NEW EVANGELIZATION DEMANDS CONVICTED PREACHERS OF GOOD NEWS

20161130 NEW EVANGELIZATION DEMANDS CONVICTED PREACHERS OF GOOD NEWS

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Red.

First reading

Romans 10:9-18 ©

If your lips confess that Jesus is Lord and if you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved. By believing from the heart you are made righteous; by confessing with your lips you are saved. When scripture says: those who believe in him will have no cause for shame, it makes no distinction between Jew and Greek: all belong to the same Lord who is rich enough, however many ask his help, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

  But they will not ask his help unless they believe in him, and they will not believe in him unless they have heard of him, and they will not hear of him unless they get a preacher, and they will never have a preacher unless one is sent, but as scripture says: The footsteps of those who bring good news are a welcome sound. Not everyone, of course, listens to the Good News. As Isaiah says: Lord, how many believed what we proclaimed? So faith comes from what is preached, and what is preached comes from the word of Christ. Let me put the question: is it possible that they did not hear? Indeed they did; in the words of the psalm, their voice has gone out through all the earth, and their message to the ends of the world.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 18(19):2-5 ©

Their word goes forth through all the earth.

or

Alleluia!

The heavens proclaim the glory of God,

  and the firmament shows forth the work of his hands.

Day unto day takes up the story

  and night unto night makes known the message.

Their word goes forth through all the earth.

or

Alleluia!

No speech, no word, no voice is heard

  yet their span extends through all the earth,

  their words to the utmost bounds of the world.

Their word goes forth through all the earth.

or

Alleluia!

Gospel Acclamation

Mt4:19

Alleluia, alleluia!

Follow me, says the Lord,

and I will make you into fishers of men.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Matthew 4:18-22 ©

As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew; they were making a cast in the lake with their net, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.’ And they left their nets at once and followed him. Going on from there he saw another pair of brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John; they were in their boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. At once, leaving the boat and their father, they followed him.

NEW EVANGELIZATION DEMANDS CONVICTED PREACHERS OF GOOD NEWS

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ROM 10:9-18; MT 4:18-22  ]

Many are seeking truth and meaning in life.   Of course, this truth is found in Jesus Christ. St Paul, citing scripture, also reiterates that “those who believe in me will have no cause for shame, it makes no distinction between Jew and Greek: all belong to the same Lord who is rich enough, however many ask his help, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”   Only Christ who is the Way, the Truth and the Life can give the world ultimate meaning.  The responsorial psalm declares, “Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life. The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul; the decree of the Lord is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the command of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eye.”

But St Paul also said that “they will not ask his help unless they believe in him, and they will not believe in him unless they have heard of him.”  If many are living ignorant lives in the world, we cannot put the blame squarely on their shoulders alone.  As it is said, there is no point bemoaning the darkness in the world when we could have lighted a candle.   So too, St Paul argues the necessity of having a preacher to bring the Good News, for “they will never have a preacher unless one is sent, but as scripture says: The footsteps of those who bring good news are a welcome sound.”

In the light of this necessity, the gospel speaks of the call of the apostles.  Thus on the feast of the Apostle Andrew, we are all reminded of our call to proclaim the gospel.  This call is given to all Christians by virtue of our baptism.  The calling of the disciples, Peter and Andrew, James and John in the gospel is a prototype of our own calling.  We are called to be fishers of men and to follow Jesus.  What is significant in their response is that they obeyed without any delay or question.  The command of Jesus to follow Him was received as a command from God Himself, of which our answer must be immediate, decisive and total.  Indeed, that was how the evangelist presented their reaction to Jesus’ command.  Although busy with their own work, fishing and mending their nets, when called, “at once, leaving the boat and their father, they followed him.”   Such an immediate response not only indicates the total obedience of the disciples to the Word of God but also that they recognized the urgency of sharing the Good News.  We too must also respond with the same decisiveness and urgency in our desire to proclaim the Good News to others.

All of us are called in different ways and at different times, regardless of who we are, to share in the mission of Jesus.  We are however called in a special way and have responded to share in the ministry of Jesus.   But why is it that our ministry appears to be ineffective?   Despite all that we have done, yet we do not see much conversion in our Catholics or converts to our faith.  The number of catechumens we have each year is insignificant compared to the large membership we have in our Catholic churches.  Also we do not see more and more Catholics being involved in the life of the Church and their community.

What could be the reason? This is the question posed by St Paul and Isaiah.  “Not everyone, of course, listens to the Good News. As Isaiah says: Lord, how many believed what we proclaimed? So faith comes from what is preached, and what is preached comes from the word of Christ.  Let me put this question; is it possible that they did not hear?  Indeed they did; in the words of the psalm, their voice has gone out through all the earth, and the message to the ends of the world.”  St Paul posits that if the gospel has been preached but yet not accepted it was primarily due to pride and disobedience.

But this is only one of the reasons.  Before we lay all the blame on them and exonerate ourselves, we must examine ourselves.  Perhaps, we ourselves are lacking the zeal and fire of mission in us.  This is what the lineamenta on the New Evangelization is all about.  We must examine ourselves to see whether we have faith in Christ.

The truth is that many of us lack a personal conviction in Jesus as our Lord and savior.  We only have intellectual knowledge of Him.  We preach the gospel by using human wisdom and philosophy rather than by the power of God and the Holy Spirit.  St Paul wrote, “Now when I came to you, brothers, I did not come with any brilliance of oratory or wise argument to announce to you the mystery of God. I was resolved that the only knowledge I would have while I was with you was knowledge of Jesus, and of him as the crucified Christ. I came among you in weakness, in fear and great trembling and what I spoke and proclaimed was not meant to convince by philosophical argument, but to demonstrate the convincing power of the Spirit, so that your faith should depend not on human wisdom but on the power of God.” (1 Cor 2:1-5)

Can we really say that we believe in our hearts that Jesus is raised from the dead?  If our faith in Christ’s resurrection is mere intellectual knowledge, we will lack the power to confess that Jesus is Lord both on our lips and in our lives.  St Paul says, “If your lips confess that Jesus is Lord and if you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved. By believing from the heart you are made righteous; by confessing with your lips you are saved.”

Indeed, sharing the good news means more than mere proclamation of the Word or of what Jesus has done for us.  We need to incarnate the Good News in our lives by our own personal conversion in demonstrating a life that is lived in charity, in words and deeds, in forgiveness and compassion, in selfless service and collaboration, in tolerance and acceptance, in honesty and integrity, in truth and in love.  Without a genuine concern and love for those whom we live with, without a change of heart, no amount of testimony is going to convince anyone, especially our loved ones who know us so well and who can be quite skeptical about our conversion experience.

That is why we need to strengthen our personal relationship with the Lord.  In John’s gospel, it was Andrew who personally discovered Jesus as the Messiah first and then brought Peter to Jesus to discover for themselves.  (cf Jn 2:40-42)  Peter was docile and ready to learn.  He took the invitation and went to see Jesus who said, “Come and See.”  Andrew was also the one who introduced the Gentiles to Jesus too.   We read in the gospel of John that some Greeks came to Philip to request to see Jesus.  Philip then went and told Andrew and together they went to tell Jesus.  Indeed, many people are asking the same question, “We wish to see Jesus.” (Jn 12:21)

Hence, we must learn from Andrew and discover Jesus for ourselves so that we can with conviction bring others to Jesus.  We must follow what Andrew did.  He did not “preach” about Jesus.  Rather, he simply brought Peter to Jesus to experience for himself what he had experienced when he stayed with Jesus earlier.  In order to be effective messengers of the Good News we as individuals must seek the Good News ourselves before we can become messengers.  This is what the New Evangelization is asking of us.  We must appropriate for ourselves the Good News in our hearts as St Paul said, “If your lips confess that Jesus is Lord and if you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved.”  We must submit in obedience like those apostles who responded immediately to the command from Jesus to follow Him.  Believing the Word requires obedience of the heart.  We only need to believe from the heart in order to be saved and be transformed. This is what St Paul writes, “By believing from the heart you are made righteous; by confessing with your lips you are saved.”

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

CALLED TO SHARE IN THE VOCATION OF CHRIST

20161129 CALLED TO SHARE IN THE VOCATION OF CHRIST

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Violet.

First reading

Isaiah 11:1-10 ©

A shoot springs from the stock of Jesse,

a scion thrusts from his roots:

on him the spirit of the Lord rests,

a spirit of wisdom and insight,

a spirit of counsel and power,

a spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

(The fear of the Lord is his breath.)

He does not judge by appearances,

he gives no verdict on hearsay,

but judges the wretched with integrity,

and with equity gives a verdict for the poor of the land.

His word is a rod that strikes the ruthless,

his sentences bring death to the wicked.

Integrity is the loincloth round his waist,

faithfulness the belt about his hips.

The wolf lives with the lamb,

the panther lies down with the kid,

calf and lion feed together,

with a little boy to lead them.

The cow and the bear make friends,

their young lie down together.

The lion eats straw like the ox.

The infant plays over the cobra’s hole;

into the viper’s lair

the young child puts his hand.

They do no hurt, no harm,

on all my holy mountain,

for the country is filled with the knowledge of the Lord

as the waters swell the sea.

That day, the root of Jesse

shall stand as a signal to the peoples.

It will be sought out by the nations

and its home will be glorious.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 71(72):1-2,7-8,12-13,17 ©

In his days justice shall flourish, and peace till the moon fails.

O God, give your judgement to the king,

  to a king’s son your justice,

that he may judge your people in justice

  and your poor in right judgement.

In his days justice shall flourish, and peace till the moon fails.

In his days justice shall flourish

  and peace till the moon fails.

He shall rule from sea to sea,

  from the Great River to earth’s bounds.

In his days justice shall flourish, and peace till the moon fails.

For he shall save the poor when they cry

  and the needy who are helpless.

He will have pity on the weak

  and save the lives of the poor.

In his days justice shall flourish, and peace till the moon fails.

May his name be blessed for ever

  and endure like the sun.

Every tribe shall be blessed in him,

  all nations bless his name.

In his days justice shall flourish, and peace till the moon fails.

Gospel Acclamation

Ps84:8

Alleluia, alleluia!

Let us see, O Lord, your mercy

and give us your saving help.

Alleluia!

Or

Alleluia, alleluia!

Behold, our Lord will come with power

and will enlighten the eyes of his servants.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Luke 10:21-24 ©

Filled with joy by the Holy Spirit, Jesus said, ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do. Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.’

  Then turning to his disciples he spoke to them in private, ‘Happy the eyes that see what you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.’

CALLED TO SHARE IN THE VOCATION OF CHRIST

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ IS 11:1-10; LK 10:21-24   ]

Christmas is a season of hope.  The first week of Advent particularly focuses on the theme of hope.  What is the hope of every man?  It is the hope that the paradise promised to us in Adam would be ours.  It is the hope that our yearning for justice, peace, love and unity would be realized.  This too was the longing of Israel.  It was their hope that there would be a King who would gather Israel together and Israel would once again be given its glory and prosperity as during the reign of David.  Such a vision and hope for justice, peace and unity is expressed in God’s plan for us as well.  If we have the same aspiration for justice, peace and righteousness, it is because we are created in the image of God.

Indeed, in today first’s reading Isaiah too envisaged a day would come when creation, which has been destroyed by sin, would be restored to its original plan.  On that day, according to the Isaian prophecy, “the wolf lives with the lamb, the panther lies down with the kid, calf and lion cub feed together with a little boy to lead them. The cow and the bear make friends, their young lie down together. The lion eats straw like the ox. The infant plays over the cobra’s hole; into the viper’s lair the young child puts his hand. They do no hurt, no harm, on all my holy mountain, for the country is filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters swell the sea.”

But how could this dream come true?  Israel after King David had only seen kings that led the people astray and divided.  The kings were more concerned with their interests than that of the people.  Hence, Isaiah prophesied that from the dynasty of David, a Messiah would come, “a shoot springs from the stock of Jesse, a scion thrusts form his roots”.  He would have all the skills and strength of the Solomonic legend for “on him the spirit of the Lord rests, a spirit of wisdom and insight, a spirit of counsel and power, a spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.”  Since He is filled with the Spirit of the Lord, He has no fear of man, “he does not judge by appearances, he gives no verdict on hearsay, but judges the wretched with integrity, and with equity gives a verdict for the poor of the land. His word is a rod that strikes the ruthless, his sentences bring death to the wicked.”  Indeed, this king would be scrupulously fair in the administration of justice.  His strength lies not in physical or military might but in his wise and just decisions.

Of course, this prophecy is fulfilled in today’s gospel in Jesus.  In His prayer, Jesus revealed His identity as the Son of the Father.  He said, ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children.  Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do.  Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

It is significant that Luke prefaced this prayer of Jesus by specifically mentioning that when Jesus prayed, He was “filled with joy by the Holy Spirit.”  Clearly, this prayer was not uttered simply by human will but in the power and prompting of the Holy Spirit. The implication is that Jesus precisely is that man so filled with the Spirit as prophesied in today’s first reading.  He is truly the Messiah, the personal representative of God.  But more than just a representative, Jesus is the Son of the Father.

In choosing these two texts and juxtaposing them, the Church is already anticipating for us that in Jesus, who is the bearer of the Holy Spirit, the Word of God made flesh, is the fulfillment of the much-awaited king that Israel has always been waiting for.  As the Messiah-king, He would be the one who would lead all men into unity.  He is the only one who could reconcile us with the Father and with each other.  Not only is He the reconciler of humanity but of the whole of creation.

In this context, the disciples were called blessed because they were the privileged ones to come into contact with the Messiah.  Indeed, as Luke has it,  “Then turning to his disciples he spoke to them in private, ‘Happy the eyes that see what you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.’”  It is true that the disciples of Jesus were blessed.  But faith in Jesus as the Son of God took time and the full revelation of this only came at the resurrection.

Hence, in a certain sense, we are more blessed than the people of the Old Testament and even the disciples because we are recipients of the final revelation as well.  In Jesus, in incarnation, passion and resurrection, and at Pentecost, we encounter Jesus, the Risen Lord in person.  On this basis, we were then able to celebrate His universal kingship two weeks ago and also to await His second and definitive coming at the end of time.

However, this fullness of revelation which we have been so privileged to receive is not only for us, it is in fact received on behalf of others. We are called to announce Him as the king of peace to others and that He is the hope of humanity.  Only when all recognize Him as king, can there be one kingdom where there is peace, love and unity.  It is therefore our responsibility to proclaim Jesus as the shepherd-king to all, for He is the one who will gather all men into unity with each other.

Indeed, by virtue of our baptism, we have been given the same spirit that anointed Him for the same mission.  We are given the gifts of the Spirit to witness to Christ who is our Prince of peace.  Like the people in the Old and New Testament, we too must play our part in guiding the people to see Christ as their Messiah.  Through the gifts of the Spirit, we are called to announce Christ as the King through our words and deeds of love, compassion and good works.

Indeed, if we are to be His disciples and apostles, we must be filled with His Spirit, the Spirit of the Shepherd as delineated in today’s first reading.  To acquire such a spirit is to have the heart of Christ.  Consequently, the most important thing for a disciple is prayer and intimacy with the Lord.  Through a deep experience of His love, springs our real calling and our vocation.  Without a love for prayer and for the Lord, one cannot speak of a true vocation.

This is the basis of missionary dynamism.  Without holiness through a deep prayer life, we who have not known Jesus cannot proclaim Him to others.  Only then will your love for Jesus and your knowledge of Jesus grow.  As the Holy Father, Pope St John Paul II told us, mission calls for a “pedagogy of holiness” which should be characterized by the “primacy given to the person of Jesus Christ, to the hearing and proclamation of his Word, to full and active participation in the sacraments, and to the cultivation of prayer as a personal encounter with the Lord.”

Thus, before anything else, those who aspire to be the disciples of Jesus Christ must strive to grow in personal holiness, which is to live the life of the Spirit. To grow in holiness is to live the life that God wants us to live here and now, by being responsible in whatever office we hold in life, be it as worker, parent, student, manager or employer. In this way, people will see you as witnesses of Christ and find in you people who are different from others.

Let us pray that we might be more prayerful, more conscious of our dependence on the Lord, so that we can be more discerning and more aware of what the Lord is calling us to do in life.  Yes, we must pray that we will be more open to God’s plan for our lives.

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

LIVING IN HOPE OF A NEW CREATION

20161128 LIVING IN HOPE OF A NEW CREATION

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Violet.

First reading

Isaiah 2:1-5 ©

The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

In the days to come

the mountain of the Temple of the Lord

shall tower above the mountains

and be lifted higher than the hills.

All the nations will stream to it,

peoples without number will come to it; and they will say:

  ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,

  to the Temple of the God of Jacob

  that he may teach us his ways

  so that we may walk in his paths;

  since the Law will go out from Zion,

  and the oracle of the Lord from Jerusalem.’

He will wield authority over the nations

and adjudicate between many peoples;

these will hammer their swords into ploughshares,

their spears into sickles.

Nation will not lift sword against nation,

there will be no more training for war.

O House of Jacob, come,

let us walk in the light of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 121(122):1-2,4-5,6-9 ©

I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to God’s house.’

I rejoiced when I heard them say:

  ‘Let us go to God’s house.’

And now our feet are standing

  within your gates, O Jerusalem.

I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to God’s house.’

It is there that the tribes go up,

  the tribes of the Lord.

For Israel’s law it is,

  there to praise the Lord’s name.

There were set the thrones of judgement

  of the house of David.

I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to God’s house.’

For the peace of Jerusalem pray:

  ‘Peace be to your homes!

May peace reign in your walls,

  in your palaces, peace!’

I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to God’s house.’

For love of my brethren and friends

  I say: ‘Peace upon you!’

For love of the house of the Lord

  I will ask for your good.

I rejoiced when I heard them say: ‘Let us go to God’s house.’

Gospel Acclamation

cf.Ps79:4

Alleluia, alleluia!

God of hosts, bring us back:

let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Matthew 8:5-11 ©

When Jesus went into Capernaum a centurion came up and pleaded with him. ‘Sir,’ he said ‘my servant is lying at home paralysed, and in great pain.’ ‘I will come myself and cure him’ said Jesus. The centurion replied, ‘Sir, I am not worthy to have you under my roof; just give the word and my servant will be cured. For I am under authority myself, and have soldiers under me; and I say to one man: Go, and he goes; to another: Come here, and he comes; to my servant: Do this, and he does it.’ When Jesus heard this he was astonished and said to those following him, ‘I tell you solemnly, nowhere in Israel have I found faith like this. And I tell you that many will come from east and west to take their places with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of heaven.’

LIVING IN HOPE OF A NEW CREATION

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ IS 2:1-5; MT 8:5-11   ]

What a positive way to begin a new liturgical year with the vision of Isaiah in today’s first reading.   He prophesied a day will come when all of us, “peoples without number” will come to the Lord’s mountain, the place where God dwells where we will be instructed by the Lord so that we will all come under His Lordship and “walk in his paths.”  On that day, there will be no more wars and bloodshed but peace and unity.  This grandiose vision of Isaiah remains ours.

How is the vision being already realized?  Whenever we find ourselves growing in our spiritual life, we know that we are scaling to the top of the Lord’s mountain to meet Him face to face.  Whenever we find peace and joy as it is for those who have been to the mountaintop, we know that God is there in an awesome way.  Whenever we are able to reconcile conflicts and persuade warring parties to “hammer their swords into ploughshares, their spears into sickles.” Whenever we are able to reconcile relationships in our family and in our workplace, we know that God has made it possible.  Whenever we see how the United Nations is working to ensure that “nation will not lift sword against nation”, we know that God is at work in a divided world.  In other words, when everyone comes under His Lordship where truth and love, justice and compassion, forgiveness and tolerance reign, we know we are nearer to the universal peace envisaged by the prophet Isaiah.

But this is not possible unless the Lord comes into our lives.  The season of Advent precisely celebrates His coming and invites us to receive Him.  When we speak of His coming, we are not limiting ourselves to His first coming at Bethlehem, nor even His Second Coming at the end of time, but also His present coming, here and now in our daily life.  Indeed, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” To the extent that we welcome the Lord Jesus into our lives, to that extent the vision of Isaiah is fulfilled in us, even now, if not perfectly, it surely can be felt.  He has taken the initiative at Christmas and He is still extending the same invitation.  In fact, if He had not first found us, we would not have been able to find Him.  However, He will not force Himself into our lives.  So we must first desire the Lord.  The Lord cannot come into our lives unless we actively seek Him, just like the gentiles in today’s scripture readings.

How, then, do we open our hearts to receive the Lord?  Firstly, we must realize our inadequacy. Although the Centurion was an officer and a respectable person, yet, he was conscious of his limitations.  He knew that he was not all that powerful and therefore he turned to Jesus for help to heal his slave.  The truth is that no one will seek the Lord earnestly unless he knows that he is incomplete and insufficient.  What is equally true is that many of us think so highly of our intelligence and talents, our power and influence, our office and position that we think we can do everything without God’s grace.  We think we can manage on our own.  If that is the case, we will never be earnest in seeking Him.

Secondly, we must come to realize our sinfulness.  When Jesus wanted to go to his house, the Centurion was fully aware that gentiles are seen as sinners and His coming would make Jesus unclean.  So in humility, he said, “Sir, I am not worthy to have you under my roof; just give the word and my servant will be cured.” He knew that he was not worthy of Jesus, the holiness of God to come into his dwelling place.  If we want to prepare well for Christmas, the most important step to take is to purify our hearts and minds through the sacrament of reconciliation.  We must start the year on a clean slate instead of burdening ourselves with the sins of our past life that continue to haunt and condemn us.

Thirdly, we must be serious in wanting to live the life of truth and charity.  That is what the prophet asks of us, “O House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.”  There is no question of experiencing the peace and joy of the Lord in our lives so long as we walk in darkness.  To think that we can continue in our sins and find peace and freedom in the Lord is an illusion.  We have to choose God or sin.  Psalm 24 asks, “Who may ascend the mountain of the “Lord?  Who may stand in his holy place?  The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god.” (Ps 24:3-4) So today, we need to make up our mind, as the Elijah tells us, “How long will you go limping with two different opinions?  If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” (1 Kg 18:21)

Fourthly, we must begin to strengthen our spiritual life by opening ourselves to the Word of God.   We need to imbue ourselves with the Word of God.  Some think that they can deepen their prayer life without grounding themselves in the Word of God and coming to know God through the humanity of Jesus.   St. Teresa of Avila warns us that “the very care taken not to think about anything will arouse the mind to think a great deal” and therefore any attempt to separate the mystery of Christ from Christian meditation is always a form of “betrayal” (cf.  Letter to the bishops of the Catholic Church on some aspects of Christian meditation, no 10).  Pope St. John Paul II in his apostolic letter, “Novo Millennio Ineunte” says that the only way to see the Lord is to contemplate on the face of the Lord.  Furthermore, not only should we be more than ever firmly set on the face of the Lord” but that this “contemplation of Christ’s face cannot fail to be inspired by all that we are told about him in Sacred … so that Saint Jerome can vigorously affirm: ‘Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.’  Remaining firmly anchored in Scripture, we open ourselves to the action of the Spirit (cf. Jn 15:26).”

So Christian Faith is one that turns to Jesus as our Lord, Saviour, Teacher and Guide as He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.  It is through a deepening faith in Jesus that we come to realize who we are and what we are called to be.

Indeed, because the Centurion had encountered Jesus, he was able to submit in faith.  He told the Lord that He only needed to give the word and His servant would be cured.  He knew that the Word of Jesus was effective and efficacious.  Faith ultimately comes about when we know Jesus through His Word and teaching.  With faith, we can therefore trust in Him regardless of whatever situation we are in.  With faith inspired by the Word of God, we will find direction and inspiration from the Lord guiding us and helping us to walk in the light of God, which is the path of freedom in truth and love.  This was the faith of the Centurion, a faith that amazed Jesus even.  He had such confidence in Jesus that he did not even feel the necessity for Jesus to come personally to heal his slave.

If only we cultivate this faith of the Centurion, we would have been great evangelizers transforming the whole world, bringing them to Christ the Light of the world.  The reality is that many of us do not even know Christ because we do not read His Word. We can be truly the beacon of evangelization that Isaiah envisaged if we are personally connected with Jesus, imbued with His Word and walk in the path of truth and charity.

It behooves us at the beginning of the season of Advent to turn our eyes once again on the Lord.  Let us renew our personal relationship with the Lord, who “from the fullness of his love, addresses men as his friends (cf. Ex 33:11; Jn 15:14-15), and moves among them (cf. Bar 3:38), in order to invite and receive them into his own company.” (Dei Verbum n. 2)  Together with the Centurion, let us intercede for each other, for those Catholics who do not yet have a personal encounter with the Lord Jesus and for those who do not yet know Him.  If we intercede for each other and the world the way the Centurion interceded for his servant, then we can be sure that our prayers would be heard.  With the same compassion and love for one another and for the world, let us keep the season of Advent, which is a season of waiting, a season of hope, in prayerful watching.  Let us not allow the festivities of this season to distract us from our primary focus, that is, on the Lord and not on the external trappings of Christmas, namely, the parties and gifts and the merrymaking.

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