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