CHRISTIAN HOPE IS FOUNDED ON FAITH IN CHRIST

20161015 CHRISTIAN HOPE IS FOUNDED ON FAITH IN CHRIST

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: White.

First reading

Ephesians 1:15-23 ©

I, having once heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus, and the love that you show towards all the saints, have never failed to remember you in my prayers and to thank God for you. May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and perception of what is revealed, to bring you to full knowledge of him. May he enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds for you, what rich glories he has promised the saints will inherit and how infinitely great is the power that he has exercised for us believers. This you can tell from the strength of his power at work in Christ, when he used it to raise him from the dead and to make him sit at his right hand, in heaven, far above every Sovereignty, Authority, Power, or Domination, or any other name that can be named not only in this age but also in the age to come. He has put all things under his feet and made him, as the ruler of everything, the head of the Church; which is his body, the fullness of him who fills the whole creation.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 8:2-7 ©

You gave your Son power over the works of your hand.

How great is your name, O Lord our God,

  through all the earth!

Your majesty is praised above the heavens;

  on the lips of children and of babes

you have found praise to foil your enemy,

  to silence the foe and the rebel.

You gave your Son power over the works of your hand.

When I see the heavens, the work of your hands,

  the moon and the stars which you arranged,

what is man that you should keep him in mind,

  mortal man that you care for him?

You gave your Son power over the works of your hand.

Yet you have made him little less than a god;

  with glory and honour you crowned him,

gave him power over the works of your hand,

  put all things under his feet.

You gave your Son power over the works of your hand.

Gospel Acclamation

1S3:9,Jn6:68

Alleluia, alleluia!

Speak, Lord, your servant is listening:

you have the message of eternal life.

Alleluia!

Or	Jn15:26,27

Alleluia, alleluia!

The Spirit of truth will be my witness;

and you too will be my witnesses.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Luke 12:8-12 ©

Jesus said to his disciples:

  ‘I tell you, if anyone openly declares himself for me in the presence of men, the Son of Man will declare himself for him in the presence of the angels. But the man who disowns me in the presence of men will be disowned in the presence of God’s angels.

  ‘Everyone who says a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

  ‘When they take you before synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how to defend yourselves or what to say, because when the time comes, the Holy Spirit will teach you what you must say.’

CHRISTIAN HOPE IS FOUNDED ON FAITH IN CHRIST

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [  EPHESIANS  1:15 – 23; LUKE 12:9 – 12 ]

The world seems to have lost its focus, whether in politics or in morals.  This is why even in the midst of progress; many feel lost and hopeless in the world.  Without hope, life cannot continue.  Whether in work, relationship, marriage or in health, many people in the face of difficulties want to give up, because they see no hope.  Even those working for a just world today are often tempted to give up, because they feel that the power of evil is stronger than good. By cooperating with His divine plan, we will find our purpose and meaning in this life on earth as we wait for the fullness of sharing God’s life in heaven.

But for us Christians, we know there is hope.  The readings from the letter of St Paul to the Ephesians over the last couple of days told us that there is hope.  Through the grace of revelation, St Paul revealed to us the plan of God for humanity, which is that everything will be united in Christ.  Above all, we are given the hope of true freedom because we are called to the great destiny of being adopted sons in Christ.  That this hope be always in our minds is the prayer of St Paul for the Ephesians and for us when he prayed, “May he enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds for you, what rich glories he has promised the saints will inherit and how infinitely great is the power that he has exercised for us believers.”

What then is the basis of hope?  Our hope is founded on Christ.  Indeed, Paul says, “This you can tell from the strength of his power at work in Christ, when he used it to raise him from the dead and to make him sit at his right hand, in heaven, far above every Sovereignty, Authority, Power, or Domination, or any other name that can be named not only in this age but also in the age to come. He has put all things under his feet and made him, as the ruler of everything, the head of the Church; which is his body, the fullness of him who fills the whole creation.”  The responsorial psalm similarly declares “You have given your Son rule over the works of your hands.”  Christ, therefore, having won victory over sin and death rules over all of creation.

The psalmist reminds us that we, too, in Christ, have been given authority over creation and to rule the earth with His wisdom and love.  “What is man that you should be mindful of him, or the son of man that you should care for him? You have made him little less than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him rule over the works of your hands, putting all things under his feet.”  By cooperating with His divine plan, we will find our purpose and meaning in this life on earth as we wait for the fullness of sharing God’s life in heaven.

Of course, we cannot do what Christ has done unless we have found our hope in Him.  Only then can we be certain of “how infinitely great is the power that he has exercised for us believers.”  If the Father had raised Jesus from the dead and “put all things under his feet and made him, as the ruler of everything, the head of the Church; which is his body, the fullness of him who fills the whole creation”, then we can be confident that we will overcome all things in Him.  This is particularly so because it will not be on our strength that we will overcome the tribulations of the world.  Rather, it is Christ who acts in us, He being the Head of the Church and we the members of His body.  With Christ at work in us, we need not ever fear that we are fighting a losing battle in the proclamation of the Good News, even though at times, we might feel rather discouraged at the hostility of secularism against the Church and all religions.

For this reason, the gospel warns us that those who have no faith in Christ will lose all hope.  By failing to declare our faith in Jesus, it shows our lack of confidence in Him. Jesus said to His disciples, “I tell you, if anyone openly declares himself for me in the presence of men, the Son of Man will declare himself for him in the presence of God’s angels. But the man who disowns me in the presence of men will be disowned in the presence of God’s angels.”  It is not so much that He will disown us, but that we will disown His Spirit at work in us.  By not standing up for Jesus on earth before men, we will be so embarrassed to stand before Jesus Himself when we meet Him face to face, for we know that we have betrayed Him.

Accordingly, we can understand why Jesus said, “Everyone who says a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.”  To deny the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us is to live without hope.  We must not think that God will hold our sins against us.  Rather, it will be our sins that will hold out against God who reaches out to us in mercy and forgiveness. If the sin against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven, it is because when a man has lost all faith in God and in his fellowmen and himself, he would fall into nihilism.  Being totally closed to the love of God, he condemns himself into meaninglessness and hopelessness.   Indeed, all those who have given up on life have in the first place given up on God and on man.   So long as one continues to have faith in God, there is hope for himself and hope for others.

But for those who have faith in Jesus, then He assures us that “When they take you before synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how to defend yourselves or what to say, because when the time comes, the Holy Spirit will teach you what you must say.”  So long as we have faith in Jesus, “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and perception of what is revealed, to bring you to full knowledge of him.”  Yes, He will enlighten us and give us not just hope in this world but the everlasting joy of sharing in the life of God, together with His saints in glory.  He will help us to understand the ambiguities of life, to find faith and strength in times of confusion and trials and most of all, teach us about the eternal truths, what to say and how to proclaim the truth that He has given to us.

And so today it is important to strengthen our faith in Jesus who is at work in our lives.  But we must surrender ourselves, especially our work.  We must remember those many events in our lives when we thought we were powerless and helpless and yet the Lord came to our help and enabled us to do much more than we could imagine or thought of.  By remembering the power of God in Christ Jesus, we will find hope.

So hope is born from faith in Christ. Through hope comes charity.  We hope we will never give up on situations, especially on people.  If at times, we feel like giving up it is because we lack hope and therefore have no capacity to love.  Indeed, St Paul sums up so beautifully the inter-relationship between faith, hope and charity when he commended the Ephesians, saying, “I, having once heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus, and the love that you show towards all the saints, have never failed to remember you in my prayers and to thank God for you.”

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