THE DYNAMICS OF COMING TO FAITH

20160414 THE DYNAMICS OF COMING TO FAITH

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: White.

First reading

Acts 8:26-40 ©

The angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, ‘Be ready to set out at noon along the road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaza, the desert road.’ So he set off on his journey. Now it happened that an Ethiopian had been on pilgrimage to Jerusalem; he was a eunuch and an officer at the court of the kandake, or queen, of Ethiopia, and was in fact her chief treasurer. He was now on his way home; and as he sat in his chariot he was reading the prophet Isaiah. The Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go up and meet that chariot.’ When Philip ran up, he heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ ‘How can I’ he replied ‘unless I have someone to guide me?’ So he invited Philip to get in and sit by his side. Now the passage of scripture he was reading was this:

Like a sheep that is led to the slaughter-house,

like a lamb that is dumb in front of its shearers,

like these he never opens his mouth.

He has been humiliated and has no one to defend him.

Who will ever talk about his descendants,

since his life on earth has been cut short!

The eunuch turned to Philip and said, ‘Tell me, is the prophet referring to himself or someone else?’ Starting, therefore, with this text of scripture Philip proceeded to explain the Good News of Jesus to him.

  Further along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, ‘Look, there is some water here; is there anything to stop me being baptised?’ He ordered the chariot to stop, then Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water and Philip baptised him. But after they had come up out of the water again Philip was taken away by the Spirit of the Lord, and the eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing. Philip found that he had reached Azotus and continued his journey proclaiming the Good News in every town as far as Caesarea.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 65:8-9,16-17,20 ©

Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.

or

Alleluia!

O peoples, bless our God,

  let the voice of his praise resound,

of the God who gave life to our souls

  and kept our feet from stumbling.

Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.

or

Alleluia!

Come and hear, all who fear God.

  I will tell what he did for my soul:

to him I cried aloud,

  with high praise ready on my tongue.

Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.

or

Alleluia!

Blessed be God

  who did not reject my prayer

  nor withhold his love from me.

Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.

or

Alleluia!

Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia, alleluia!

The Lord, who hung for us upon the tree,

has risen from the tomb.

Alleluia!

Or

Jn6:51

Alleluia, alleluia!

I am the living bread which has come down from heaven,

says the Lord.

Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.

Alleluia!

Gospel

John 6:44-51 ©

Jesus said to the crowd:

‘No one can come to me

unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me,

and I will raise him up at the last day.

It is written in the prophets:

They will all be taught by God,

and to hear the teaching of the Father,

and learn from it,

is to come to me.

Not that anybody has seen the Father,

except the one who comes from God:

he has seen the Father.

I tell you most solemnly,

everybody who believes has eternal life.

‘I am the bread of life.

Your fathers ate the manna in the desert

and they are dead;

but this is the bread that comes down from heaven,

so that a man may eat it and not die.

I am the living bread which has come down from heaven.

Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever;

and the bread that I shall give is my flesh,

for the life of the world.’

THE DYNAMICS OF COMING TO FAITH

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ACTS 8:26-40; PS 65:8-9, 16-17, 20; JOHN 6:44-51   ]

What does it take for a person to come to faith in God or in Christ?  Very often, we think it is through reason alone.  Most of us try to convert others to the faith by explaining and arguing with them.  Using rational arguments, we try to prove to non-believers that our religion is the true religion; and to non-Catholic Christians that the Catholic Church is the true Church of Jesus Christ.  We think that through logic alone we can convince them.  This precisely was the case of the Jews in today’s gospel.  “The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, ‘I am the bread which came down from heaven.’  They said, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?’ Jesus answered them, “Do not murmur among yourselves.” (Jn 6:41-43)

The truth is that we cannot come to faith simply through rational arguments alone.  Otherwise, no faith is needed if proofs suffice.  It does not mean the rational aspect of faith is not important.  But it only goes so far as to show that what we believe is not against reason and we have reason to believe even though we cannot fully prove our beliefs.  It is similar to two people falling in love with each other.  Surely, it cannot be based on logic and reasoning alone that we fall in love with someone.   Precisely, the word that we use is “falling in love.”  This means that when we love someone, it goes beyond reason.   Loving God is analogous to falling in worship with someone whom we love so much and want to devote our life to that person.  Still, reasons are important to establish that our act of love is not simply based on passing emotions but is rooted in truth that defies comprehension by the human mind.  It shows that our faith is not subjective, irrational and capricious.

St John used a very important word to describe the process of conversion.  It begins with being drawn to God.  Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me, and I will raise him up at the last day.”  To fall in love is to be drawn by love. To be drawn to someone is to be attracted.  When it is attraction, it is difficult to resist.  If it were merely human reasoning, we can always find reasons to reject, just like the Jews and the religious leaders who refused to accept Christ. So the beginning of any conversion process is always the initiative of God, not of man.   It is God who calls and invites us to share in His love and life.  So the desire for God is planted by God in each one of us, even for non-Christians, because they too are drawn by love and truth, being created in His image and likeness.   For us Christians, we are drawn explicitly to Christ whom we have encountered as our Lord and Saviour.  This, itself, is a grace of God.  Thus, it is futile trying to force someone into baptism or to accepting Christ if that person is not drawn.  Can we force someone to love us or marry us without love?

But how are we drawn to Christ today?  We are drawn by love.  The most difficult thing to resist in life is love.  We are human beings and although rational creatures, we are moved not by ideas and ideology as much as we are moved by love.  Appealing to the heart is more effective than appealing to the head.  So when we are loved, we naturally respond with goodness and kindness.  Love is always a mutual exchange.  As Christians, particularly in the early Church, we are drawn by Jesus’ love and compassion manifested in His passion, death and resurrection.  It was the life and the death of Jesus that convinced us of God’s love and mercy.  So if we want to draw anyone to the Lord, more than just arguing on doctrines, it is more profitable and less antagonistic if we travel the route of love, sharing with others what the Lord means to us and how He has given us meaning and hope in life.  Above all, it is in our Christian way of life, our love, compassion, generosity to serve humbly and forgiveness that will convince non-believers that Christ is real.   Only love attracts, not words!

But being drawn requires a response as well.  Love cannot be forced and compelled. It remains an invitation. So we have Philip, the deacon, who approached the Ethiopian offering his help to interpret the scriptures that he was reading for him.  The gentle and non-invasive approach of Philip helped the Ethiopian to open up.  Of course this was because the Ethiopian himself was disposed to learn and to find out the truth.  He must have been a man of faith, considering that he travelled all the way from Africa near Egypt to worship at Jerusalem.  To be sure, he was a gentile convert to Judaism.  He was a man who wanted to know more and more about God.  Hence, he was reading the bible. Not only was he interested to find out more, he was also docile and humble to learn.

The real challenge for us in our times is that the disposition to learn and discover the truth is absent.  In a climate of relativism, where everyone is right and there is no way to discover the truth, since all truths are relative, there is nothing to learn from others.  We all know the truth and we are all right. This explains why the world is becoming more and more egoistic.  In any argument, everyone wants to have the last word.  No one wants to lose an argument.  Pride is the obstacle to faith.  Man will not believe anything unless it is proven to him and he is satisfied with the explanation.  He will not believe.  But Jesus demands faith.  He said, “I tell you most solemnly, everybody who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the desert and they are dead; but this is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that a man may eat it and not die.”

Consequently, we need to consider whether we are preparing the disposition of hearers of the Word.  If they are not disposed, they cannot hear the Word of God.  In the case of the Ethiopian, the time was opportune for Philip to speak to him about Jesus because the text permitted him to show that Jesus was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah.  When he explained how Jesus fulfilled that prophecy, it made sense completely to the Ethiopian and immediately, he asked for baptism.  So, in helping a person to come to faith, we need to consider the opportune time.

In many instances, faith does not happen all at once.  It is better to think that the seed of faith once planted takes time to grow and mature.  This was the case of the Ethiopian and even Saul.  Faith does not happen all at once.  If conversion takes place, it is because that seed has been sown in some ways.  It is already latent in the person but it takes an event or a word or an experience to bring out what is already in the heart of man.   As the book of Ecclesiastes says, there is a time for everything under the sun.  We need to be watchful and at the same time, we can plant the seed in many ways, through songs, acts of love and charity, sharing, etc.  We might not be the one to reap the fruits but it does not matter.  As St Paul says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.  He who plants and he who waters are equal, and each shall receive his wages according to his labor or we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.”  (1 Cor 3: 6-9)

But it is equally important that for faith to grow or for someone to be drawn to God, there must be a preacher who can attract others to the Lord.  In the gospel Jesus made it clear, “It is written in the prophets: They will all be taught by God, and to hear the teaching of the Father, and learn from it, is to come to me. Not that anybody has seen the Father, except the one who comes from God: he has seen the Father.”  Obviously, no one can teach another about God unless he has first seen Him or encountered him.  Only Jesus can teach and lead us to God because He comes from God.  If Philip could convert the Ethiopian, it was because he was full of faith and he himself was completely docile to the Holy Spirit.  He was having great success in his ministry in Samaria but when the angel of the Lord commanded him to go elsewhere, to the desert even, he went immediately!  That was the faith of Philip.  Thus, without passionate and docile preachers and teachers led by the Holy Spirit, we can never draw others to Christ and His Church.

Truly, if the Church is dead it is because we lack religious leaders, clerical, religious or lay who are deeply connected with the Lord and filled with His Holy Spirit and docile and attentive to His movements so that we can respond quickly to the needs of our times.  The Lord can only work in the lives of those who have encountered Him.  We read that the Ethiopian “never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing.”   Those who are filled with joy will always share their joy with others.  So it was with this eunuch who was so filled with joy that he became a witness of Christ to his own people.  Similarly, we learn from Philip not to cling to our comfort zone but to be docile to the Holy Spirit and go wherever He sends us, “Philip was taken away by the Spirit of the Lord” and he “found that he had reached Azotus and continued his journey proclaiming the Good News in every town as far as Caesarea.”  Hence, with docility to the Holy Spirit, with joy in the Lord and with love in our hearts, we must proclaim the Lord, the bread of life to all so that those who come to know Him will find eternal life.

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