VERIFICATION OF OUR DIVINE SONSHIP IN OUR FIDELITY TO CHRIST EVEN IN SUFFERING AND PERSECUTION

20160311 VERIFICATION OF OUR DIVINE SONSHIP IN OUR FIDELITY TO CHRIST EVEN IN SUFFERING AND PERSECUTION

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Violet.

First reading

Wisdom 2:1,12-22 ©

The godless say to themselves, with their misguided reasoning:

‘Our life is short and dreary,

nor is there any relief when man’s end comes,

nor is anyone known who can give release from Hades.

Let us lie in wait for the virtuous man, since he annoys us

and opposes our way of life,

reproaches us for our breaches of the law

and accuses us of playing false to our upbringing.

He claims to have knowledge of God,

and calls himself a son of the Lord.

Before us he stands, a reproof to our way of thinking,

the very sight of him weighs our spirits down;

his way of life is not like other men’s,

the paths he treads are unfamiliar.

In his opinion we are counterfeit;

he holds aloof from our doings as though from filth;

he proclaims the final end of the virtuous as happy

and boasts of having God for his father.

Let us see if what he says is true,

let us observe what kind of end he himself will have.

If the virtuous man is God’s son, God will take his part

and rescue him from the clutches of his enemies.

Let us test him with cruelty and with torture,

and thus explore this gentleness of his

and put his endurance to the proof.

Let us condemn him to a shameful death

since he will be looked after – we have his word for it.’

This is the way they reason, but they are misled,

their malice makes them blind.

They do not know the hidden things of God,

they have no hope that holiness will be rewarded,

they can see no reward for blameless souls.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 33:16,18,19-21,23 ©

The Lord is close to the broken-hearted.

The Lord turns his face against the wicked

  to destroy their remembrance from the earth.

They call and the Lord hears

  and rescues them in all their distress.

The Lord is close to the broken-hearted.

The Lord is close to the broken-hearted;

  those whose spirit is crushed he will save.

Many are the trials of the just man

  but from them all the Lord will rescue him.

The Lord is close to the broken-hearted.

He will keep guard over all his bones,

  not one of his bones shall be broken.

The Lord ransoms the souls of his servants.

  Those who hide in him shall not be condemned.

The Lord is close to the broken-hearted.

Gospel Acclamation

Joel2:12-13

Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!

Now, now – it is the Lord who speaks –

come back to me with all your heart,

for I am all tenderness and compassion.

Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!

Or

Mt4:4

Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!

Man does not live on bread alone,

but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!

Gospel

John 7:1-2,10,25-30 ©

Jesus stayed in Galilee; he could not stay in Judaea, because the Jews were out to kill him.

  As the Jewish feast of Tabernacles drew near, However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went up as well, but quite privately, without drawing attention to himself. Meanwhile some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, ‘Isn’t this the man they want to kill? And here he is, speaking freely, and they have nothing to say to him! Can it be true the authorities have made up their minds that he is the Christ? Yet we all know where he comes from, but when the Christ appears no one will know where he comes from.

  Then, as Jesus taught in the Temple, he cried out:

‘Yes, you know me

and you know where I came from.

Yet I have not come of myself:

no, there is one who sent me

and I really come from him,

and you do not know him,

but I know him because I have come from him

and it was he who sent me.’

They would have arrested him then, but because his time had not yet come no one laid a hand on him.

VERIFICATION OF OUR DIVINE SONSHIP IN OUR FIDELITY TO CHRIST EVEN IN SUFFERING AND PERSECUTION

SCRIPTURE READINGS: Wisdom 2:1, 12-22; John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30

Lent is a preparation for catechumens to receive the sacrament of baptism; and for those of us who are already baptized to renew our baptismal vows.  Of course, the baptismal vows are meaningless if not founded in our faith and commitment to Jesus.  Hence, the all-important question of the origin and identity of Jesus:  Who is Jesus?  Is He the Christ? Is He the Son of God, identical with the Father? These are same questions that were asked of Jesus by His contemporaries.

The response of Jesus was, “Yes, you know me and you know where I came from.”  The problem was that the people knew only the human origin of Jesus.  However, they did not know His divine origin.  Hence Jesus said, “Yet, I have not come of myself; no, there is one who sent me and I really come from him, and you do not know him, but I know him because I have come from him and it was he who sent me.”  This claim tantamounts to Jesus asserting that He is from God.  This explains why they “would have arrested him then, but because his time had not yet come no one laid a human on him.”

Today, we too make similar claims like the good and virtuous man illustrated from the book of wisdom.  As Christians, we claim to have knowledge of God and call ourselves as sons of the Lord.  And rightly so, we are sons in the Son!  However, the question is, “Can we truly make this claim to have a share in the knowledge and life of God like Jesus, just as Jesus claimed that He was one with the Father?”  We call ourselves Disciples of Christ, but are we worthy of such an identity?  Are we Christians both in name and in fact?

The inevitable fact remains that such assertion to divine sonship must be verified and lived.  Even if we do not feel the need to, surely non-believers would require us to justify our claim.  Indeed, this was certainly the situation of the good man in the first reading, and of which Jesus Himself too was challenged.  They were required to substantiate their divine affinity.  What is significant is that Jesus withstood the test of proclaiming the “final end of the virtuous as happy and boasts of having God for his father.”

How did He do it?  By remaining faithful to the cause of His Father and fulfilling the mission that the Father had given Him!  Indeed, He was always conscious throughout His life of fulfilling the will of the Father because He saw Himself as coming from Him and being sent.  In this sense, the title “son” is appropriate in expressing His personal identity with the Father.  His passion and death was obviously the ultimate expression of His union with the Father.  For in the passion of Jesus, He expressed the self-emptying love of the Father in His own death.

Being one with the Father in love, Jesus gave Himself totally to sinful men.  At the same time, in submitting Himself to the Father’s plan, Jesus identified Himself fully with the Father.  His obedience unto death certainly is the basis for His identification with the Father.  But most of all, by allowing Himself to be condemned to a shameful death, Jesus allowed His Father to demonstrate His fidelity and love, vindicating Him by raising Him from the dead.

Today, we are called to substantiate our faith claims.  How? By imitating the good and wise man in today’s first reading and particularly Jesus Himself.  The only way we know that we truly have faith in Jesus as the Son of the Father, and our share in His sonship is when we express the sonship of Jesus in our own lives.  This means concretely that we must live a virtuous life, a life of fidelity and surrender to God.  Indeed, the greatest challenge is not simply doing good and living a righteous and upright life, but to continue to be faithful to our beliefs and convictions in the face of ridicule, opposition, and rejection.

Whether we are truly believers of Christ or not will be manifested in the way we react to our enemies and those who taunt us, just as they taunted the virtuous man in the book of wisdom.  Indeed, whether we can truly call ourselves Disciples of Christ, would be known only when we face trials, persecution and sufferings – only when we are ready to follow Jesus in the passion and suffering; not because we do wrong but because we do right.  Being misunderstood and accused wrongly is something that we have to suffer.  Quite often, the sufferings that are inflicted upon us come from our loved ones and the people that we serve.  Indeed, if we continue to serve and to love even when we are not appreciated or even misunderstood, then we can truly say that we are sons of God, sharing in Jesus’ sonship because we have shared His passion and therefore resurrection. The strength of our faith will be known not when we experience good times but when we have to face the struggles in life.

It is through the drudgery of daily living and fidelity to our vocation that we show our true worth and steadfast love. Only when we remain true to our calling and convictions; when we continue to give our best regardless whether we are appreciated or recognized but simply because it is the right thing to do and truly expressive of our love for Jesus and our participation in His mission, can we then say with greater confidence and sincerity that we are His disciples.

Otherwise, we become counterfeits and counter witnesses to our faith.  Then we surely fall into the traps of our sceptics.  They will only prove us false.  This would be a tragedy indeed, since they were not sincere in finding the truth about life in the first place.  If they tested the virtuous men or Jesus as well, it was not because they wanted to grow in faith.  Nay, the wicked men in the first reading were simply hoping to find fault with the righteous man.  Similarly, the contemporaries of Jesus, especially the religious leaders, were looking out to detect the weaknesses of Jesus so that they could discount Him and His claims.

This is also very true even in our own lives.  Quite often, we challenge certain people in our lives, not to find out the truth so that we can change and grow but simply to look for opportunities to ridicule and discredit those whom we do not like.  And our enemies are always waiting for us to fall in order to ridicule our convictions and faith.  Thus, by not living a virtuous life, we are no better than them.  Not only do we confirm their suspicions but we also weaken their faith and confidence even further, thereby also bringing dishonour to the Faith and the Church.  Let us pray therefore that we will be true to our faith in Jesus and in our vocation so that we can show beyond doubt that Christ is truly our Lord and the Son of God; and that those who believe in Him may also come to share in His divine sonship and life.

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