20161218 PREACHING THE OBEDIENCE OF FAITH
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
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First reading
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Isaiah 7:10-14 ©
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The Lord spoke to
Ahaz and said, ‘Ask the Lord your God for a sign for yourself coming either
from the depths of Sheol or from the heights above.’ ‘No,’ Ahaz answered ‘I
will not put the Lord to the test.’
Then
Isaiah said:
‘Listen now, House of
David:
are you not satisfied
with trying the patience of men
without trying the
patience of my God, too?
The Lord himself,
therefore,
will give you a sign.
It is this: the
maiden is with child
and will soon give
birth to a son
whom she will call
Immanuel,
a name which means
“God-is-with-us.”’
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm 23(24):1-6
©
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Let the Lord
enter! He is the king of glory.
The Lord’s is the
earth and its fullness,
the world
and all its peoples.
It is he who set it
on the seas;
on the
waters he made it firm.
Let the Lord
enter! He is the king of glory.
Who shall climb the
mountain of the Lord?
Who shall
stand in his holy place?
The man with clean
hands and pure heart,
who
desires not worthless things.
Let the Lord
enter! He is the king of glory.
He shall receive
blessings from the Lord
and
reward from the God who saves him.
Such are the men who
seek him,
seek the
face of the God of Jacob.
Let the Lord
enter! He is the king of glory.
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Second reading
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Romans 1:1-7 ©
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From Paul, a servant
of Christ Jesus who has been called to be an apostle, and specially chosen to
preach the Good News that God promised long ago through his prophets in the
scriptures.
This news
is about the Son of God who, according to the human nature he took was a
descendant of David: it is about Jesus Christ our Lord who, in the order of the
spirit, the spirit of holiness that was in him, was proclaimed Son of God in
all his power through his resurrection from the dead. Through him we received
grace and our apostolic mission to preach the obedience of faith to all pagan
nations in honour of his name. You are one of these nations, and by his call
belong to Jesus Christ. To you all, then, who are God’s beloved in Rome, called
to be saints, may God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ send grace and
peace.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Mt1:23
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The virgin will
conceive and give birth to a son
and they will call
him Emmanuel,
a name which means
‘God-is-with-us’.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 1:18-24 ©
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This is how Jesus
Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before
they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy
Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her
publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do
this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph
son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has
conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and
you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from
their sins.’ Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord
through the prophet:
The virgin will
conceive and give birth to a son
and they will call
him Emmanuel,
a
name which means ‘God-is-with-us.’ When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of
the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home.
PREACHING
THE OBEDIENCE OF FAITH
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ ISAIAH 7:10-14; ROMANS 1:1-7; MATTHEW 1:18-24
]
As the feast of Christmas
is just a few days away, the Church wants to prepare us for the real
significance of this celebration. The truth is that many, perhaps even
Christians, do not even know what they are really celebrating. Christmas
for many is a nice, sentimental season where we can celebrate with our loved
ones. It is a time of festivity and a time to wind down, take a
break from our work and business, as we wait for the New Year.
Whilst all these are not
excluded in our Christmas celebration, we need to ask the cause of our joy and
celebration. What are we celebrating? We are celebrating Jesus,
truly God and truly man. We are celebrating the Emmanuel, God with us, as
the scripture readings proclaim today. God is not just with us in creation, in
history, but He has become one with us in the flesh.
This is the Good News, St
Paul said, “that God promised long ago through his prophets in the scriptures.”
This is unimaginable and, for many, unbelievable! Indeed, it even
took time for Mary and Joseph to digest this fact. St Joseph needed time
for discernment and assurance from God. That God chose to be one of us
and with us in the flesh is beyond comprehension. St Paul, writing to the
Corinthians, said, “Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach
Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but
to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the
wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men,
and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (1 Cor 1:22-25)
So we should not be
surprised how the world views the celebration of Christmas. For most,
they are just joining in the merry making, the cozy and romantic spirit and
atmosphere, the fun and the merry making. Others see it as an occasion to
celebrate love and giving, especially to those who are poor and
marginalized. So they are happy to celebrate with Christians. But
this does not mean that they are celebrating the incarnation, the Word becoming
flesh in Jesus. At most, Jesus was a great prophet, leader and a good
man. Surely not the Son of God, and neither God!
What about us? Can we
say that we have also arrived at this real wonder of our celebration that we
can proclaim that God is with us in a very real, personal and existential
manner in Jesus, in His life, death and resurrection; in all His words and
deeds? How do we know that we have come to this faith? The answer
is obedience of faith. This is what St Paul wrote, “Through him we
received grace and our apostolic mission to preach the obedience of faith to
all pagan nations in honour of his name.”
What does obedience of
faith entail? Faith is first and foremost an assent to the truth revealed
to us by God. This was the case of St Joseph. Whilst making his own
plans to divorce Mary informally, and being a man of honour, he changed his
mind when the angel of the Lord revealed to him the plan of salvation.
Most of all, when he came to know that the son of Mary was indeed the work of
the Holy Spirit and that Jesus would be the one to save the people from their
sins, he obeyed without assurance, accepting the word of the Angel in faith
simply because it was the Word of the Lord. We read, “he did what the
angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home.”
This is the first level of
faith. It is to put our trust not in the words of man but in the Word of
God. St Paul, writing to the Corinthians, said, “I was with you in weakness and
in much fear and trembling; and my speech and my message were
not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power, that
your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”
(1 Cor 2:3-5)
The obedience of faith therefore is what Mary also said to the Lord, “Behold, I
am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” (Lk 1:38) This is the same
kind of obedience that Abraham demonstrated.
Faith however is more than
just an intellectual assent to a doctrine or truth. It has implications
on how we live after knowing the truth. To proclaim that Jesus is the
Way, the Truth and the Life means that we are going to follow Jesus in all that
we do and how we live. So faith is more than just accepting the Word of
God as true and the teachings of the Church as an explanation of the revealed
Word of God.
The irony is that many
Catholics profess the doctrines of the Church but these doctrines are empty
doctrines because they have no effect on their lives. As Jesus, quoting
from the prophet Isaiah said, “This people honors me with their lips, but their
heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the
precepts of men.” (Mt 15:8
cf Isa 29:13) Faith in
what we believe must be demonstrated in how we live. Otherwise, there is
a dichotomy. Such intellectual faith cannot save us and cannot give us
fullness of life. This explains why many Catholics do not find life in
their faith. For many, their faith is a mere ritual, a chore, a duty and
a routine that they do week after week. But it is not a living
faith. What they believe is one thing, but how they live the rest of
their lives at home, in the office, in business or with their friends is
entirely unrelated to what the Word of God tells them.
This was the case of Ahaz
in today’s first reading. Assyria was becoming a strong military power
and the army was known to be ruthless and fierce. Threatened by Assyria,
the kings of Syria and Israel wanted King Ahaz of Judah to join them in
fighting Assyria. To protect himself, Ahaz sought alliance with Assyria.
Instead of listening to the Word of God spoken through Isaiah, that God would
protect him; he was stubborn and followed his own plans. He trusted in
himself and sought the help of man instead of the help of God. He relied
on military might rather than in the power of God. And he continued to
reject God’s Word, even when he was given a sign. Regardless of his faith
in God or lack of it, God demonstrated His power and faithfulness when He
fulfilled the prophecy by allowing Assyria to defeat Syria in 732 B.C. and
Israel in 722 B.C.
What about us? What
is the level of our practical faith in God? Are we open to His Word and
ready to obey Him? Are we ready to welcome the Lord into our lives?
Are we ready to allow Him to take flesh in us? The psalmist says, “Who
shall climb the mountain of the Lord? Who shall stand in his holy place?
The man with clean hands and pure heart, who desires not worthless
things. He shall receive blessings from the Lord and reward from the
God who saves him. Such are the men who seek him, seek the face of the God of
Jacob.” Faith in the Lord presumes that we live the truths taught to us.
Today we are called to be
like St Joseph who is known to be a just man. He not only accepted in
faith the word of the Lord, but he carried it out immediately upon waking up
from his sleep. St Paul is another shining example of how encountering
the Lord at Damascus resulted in him giving his entire life to the proclamation
of the Good News, in and out of season. Whether it was Mary, Joseph or St
Paul, all considered themselves to be servants of the Good News, proclaiming
the marvelous truth that Christ is the Son of God, the Emmanuel, and the God
who is with us in the flesh. In Him is our salvation and our reconciliation
with God.
If we truly believe this
truth, then we must let the Word of God take flesh in us today as well.
Many do not believe in Him because they have not yet encountered the
Lord. Like St Paul, “through him we received grace and our apostolic
mission to preach the obedience of faith to all pagan nations.” We
do this through the proclamation of what God has done for us in our lives and
how we experience Christ, His presence, guidance and strength in our daily
life. We show His love to other through our lives of gentleness,
compassion, meekness, kindness, humility and generosity. Reaching out to
others, showing our compassion and love, others will come to encounter the
living God, the Lord Jesus through us in the flesh, which is, but a
stepping-stone to faith in Him.
Accordingly, as we approach
Christmas, let us allow the Lord to enter into our lives. We must be
watchful that we do not reduce Christmas to a material celebration, of fun,
merry making, food and partying, as such external celebrations, unless they come
from a heart filled with gratitude and joy for Christ’s coming into our lives,
is meaningless, empty and passing. Christmas is almost here, have you yet
let Him into your life? Hear the appeal of the psalmist, “Let the Lord
enter! He is the king of glory.” Let us make room for Him in our hearts
by making time for prayer, contemplation and for friendship and love.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights
Reserved
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