CHRISTIAN MISSION IS ROOTED IN THE PASCHAL MYSTERY

20160207 CHRISTIAN MISSION IS ROOTED IN THE PASCHAL MYSTERY

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Green.

First reading

Isaiah 6:1-2,3-8 ©

In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord of Hosts seated on a high throne; his train filled the sanctuary; above him stood seraphs, each one with six wings.

  And they cried out to one another in this way,

‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts.

His glory fills the whole earth.’

The foundations of the threshold shook with the voice of the one who cried out, and the Temple was filled with smoke. I said:

‘What a wretched state I am in! I am lost,

for I am a man of unclean lips

and I live among a people of unclean lips,

and my eyes have looked at the King, the Lord of Hosts.’

Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding in his hand a live coal which he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. With this he touched my mouth and said:

‘See now, this has touched your lips,

your sin is taken away,

your iniquity is purged.’

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying:

‘Whom shall I send? Who will be our messenger?’

I answered, ‘Here I am, send me.’

Psalm

Psalm 137:1-5,7-8 ©

Before the angels I will bless you, O Lord.

I thank you, Lord, with all my heart:

  you have heard the words of my mouth.

In the presence of the angels I will bless you.

  I will adore before your holy temple.

Before the angels I will bless you, O Lord.

I thank you for your faithfulness and love,

  which excel all we ever knew of you.

On the day I called, you answered;

  you increased the strength of my soul.

Before the angels I will bless you, O Lord.

All earth’s kings shall thank you

  when they hear the words of your mouth.

They shall sing of the Lord’s ways:

  ‘How great is the glory of the Lord!’

Before the angels I will bless you, O Lord.

You stretch out your hand and save me,

  your hand will do all things for me.

Your love, O Lord, is eternal,

  discard not the work of your hands.

Before the angels I will bless you, O Lord.

EITHER:

Second reading

1 Corinthians 15:1-11 ©

Brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, the gospel that you received and in which you are firmly established; because the gospel will save you only if you keep believing exactly what I preached to you – believing anything else will not lead to anything.

  Well then, in the first place, I taught you what I had been taught myself, namely that Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the scriptures; that he was buried; and that he was raised to life on the third day, in accordance with the scriptures; that he appeared first to Cephas and secondly to the Twelve. Next he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died; then he appeared to James, and then to all the apostles; and last of all he appeared to me too; it was as though I was born when no one expected it.

  I am the least of the apostles; in fact, since I persecuted the Church of God, I hardly deserve the name apostle; but by God’s grace that is what I am, and the grace that he gave me has not been fruitless. On the contrary, I, or rather the grace of God that is with me, have worked harder than any of the others; but what matters is that I preach what they preach, and this is what you all believed.

Gospel Acclamation

Jn15:15

Alleluia, alleluia!

I call you friends, says the Lord,

because I have made known to you

everything I have learnt from my Father.

Alleluia!

Or

Mt4:19

Alleluia, alleluia!

Follow me, says the Lord,

and I will make you into fishers of men.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Luke 5:1-11 ©

Jesus was standing one day by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the crowd pressing round him listening to the word of God, when he caught sight of two boats close to the bank. The fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats – it was Simon’s – and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.

  When he had finished speaking he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch.’ ‘Master,’ Simon replied, ‘we worked hard all night long and caught nothing, but if you say so, I will pay out the nets.’ And when they had done this they netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear, so they signalled to their companions in the other boat to come and help them; when these came, they filled the two boats to sinking point.

  When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus saying, ‘Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.’ For he and all his companions were completely overcome by the catch they had made; so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were Simon’s partners. But Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on it is men you will catch.’ Then, bringing their boats back to land, they left everything and followed him.

CHRISTIAN MISSION IS ROOTED IN THE PASCHAL MYSTERY

SCRIPTURE READINGS: Isa 6:1-8; 1 Cor 15:1-11; Lk 5:1-11

What is the central teaching of the Christian Faith?  It is the proclamation of the gospel.  What is this gospel if not the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus which St Paul cited in the second reading and which we call the Paschal Mystery celebrated at every Eucharist.  This is the tradition that St Paul himself had received from those who were Christians before him. The paschal mystery is the saving event for every Christian. Indeed, the life and vocation of every Christian is rooted in the depth of this experience of the Paschal mystery.  From this experience flow his mission and also the object of his mission, which is to bring others into this experience of the paschal mystery.

Concretely what does it mean to enter into the Paschal Mystery? It is to share in the death and resurrection of Jesus.  This is brought about whenever we go through a conversion experience.  This experience is critical in the foundation of a Christian vocation. In all the three scripture readings today, we see Isaiah, Peter and Paul all going through a similar conversion experience.  In every genuine conversion experience, there are always the elements of death and resurrection.  This death is the conquest and dying to one’s sins.  The resurrection refers to the new life and calling.  This is always the pattern for a conversion experience.

The prerequisite of sharing in the Paschal Mystery is of course a religious encounter with the mystery of God, which is always experienced as awesome and overwhelming.  An encounter with God always brings us to the ultimate limit of life.  Hence, we have the account of Isaiah who encountered the holiness of God at the temple.  This was also the case of Peter who encountered the Lord.  Similarly, we know that Paul saw a bright light on the way to Damascus.

The consequence of seeing the light of God is always recognition of one’s sinfulness.  We can know who we are only when we are contrasted with the light.  Quite often, we are not aware of our sinfulness because we live in the dark.  This explains why sinners are not aware of the need to change their lives.  They live in their sins for too long that they have become insensitive to their sins and the lack of love in their lives.  However, they become aware of their sinfulness when they encounter the holiness and love of God.  Thus, when they have a deep experience of God’s love, there is always a conscious realization of their unworthiness.

This was so in the case of Isaiah who exclaimed, “What a wretched state I am in! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have looked at the King, the Lord of hosts.”  For Isaiah, his sins became clear when he looked upon the glory of God.  He was completely overwhelmed at his nothingness and sinfulness.

Similarly, Peter upon experiencing the power and holiness of Jesus confessed, “Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.’ For he and all his companions were completely overcome by the catch they had made; so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were Simon’s partners.”  Indeed, Peter must have recognized his pride and arrogance when Jesus asked him to pay out the nets into the deep water since he himself was very sure that there was no fish.  Paul shared a similar sentiment when he expressed thus, “I am the least of the apostles; in fact, since I persecuted the Church of God, I hardly deserve the name apostle.”

Hence, it is clear that any encounter with God always brings about a real contrition and sense of unworthiness.  Indeed, anyone who claims to have an authentic religious experience must demonstrate such a conversion.  This is perhaps the best verification as Jesus tells us to judge the tree by its fruits in discerning an authentic vision or religious experience.  Those who claim to have a vision of God or of the saints or a religious encounter but exhibit no real conversion of life or radical change of lifestyle betrays the truth of such encounter.  The sense of nothingness, unworthiness and sinfulness is the first stage towards conversion.  However, the encounter with God is not only judgment; it is also an experience of grace.

Indeed, this conversion is radical precisely because the encounter with God is experienced as utterly gracious.  What changes the person is not only the realization of his unworthiness before the holiness of God but really the experience of the encounter as grace.  This is because such an encounter is not due to him.  It is the sheer goodness of God’s love.  Indeed, this is what Paul affirmed when he said, “I hardly deserve the name apostle; but by God’s grace that is what I am, and the grace that he gave me has not been fruitless.”

But such grace is tremendously healing because it is liberating and loving.  Knowing that we are loved unconditionally is the most healing reality of Christian salvation.  For this reason, the mercy of God as offered by the Church is different from the secularized concept of mercy offered by the world.  For the mercy of the world does not transform man interiorly.  This is because the mercy of God is primarily forgiveness and salvific healing. Its effectiveness requires the cooperation from man to recognize the entire truth regarding his being, his actions and guilt.  Such acceptance and contrition requires an encounter with the mercy of God, which is manifested in Christ, especially in His sacrifice on the cross as the radical manifestation of the Father’s mercy.

Such healing grace was certainly felt by Isaiah when he recounted how “With this he touched my mouth and said: See now, this has touched your lips, your sin is taken away, your iniquity is purged.”  St Peter too was assured of God’s forgiveness when He “said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on it is men you will catch.’”  This is no less true for Paul whom we are told that after his vision, he was led to Ananias’ house and had his vision restored, which symbolically speaks of his spiritual healing as well.  In this context, we speak of the moment of resurrection of the Christian.

With the experience of this amazing mercy of God, one cannot but be filled with gratitude and also the enthusiasm to share this mercy of God with others.  For how could one keep such good news from others?  With that confidence in God’s love, no longer do we feel inadequate to share that love with others.  Like Isaiah, Paul, and Peter, having received forgiveness, we become the mediators of God’s mercy and grace.  Our response to “the voice of the Lord saying: Whom shall I send? Who will be our messenger?” is “Here I am, send me.”  Following that experience is the commissioning for a unique role in salvation history.  To Peter, Jesus said, “Do not be afraid; from now on it is men you will catch.”  St Paul came to recognize his calling to be Christ’s apostle as well.  Hence, the experience of the recognition of God’s personal love helps us to overcome our fear and inadequacies.  The response is from initial diffidence to confidence.

The final question is the place where we can find the paschal mystery conversion experience.  This encounter can happen especially in prayer, as in the case of Isaiah who was at the sanctuary.  Indeed, many people have encountered God because they were willing, like Peter and the apostles, to leave everything, their nets and boats, family and work in order to seek God in their lives.  Catholics who are serious about living their lives meaningfully and finding their vocation of love and service, must first give themselves to a deep encounter with God in prayer through retreats, recollection and personal time for adoration before the Blessed Sacrament and reflection on the Word of God.

Finally, as in the case of Peter, God comes to us in our work and daily life, especially in moments of desperation.  Peter told Jesus, “We worked hard all night long and caught nothing.”  This is true for many of us.  It is when we experience our incapacity to do things, our helplessness and limitations that the power of God is most manifested in our lives.  The real obstacle to experience God is our pride and arrogance.  So long as we think we can do without Him, we will never understand the meaning of mercy and grace.  So long as we live in false self-sufficiency, we cannot experience the power of God at work in our lives.  However, a time will come when we will experience desperation like Peter, as when we face financial bankruptcy, or a divorce, or bereavement or when we suffer from a terminal illness.  Brought down to the depths of our nothingness, when we turn to Him, then we will know His power and love of us.

Indeed, we must be courageous.  Like Peter, Jesus is telling us, “‘Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch.’”   We must be ready to put out into the deep.  We must take risks like Isaiah, Peter and Paul.  If we do, our lives will change.  It is significant to note that before Peter was converted, he was called Simon; so too, before Paul was converted, he was called Saul.  In other words, in every conversion, there is a real dying to self, and a beginning of a new life with the advent of the resurrection.  The friends of Jesus, in dying to themselves in Christ, share in the risen life of the Lord by living their lives anew with zeal and a new mission of being the proclaimers of life to others.

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