Tuesday, 31 May 2016

LIVING THE RESURRECTED LIFE

20160601 LIVING THE RESURRECTED LIFE

Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: Red.

First reading
2 Timothy 1:1-3,6-12 ©
From Paul, appointed by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus in his design to promise life in Christ Jesus; to Timothy, dear child of mine, wishing you grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord.
  Night and day I thank God, keeping my conscience clear and remembering my duty to him as my ancestors did, and always I remember you in my prayers. That is why I am reminding you now to fan into a flame the gift that God gave you when I laid my hands on you. God’s gift was not a spirit of timidity, but the Spirit of power, and love, and self-control. So you are never to be ashamed of witnessing to the Lord, or ashamed of me for being his prisoner; but with me, bear the hardships for the sake of the Good News, relying on the power of God who has saved us and called us to be holy – not because of anything we ourselves have done but for his own purpose and by his own grace. This grace had already been granted to us, in Christ Jesus, before the beginning of time, but it has only been revealed by the Appearing of our saviour Christ Jesus. He abolished death, and he has proclaimed life and immortality through the Good News; and I have been named its herald, its apostle and its teacher.
  It is only on account of this that I am experiencing fresh hardships here now; but I have not lost confidence, because I know who it is that I have put my trust in, and I have no doubt at all that he is able to take care of all that I have entrusted to him until that Day.

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 122:1-2 ©
To you, O Lord, I lift up my eyes.
To you have I lifted up my eyes,
  you who dwell in the heavens;
my eyes, like the eyes of slaves
  on the hand of their lords.
To you, O Lord, I lift up my eyes.
Like the eyes of a servant
  on the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes are on the Lord our God
  till he show us his mercy.
To you, O Lord, I lift up my eyes.

Gospel Acclamation
Jn17:17
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your word is truth, O Lord:
consecrate us in the truth.
Alleluia!
Or
Jn11:25, 26
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord;
whoever believes in me will never die.
Alleluia!

Gospel
Mark 12:18-27 ©
Some Sadducees – who deny that there is a resurrection – came to him and they put this question to him, ‘Master, we have it from Moses in writing, if a man’s brother dies leaving a wife but no child, the man must marry the widow to raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first married a wife and then died leaving no children. The second married the widow, and he too died leaving no children; with the third it was the same, and none of the seven left any children. Last of all the woman herself died. Now at the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be, since she had been married to all seven?’
  Jesus said to them, ‘Is not the reason why you go wrong, that you understand neither the scriptures nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, men and women do not marry; no, they are like the angels in heaven. Now about the dead rising again, have you never read in the Book of Moses, in the passage about the Bush, how God spoke to him and said: I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? He is God, not of the dead, but of the living. You are very much mistaken.’

LIVING THE RESURRECTED LIFE


What is the resurrected life like? This is the question posed in today’s gospel.  Although a hypothetical question, it is a question about the next life and how it would be like.  The truth is that whilst we might never know exactly what the resurrected life is like after death, we are not totally lacking knowledge as well.  Yet because we are speaking about the resurrected life, we must be careful not to think of the resurrected life as a resuscitation of this earthly life.  Whilst it is not wrong to think that there is certainly continuity of this life into the next, there is also a radical discontinuity because we are speaking of a life perfected at the end of time.
Hence, the reply of Jesus is important as a gauge to help us understand the next life.  Firstly, it is clear that the next life is a perfection of life and a perfection of love.  We can surmise from the reply of Jesus when He said, “Is not the reason why you go wrong, that you understand neither the scriptures nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, men and woman do not marry; no, they are like the angels in heaven.”   Our bodies to some extent would be like the angels that could transcend space and time; yet however, we are not angels or pure spirits but resurrected bodies with spirit.
Not only is there perfection of the body that makes us bear the powers of the angels and yet still possessing our resurrected bodies, even love is perfected.  On earth, love is particular, as in a marriage.   Human love on earth tends to be focused, exclusive, attached and particular.  We have limitations in sharing our love with everyone.  This is particularly true in marriage.  Because human beings are weak and imperfect in love, we tend to love our own kind first and then love others with whatever love we have left.  Such a love is far from the love of God because God’s love is given to all without exception.  As Jesus said, “be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?  Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mt 5:45-48)
Everyone is called to holiness of life according to one’s vocation.  St Paul wrote, “Night and day I thank God, keeping my conscience clear and remembering my duty to him as my ancestors did, and always I remember you in my prayers.”  So like our ancestors we are called to serve God according to our state of life, whether we are married or single.  We are called to love accordingly those whom the Lord has entrusted to us, whether our spouse, children or subordinates; and to give ourselves to those under our charge totally; and most of all, seeking to do God’s will at all times.
Yet, the call to devoted service and sacrifices can be rather challenging.  It is a tall order indeed.  To love one day or even one year, we might be able to.  To make sacrifices now and then, we might be ready.  But to love day in and day out all the years of our life, making constant sacrifices daily? We can be forgiven for feeling tired, worn out, and burnt-out.  After some time, whether in ministry or in volunteer work or simply doing our duty, we feel like giving up.  The joy is diminished or even gone completely.  It becomes a burden, a chore, a sacrifice without joy.  This loss of zeal could also come from failure, disappointment, disillusionment and opposition.  Indeed, this was the case of St Paul and St Timothy in the early Church when they had to contend with much opposition.
How, then, can we recover our zeal for the Lord as we see in St Paul?  He was clear that he had the responsibility to spread the Good News because the Lord had named him as his “herald, its apostle and its teacher.”  It is necessary that we rekindle that flame of ordination and mission that has been entrusted to us.  St Paul encouraged Timothy thus, “This is why I am reminding you now to fan into a flame the gift that God gave you when I laid my hands on you. God’s gift was not a spirit of timidity, but the Spirit of power, and love, and self-control. So you are never to be ashamed of witnessing to the Lord, or ashamed of me for being his prisoner; but with me bear the hardships for the sake of the Good News.”
How, then, do we flame the gift of our vocation that the Lord has given to us?  Firstly, let us once again be grateful for His grace which was given to us at the cost of His life. “He abolished death, and he has proclaimed life and immortality through the Good News.”  When we are grateful for the gift of salvation and the gift of vocation, then we will treasure it.  Otherwise, we do not cherish the gifts that He has given us.   More often than not, whether it is the gift of ordination, or the gift of a loving spouse and children, we tend to forget and take the gifts for granted till they are taken away.  Being grateful for the gift of vocation and those the Lord entrusted to us to take care and love is the way to recover our zeal and passion.
Secondly, we must not forget the good examples of others.  In the case of St Paul, he thought of the ancestors before him who lived exemplary lives of faith and obedience to God.  He said, “Night and day I thank God, keeping my conscience clear and remembering my duty to him as my ancestors did, and always I remember you in my prayers.” In the case of young Timothy, he has the personal example of St Paul to inspire and edify him in being a courageous and persevering bishop to his flock.  Through the examples of others, especially when we have good mentors, we too will be encouraged to imitate their examples in love and service.  What we are lacking today are witnesses for Christ who are willing to walk the talk.   Blessed are we when we have good mentors to guide us in life and in faith.
Thirdly, we need to cling to God’s promise.  When God calls us, He qualifies us.  He never asks us to do His work alone without giving us His help and assistance.  When He calls, He empowers.  What gave St Paul impetus and courage in times of difficulties and trials?  He had only to rely “on the power of God who has saved us and called us to be holy.”  He surrendered his life, his work and mission to the Lord. “It is only on account of this that I am experiencing fresh hardships here now; but I have not lost confidence, because I know who it is that I have put my trust in, and I have no doubt at all that he is able to take care of all that I have entrusted to him until that Day.”  St Paul knew that God was trustworthy.  He wrote, “The saying is sure: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful – for he cannot deny himself.” (2 Tim 2:11-13)  It is by God’s grace alone that we can do His work and remain faithful to His grace.
In the final analysis, when we are faithful to our vocation, we will find peace in our hearts and joy in our lives.  We should not be concerned about whether we are successful or not, because success is the Lord’s will and not ours.  We should be happy that we have been faithful to our vocation and calling, doing all we can with a clear conscience.  That was the secret of St Paul’s joy when he wrote, “Night and day I thank God, keeping my conscience clear and remembering my duty to him.” Indeed, if we just seek to be faithful to Him, “He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Cor 1:8f)   Let us never forget that the God we serve is a living God.  He is the “God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. He is God, not of the dead but of the living.”   So in Christ Jesus, we know we are already sharing in that resurrected life when we live the life of Christ in service and love for His greater glory and the spread of the gospel.


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

Monday, 30 May 2016

MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL OF JOY

20160531 MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL OF JOY
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: White.
EITHER:
First reading
Zephaniah 3:14-18 ©
Shout for joy, daughter of Zion,
Israel, shout aloud!
Rejoice, exult with all your heart,
daughter of Jerusalem!
The Lord has repealed your sentence;
he has driven your enemies away.
The Lord, the king of Israel, is in your midst;
you have no more evil to fear.
When that day comes, word will come to Jerusalem:
Zion, have no fear,
do not let your hands fall limp.
The Lord your God is in your midst,
a victorious warrior.
He will exult with joy over you,
he will renew you by his love;
he will dance with shouts of joy for you
as on a day of festival.
OR:
Alternative First reading
Romans 12:9-16 ©
Do not let your love be a pretence, but sincerely prefer good to evil. Love each other as much as brothers should, and have a profound respect for each other. Work for the Lord with untiring effort and with great earnestness of spirit. If you have hope, this will make you cheerful. Do not give up if trials come; and keep on praying. If any of the saints are in need you must share with them; and you should make hospitality your special care.
  Bless those who persecute you: never curse them, bless them. Rejoice with those who rejoice and be sad with those in sorrow. Treat everyone with equal kindness; never be condescending but make real friends with the poor.

Responsorial Psalm
Isaiah 12 ©
The rejoicing of a redeemed people
Great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
Truly, God is my salvation,
  I trust, I shall not fear.
For the Lord is my strength, my song,
  he became my saviour.
With joy you will draw water
  from the wells of salvation.
Great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
Give thanks to the Lord, give praise to his name!
  Make his mighty deeds known to the peoples!
  Declare the greatness of his name.
Great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
Sing a psalm to the Lord
  for he has done glorious deeds;
  make them known to all the earth!
People of Zion, sing and shout for joy,
  for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
Great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Gospel Acclamation
cf.Lk1:45
Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed is the Virgin Mary, who believed
that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.
Alleluia!

Gospel
Luke 1:39-56 ©
Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’
  And Mary said:
‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord
and my spirit exults in God my saviour;
because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid.
Yes, from this day forward all generations will call me blessed,
for the Almighty has done great things for me.
Holy is his name,
and his mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him.
He has shown the power of his arm,
he has routed the proud of heart.
He has pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly.
The hungry he has filled with good things, the rich sent empty away.
He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his mercy
– according to the promise he made to our ancestors –
of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’
Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back home.

MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL OF JOY


The scripture readings of today’s feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary exude joy from beginning to end, both in the first reading and in the gospel.  To the Israelites in exile, the prophet said, “Shout for joy, daughter of Zion, Israel, shout aloud! Rejoice, exult with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem!” For Mary, she too exulted in joy.  “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit exults in God my saviour; because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid.” John the Baptist also leapt for joy.  Elizabeth exclaimed, “”Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy.”
We have just completed the Feast of Pentecost when the Lord commanded us all to go and proclaim the Good News to all creation.  This Good News therefore must be one that gives joy to those who receive them.  But it can only be of great joy to those who hear them provided the messengers themselves are filled with joy.  On this feast of the Visitation of Mary, we are called to imitate Mary by being messengers of joy to others.  In this way, we too become like Mary, bearing the visitation of our Lord.
How can we be joyful messengers of the gospel unless we ourselves have been recipients of joy?  We cannot give what we have not received.  Mary was the recipient of that joy herself.  She was not only called to be the mother of the Saviour but her real joy was that the Lord was not only with her but in her.   She was filled with joy simply because God was so close to her, truly the Emmanuel.  This is but the fulfillment of the prophecy of Zephaniah when he said, “The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult with joy over you, he will renew you by his love; he will dance with shouts of joy for you as on a day of festival.”
When we know that the Lord is with us as our warrior and commander, we have no fear, just as the angel said to Mary, “Do not be afraid.”  In a similar vein, the prophet said, “The Lord, the king of Israel, is in your midst; you have no more evil to fear. When that day comes, word will come to Jerusalem: Zion, have no fear, do not let your hands fall limp.”  Thus Mary could exalt when she herself with confidence proclaimed the saving help of God. “Holy is his name, and his mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him. He has shown the power of his arm, he has routed the proud of heart. He has pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly. The hungry he has filled with good things, the rich sent empty away. He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his mercy – according to the promise he made to our ancestors – of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
Indeed, when the Lord is with us, we are free from slavery and bondage, like the Israelites.  The Lord has given us new purpose, new hope and meaning.  So the Good News is proclaimed to the downtrodden, the lowly and the poor.  God has come to assure us that He is with us.  This explains the joy of Mary, Elizabeth and John the Baptist.  So, too, in the resurrection appearances, the disciples were filled with joy when the Lord appeared to them.  To have Jesus so near to them, in their womb and in their midst gave them joy that was incomparable.  Indeed, whoever knows that the Lord is with him or her will no longer fear about tomorrow!   St Paul wrote, “If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.” (Rom 14:8)   We too are filled with joy whenever we are at prayer and feeling His healing and assuring presence.
But for some of us, we have lost this joy.  What is the reason for losing the joy of the Lord?  What are the enemies of our joy?  In truth, unlike the Israelites, our real enemies are not external enemies. It has to do with ourselves.  
Our enemy, as the Magnificat tells us, firstly is the lack of faith.  We lack faith in the Lord and therefore we live in fear and anxiety.  Mary was called to be the mother of the Saviour.  Of all peoples, we would expect Mary to be full of fear and anxiety at the prospect of her pregnancy; how she would have to explain to Joseph and her family, and her community.  But we read that upon receiving the message of the angel, she left everything into the hands of the Lord.  Instead of focusing on her needs and her future, she turned outwards and immediately went to visit her cousin, Elizabeth, who too was pregnant with John the Baptist, in her old age.  Indeed, the remark of Elizabeth captures the spirit of Mary when she said, “Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.”
Secondly, it is the enemy of pride.  Mary said, “He has shown the power of his arm, he has routed the proud of heart. He has pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly.”  Only the humble and lowly, the anawim can receive the blessings of God.  Many of us rely on our own strength, on our wealth, power and talents.   That explains why the modern man and woman are so proud of their achievements.  They think that their success is all due to their hard work, ingenuity and intelligence.  Such people are arrogant and look down on others who are not as successful as them.  But the day they are struck down, with a marriage failure, an incurable illness, a tragedy or an accident, they will come to realize their nothingness and finiteness.
Thirdly, it is the enemy of self-sufficiency.  “The hungry he has filled with good things, the rich sent empty away.”  Many of us cannot feel the presence of God in our lives because we do not need Him.  We think we can manage by ourselves.  This is what the humanist is saying to us.  We do not need God.  We can solve all problems by ourselves.  We have intelligence and with will, we can conquer the sky.  There is nothing we cannot do, no problem we cannot solve.  Such self-sufficient people cannot feel with others.  They lack the humility to know their limitations.  That is why God only comes to those who need Him and acknowledge that only He is sufficient.  When we are self-sufficient, we live in fear of losing what we have.  But if our sufficiency is in God, we live a life of freedom and detachment.  St Paul wrote, “I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Phil 4:12f)
Fourthly, it is the enemy of ingratitude.  When we are proud and self-sufficient, we lack gratitude for what we have because we feel that we have earned them and hence there is no one to whom we need to be grateful to.  An ungrateful person is an unhappy person because he is not appreciative of what he has.  Mary was a woman who felt blessed, not because of her merits but by the grace of God.  And so with great joy, she could say, “Yes, from this day on all generations will call me blessed, for the Almighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name, and his mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him.” Her greatness, she knows, comes from God and therefore she did not rejoice in herself and become proud, but instead she remained always humble before the Lord and His people, for she did not merit her position as the Mother of the Savior, or whatever she has been blessed with.  For her, everything is pure grace.
So if we have lost our joy, we need to come back to the Lord.  The Lord wants to be with us but we must welcome Him like Mary, Elizabeth and St John the Baptist.  He wants to fill us with His joy and peace.
We begin this process by recounting the wonderful things that the Lord has blessed us with.  Like Mary, we must recall the good things that the Lord has done for us.  As the psalmist says, “Give thanks to the Lord, give praise to his name! Make his mighty deeds known to the peoples!  Declare the greatness of his name. Sing a psalm to the Lord for he has done glorious deeds; make them known to all the earth!  People of Zion, sing and shout for joy, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.” Giving thanks and praise for all that He has done for us like Mary is the way to recover that joy which we have lost.
Secondly, we must then pass that joy to others, the same way that Mary did.  St Paul invites us to live a life of charity like Mary in reaching out to others.  He said, “Do not let your love be a pretence, but sincerely prefer good to evil. Love each other as much as brothers should, and have a profound respect for each other. Work for the Lord with untiring effort and with great earnestness of Spirit.”  (Rom 12:8-11)  When we share the joy that we have received from the Lord, that joy multiplies and increases.  Mary in bringing the joy to Elizabeth and John the Baptist augmented her own joy.  Whenever joy is shared, joy increases.  We do not keep joy to ourselves.  The sign of true joy is that of spontaneity in sharing that joy with others, just like the outbursts of Mary and Elizabeth and John the Baptist in thanksgiving. Again St Paul said, “Rejoice with those who rejoice and be sad with those in sorrow. Treat everyone with equal kindness; never be condescending but make real friends with the poor.” (Rom 12:15f)


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