20161119 VAIN SPECULATION
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Apocalypse
11:4-12 ©
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I, John, heard a
voice saying: ‘These, my two witnesses, are the two olive trees and the two
lamps that stand before the Lord of the world. Fire can come from their mouths
and consume their enemies if anyone tries to harm them; and if anybody does try
to harm them he will certainly be killed in this way. They are able to lock up
the sky so that it does not rain as long as they are prophesying; they are able
to turn water into blood and strike the whole world with any plague as often as
they like. When they have completed their witnessing, the beast that comes out
of the Abyss is going to make war on them and overcome them and kill them.
Their corpses will lie in the main street of the Great City known by the
symbolic names Sodom and Egypt, in which their Lord was crucified. Men out of
every people, race, language and nation will stare at their corpses, for
three-and-a-half days, not letting them be buried, and the people of the world
will be glad about it and celebrate the event by giving presents to each other,
because these two prophets have been a plague to the people of the world.’
After the
three-and-a-half days, God breathed life into them and they stood up, and
everybody who saw it happen was terrified; then they heard a loud voice from
heaven say to them, ‘Come up here’, and while their enemies were watching, they
went up to heaven in a cloud.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm
143(144):1-2,9-10 ©
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Blessed be the
Lord, my rock.
Blessed be the Lord,
my rock,
who
trains my arms for battle,
who
prepares my hands for war.
Blessed be the
Lord, my rock.
He is my love, my
fortress;
he is my
stronghold, my saviour
my shield, my place
of refuge.
He brings
peoples under my rule.
Blessed be the
Lord, my rock.
To you, O God, will I
sing a new song;
I will
play on the ten-stringed lute
to you who give kings
their victory,
who set
David your servant free.
Blessed be the
Lord, my rock.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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cf.Lk8:15
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are those
who,
with a noble and
generous heart,
take the word of God
to themselves
and yield a harvest
through their perseverance.
Alleluia!
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Or
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cf.2Tim1:10
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Our Saviour Jesus
Christ abolished death
and he has proclaimed
life through the Good News.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 20:27-40 ©
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Some Sadducees –
those who say that there is no resurrection – approached him and they put
this question to him, ‘Master, we have it from Moses in writing, that if a man’s
married brother dies childless, the man must marry the widow to raise up
children for his brother. Well then, there were seven brothers. The first,
having married a wife, died childless. The second and then the third married
the widow. And the same with all seven, they died leaving no children. Finally
the woman herself died Now, at the resurrection, to which of them will she be
wife since she had been married to all seven?’
Jesus
replied, ‘The children of this world take wives and husbands, but those who are
judged worthy of a place in the other world and in the resurrection from the
dead do not marry because they can no longer die, for they are the same as the
angels, and being children of the resurrection they are sons of God. And Moses
himself implies that the dead rise again, in the passage about the bush where
he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.
Now he is God, not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all men are in
fact alive.’
Some
scribes then spoke up. ‘Well put, Master’ they said – because they would
not dare to ask him any more questions.he
VAIN
SPECULATION
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ REVELATION 11:4-12; PS 144:1, 2, 9-10; LUKE 20:27-40 ]
In the
gospel today, we read of the Sadducees approaching Jesus with an enigma
regarding the woman who married seven brothers of the same family. For
“at the resurrection, to which of them will she be wife since she had been
married to all seven?” It is significant that Jesus did not allow them to
sidetrack the real issue, which was faith in the resurrection. The apparent
conundrum presented by them was just a trick to discredit the doctrine of the
resurrection. Explaining that life in the next world is quite different
from earthly life, Jesus underscored that faith in the resurrection is
authenticated by the very fact that “Moses himself implies that the dead rise
again, in the passage about the bush where he calls the Lord the God of
Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is God, not of the dead,
but of the living; for to him all men are in fact alive.”
Similarly
when Christians read the book of Revelation, they like to speculate on the
images and symbols used by the author of Revelation as if they are ciphers on
the future of the world. Many have tried to link the figures and
symbols with current events and world leaders of our times. Of course,
one can always read into the symbols and come out with all kinds of vain
predictions about the future of humanity and the world. By so doing, they
miss out the real message of what the author wants to convey to his
readers. In truth he was not giving us predictions of events in the
future. Rather, he was writing at a time when the Church was under the
persecution of the Romans. This also explains why he had to use a
literary form which we call apocalyptic language which employs biblical and
historical imagery familiar to the readers at that time.
Simply
put then, his message was intended to assure his fellow Christians who were
suffering for their faith under the Romans that they would not die and even if
they did, they would be given eternal life. They would be raised to life
and evil would eventually be conquered. “After the three-and-a-half days,
God breathed life into them and they stood up, and everybody who saw it happen
was terrified; then they heard a loud voice from heaven say to them, ‘Come up
here’, and while their enemies were watching, they went up to heaven in a
cloud.” The three-and-a-half days refer to the trials of life but they
too would share in the resurrection of Christ as reiterated in the
gospel. The enemies would eventually come to realize that they could not
destroy the Church and the witnesses of Christ, for God is the ruler over all.
The responsorial psalm
joyfully declares that God is the Rock. He is “my mercy and my
fortress, my stronghold, my deliverer, my shield, in whom I trust, who subdues
my people under me.” It is He “who give victory to kings, and deliver
David, your servant from the evil sword.” Indeed, the 1260 days (that is,
three-and-a-half years) signifying the time of trials of the Church, will be
overcome by Christ. The Church will not be vanquished by the forces of
evil. Rather the Church and the saints of God and the martyrs will be
victorious at the end.
In the
light of this message of hope, we must therefore take into account that
Christianity is not meant for the weak and for cowards. Christ has come
to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted. A Christianity that
is too comfortable, where everything is smooth sailing, where there are no
trials, no challenges, where the status quo remains all the time, and
everything is institutionalized, is no longer the Church that Jesus came to
establish. The stark reality is that the gospel cannot but become the
conscience of society, a pain to those who do not want to hear the truth and a
nuisance to a secular world that proclaims a freedom without authentic freedom
but a new form of slavery.
Isn’t this what the author
is warning us Christians when he wrote, “When they have completed their
witnessing, the beast that comes out of the Abyss is going to make war on them
and overcome them and kill them … Men out of every people, race, language and
nation will stare at their corpses, for three-and-a-half days, not letting them
be buried, and the people of the world will be glad about it and celebrate the
event by giving presents to each other, because these two prophets have been a
plague to the people of the world.”
Yes,
the world is very hostile towards Christianity, especially Catholics, because
of our stance against the secular values that promote a culture of death in all
its forms, a permissive culture that does not respect the dignity of the
person, especially of women and the young, the ethics of business and science,
the rights of the marginalized, the poor and the migrants. Besides
the global dimension of persecution, as individual Catholics, we too face persecution
in terms of trying to live a life according to the gospel values. Whether
at home, in the office or even in Church, we know how difficult it is for us to
be true to what we believe in as temptations are many. Striving to grow in
holiness and live a life of integrity is our constant trial as we fight against
the temptations and the seductive ways of the Evil One.
In our
discouragement, let us take heart that we have the prophets and Christian
martyrs before us who showed the way. The two olive trees and the two
lamps refer to the witnesses of the gospel. In the Old Testament we have
of course Moses and Elijah. The author recalls the powers that were given
to both of them when he reminisced that “Fire can come from their mouths and
consume their enemies if anyone tries to harm them; and if anybody does try to
harm them he will certainly be killed in this way. They are able to lock up the
sky so that it does not rain as long as they are prophesying; they are able to
turn water into blood and strike the whole world with any plague as often as
they like.” These miracles were of course worked by both Moses and
Elijah, the greatest prophets of the Old Testament era. Moses was the one
who could “turn water into blood and strike the whole world with any plague”.
Elijah brought about drought when King Ahab refused to obey the voice of God.
In the
Christian dispensation, the two witnesses personify the Christian apostles,
Peter and Paul; both were killed in the Great City of Rome and many other
apostles like St Stephen were killed in Jerusalem. “Their corpses will
lie in the main street of the Great City known by the symbolic names Sodom and
Egypt, in which their Lord was crucified.” Jerusalem was therefore
likened to Sodom because of its immorality and Rome to Egypt because of its
worldliness.
Indeed,
we are called to be like the apostles, to be courageous in the face of
persecution when we proclaim the truth about God and the sin of the
world. Like them, as the olive trees of God, that is precious in His
sight, God will see us through in all our trials and win the victory for
us. We must remain focused and have our sights not just on this world but
in the final victory that will be won by Christ Himself. The New Heaven
and the New Earth will eventually be realized and be brought about by Christ
Himself.
Let the symbol of the
three-and-a-half years, that is, half of seven, which therefore means
incompleteness, teach us patience. We must be patient especially when we
see how the Church is suffering today, especially from all the scandals and
sins in the Church and without. It is a blessing in disguise, for once
again the Church under persecution is being purified of her sins. She
will in time to come be truly a bride for Christ, pure, holy and
spotless. So we must not be discouraged in the meantime but struggle on
in the proclamation of the gospel. With faith and confidence like the
prophets and the apostles before us, God assures us that we would not be killed
until we have finished our work. God is faithful to us. And even if
we are killed in our body, He will raise us to everlasting life with Him
forever.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights
Reserved
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