20160821 STRENGTHENING OURSELVES FOR THE MISSION
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
|
First reading
|
Isaiah 66:18-21 ©
|
The Lord says this: I
am coming to gather the nations of every language. They shall come to witness
my glory. I will give them a sign and send some of their survivors to the
nations: to Tarshish, Put, Lud, Moshech, Rosh, Tubal, and Javan, to the distant
islands that have never heard of me or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory
to the nations. As an offering to the Lord they will bring all your brothers,
on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules, on dromedaries, from all the
nations to my holy mountain in Jerusalem, says the Lord, like Israelites
bringing oblations in clean vessels to the Temple of the Lord. And of some of
them I will make priests and Levites, says the Lord.
|
Responsorial
Psalm
|
Psalm 116:1-2 ©
|
Go out to the
whole world; proclaim the Good News.
or
Alleluia!
O praise the Lord,
all you nations,
acclaim
him all you peoples!
Go out to the
whole world; proclaim the Good News.
or
Alleluia!
Strong is his love
for us;
he is
faithful for ever.
Go out to the
whole world; proclaim the Good News.
or
Alleluia!
|
Second reading
|
|
Hebrews
12:5-7,11-13 ©
|
Have you forgotten
that encouraging text in which you are addressed as sons? My son, when the
Lord corrects you, do not treat it lightly; but do not get discouraged when he
reprimands you. For the Lord trains the ones that he loves and he punishes all
those that he acknowledges as his sons. Suffering is part of your training;
God is treating you as his sons. Has there ever been any son whose father did
not train him? Of course, any punishment is most painful at the time, and far
from pleasant; but later, in those on whom it has been used, it bears fruit in
peace and goodness. So hold up your limp arms and steady your trembling
knees and smooth out the path you tread; then the injured limb will
not be wrenched, it will grow strong again.
|
Gospel
Acclamation
|
Jn14:23
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
If anyone loves me he
will keep my word,
and my Father will
love him,
and we shall come to
him.
Alleluia!
|
Or
|
Jn14:6
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
Jesus said: ‘I am the
Way, the Truth and the Life.
No one can come to
the Father except through me.’
Alleluia!
|
Gospel
|
Luke 13:22-30 ©
|
Through towns and
villages Jesus went teaching, making his way to Jerusalem. Someone said to him,
‘Sir, will there be only a few saved?’ He said to them, ‘Try your best to enter
by the narrow door, because, I tell you, many will try to enter and will not
succeed.
‘Once the
master of the house has got up and locked the door, you may find yourself
knocking on the door, saying, “Lord, open to us” but he will answer, “I do not
know where you come from.” Then you will find yourself saying, “We once ate and
drank in your company; you taught in our streets” but he will reply, “I do not
know where you come from. Away from me, all you wicked men!”
‘Then
there will be weeping and grinding of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and
Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves turned
outside. And men from east and west, from north and south, will come to take
their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.
‘Yes, there
are those now last who will be first, and those now first who will be last.’
STRENGTHENING
OURSELVES FOR THE MISSION
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ IS
66:18-21; PS 116:1-2; HEB 12:5-7.11-13; LK 13:22-30 ]
The
first reading from Isaiah gives us the vision of what God intends for the
world. It is the plan of God that all “the nations of every language”
will be gathered together. God wants to bring us all together as one big
family with Him as our Father. It is His plan that all of us share in His
love and in His life. This is the joy and hope of God for us all.
To this
end, we are all called to be His messengers of this Good News and His
instruments of love and mercy. Indeed, we are to announce the depth of
His love for us. The prophet commanded us to go “to the distant islands
that have never heard of me or seen my glory.” We are to proclaim
the Gospel to all nations, near and far especially those who have not yet
encountered the Lord.
As Christians we are
specially blessed to come to know the Lord. In many ways, like the
Israelites, we too were in exile from our homeland. Without Christ, we do not
know the meaning and purpose of life. Without Christ, we do not know our
identity and our calling in life. With Christ, we have become a new
creation in the power of the Holy Spirit. Grateful for the blessings we
have received and the gift of sonship, we are now empowered to bring this same
Good News to others. By virtue of our baptism, we are all called to be
missionaries. (cf Mt 28:19
)
)
Evangelization is not the
work or responsibility of some special groups of Christians but the whole
Church. “Every Christian is challenged, here and now, to be actively engaged
in evangelization; indeed, anyone who has truly experienced God’s saving love
does not need much time or lengthy training to go out and proclaim that love.
Every Christian is a missionary to the extent that he or she has encountered
the love of God in Christ Jesus. If we are not convinced, let us look at
those first disciples, who, immediately after encountering the gaze of Jesus,
went forth to proclaim him joyfully: ‘We have found the Messiah!’ (Jn 1:41
). The Samaritan woman became a missionary immediately after
speaking with Jesus and many Samaritans come to believe in him ‘because of the
woman’s testimony’ (Jn 4:39
). So too, Saint Paul, after his encounter with Jesus Christ,
‘immediately proclaimed Jesus’ (Acts 9:20
; cf. 22:6-21
). So what are we waiting for?” (EG 120)
). The Samaritan woman became a missionary immediately after
speaking with Jesus and many Samaritans come to believe in him ‘because of the
woman’s testimony’ (Jn 4:39). So too, Saint Paul, after his encounter with Jesus Christ,
‘immediately proclaimed Jesus’ (Acts 9:20; cf. 22:6-21). So what are we waiting for?” (EG 120)
Indeed,
this has always been the reminder of Pope Francis in his encyclical, the Joy of
the gospel. We are called to be missionary disciples. Jesus did not
simply send the apostles to baptize and proclaim the Good News but to make them
disciples by instructing them in the faith. “Go therefore and make disciples of
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.
And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Mt 28:19f
) Hence, “we no longer say that we are ‘disciples”
and ‘missionaries’, but rather that we are always ‘missionary
disciples’”. (EG 120) “Of course, all of us are called to mature in
our work as evangelizers. We want to have better training, a deepening love and
a clearer witness to the Gospel. In this sense, we ought to let others be
constantly evangelizing us. But this does not mean that we should postpone the
evangelizing mission; rather, each of us should find ways to communicate Jesus
wherever we are.” (EG 121)
) Hence, “we no longer say that we are ‘disciples”
and ‘missionaries’, but rather that we are always ‘missionary
disciples’”. (EG 120) “Of course, all of us are called to mature in
our work as evangelizers. We want to have better training, a deepening love and
a clearer witness to the Gospel. In this sense, we ought to let others be
constantly evangelizing us. But this does not mean that we should postpone the
evangelizing mission; rather, each of us should find ways to communicate Jesus
wherever we are.” (EG 121)
Thus, we need to continue
to strengthen and deepen our own faith. We must hold out our hands and
feet to Jesus so that He could heal them completely and make them well again.
We must surrender our minds and hearts to the Lord so that He can use us
well according to His holy will. We cannot stop where we are regardless
of the depth of our faith. Faith is a growing thing and once it stops
growing, it is already dying as in any relationship. Faith like a
relationship must be kept up all the time; otherwise, God becomes eventually a
stranger to us.
How does faith grow if not
by going through the narrow gate? Jesus tells us that the way to fullness
of life is a process. There will be many struggles along the way.
At times, we succeed and at times we fail. But we must continue to fight
this battle by going through this agonizing journey of purification in
love. For a Christian to grow in maturity of faith, it is not a
one-time event but a life-long process of configuring ourselves in the image
and likeness of Christ. This means the courage to carry the cross after
our Lord Jesus Christ. We must never fall into complacency in our faith
especially for those who have just completed RCIA or finished their
confirmation classes.
This requires constant
discipline in formation. We need to belong to some group, formal or
informal Catholic community to grow in our faith. We need to make time to
read the Word of God daily and devoutly. We need to make time for
meditation and contemplation. Whenever possible, we need to see how we
can grow in our moral and doctrinal formation as well.
At times, this discipline
comes in a personal and existential way in the form of suffering and
trials. The author of Hebrews urges us not to take such trials negatively
but positively as coming from the love of God. Like all parents, we are
called to discipline our children when they are young. As they grow older
and they become more mature, we allow them greater freedom. But if we do
not discipline them when they are young, we will spoil them. There is no
formation of character without discipline, especially self-discipline.
Those of us who cannot take suffering positively but grudgingly or even with
resentment will not learn much from our trials. In fact, they become
worse, falling into depression when they could use such opportunities as
learning curves in their life.
Most sufferings come from
our sins, pride, selfishness and folly. The author wrote, “My son, when
the Lord corrects you, do not treat it lightly; but do not get discouraged when
he reprimands you. For the Lord trains the ones that he loves and he punishes
all those that he acknowledges as his sons. Suffering is part of your training;
God is treating you as his sons.” So we learn from our sins and
failures. But we must not condemn ourselves.
Some sufferings come from
rejection of those who disagree with us and cannot accept the values of the
gospel. We have many enemies from secularism, humanism and even from
those who are misguided in their faith. All religions teach us to be
good, pure, kind, charitable, forgiving and compassionate. The sensual,
self-centered, individualistic values of the world are often at odds with
ours. And when we speak out for our values, they would attack us and seek
to discredit us before the world.
Regardless of the forms in
which suffering takes it is for our purification and growth. We must therefore
view it positively. No one likes to suffer. It is extremely
challenging when we are going through the trials and the oppositions.
Talking about suffering is easy but to suffer is debilitating. But for
those of us who stay firm and committed to our beliefs and our goals, the
sufferings, instead of weakening us, make us stronger and better. We
become wiser, more disciplined and much more grateful people for all that we
have and who we are today.
We must act now before it
is too late and we will regret. If the Lord is calling us to change, let
us delay no longer. If we are suffering, let us persevere to the end so
that we can reap the harvest of life and joy. We might never have the
opportunity to repent or to do the good we always intended to do because we
have been busy with other inconsequential things. So before we are taken
by surprise and realize that the opportunities of love, service, forgiveness
and relationships have passed, let us seize the day by making our life a life
of love and joy to others.
Let this not be said of us,
“Yes, there are those now last who will be first, and those now first who will
be last.” St Paul was very conscious of this possibility when he
wrote, “So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; but
I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself
should not be disqualified.” (1 Cor 9:26f
) Act immediately and delay no longer.
Strengthen our faith whilst we are still able to because when the time comes,
we might no longer have the grace to grow in faith and in love.
) Act immediately and delay no longer.
Strengthen our faith whilst we are still able to because when the time comes,
we might no longer have the grace to grow in faith and in love.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights
Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment