20160419 WHO ARE YOU?
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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Acts 11:19-26 ©
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Those who had escaped
during the persecution that happened because of Stephen travelled as far as
Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, but they usually proclaimed the message only
to Jews. Some of them, however, who came from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to
Antioch where they started preaching to the Greeks, proclaiming the Good News
of the Lord Jesus to them as well. The Lord helped them, and a great number
believed and were converted to the Lord.
The
church in Jerusalem heard about this and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. There
he could see for himself that God had given grace, and this pleased him, and he
urged them all to remain faithful to the Lord with heartfelt devotion; for he
was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and with faith. And a large number
of people were won over to the Lord.
Barnabas
then left for Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him he brought him to
Antioch. As things turned out they were to live together in that church a whole
year, instructing a large number of people. It was at Antioch that the
disciples were first called ‘Christians.’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 86:1-7 ©
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O praise the Lord,
all you nations!
or
Alleluia!
On the holy mountain
is his city
cherished
by the Lord.
The Lord prefers the
gates of Zion
to all
Jacob’s dwellings.
Of you are told
glorious things,
O city of
God!
O praise the Lord,
all you nations!
or
Alleluia!
‘Babylon and Egypt I
will count
among
those who know me;
Philistia, Tyre,
Ethiopia,
these
will be her children
and Zion shall be
called “Mother”
for all
shall be her children.’
O praise the Lord,
all you nations!
or
Alleluia!
It is he, the Lord
Most High,
who gives
each his place.
In his register of
peoples he writes:
‘These
are her children,’
and while they dance
they will sing:
‘In you
all find their home.’
O praise the Lord,
all you nations!
or
Alleluia!
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Jn10:27
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The sheep that belong
to me listen to my voice,
says the Lord,
I know them and they
follow me.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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John 10:22-30 ©
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It was the time when
the feast of Dedication was being celebrated in Jerusalem. It was winter, and
Jesus was in the Temple walking up and down in the Portico of Solomon. The Jews
gathered round him and said, ‘How much longer are you going to keep us in suspense?
If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.’ Jesus replied:
‘I have told you, but
you do not believe.
The works I do in my
Father’s name are my witness;
but you do not
believe,
because you are no
sheep of mine.
The sheep that belong
to me listen to my voice;
I know them and they
follow me.
I give them eternal
life;
they will never be
lost
and no one will ever
steal them from me.
The Father who gave
them to me is greater than anyone,
and no one can steal
from the Father.
The
Father and I are one.’
WHO ARE
YOU?
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ ACTS 11:19-26;
Ps 86:1-7; John 10:22-30 ]
It is interesting that
it was during the Feast of Dedication that the question of identity was posed
to Jesus. “The
Jews gathered round him and said, ‘How much longer are you going to keep us in
suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.’” Obviously, St John
wants to underscore the ignorance of the Jews that Jesus was the Light of the
World in spite of the fact that they were actually celebrating the Festival of
Light in the dark of winter. The identity of Jesus was the most
critical question in the mind of the Jews. If Jesus were the
Christ, then they would be ready to take up armed revolution against the
Romans.
This question of
identity was again posed in the early Church. In the first reading, we read of the development of
the primitive Church and the growth of Christianity as a religion or movement.
The mystery of God’s plan unfolding in humanity is certainly beyond our
comprehension. We can be sure that some early Christians who were
persecuted or killed for their faith in Christ must have questioned whether
Jesus Christ had abandoned them, just as He was apparently abandoned by the
Father on the cross at His most lonely and dreadful moment. In truth, the
grace of God has always been working even in apparently hostile situations.
In this case, the
persecution of the Christians actually became the cause of the spread of
Christianity. If
not for the persecution, the Christians would have just remained in Jerusalem
and the faith would have been confined to a few Jews who accepted Christ.
But because of the persecution of the Jewish leaders, they were force to flee
to the other parts of the country. Philip went to Samaria and made many
conversions to the faith. Even then the faith did not spread far enough
because the Samaritans were still half Jews. Then we have St Peter who
welcomed a Gentile, a centurion to the faith. But this conversion could
not be said to have been a real conversion to Christ because the centurion was
already a believer of God.
Today, we read how the
persecution led some Jewish Christians to bring the faith “as far as Phoenicia
and Cyprus and Antioch”, that is, to the Greek Gentiles. Initially, they were still quite
conservative in their missionary outreach, proclaiming “the message only to
Jews.” “Some of them, however, who came from Cyprus and Cyrene went to
Antioch where they started preaching to the Greeks, proclaiming the Good News
of the Lord Jesus to them as well. The Lord helped them, and a great number
believed and were converted to the Lord.”
Thus, we now have both
Jewish Christians and Gentile Converts. This elicited a tension between
the two communities over the question of identify. All were converts in a real sense, but
by becoming Christians, should the Gentiles also adopt the Jewish culture which
the Jewish Christians tried to impose on them? So on one hand, the Jewish
Christians were confused about their identity – could one be a Christian and
still remain a Jew? On the other hand, the Gentile Christians were also
confused – could one be a Christian and yet remain faithful to his/her culture
and not adopt Jewish culture?
Today, we are faced with
a similar challenge. Christians are not too sure who they are. This is particularly so in a world of
relativism and when missionary zeal has been lost because of the loss of
Christian identity. Unlike during the missionary days of the early Church
where it was clear that salvation is found in the name of Christ alone, many
were willing to sacrifice their lives to save others in case they perished forever.
Indeed, this question was raised by Pope Emeritus Benedict in a 2015
interview. When the Church discovered the New World, the dogma on no
salvation outside the Church changed. When the Church acknowledged that
even the non-baptized could be saved, it became a crisis for the Church.
When we removed the threat of hell and eternal damnation for those who do not
believe in Christ, we also lost the motivation for any missionary commitment
because it seems unimportant anymore to convince anyone to accept the Christian
faith when they could be saved without faith in Christ. The separation between
faith in Christ and salvation has serious implications for Christian life
itself. If these two can be separated, the next question is, why then
should we even bother to observe the obligations of Christian life and
Christian morality, since regardless of which religion one embraces, one can go
to heaven anyway. Hence, many have chosen to be free thinkers or
non-denominational Christians, or simply a Christian who believes in Christ but
do not belong to any Christian community. For this reason, we need
to ask once again, what does it mean to be a Christian? Who am I?
What do I believe? Who do I believe?
The
whole situation in the early Church was resolved at Antioch when “the
disciples were first called ‘Christians’.” As St Paul said, “In
Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as
were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor
Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for
you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you
are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” (Gal 3:26b-29) So Christianity
transcends culture, race and language and position in life. Indeed, as the
psalmist says, “It is he, the Lord Most High, who gives each his place. In his
register of peoples he writes: ‘These are her children,’ and while they dance
they will sing: ‘In you all find their home.’”
So the identity of the
disciples of Christ is that we are Christians. This is what should unite us all
together, regardless of our status, position, race and language. But who
are the Christians? They are those who believe in Jesus as their
Saviour and their Lord. Faith in Jesus as the Son of God therefore is
the centrality of faith. Without this faith, we cannot proceed
further. Unless we believe that He is the Son of God, we will not be able
to find eternal life.
Secondly, Christians are
those who listen to the voice of the Shepherd. Jesus said, “The sheep that
belong to me listen to my voice.” If we call ourselves Christians, then
we must follow Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life. We must take our
direction in life from Him, especially in the area of Christian living and
morality. It is not for us to seek direction from a world that does not
believe in Christ nor listen to Him. It is akin to us seeking help from a
stranger when we want to know more about our parents! So too if we want
to know the truth and how to be an authentic Christian, we do not listen to the
voice of the world but that of Christ and His Church, and the teachers that He
has appointed. Christians must have the same mind of Christ just as
Christ is one with the Father. Christ’s identity comes from his
union with the Father. He said, “The Father and I are one.”
Thirdly, Christians are
those who take the Word of God seriously and follow Him. It is not enough to listen to
the voice of Christ but we must walk the path and way of our Lord. That
is why Christianity was originally called “The Way.” If we want Jesus to
lead us to eternal life, we must choose to be His disciples, not just at
baptism but as an ongoing reality. So if we were to remain as
Christians and be evangelistic, it is not because we cannot be saved if we are
not baptized. Rather, missionary zeal springs from our desire and
conviction that sharing Christ with others, they can live the fullness of life,
here and now and hereafter. The motivation for evangelization comes not
from a fanatical or fundamentalist outlook that non-Christians will go to hell,
but rather to offer them the gift of Jesus so that they can enter into the life
of God as they share the life of Christ and the Father in the Holy
Spirit. Of course, such motivation could only come from a convicted
Christian who knows the Lord intimately, walked His ways, and found life in
Him.
In the final analysis,
the loss of missionary zeal springs not from the fact that all could be saved
even without knowing Christ, but because we have lost our own identity as
Christians. We
do not know Jesus and have not entered into the fullness of life that He wants
to offer us. If Christians do not walk the talk, they cannot change lives
because they themselves remain unconvinced. Indeed, we are told that it
was the life of Barnabas that brought about the transformation of the lives of
the people. Barnabas was positive in outlook. “There he could see
for himself that God had given grace, and this pleased him, and he urged them
all to remain faithful to the Lord with heartfelt devotion; for he was a good
man, filled with the Holy Spirit and with faith. And a large number of people
were won over to the Lord.” So too was the embracing love of
Barnabas that he would go all the way from Antioch to Tarsus to bring Saul to
join him in the mission. It was his generosity and humility to bring in
someone perhaps more eloquent and talented than him to work with him for the
greater glory of God. Indeed, without the encouragement and goodness of
Barnabas, there would be no St Paul and there would be no mass conversion of
the Gentiles. So the loss of missionary zeal cannot be blamed on the
Church’s evolution of the dogma that salvation can also be found outside the
Church and outside of an explicit recognition of Christ; rather, it is the lack
of conviction, the failure to live out the gospel and an intimate knowledge of
Christ that is the cause of the loss of identity, mission and motivation.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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