at Mass
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First reading
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Isaiah 26:1-6 ©
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That day, this song
will be sung in the land of Judah:
We have a strong
city;
to guard us he has
set
wall and rampart
about us.
Open the gates! Let
the upright nation come in,
she, the faithful one
whose mind is
steadfast, who keeps the peace,
because she trusts in
you.
Trust in the Lord for
ever,
for the Lord is the
everlasting Rock;
he has brought low
those who lived high up
in the steep citadel;
he brings it down,
brings it down to the ground,
flings it down in the
dust:
the feet of the
lowly, the footsteps of the poor
trample on it.
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Psalm
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Psalm
117:1,8-9,19-21,25-27 ©
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Blessed in the
name of the Lord is he who comes.
or
Alleluia.
Give thanks to the
Lord for he is good,
for his
love has no end.
It is better to take
refuge in the Lord
than to
trust in men;
it is better to take
refuge in the Lord
than to
trust in princes.
Blessed in the
name of the Lord is he who comes.
or
Alleluia.
Open to me the gates
of holiness:
I will
enter and give thanks.
This is the Lord’s
own gate
where the
just may enter.
I will thank you for
you have answered
and you
are my saviour.
Blessed in the
name of the Lord is he who comes.
or
Alleluia.
O Lord, grant us
salvation;
O Lord,
grant success.
Blessed in the name
of the Lord
is he who
comes.
We bless you from the
house of the Lord;
the Lord
God is our light.
Blessed in the
name of the Lord is he who comes.
or
Alleluia.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Is40:9-10
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Shout with a loud
voice, joyful messenger to Jerusalem.
Here is the Lord God
coming with power.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Is55:6
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Seek the Lord while
he is still to be found,
call to him while he
is still near.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew
7:21,24-27 ©
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Jesus
said to his disciples: ‘It is not those who say to me, “Lord, Lord,” who will
enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in
heaven. ‘Therefore, everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on
them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock. Rain came down,
floods rose, gales blew and hurled themselves against that house, and it did
not fall: it was founded on rock. But everyone who listens to these words of mine
and does not act on them will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand.
Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and struck that house, and it fell; and
what a fall it had!’
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PROCLAIMING THE GOSPEL AS THE PRIMARY WORK OF MERCY
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SCRIPTURE
READINGS: IS 58:7-10;
1 COR 9:16-19,
22-23;
PS 33:2-9; MARK 16:15-20
How can
the Church be a beacon of mercy? It is ironical that often the Church is
not seen as a place where mercy is shown. This happens when the Church
becomes too institutionalized and legalistic. At times, the institutional
Church can seem to be lacking in compassion and mercy to the poor, to the sick
and those in need. Indeed, many have left the Church because the Church
refused to allow them to remarry or because some confessors have humiliated
them at the confessional with their judgmental attitude. This is in
contrast to the gospel of mercy that St Paul spoke about, “Do you know what my
reward is? It is this: in my preaching, to be able to offer the Good News free,
and not insist on the rights which the gospel gives me.” So if the Church
were to be a beacon of mercy, we must proclaim the Gospel as a work of mercy.
Many
people today are walking in the valley of tears and darkness. Many are
wounded by relationships with their spouse because of infidelity or
irresponsibility and constant quarrels. Those who are divorced and unable to remarry
find life very lonely. Worse still, when they have children to raise all by
themselves with no one to carry their burden with them. Children are
disillusioned with their parents for failing to show fatherly and motherly love
and care. Siblings are often at odds with each other, competing for
attention and acceptance from their parents and relatives. In offices,
many feel so pressured by work and by office politics. Many others
have fallen out of society and recruited into secret societies, living a life
of sin and crime. Then there are those who are financially strapped or
emotionally and psychologically so broken that they do not know how to handle
their lives anymore. Of course, many are sick; some suffering from
terminal illnesses or rare diseases. In all these desperations, the world
is looking for mercy.
Indeed,
as Christians we must be instruments of God’s mercy. This is how we, as
Church and as individuals, must radiate the mercy of God. Again in
today’s scripture readings, we are encouraged to show the mercy of God.
In the first reading, the Prophet Isaiah urges us, “Share your bread with the
hungry, and shelter the homeless poor, clothe the man you see to be naked and
turn not from your own kin.” In a similar vein, Jesus in the gospel
instructs us, “Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all
creation. He who believes and is baptised is saved; he who does not believe
will be condemned. These are the signs that will be associated with believers:
in my name they will cast out devils; they will have the gift of tongues; they
will pick up snakes in their hands, and be unharmed should they drink deadly
poison; they will lay their hands on the sick, who will recover.” Indeed, in
Luke Chapter 4 the Lord inaugurates His mission by citing the text of Isaiah
proclaiming the Jubilee Year, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because
he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to
proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to
let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s
favor.” (Lk 4:18f)
But
over and above all the works of mercy, we are called to proclaim Christ as the
God of mercy. He is the Good News for all of humanity. This must be
the primary work of mercy. Many fail to realize that to speak about Jesus
to others is itself already a work of mercy. He is called Divine Mercy,
as Sr Faustina has revealed to us. What greater gift can we give to
anyone than the Divine Mercy Himself? Many of our Catholics do not mind
rendering mercy in terms of charity to the poor or help people but they are
afraid to announce Jesus as the Divine Mercy to them. It is as if we are
happy to give those who do not have fish but we would not tell them where we
got our fish from. What we must do is to give them the source of mercy,
which is none other than Christ Himself. That is why to proclaim God’s
mercy in works of charity and compassion, whilst necessary, without announcing
Christ as the Mercy of God is to shortchange the world. How could we hide
such a wonderful gift from those people whom we are reaching out to? We
must give them the most important of all gifts, the Giver, Christ the Divine
Mercy and no less. We cannot substitute good works and charity for divine
mercy. Regardless of how much mercy we can show to them, we will fall short if
we do not reveal to them the source of mercy, Jesus Himself.
In
truth, who can lead them out of darkness and slavery? We cannot. No
matter how much charity we do, we can never fill empty hearts. No matter
how much assurance we can give to anyone, we can never give them peace and love
and security. No matter how much condolence we can give to one in
bereavement, we can never console them or give them back the one they
love. Only Christ who is the Way, the Truth and the Life can fulfill the
longings of their souls and heal the pains in their heart. For this
reason, before Jesus instructed the disciples to heal the sick and to liberate
them, He told them first and foremost to proclaim Him as the Good News for
humanity. He showed Himself to the Eleven and said to them, “Go out
to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation. He who believes and
is baptised is saved; he who does not believe will be condemned.”
So the
proclamation of Christ as our Lord and Saviour is the primary work of
mercy. It is not a secondary work of mercy. This is because in
Jesus, we find hope for eternal life. In Jesus, we receive the healing
grace of God and His unconditional forgiveness of all our sins. By His
death on the cross, we know that we are forgiven because He prayed for all His
enemies. In Jesus, we find the fullness of life by dying to self
and living for God and for others. In Jesus, we know He can heal us of
all our sinfulness and the consequences that come from sin. Jesus is the
love of the Father in person. So in Jesus, we can face life and we can
face death with courage because death has been overcome. With Jesus, we
are liberated for new life and for love, like the apostles and the early
Christians. Jesus, our Lord and Saviour, heals us and transforms us.
But we
cannot proclaim Christ as Divine Mercy unless we have encountered His
mercy. St Paul wrote, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us
in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any
affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God.
For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also our
consolation is abundant through Christ.” (2 Cor 1:3-5) Indeed,
granting mercy presupposes we have received God’s mercy. Only those who
have known the Lord’s mercy in person can proclaim to the world that He is
mercy. Only those who have encountered Christ could pray, “Eternal
Father, it is by your gift that we praise you: the wonder of our making
is only surpassed by the splendour and joy of our coming to life in Christ.”
This is what the psalmist is inviting us as well. He prayed, “Taste and
see that the Lord is good. I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise
always on my lips; in the Lord my soul shall make its boast. The humble
shall hear and be glad. I sought the Lord and he answered me; from all my
terrors he set me free.” Only having tasted the sweetness and goodness of God,
can we proclaim His mercy.
This
was the same reason that motivated St Francis Xavier to travel to foreign lands
like many of our missionary Fathers to save souls. They would do anything
and everything, taking with them nothing except their faith in the Lord to
proclaim the gospel to all of humanity even at the threat of hunger, shipwreck,
opposition and death. Like St Paul who wrote, “So though I am not a
slave of any man I have made myself the slave of everyone so as to win as many
as I could. For the weak I made myself weak. I made myself all things to all men
in order to save some at any cost; and I still do this, for the sake of the
gospel, to have a share in its blessings.”
We can
understand where they are coming from and what gave them such impetus to spread
the Good News about Jesus Christ. For them, having discovered
Christ as the gift of God’s mercy, they could no longer be silent about the
Good News in person. They went beyond just doing good works and actively
proclaimed Christ, in and out of season. As St Paul shared, “I do not
boast of preaching the gospel, since it is a duty which has been laid on me; I
should be punished if I did not preach it! If I had chosen this work myself, I
might have been paid for it, but as I have not, it is a responsibility which
has been put into my hands.”
The
birthday of our Lord is coming. At Christmas, we are called to do good,
reach out especially to the poor, the elderly who are abandoned and to those
who feel lonely and unloved. But let us not forget to give them the
Saviour as well. Like the angels we must announce the coming of the
Saviour. With the psalmist we say, “Look towards him and be
radiant; let your faces not be abashed. This poor man called; the Lord heard
him and rescued him from all his distress.”
Together
with this direct proclamation of the Gospel, we accompany our announcement with
the works of mercy and compassion. As in the early Church, Jesus promises
us that He would accompany our words with works, “while they, going out,
preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the
signs that accompanied it.” Indeed, if we continue this work of
proclaiming Christ as the Divine Mercy and demonstrate by works of mercy, we
can be sure that our listeners will believe and experience God’s mercy.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh
Roman
Catholic Archbishop of Singapore
© All Rights Reserved
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