FINDING SECURITY AND CONFIDENCE IN THE FUTURE

20160422 FINDING SECURITY AND CONFIDENCE IN THE FUTURE

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: White.

First reading

Acts 13:26-33 ©

Paul stood up in the synagogue at Antioch in Pisidia, held up a hand for silence and began to speak:

  ‘My brothers, sons of Abraham’s race, and all you who fear God, this message of salvation is meant for you. What the people of Jerusalem and their rulers did, though they did not realise it, was in fact to fulfil the prophecies read on every sabbath. Though they found nothing to justify his death, they condemned him and asked Pilate to have him executed. When they had carried out everything that scripture foretells about him they took him down from the tree and buried him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he appeared to those who had accompanied him from Galilee to Jerusalem: and it is these same companions of his who are now his witnesses before our people.

  ‘We have come here to tell you the Good News. It was to our ancestors that God made the promise but it is to us, their children, that he has fulfilled it, by raising Jesus from the dead. As scripture says in the second psalm: You are my son: today I have become your father.’

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 2:6-11 ©

You are my Son. It is I who have begotten you this day.

or

Alleluia!

‘It is I who have set up my king

  on Zion, my holy mountain.’

I will announce the decree of the Lord:

The Lord said to me: ‘You are my Son.

  It is I who have begotten you this day.

You are my Son. It is I who have begotten you this day.

or

Alleluia!

‘Ask and I shall bequeath you the nations,

  put the ends of the earth in your possession.

With a rod of iron you will break them,

  shatter them like a potter’s jar.’

You are my Son. It is I who have begotten you this day.

or

Alleluia!

Now, O kings, understand,

  take warning, rulers of the earth;

serve the Lord with awe

  and trembling, pay him your homage.

You are my Son. It is I who have begotten you this day.

or

Alleluia!

Gospel Acclamation

Col3:1

Alleluia, alleluia!

Since you have been brought back to true life with Christ,

you must look for the things that are in heaven, where Christ is,

sitting at God’s right hand.

Alleluia!

Or

Jn14:6

Alleluia, alleluia!

I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, says the Lord;

No one can come to the Father except through me.

Alleluia!

Gospel

John 14:1-6 ©

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘Do not let your hearts be troubled.

Trust in God still, and trust in me.

There are many rooms in my Father’s house;

if there were not, I should have told you.

I am going now to prepare a place for you,

and after I have gone and prepared you a place,

I shall return to take you with me;

so that where I am

you may be too.

You know the way to the place where I am going.’

Thomas said, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’ Jesus said:

‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.

No one can come to the Father except through me.’

FINDING SECURITY AND CONFIDENCE IN THE FUTURE

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ACTS  13:26-33; PS 2:6-11; JOHN 14:1-6   ]

We can imagine how distressed and worried the disciples were when Jesus spoke about His imminent departure. They had left everything to follow Him, thinking that they would be rewarded as promised by the Lord a hundredfold. “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.”  (Mt 19:29)  And earlier on, James and John made a request to Jesus, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”  (Mk 10:37)  Indeed, with His death and departure, the future of the disciples would be left in suspense and uncertain.  How could they continue without the master?  Indeed, we know that after His death, the disciples were lost, confused, sad and downcast.  They said, “We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.” (Lk 24:21)

We too are all worried and anxious in different ways.  We are worried over the welfare and well-being of our aged ones.  We are worried if our loved one is going through a terminal illness or has just lost his or her job.  We are anxious how we could continue with our life without the person or without the financial support.  Indeed, all departures are painful; especially those whom we love so much and they have been our emotional strength and consolation all these years.  How could we carry on without them?

Like Thomas, we too ask the Lord, “Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”  St Thomas was a sincere man.  He was always seeking for clarity and he wanted proof, just as he asked to see the Risen Lord with the marks of the crucifixion.  Some of us pretend that we do not need to see all these but deep in our hearts, we are seeking for some assurance that all that we do, our toils, our struggles, living for others, living for God, living for our loved ones, living for humanity does not come to naught.  Otherwise, why do we sacrifice ourselves if there is no future for us and for our loved ones?

If we are feeling distressed and anxious, then the Lord invites us today to trust in His Father and trust in Him.  He said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God still, and trust in me.”  Why must we trust in the Heavenly Father?  Without faith in God, we cannot speak of a future because God is our only future.  Without God, life becomes meaningless.  Even if you believe in a cyclical understanding of nature, then life just goes on and on, rising and dying, but totally meaningless, like what Ecclesiastes says.  “Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and again, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.”  (Eccl 2:11)  That is why faith in God is primary.  Only those who trust Him can surrender their future to Him.  So he concluded that in the final analysis when “all has been heard, fear God, and keep his commandments; for that is the whole duty of everyone.  For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.”  (Eccl 12:13f)

How do we believe and trust God in the face of difficulties when He seems so far way?  How can we be sure He loves us and will take care of us?  We can find faith in God only when we have faith in Jesus who is the Way to the Father. This is what Jesus meant when He said, “No one can come to the Father except through me.”  He is the face and image of the Father.  In the first reading, St Paul makes it clear that Jesus is the Messiah foretold in the scriptures.  He is the fulfillment of the prophecies.   He said, “We have come here to tell you the Good News. It was to our ancestors that God made the promise but it is to us, their children, that he has fulfilled it, by raising Jesus from the dead. As scripture says in the first psalm: You are my son: today I have become your father.”  In Jesus, we see God’s face. 

Secondly, we have the assurance of a place in heaven, here and hereafter.   Jesus said, “There are many rooms in my Father’s house; if there were not, I should have told you.”  Jesus has gone back to heaven and He will bring heaven to us.  That is why He had to leave the disciples so that He could bring heaven to them.   What do we mean by this?  What is this assurance that we will have a place in the Father’s House and that there are many rooms as guaranteed by Jesus?  Simply, it means that all of us will have a place in the Father’s heart according to our capacity to contain His love and His grace.  The bigger the heart, the greater is the capacity to love and be loved.  Much as God wants to fill us with His love, it also depends on how much our hearts are open to receive that love.

Nevertheless, in the final analysis, to have a place in the Father’s house is to have Jesus living in us.  Indeed, Jesus has gone to heaven to bring heaven to us, for this is what He said, “I am going now to prepare a place for you, and after I have gone and prepared you a place, I shall return to take you with me; so that where I am you may be too.”   When we have room for someone, it means that we have a place for that person in our heart.  So too, to have a room in the Father’s house simply means that we are with Jesus.  When we are with our loved ones, we are always happy, regardless where we are.   What we eat and where we stay become secondary.   The greatest happiness is to be near to our loved ones where we are loved.   Truly whoever is with his or her loved ones, is already living in heaven.

What we have said is not just a dream but a reality already fulfilled in Christ’s resurrection.  In His resurrection, we already have a guarantee of our future forever.  Jesus is the sure way to victory.   St Paul attested to this fact when he said, “When they had carried out everything that scripture foretells about him they took him down from the tree and buried him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he appeared to those who had accompanied him from Galilee to Jerusalem: and it is these same companions of his who are now his witnesses before our people.”  Jesus was sure that His departure is but a temporary reality because He would be coming in a new way.   So we should not fear because in the resurrection Jesus remains with us, especially in the sacraments, and He will live in us in a special way when we receive Him in the Eucharist.  Together with Him, the Father lives in us because He and the Father are one.   The psalmist says, “The Lord said to me: ‘You are my Son.  It is I who have begotten you this day.”  So in Jesus, the Father makes His home in us in the Spirit.

So how do we get to heaven?  We are called to follow Jesus who is the Way.  He does not just show us the way but He is the way.  There is a big difference between one who tells us the way and one who leads the way.  A person can tell us the direction but we still can get lost unless he leads the way for us and we follow after him.   So when we say that Jesus is the Way, we are saying that Jesus is the path to the fullness of life.  Jesus comes not just to show us the way but He is the way Himself.  By walking with Jesus and following Him, we will find life to the fullest.

Secondly, we are called to follow Jesus who is the Truth.  In order to find life, we need to know what is right and what is wrong.  Knowing morality does not mean that we live a moral life.  Many priests, teachers and parents can teach the right thing and what must be done but they themselves often do not live the life they preach and teach.  But Jesus does not only reveal to us the truth but He is Truth Himself because in His very life, His message and His life are one.   Jesus is the Truth Himself because by His very life, He shows us how to live authentically in love and service.  For example, He does not preach forgiveness for our enemies only but He forgives His enemies Himself.   That is why Jesus is the Truth.

Finally, Jesus is the Life.  His very life is life itself.  When we look at Jesus, we cannot but discover a man who truly lives.  The life of Jesus is exemplary and most of all attractive and inspiring.  If we want to live the fullness of life, we only have to contemplate on the life of Jesus and we find a man who is truly alive in love and in the Spirit.  So in Jesus, we have the key to the fullness of life.   He is the solution to all our problems and the answer to life. This is what John declares, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life – the life was made manifest, and we saw it, and testify to it, and proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was made manifest to us.”  (1 Jn1;1f)

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