20160406 THE JUDGEMENT OF LOVE AND TRUTH
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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Acts 5:17-26 ©
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The high priest
intervened with all his supporters from the party of the Sadducees. Prompted by
jealousy, they arrested the apostles and had them put in the common gaol.
But at
night the angel of the Lord opened the prison gates and said as he led them out,
‘Go and stand in the Temple, and tell the people all about this new Life.’ They
did as they were told; they went into the Temple at dawn and began to preach.
When the
high priest arrived, he and his supporters convened the Sanhedrin – this
was the full Senate of Israel – and sent to the gaol for them to be
brought. But when the officials arrived at the prison they found they were not
inside, so they went back and reported, ‘We found the gaol securely locked and
the warders on duty at the gates, but when we unlocked the door we found no one
inside.’ When the captain of the Temple and the chief priests heard this news
they wondered what this could mean. Then a man arrived with fresh news. ‘At
this very moment’ he said, ‘the men you imprisoned are in the Temple. They are
standing there preaching to the people.’ The captain went with his men and
fetched them. They were afraid to use force in case the people stoned them.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm 33:2-9 ©
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This poor man
called and the Lord heard him.
or
Alleluia!
I will bless the Lord
at all times,
his
praise always on my lips;
in the Lord my soul
shall make its boast.
The
humble shall hear and be glad.
This poor man
called and the Lord heard him.
or
Alleluia!
Glorify the Lord with
me.
Together
let us praise his name.
I sought the Lord and
he answered me;
from all
my terrors he set me free.
This poor man
called and the Lord heard him.
or
Alleluia!
Look towards him and
be radiant;
let your
faces not be abashed.
This poor man called,
the Lord heard him
and
rescued him from all his distress.
This poor man
called and the Lord heard him.
or
Alleluia!
The angel of the Lord
is encamped
around
those who revere him, to rescue them.
Taste and see that
the Lord is good.
He is
happy who seeks refuge in him.
This poor man
called and the Lord heard him.
or
Alleluia!
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Christ has risen and
shone upon us
whom he redeemed with
his blood.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Jn3:16
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Alleluia, alleluia!
God loved the world
so much that he gave his only Son:
everyone who believes
in him has eternal life.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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John 3:16-21 ©
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Jesus said to
Nicodemus:
‘Yes, God loved the
world so much that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who
believes in him may not be lost
but may have eternal
life.
For God sent his Son
into the world
not to condemn the
world,
but so that through
him the world might be saved.
No one who believes
in him will be condemned;
but whoever refuses
to believe is condemned already,
because he has
refused to believe in the name of God’s only Son.
On these grounds is
sentence pronounced:
that though the light
has come into the world
men have shown they
prefer darkness to the light
because their deeds were
evil.
And indeed, everybody
who does wrong
hates the light and
avoids it,
for fear his actions
should be exposed;
but the man who lives
by the truth comes out into the light,
so
that it may be plainly seen that what he does is done in God.’
THE
JUDGEMENT OF LOVE AND TRUTH
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ ACTS 5:17-26;
PSALM 33:2-9; JOHN 3:16-21 ]
The
most favorite verse in the whole bible is John 3:16 because it
captures succinctly the utter love of God for humanity and the world. Jesus said, “God loved the
world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him
may not be lost but may have eternal life. For God sent his Son into the world
not to condemn the world, but so that through him the world might be
saved.” Indeed, it is delightful to know that God loves each one of us
and the world. His love is great in width and depth. In width,
because there is nothing outside the domain of God’s love. The Lord loves us
all, even sinners and ingrates. But not only has He loved us by
creating us, He has shown the depth of His absolute love for us by giving His
only Son for our salvation. He did this simply because He desires our
salvation, not condemnation. This is Good News for us all because many
Catholics fear God and stay away from Him because they think that God is their
judge and is waiting to condemn and punish them for their sins. On the
contrary, this God takes the initiative to restore man by reaching out to us in
His mercy, not to condemn but to set us free. This God whom we worship is
a loving and merciful God.
However,
how do we reconcile the fact that Jesus said that He is the judge. Jesus said, “I came into this
world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see
may become blind.” (Jn 9:39)
Then of course, we have the popular story of the Last Judgement in Matthew 25
where the Son of Man separates the sheep from the goats. In what ways is
Jesus or God our judge? In today’s gospel, Jesus also said, “No one who
believes in him will be condemned; but whoever refuses to believe is condemned
already, because he has refused to believe in the name of God’s only
Son.” So there appears to be a contradiction that He has not come to
judge or condemn the world, and yet in the same vein, He speaks of judgement
and condemnation.
We
must be clear that the judgement of God is not one of condemnation but rather
it is the judgement of truth and love. It is not God who will judge us but we will be forced to
make a judgment on ourselves in the light of His love and truth. This
is what Jesus says, “On these grounds is sentence pronounced: that though the
light has come into the world men have shown they prefer darkness to the light
because their deeds were evil. And indeed, everybody who does wrong hates
the light and avoids it, for fear his actions should be exposed; but the man
who lives by the truth comes out into the light, so that it may be plainly seen
that what he does is done in God.”
In
other words, the judgement is on the side of man. In the face of truth
and love, we can either accept or reject it. When we accept the truth and love of
God, we are on the side of Jesus and we share in the fullness of life in
Him. When we choose to live in darkness and in selfishness, then we live
in misery and unhappiness. So the choices we make, that is, our judgment,
is actually the judgment of God. It reflects who we are and what our
intentions are. This has also been said by the Lord in His Sermon on the
Mount. He said, “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For
with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be
the measure you get.” (Mt 7:1f)
This too was the case of Pilate before the Lord at the trial of Jesus.
Apparently, Pilate was the judge of the trial but in truth, he was put on trial
by Jesus. By going against his conscience knowing that Jesus was innocent
and pandering to public popularity, he was passing judgement on himself for
failing to be a man of principle and a man of courage. He lost the
respect of both the people and God. This is true of the priests and the
Sadducees in today’s first reading. They too arrested the apostles and
put them on trial when they were the ones being judged.
In
contrast, we have the apostles who were men of courage and principles. They were not afraid of the
persecution of the Jewish leaders. Even when put in jail and flogged, and
then released by the angels, “they went into the Temple at dawn and began to
preach.” Nothing could stop them from witnessing to Christ because that
was the command given to them by the Lord and confirmed by the angel. By
standing up for Jesus, they showed themselves to be men of integrity, courage
and truth. They did not cower in the face of the threats of the leaders
but they continued to proclaim the gospel.
What
about us? How many of us are ready to stand up for Jesus and the gospel? We all claim that we have faith
in Jesus and that we believe in Him, but our lives, actions and words
contradict what we profess. Many Catholics are not only not defending
Jesus and the gospel values but they live lives contradictory to the faith and
the gospel. They live worldly lives. They promote an anti-life and
anti-love culture by advocating these, or remaining silent on the moral values
espoused in the gospel, whether it is with respect to abortion, same sex union,
euthanasia, permissiveness, etc. As Jesus said, God loves the
world. This means that nothing is excluded from the gospel, whether it is
about morality, economics, politics, business, ecology or family.
Everything comes under the judgement of the gospel based on the truth and love
revealed by the Lord. Anything that contradicts the truths revealed by
the Lord or against love is counter-witness. So when Catholics live a life
contrary to the gospel or stay silent when the Lord and the Church is attacked,
they betray themselves and the Church.
If
we truly believe in Jesus, then we will stand up and be counted among those who
walk in the light and in the truth. Otherwise we cannot say that we believe in Jesus because
faith is not merely intellectual but an assent of the mind and heart.
Faith is a total commitment to the Lord. When we stand up for Jesus,
those who look at us will in turn judge themselves. We become a reprimand
to them. We become a nuisance to them. When we speak the truth, we
will irritate them because we destroy their credibility and show them to be
liars and expose their selfish motives. Indeed, as Christians, we do not
have to attack the world and be hostile. Just by living out our
faith and standing up for what we believe, we can expect to be attacked by our
opponents, just like the apostles. So we should not be surprised that even our
friends and colleagues will misunderstand us and criticize us because we want
to be faithful to the truth. They want us to compromise and endorse what
others do. But when we refuse and are ready to agree to disagree,
people will learn to respect us for our sincerity and integrity.
Where,
then, can we find the strength and the faith to stand up for Jesus? We can only
find it only through a personal encounter with the Risen Lord, like the
apostles. When
we have a personal witness, nothing can stop us. We proclaim what we see,
not what we think. Minds and thoughts and ideologies can change, but the
facts cannot. So a personal encounter with the Risen Lord will change the
direction and focus of life dramatically and radically. The apostles could not
stop talking about Jesus because they saw Him. So, too, we need to renew
our encounter with the Risen Lord in order for us to rediscover His faith.
Secondly,
we only have to draw out the implications of Jesus’ death and resurrection. If Jesus were truly raised from
the dead, then He is certainly the Lord. And if He were the Lord, then He
would be the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity. As the Son of
God, He was incarnated, truly human and divine, suffered and died for our sins
and our salvation. Recognizing the depth of God’s love for us in Christ,
we can now do likewise in giving ourselves to the service of God and our
brothers and sisters. Only then can we truly and with great
conviction repeat the words of Jesus, “God loved the world so much that he gave
his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but may have
eternal life. For God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world, but
so that through him the world might be saved.” Let these not be
mere words but truly a living experience in our lives. “I will bless the
Lord at all times, his praise always on my lips.”
Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore
© All Rights Reserved
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