20151228 REFLECTING THE LIGHT OF CHRIST IN TRUTH AND LOVE
Readings at Mass
Colour:
Red.
|
First reading
|
1 John 1:5-2:2 ©
|
This is what we have
heard from Jesus Christ,
and the message that
we are announcing to you:
God is light; there
is no darkness in him at all.
If we say that we are
in union with God
while we are living
in darkness,
we are lying because
we are not living the truth.
But if we live our
lives in the light,
as he is in the
light,
we are in union with
one another,
and the blood of
Jesus, his Son,
purifies us from all
sin.
If we say we have no
sin in us,
we are deceiving
ourselves
and refusing to admit
the truth;
but if we acknowledge
our sins,
then God who is
faithful and just
will forgive our sins
and purify us
from everything that
is wrong.
To say that we have
never sinned
is to call God a liar
and to show that his
word is not in us.
I am writing this, my
children,
to stop you sinning;
but if anyone should
sin,
we have our advocate
with the Father,
Jesus Christ, who is
just;
he is the sacrifice
that takes our sins away,
and not only ours,
but the whole
world’s.
|
Psalm
|
|
Psalm 123:2-5,7-8
©
|
Our life, like a
bird, has escaped from the snare of the fowler.
If the Lord had not
been on our side
when men
rose up against us,
then would they have
swallowed us alive
when
their anger was kindled.
Our life, like a
bird, has escaped from the snare of the fowler.
Then would the waters
have engulfed us,
the
torrent gone over us;
over our head would
have swept
the
raging waters.
Our life, like a
bird, has escaped from the snare of the fowler.
Indeed the snare has
been broken
and we
have escaped.
Our help is in the
name of the Lord,
who made
heaven and earth.
Our life, like a
bird, has escaped from the snare of the fowler.
|
Gospel
Acclamation
|
cf.Te Deum
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
We praise you, O God,
we acknowledge you to
be the Lord;
the noble army of
martyrs praise you, O Lord.
Alleluia!
|
Gospel
|
Matthew 2:13-18 ©
|
After the wise men
had left, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get
up, take the child and his mother with you, and escape into Egypt, and stay
there until I tell you, because Herod intends to search for the child and do
away with him.’ So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him,
left that night for Egypt, where he stayed until Herod was dead. This was to
fulfil what the Lord had spoken through the prophet:
I called my son
out of Egypt.
Herod was furious
when he realised that he had been outwitted by the wise men, and in Bethlehem
and its surrounding district he had all the male children killed who were two
years old or under, reckoning by the date he had been careful to ask the wise
men. It was then that the words spoken through the prophet Jeremiah were
fulfilled:
A voice was heard
in Ramah,
sobbing and loudly
lamenting:
it was Rachel
weeping for her children,
refusing
to be comforted because they were no more.
REFLECTING
THE LIGHT OF CHRIST IN TRUTH AND LOVE
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: 1 JOHN 1:5-2:2; PSALMS 123:2-5,7-8; MATTHEW 2:13-18
Christmas
is the celebration of Christ, the light of the world. The Christmas lights signify
that Christ has come to give light to a world of darkness. This is what
St John says, “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you,
that God is light and in him is no darkness at all.” Indeed,
Christ’s coming is to reveal to us the truth and the love of God.
With
the incarnation, He reveals to us the love of God who gave His only begotten Son because
He loved the world so much. (cf Jn 3:16
) The kenosis of Christ in assuming our humanity even unto
death manifests a love and mercy beyond all telling. He reveals to
us our true dignity as adopted sons and daughters of God when He gives us the
Holy Spirit. But He also reveals to us our true state, which is
that of a sinner, wounded and broken, of which He has come to heal and restore
through the waters of baptism. Jesus, the Word made flesh, is therefore
not just truth in words but in love. His life shows us how to live and
love authentically, in selfless giving, in humble service and unconditional
love. His forgiveness on the cross shows us the depth and unlimited mercy of God.
) The kenosis of Christ in assuming our humanity even unto
death manifests a love and mercy beyond all telling. He reveals to
us our true dignity as adopted sons and daughters of God when He gives us the
Holy Spirit. But He also reveals to us our true state, which is
that of a sinner, wounded and broken, of which He has come to heal and restore
through the waters of baptism. Jesus, the Word made flesh, is therefore
not just truth in words but in love. His life shows us how to live and
love authentically, in selfless giving, in humble service and unconditional
love. His forgiveness on the cross shows us the depth and unlimited mercy of God.
Consequently,
today we are called to walk in the light, which is to walk in truth and love. St John made it clear that
Christmas is not a sentimental event in which we just gaze at the innocent baby
Jesus in the crib. It is not enough to celebrate Christmas in a
sentimental way, the beautiful lights, the nice and romantic dinners, the
soothing music, the giving and receiving of gifts and just being with our loved
ones. This is part of the Christmas celebration but it is not
enough to live nostalgically in the past. Rather, Christmas is an
invitation to live the life of Christ. St John wrote, “If we say we have
fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not live according
to the truth; but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have
fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from
all sin.” Christmas requires us to live in the light by walking in truth
and in love.
However,
it is not as simple as we think because living in truth and love is not always
welcomed. Not
all want to see the light. There are enemies of the light. This is
symbolized in King Herod. When he heard of the infant king, he
felt threatened. He was not concerned about who this king was or what he
would do. He was obsessed with power and would do anything to hold on to
his power. He would not tolerate any competitor. Indeed, historians
say that King Herod in his reign killed many people without mercy, including
the infants, so long as they were perceived to be a threat to him and his
throne. He sought to extinguish the truth, through lies, deceit and
trickery. But when these failed, he resorted to murder. This
explains how the infants were killed. However, to be fair, we cannot over
exaggerate the number of infants killed because Bethlehem was a small
town. Historians are of the opinion that about a dozen or so would have
been slaughtered. Regardless whether it was 30 or 3000, the truth remains
that killing is evil and cannot be condoned.
Today,
we are still confronted daily by enemies of the light. They choose to live in
darkness. Those who advocate relativism say that the truth cannot be
found so we can only live in darkness. Those who reject God, they too are
saying that there is nothing beyond this life. There is no creator, there
is no God. We do not know where we come from, or who we are and where we
are going. Life is just on this earth. We had better get the
best out of it, enjoy as much as we can, for tomorrow we die and then we are no
more. Life is meaningless; it has no purpose, no direction, no goal, no
future. This explains why atheism always ends in annihilation.
The
enemies of truth often disguise themselves as champions of love when it is love
without truth.
Whilst the world cannot agree on truth, all are champions of love. But
how can one champion love without truth? This is the real dilemma of
life. The world advocates abortion, killing of human embryos,
euthanasia, all in the name of love. Is love only for self? Can one
love himself selfishly and call that love? Love is just the opposite of
selfishness. So when we murder a child so that our lives will not
be inconvenienced, can we call that love? When we terminate the life of
elderly people, we claim that we are doing it out of love, when in fact it is
the lack of love and patience to look after them that we want them to exit this
world so that we can be free from the burden of caring for them. How
could we call it love when we make use of each other physically and sexually
without commitment and without sincerity? People in the world confuse
sexual pleasures with love. Pleasure is for self, love is for the
other. Indeed, we can go on and on. Just reflect how often we
do many things for selfish reasons in the name of love. St John warns us,
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in
us.” Again, he reiterated, “If we say we have not sinned, we make him a
liar, and his word is not in us.” This is the real tragedy of the
world. They are committing sins against charity and justice, masking them
under the guise of love.
St John
therefore urges us who have received the light of Christ to witness
to the light by living a life of love based on truth. In saying this, he
is not saying that a Christian is without sin and imperfections. If
that were so, then none of us would have qualified to be a Christian.
What is important is that we seek and purify ourselves in truth and love each
day. Only those who are living a complacent Christian life with no regard for
their growth in holiness and virtues, in their relationship with God and their
fellowmen, are condemned. So walking in the truth is a life-long
process as we need to grow to become more like Christ through our relationship
with Him.
No
one arrives at unconditional love overnight but time is needed for purification
through mistakes, quarrels, frictions and, most of all, through forgiveness. Couples, especially, must
remember that true love is not accomplished in a day. The beginning of a
married life is but a long life of martyrdom in purifying the romantic love in
courtship. For this reason, the Church insists on the indissolubility of
marriage so that the couple can persevere in their relationship, especially in
bad times. Without that commitment, then we will always live in fear that
we will be rejected if we are not good enough for the other person. If
that were the case, then love is not unconditional and total.
Indeed, with our children, regardless of whether they are good or bad, smart or
otherwise, we love them for life unto death. Parents’ love for their
children is unconditional and total. They never stop loving
them. So, too, in any relationship, even with friends. We need time
to build up that relationship through trials and mistakes.
What
is true of human relationship is true of our relationship with God as well. Jesus knows our weaknesses and
therefore when He demands that we walk in the light in truth and love, He knows
that we will fail because of our sinful nature. For this reason, He comes
to cleanse us from our sins and heal our brokenness. St John says, that
“the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” So all we need to
do is to confess our sins because the Lord is all mercy and forgiveness. “If
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” We can be confident that God
who became man and knows what it is like to be tempted and to suffer injustice
will have compassion on us. St John wrote, “if any one does sin, we
have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the
expiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the
whole world.” In other words, as human beings, so long as we are searching
and seeking to walk in the light in truth and love, and even when we fail, the
Lord understands us. It does not matter how long we take to purify ourselves in
love, what is important is that we do not give up on ourselves when we fail,
and more importantly that we not give up on our loved ones and friends and
colleagues. We must offer forgiveness instead.
As
we celebrate the feast of the Holy Innocents, let us imitate their examples. Although innocent, they died for
Christ because they died for truth and love. Like Jesus, they did not sin
but the injustices of men killed them. We, too, whenever we experience
injustices and helplessness, or when we are cheated and taken advantage of, let
us continue to rely on God’s mercy and justice instead of seeking revenge.
Let our innocent suffering reveal the love of God to them. Just as the
innocent death of Christ on the cross saved humanity, we can use unjust
sufferings for the redemption of our enemies and for our own growth in
holiness.
The
psalmist assures us that the Lord will look after us. He is on our side
and will defend us.
“Our life, like a bird, has escaped from the snare of the fowler. If the Lord
had not been on our side when men rose up against us, then would they have
swallowed us alive when their anger was kindled. Then would the waters have
engulfed us, the torrent gone over us; over our head would have swept the
raging waters. Indeed the snare has been broken and we have escaped. Our help
is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” Let us surrender
all our weaknesses and helplessness to the Lord as we struggle to walk in the
light. In this way, we too will radiate His light to others.
No comments:
Post a Comment