20160107 LOVING THE FAMILY OF GOD
First Reading 1JN 4:19-5:4
19 Let us love, then, because he first loved us.
20 Anyone who says 'I love God' and hates his brother, is
a liar, since whoever does not love the brother whom he can see cannot love God whom he has not seen.
21 Indeed this is the commandment we have
received from him, that whoever loves God, must also love his brother.
1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God,
and whoever loves the father loves the son.
4 because every child of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has
overcome the world -- our faith.
Psalms 71:1-2, 14-15, 17
1 In you, Yahweh, I take refuge, I shall never be put to
shame.
15 My lips shall proclaim your saving
justice, your saving power all day long.
17 God, you have taught me from boyhood, and
I am still proclaiming your marvels.
Gospel Luke 4:14-22
14 Jesus, with the power of the Spirit in him, returned to Galilee; and his
reputation spread throughout the countryside.
15 He taught in their synagogues and everyone glorified
him.
16 He came to Nazara, where he had been brought up, and
went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day as he usually did. He stood up to read,
17 and they handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll he found the
place where it is written:
18 The spirit of the Lord is on me, for he has anointed me to bring the good news to the afflicted. He has sent me to proclaim
liberty to captives, sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free,
19 to proclaim a year of favour from the Lord.
20 He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the
assistant and sat down. And all eyes in the synagogue were fixed on him.
21 Then he began to speak to them, 'This text is being
fulfilled today even while you are listening.'
22 And he won the approval of all, and they
were astonished by the gracious words that came from his lips. They said, 'This
is Joseph's son, surely?'
LOVING THE FAMILY OF GOD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: 1 JOHN 4:19-5:4; PSALM
71:1-2,14-15,17; LUKE 4:14-22
What does the birth of Jesus mean for us? This is what
we are called to contemplate with Mary during this period of Epiphany. The real
purpose of Christ being born into humanity is in order that we might become
children of God and hence members of God’s family. Christ came so that we
can share in the life of God. There is this holy exchange that takes
place. God became man so that man can become “god.”
How do we know we are reborn in Christ? St John tells us
that “we can be sure that we love God’s children if we love God himself and do
what he has commanded us; this is what loving God is – keeping his
commandments.” Christmas is more than a sentimental festival or a season of
merry-making and fun. The celebration makes sense only when we
share in the rebirth of Christ as God’s children. This rebirth in Christ
is seen by our love for Him in doing what He has commanded us. Indeed,
the sign of love is not a mere nice feeling but in the actions we do for the
person whom we love. To love is to desire to make the beloved
loved. This is expressed in keeping His commandments. All children
desire to please their parents because they love them. Conversely,
parents too want to please their children and often pamper them because they
love them. So love is more than just obeying the commandments of God, it
is to seek to love Him in truth and in spirit.
How are we to love God? He wants us to love Him in
others. This is because God came for all of us. This is the
reason for the Incarnation too. He wants to be one of us, to feel with us
and to be identified with us in our sufferings and struggles. So the
greatest love we can give to God is not just spending time in prayer and
adoration and contemplation but in charity. St John says, “Anyone who
says, ‘I love God’, and hates his brother, is a liar, since a man who does not
love the brother that he can see cannot love God, whom he has never seen.
So this is the commandment that he has given to us, that anyone who loves God
must also love his brother.”
Who is this “brother” that we are called to love? First
and foremost, this brother is a member of the Christian family.
We are therefore obligated not just to love our loved ones but to love all
Christians. This is because as St John wrote, “Whoever believes that
Jesus is the Christ has been begotten by God; and whoever loves the father that
begot him loves the child whom he begets.” To love someone is to
love whoever he or she loves. Indeed, many young people feel that their
parents do not love them, in spite of what they have done for them, simply
because they reject their friends. Not welcoming their friends is as good
as hurting their sentiments and their feelings. This is true in
every area of life. As a priest who was a great lover of dogs once said
to us, “If you love me, love my dogs!” So if you love God, then
love His children. Every parent wants his children to be loved,
appreciated and recognized in life.
So we must ask ourselves, what kind of love do we give to
our own family members, and then by extension, to fellow Catholics in the
Church, in our neigbourhood, in Singapore and beyond our shores?
The truth is that for many of us, our love is very parochial minded and inward
looking. We only reserve our love for those who love us, our special
friends, but we do not reach out to others around us, whether they are our
colleagues or Catholic neighbours. We keep the love among our small
little clique and do not try to include others into our family. Indeed,
the Church is called Catholic because it is universal. Many Catholics
fail to realize that they need to help other Catholics beyond their family,
parish and Singapore. We are called to help the poorer Catholics, the
poorer parishes and those who are in need of resources and not spend all we
have on ourselves and our loved ones.
Secondly, we are called to love beyond our Catholic
Family to those who do not know Him. That was what Jesus did in today’s
gospel. We read that Jesus came to Nazareth, His hometown, to preach in
the synagogue. After reading the text from Isaiah and hearing Him
declare, “This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen”. We are
told that “he won the approval of all, and they were astonished by the gracious
words that came from his lips.” So long as the words of Isaiah were
applied to the Jews, they were happy. Jesus could have just ended His
teaching about the prophecy of Isaiah being fulfilled in their
days. But He did not. Following His exposition, He gave a
good wake up call to His fellow Jews that this Good News of deliverance,
liberation and restoration of their dignity, poverty, physical and spiritual
health was not meant only for the Jews but for all, including the
Gentiles. When they heard this, they were incensed and unable to accept
that God’s blessings could be given to others besides the Jewish people.
Yet, the truth remains that God has no favourites. This is what
St Paul wrote, “there is no partiality with God. For all who have sinned
without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under
the Law will be judged by the Law” (Rom
2:11f
) In the gospel, St Luke wrote that
Peter, having seen Cornelius, a Gentile, receiving the Holy Spirit before his
baptism, came to understand God’s love for us all. He said, “I now
realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism.” (Acts
10:34
) The impartiality of God is proclaimed
throughout the bible. “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of
lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts
no bribes.” (Dt 10:17
) Job also declares, that God “shows no
partiality to princes and does not favor the rich over the poor, for they are
all the work of his hands?” (Job
34:19
)
) In the gospel, St Luke wrote that
Peter, having seen Cornelius, a Gentile, receiving the Holy Spirit before his
baptism, came to understand God’s love for us all. He said, “I now
realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism.” (Acts
10:34) The impartiality of God is proclaimed
throughout the bible. “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of
lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts
no bribes.” (Dt 10:17) Job also declares, that God “shows no
partiality to princes and does not favor the rich over the poor, for they are
all the work of his hands?” (Job
34:19)
So how can we love beyond ourselves, our loved ones, and
our Catholic family? We are called once again to rediscover His love
for us. St John underscores that the call to love our Catholic Family
and beyond is not something beyond our strength. “We are to love, then,
because God loved us first.” Only because we have been loved by Him
can we find the strength and capacity to love others as He has loved
us. Only the experience of God’s love could give Jesus the impetus
to fight against the temptations of life, as He did immediately after His baptism
in the desert after 40 days of fasting and prayer. After such an intimate
time with the Father, “Jesus, with the power of the Spirit in him, returned to
Galilee; and his reputation spread throughout the countryside. He taught in
their synagogues and everyone praised him.”
It was only with His love that St John could say with
conviction, “his commandments are not difficult, because anyone who has been
begotten by God has already overcome the world; this is the victory over the
world – our faith.” Truly, if God loves us, we can overcome all
things. In life, we all have burdens, but the burden becomes light when
everything is done in love and for love. So if we find the commandments
difficult it is because we lack love in what we do, even in ministry and in
service. We see others as irritants that need to be gotten rid of.
There is no love in our hearts. We do not see them as truly our brothers
and sisters, because we do not see the face of Christ in them.
For this reason, we are invited to contemplate His
incarnation during this Christmastide so that we can draw out the love of God
for us as we contemplate on His generosity in emptying Himself to share our
humanity. Christ has come to show us the love of His Father in His works
and ministry. He has come to show us the way and to lead the way.
It is our faith in God’s love for us, expressed in His incarnation and His
passion, that gives us victory because Christ, who is truly man, has shown us
the way. In His humanity, He has conquered sin and loved us unto
death. So we, too, simply have to walk His way by allowing Him to be born
in us through the Holy Spirit given to us at Baptism, and renewed every time
when we celebrate the Eucharist or the Sacrament of reconciliation.
Filled with His Spirit too, we can proclaim the Good News to the poor so that
one , as the responsorial psalm says, “All nations shall fall prostrate before
you, O Lord.”
Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic
Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment