20161210 BE A FORERUNNER OF CHRIST
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
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First reading
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Ecclesiasticus
48:1-4,9-12 ©
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The prophet Elijah
arose like a fire,
his word
flaring like a torch.
It was he who brought
famine on the people,
and who
decimated them in his zeal.
By the word of the
Lord, he shut up the heavens,
he also,
three times, brought down fire.
How glorious you were
in your miracles, Elijah!
Has
anyone reason to boast as you have?
Taken up in the
whirlwind of fire,
in a
chariot with fiery horses;
designated in the
prophecies of doom
to allay
God’s wrath before the fury breaks,
to turn the hearts of
fathers towards their children,
and to restore
the tribes of Jacob,
Happy shall they be
who see you,
and those
who have fallen asleep in love.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm
79(80):2-3,15-16,18-19 ©
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Lord of hosts,
bring us back; let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.
O shepherd of Israel,
hear us,
shine
forth from your cherubim throne.
O Lord, rouse up your
might,
O Lord,
come to our help.
Lord of hosts,
bring us back; let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.
God of hosts, turn
again, we implore,
look down
from heaven and see.
Visit this vine and
protect it,
the vine
your right hand has planted.
Lord of hosts,
bring us back; let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.
May your hand be on
the man you have chosen,
the man
you have given your strength.
And we shall never
forsake you again;
give us
life that we may call upon your name.
Lord of hosts,
bring us back; let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The day of the Lord
is near;
Look, he comes to
save us.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Lk3:4,6
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Prepare a way for the
Lord,
make his paths
straight,
and all mankind shall
see the salvation of God.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 17:10-13
©
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As
they came down from the mountain the disciples put this question to Jesus, ‘Why
do the scribes say then that Elijah has to come first?’ ‘True;’ he replied
‘Elijah is to come to see that everything is once more as it should be;
however, I tell you that Elijah has come already and they did not recognise him
but treated him as they pleased; and the Son of Man will suffer similarly at
their hands.’ The disciples understood then that he had been speaking of John
the Baptist.
BE A
FORERUNNER OF CHRIST
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ ECCLESIASTICUS 48:1-4,9-11;
MATTHEW 17:10-13
]
In the responsorial psalm,
the psalmist expresses our cry to the Lord to come and save us. “O
shepherd of Israel, hear us, shine forth from your cherubim throne. O Lord,
rouse up your might, O Lord, come to our help. God of hosts, turn again,
we implore, look down from heaven and see. Visit this vine and protect it, the
vine your right hand has planted.” Indeed, many are seeking to see the
Lord and His mercy. “Lord of hosts, bring us back; let your face shine on
us and we shall be saved.” We recognize our misery and our
emptiness in life. We know that we are seeking the face of God so
that we can find real happiness. The book of Sirach remarks, “Happy shall
they be who see you, and those who have fallen asleep in love.”
How can this prayer be
fulfilled today? The truth is that Christ has already come but many do
not recognize Him. Christ in His incarnation has shown us the face of God
by His life, teaching, miracles and most of all, the greatest miracle of His
passion, death and resurrection. Jesus told Philip who too wanted to see
the face of the Father, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you
still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say,
‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the
Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on
my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works.” (Jn 14:9-10)
Of course, this is not
surprising because even the Jews did not recognize the prophets when they came,
and least of all, the forerunner of the Messiah, John the Baptist.
Instead, they found excuses to reject Him and yet pretended to wait for the
return of Elijah as prophesied in Malachi, “Lo, I will send you the prophet
Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. He will turn the
hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their
parents, so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse.” (Mal 4:5f) The truth
is that he has already come in the person of John the Baptist. This was what
Jesus said, “True, Elijah is to come to see that everything is once more as it
should be; however, I tell you that Elijah has come already and they did not
recognise him but treated him as they pleased; and the Son of Man will suffer
similarly at their hands.”
Like Elijah, John the
Baptist preached boldly in his message of repentance. Indeed, Elijah was
one of the greatest prophets, “How glorious you were in your miracles, Elijah!
Has anyone reason to boast as you have? – taken up in the whirlwind of fire, in
a chariot with fiery horses; designated in the prophecies of doom to allay
God’s wrath before the fury breaks, to turn the hearts of fathers towards their
children, and to restore the tribes of Jacob.” John the Baptist was sent
to do the same thing, to prepare the Way for the Lord to come by asking the
people to repent of their sins.
Why is it that the world
could not recognize Jesus when He came and cannot recognize Him even
today? There are three reasons why the world cannot recognize the
presence of the Messiah in our midst. Firstly, many are wounded by life’s
tragedies, failures in life, broken relationships, financial difficulties and
sicknesses. When we face so much pain and suffering in life, we wonder
whether God is with us and whether He truly loves us because if He did, He would
have come to our rescue. There are some too who are deeply wounded by the
Church, especially religious leaders and also fellow Catholics. They
cannot accept that in a family of God, they could be treated in that manner
without compassion and justice. Finally, many are misled by the
illusions of the world and the worldly lifestyle of pleasure, power,
materialism, relativism and egoism that is being promoted. As a
consequence, they are led deeper into sin, darkness, addictions, slavery and hopelessness.
So how can we help them if
not by being a forerunner like Elijah and John the Baptist? We must be
fired up by being the torch of Elijah and the light of the world. “The
prophet Elijah arose like a fire, his word flaring like a torch. It was he who
brought famine on them, and who decimated them in his zeal.” Following
John the Baptist, we are called to reveal the face of God to the world through
our words and actions. This was what was prophesied of John the Baptist
when he was born, which we can also make our own. “And you, child, will
be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to
prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people
by the forgiveness of their sins. By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn
from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and
in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
The season of Advent
requires that each one of us acts as a forerunner for Christ to the
world. This explains why the Church advocates all the spiritual, material
and social preparations. We want the world to be reminded of Christ’s
coming as Saviour of the World. Indeed, through our good works and
encouragement, we can reveal the face of Christ to a broken and wounded people
who have lost hope in their future and of life now and hereafter.
It is only when we reach out to the poor, the abandoned, the lonely elderly,
the misunderstood colleague, the disheartened parents, the frustrated and
dejected young people that they will see the face of God again.
Good works and deeds of
charity must be followed by our sharing of Christ at work in our lives.
We must find occasions to talk to them about Jesus, the Saviour of
humanity. We do this not by preaching or quoting from the
scriptures or expounding our lofty doctrines but simply by sharing with others
what Christ has done for us and how by turning to Him in prayer, meditation and
especially in the reception of the Eucharist and the sacrament of reconciliation,
we find healing, strength and encouragement. In a nutshell, it is not
enough to be the Good News to others, but we must give them the Good News
incarnated in Christ as well. Only when the time is opportune, without
sounding too imposing, do we invite them gently to return to Church, make a
good confession, celebrate the Eucharist, and for those who are more receptive,
to attend a silent or community renewal retreat. For those who have left
the Church, they should be invited for Christian fellowship, Christmas
celebration and be encouraged to join groups like Landings, Alpha Program,
Charismatic Renewal, etc. Most importantly, they need to be introduced to
good and exemplary Catholics.
For this reason, we cannot
be forerunners of Christ our Saviour unless we first imbibe the message of John
the Baptist. We must first repent ourselves, acknowledge and confess our
sins and live a life of holiness. Without which, we will be ineffective
messengers of our Lord. Conversion and repentance must begin with
us. We must accept Christ ourselves. We must first welcome Christ
to our lives by entering into the wilderness in prayer and contemplation of the
Word of God, like John the Baptist. Unless we pray and ask for His
grace, we cannot be authentic witnesses. That is the real problem.
Many Catholics want to be saviours of the world, but they do it without the
help of the One and Only Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ. They do not pray
and spend time with the Lord before they serve Him in mission. Indeed, we need
to ask for His grace, especially for our leaders. With the psalmist, we
too pray, “May your hand be on the man you have chosen, the man you have given
your strength. And we shall never forsake you again; give us life that we may
call upon your name.” In the final analysis, only God can
save us and show us His face. We are like John the Baptist, happy to hear
the bridegroom’s voice and happier to know that the Lord is loved and known by
so many. As a forerunner, we remain conscious that our role is to
make the Lord increase and we decrease. He is the Word, we
are the voice. He is the Light, we are simply the torch. He
is the Saviour, we are simply His messengers.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights
Reserved
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