THE PEACE OF CHRISTMAS COMES FROM JUSTICE AND TRUTH

20151226 THE PEACE OF CHRISTMAS COMES FROM JUSTICE AND TRUTH

Readings at Mass

Colour: Red.

First reading

Acts 6:8-10,7:54-59 ©

Stephen was filled with grace and power and began to work miracles and great signs among the people. But then certain people came forward to debate with Stephen, some from Cyrene and Alexandria who were members of the synagogue called the Synagogue of Freedmen, and others from Cilicia and Asia. They found they could not get the better of him because of his wisdom, and because it was the Spirit that prompted what he said. They were infuriated when they heard this, and ground their teeth at him.

  But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God’s right hand. ‘I can see heaven thrown open’ he said ‘and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’ At this all the members of the council shouted out and stopped their ears with their hands; then they all rushed at him, sent him out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses put down their clothes at the feet of a young man called Saul. As they were stoning him, Stephen said in invocation, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’

Psalm

Psalm 30:3-4,6,8,16-17 ©

Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.

Be a rock of refuge for me,

  a mighty stronghold to save me,

for you are my rock, my stronghold.

  For your name’s sake, lead me and guide me.

Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.

Into your hands I commend my spirit.

  It is you who will redeem me, Lord.

As for me, I trust in the Lord:

  let me be glad and rejoice in your love.

Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.

My life is in your hands, deliver me

  from the hands of those who hate me.

Let your face shine on your servant.

  Save me in your love.

Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.

Gospel Acclamation

Ps117:26,27

Alleluia, alleluia!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord:

the Lord God is our light.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Matthew 10:17-22 ©

Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Beware of men: they will hand you over to sanhedrins and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the pagans. But when they hand you over, do not worry about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will be given to you when the time comes; because it is not you who will be speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you.

  ‘Brother will betray brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all men on account of my name; but the man who stands firm to the end will be saved.’

THE PEACE OF CHRISTMAS COMES FROM JUSTICE AND TRUTH

SCRIPTURE READINGS: ACTS 6:8-10, 7:54-59; MATTHEW 10:17-22

The feast of Christmas is a celebration of peace and goodwill to all mankind.  This was how the Angels sang their praises on Christmas night saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace to men who enjoy his favour.”   But strangely the peace and tranquil atmosphere of Christmas suddenly seems to be disrupted by the celebration of the feast of St Stephen when we read of the horrifying stoning of St Stephen to death for witnessing to the Lord.

Why does the liturgy seem out of sync with the mood of the Christmas season with the feast of St Stephen celebrated just after Christmas? Perhaps, the Church wants to save us from celebrating Christmas as a nostalgic sentimental event of the birth of baby Jesus.  Indeed, the child looks harmless and innocent, and even cute. But this is to run away from the reality of life.  In truth, our life is never that peaceful and tranquil.  Every day, we are faced with so many challenges in life.  We have to deal with quarrels, misunderstandings, frictions, betrayals, sicknesses, failures, financial constraints, etc.  So our life is far from the kind of peace where there is no activity and everything is at rest.

This is not the kind of peace in the world that Christ comes to bring.  This is more like pacification than peace.  The peace of Christ is not that of the world’s.  In the world, peace is a superficial peace where everyone keeps quiet and pretends that everything is all right.   It is a policy of live and let live.  This is what moral relativism is all about.   We accept that everyone is right and no one is wrong unless you do not accept relativism.  No one is ready to confront the truth.  We all say nice words but never the truth.  This is a superficial peace, which can become divisive and can explode anytime.  This is because this peace is not founded on truth.

True peace must be founded on truth.  That is why Christ is celebrated as the Light of the World.  He comes to bring real peace to humanity, not by condoning evil and selfishness, but to reveal to man his true identity and expose his sinfulness and selfishness, pride and hypocrisy, just as He did with the religious leaders; and as Stephen did before the Sanhedrin.  This explains why the religious leaders of the day could not tolerate Jesus because they found Him a threat to the status quo and most of all, to their political and religious authority. St Stephen suffered the same fate as his Master for confronting the religious leaders about their true intentions.

Indeed, it must be said that the gospel and the Church is never against the institutions; neither political nor religious or economic.  The Church seeks to purify reason through faith so that justice is served and seen to be served at every level of society,

regardless of language, race or religion.  The gospel seeks to proclaim the truth so that there can be true justice for all.  Consequently, for those who are sincere in fostering justice and harmony, and seeking the truth, the Church and the gospel are their allies, not their enemies.  However, if the authorities are corrupt, self-serving, and seek to maintain power at all costs then, undoubtedly, they will perceive the Church and the Christian message to be at odds with them.  Often those who are corrupt will try to stifle those who speak out and seek justice in life. As a consequence, the gospel message, as Jesus warned us, leads to division. “Brother will betray brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all men on account of my name; but the man who stands firm to the end will be saved.”  So the peace of Christ is not through compromises and false pretenses but truth.

St Stephen shows us the way.   He witnessed to Christ the Truth, the prince of peace. He was ready to die for the truth about Christ Jesus. He was courageous enough to confront even the religious authorities at the risk of his own life.  He could not remain silent when the Holy Spirit prompted him to speak the truth.  As a consequence, the irate religious leaders were so infuriated that they put Stephen to death.

But more often than not, such rejection of the truth is due to jealousy or simply ignorance.  In the case of St Stephen, we read that “certain people came forward to debate with Stephen, some from Cyrene and Alexandria who were members of the synagogue called the Synagogue of Freedmen, and others from Cilicia and Asia. They found they could not get the better of him because of his wisdom.”  Pride often gets in the way of finding the truth because we think we know everything and we lack the humility to accept the truth.   In the case of Saul, he was misguided in his zeal for the Lord’s House.  We read that “the witnesses put down their clothes at the feet of a young man called Saul.”  Ignorance is indeed the reason that Jesus and St Stephen asked God to forgive their enemies.  “As they were stoning him, Stephen said in invocation, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he knelt down and said aloud, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them’; and with these words he fell asleep.”

How do we find courage to witness to the truth?  We need to listen to the Holy Spirit attentively so that we ourselves are living in the truth.  Jesus said to His apostles: “Beware of men: they will hand you over to the Sanhedrin and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the pagans. But when they hand you over, do not worry about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will be given to you when the time comes; because it is not you who will be speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you.”  When we are convinced of the message of the gospel and have imbibed them not just in our minds but in our hearts, we will be able to speak with confidence, conviction and with faith.  Only those who do not know the gospel or only know with intellectual knowledge will waiver when their faith is challenged because it is not a heart conviction.  When conviction comes from the heart, it means that we are one in the Spirit of Christ and that is how Christ speaks to us in and through the Holy Spirit. 

Secondly, proclamation of the truth must always be spoken with love and for love.  The truth must not be proclaimed with arrogance or pride or just wanting to put down our enemies or exposed them to shame.   The spirit of correction must come from an act of love for our enemies so that what we say is done with sincerity and charity rather than from a reactive or revengeful and vindictive heart.  Indeed, we must take note that St Stephen, like Jesus, bore no grudges or evil towards their enemies.  They spoke the truth for their good and for their salvation.  There was no self-interest on their part.  It was purely done out of love.   St Stephen spoke with the intention of saving them, not destroying them. 

Thirdly, the truth must be accompanied by signs and wonders.  We read that “Stephen was filled with grace and power and began to work miracles and great signs among the people.” Truth is not just a word but an event. Therefore truth proclaimed without accompanying signs would not be believed.   That is why, at the end of the day, the witness of life in charity, in service and humble servanthood is most crucial in witnessing to the truth.  The concrete expression of truth is love.  So we need to witness more than through words but by our very lives like the early apostles who vouched for the truth with their lives, even unto death.  They were credible because they lived out their convictions with fortitude.

Today, we are called to celebrate the mysteries of Christ’s life in us.  Through the grace of God at work in us, we are called to be like St Stephen by making the life of Christ ours more and more perfectly each day.   We read how the mystery of Christ’s passion and death was reflected in the life of St Stephen when he was brought before the Sanhedrin on trial and even the way he died was in perfect imitation of Christ.  “As they were stoning him, Stephen said in invocation, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he knelt down and said aloud, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them’; and with these words he fell asleep.”

We too are to perfect the life of Christ in us.  We must strive to make the life of Christ our own. Through the sacrament of baptism, we are called to die with Christ to our sins.  Through the sacrament of the Eucharist, we are called to make our lives one of thanksgiving to the Father and become more incorporated into the Body of Christ. Through the sacrament of confirmation, we are called to witness to Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Through the sacrament of matrimony or Holy Orders, we are called to live out the life of love.  Indeed, what is the meaning of Christmas if not to let Christ dwell in our hearts, to allow the King of Kings to make His throne in us?  So through imitating Jesus in His birth, death and resurrection, we become like Jesus in life and in death.

With the psalmist, therefore, we are to surrender our lives to the Lord.  “Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.  Be a rock of refuge for me, a mighty stronghold to save me, for you are my rock, my stronghold.  For your name’s sake, lead me and guide me. Into your hands I commend my spirit. It is you who will redeem me, Lord. As for me, I trust in the Lord: let me be glad and rejoice in your love. My life is in your hands, deliver me from the hands of those who hate me. Let your face shine on your servant. Save me in your love.”  By so doing, we can be sure that we will find true peace and joy like St Stephen even if we have to meet with death.  It is better that we die with a clear and good conscience than to die with regret and guilt.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved