FINDING REST AND PEACE IN GOD REQUIRES THE SUPPORT OF THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY

20170113 FINDING REST AND PEACE IN GOD REQUIRES THE SUPPORT OF THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Green.

First reading

Hebrews 4:1-5,11 ©

Be careful: the promise of reaching the place of rest that God had for the Israelites still holds good, and none of you must think that he has come too late for it. We received the Good News exactly as they did; but hearing the message did them no good because they did not share the faith of those who listened. We, however, who have faith, shall reach a place of rest, as in the text: And so, in anger, I swore that not one would reach the place of rest I had for them. God’s work was undoubtedly all finished at the beginning of the world; as one text says, referring to the seventh day: After all his work God rested on the seventh day. The text we are considering says: They shall not reach the place of rest I had for them. We must therefore do everything we can to reach this place of rest, or some of you might copy this example of disobedience and be lost.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 77(78):3-4,6-8 ©

Never forget the deeds of the Lord.

The things we have heard and understood,

  the things our fathers have told us,

these we will not hide from their children

  but will tell them to the next generation:

Never forget the deeds of the Lord.

the glories of the Lord and his might

  and the marvellous deeds he has done,

that the next generation might know it,

  the children yet to be born.

Never forget the deeds of the Lord.

They too should arise and tell their sons

  that they too should set their hope in God

and never forget God’s deeds

  but keep every one of his commands,

Never forget the deeds of the Lord.

so that they might not be like their fathers,

  a defiant and rebellious race,

a race whose heart was fickle,

  whose spirit was unfaithful to God.

Never forget the deeds of the Lord.

Gospel Acclamation

cf.Ep1:17,18

Alleluia, alleluia!

May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ

enlighten the eyes of our mind,

so that we can see what hope his call holds for us.

Alleluia!

Or

Lk7:16

Alleluia, alleluia!

A great prophet has appeared among us;

God has visited his people.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Mark 2:1-12 ©

When Jesus returned to Capernaum, word went round that he was back; and so many people collected that there was no room left, even in front of the door. He was preaching the word to them when some people came bringing him a paralytic carried by four men, but as the crowd made it impossible to get the man to him, they stripped the roof over the place where Jesus was; and when they had made an opening, they lowered the stretcher on which the paralytic lay. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, ‘My child, your sins are forgiven.’ Now some scribes were sitting there, and they thought to themselves, ‘How can this man talk like that? He is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God?’ Jesus, inwardly aware that this was what they were thinking, said to them, ‘Why do you have these thoughts in your hearts? Which of these is easier: to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven” or to say, “Get up, pick up your stretcher and walk”? But to prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,’ – he turned to the paralytic – ‘I order you: get up, pick up your stretcher, and go off home.’ And the man got up, picked up his stretcher at once and walked out in front of everyone, so that they were all astounded and praised God saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this.’

FINDING REST AND PEACE IN GOD REQUIRES THE SUPPORT OF THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ Heb 4:1-5.11; MK 2:1-12  ]

We are all seeking rest.  More than anything else, we want peace.  In this life, peace is often elusive because of the hectic lifestyle we live.  People are always making demands on us.  We are pressurized at work, at home, by relatives and friends.  As a consequence, we lose our focus and center.

To provide a relief, we take a vacation, which is often called a get-away.  But we all know that getting away might help us psychologically and emotionally only if the holiday is not stressful.  Even then, it is only a temporary relief.  It does not resolve our problems.  We come back to face the same issues with more or less the same perspective and outlook.  So the physical rest we have taken, if at all, does not resolve our tension and restlessness.

Indeed, like the paralyzed man in today’s gospel, he was physically at rest but we can be sure his heart was not.  He was filled with guilt and fear.  Perhaps the real paralysis was not so much physical but spiritual.  He was unable to forgive himself nor his enemies or even God.  Perhaps, he could be finding scapegoats for his condition, blaming his woes on others.  The bed and the crutches that he was using were symbolic of his attachment to his past which he could not let go.   Many of us too, may be physically healthy and are at rest, but our hearts are not.  It is tragic indeed that because some people do not seek the true rest from God, even at deathbed, they cannot find rest because they cannot let go.

So how can we find true rest in life and in death?  There can be no rest until we rest in God.  St Augustine reminds us this when he said, “our hearts are restless until they rest in God.”  In God is our rest for He is our peace, joy and security.  So if we truly seek rest, then know that because our hearts are created for God, we can only find rest if we are at peace with Him and in union with Him.  This explains why we do not simply speak of rest but eternal rest.  Eternal does not mean duration only, but it speaks of the divine life of God which is eternal.

This calls first and foremost for faith in God.  This is what the author to the Hebrews says, “Be careful: the promise of reaching the place of rest God had for the Israelites still holds good, and none of you must think that he has come too late for it. We received the Good News exactly as they did; but hearing the message did them no good because they did not share the faith of those who listened. We, however, who have faith, shall reach a place of rest.”  Yes, we are called to believe in His divine love and forgiveness.   But this is easier said than done.  Even if we agree doctrinally and know from our head that God always forgives, yet deep in our hearts, we find it difficult to believe that God loves us so much that He will always forgive us.  In life, we have always been taught that love and forgiveness are conditional.  Even among loved ones and friends, we rarely experience absolute unconditional love and forgiveness.  So deep in our hearts, we always have that feeling that perhaps God might not forgive us or that He will punish us, if not in this life, definitely in the next.  So deep within our hearts, we live in fear of God, in hatred for ourselves and our past mistakes.  At the same time, we harbor anger and resentment against those who have hurt us or have caused us much stress and pain in our lives.  Broken and wounded within, persecuted and stressed from without, we sometimes even wish we were dead so as to get some rest from the drudgery of life.

How, then, can we find faith in God when our faith is languishing because of the brokenness in our lives?  This is where the gospel can enlighten us.  We need the support of the faith of others.  Notably, in the gospel, the evangelist remarked, “Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, ‘My child, your sins are forgiven.’”  It was on account of the faith of those friends who in their zeal and perseverance “stripped the roof over the place where Jesus was; and when they had made an opening, they lowered the stretcher on which the paralytic lay.”  It was the faith of these four men that moved the Lord to respond to their plea.

In the same vein, we can be sure that the faith of the four men also inspired the dim faith of the paralyzed man who had given up on himself, God and the world.  Observing their persistent and intense faith, he too would have been inspired to surrender in faith to Jesus.  If the man could obey Jesus when he said, “’I order you: get up, pick up your stretcher, and go off home.’ And the man got up, picked up his stretcher at once and walked out in front of everyone,”  it was because his faith was bolstered by his friends.

What can we learn from this incident if not the fact that we need the faith of our brothers and sisters to support us in faith?  No man is an island.  Faith is not given to an individual but to a community.  God did not choose individuals but he chose a nation.  Individuals were not saved for themselves but for the service of the community.  Abraham and Moses were chosen by God to bring Israel and the whole of humanity back to God.  Consequently, if we seek God alone only, and not with the community, we are risking our spiritual life and our faith because regardless how strong our faith is, it will fade away.

For this reason, liturgical prayers and worship are the highest forms of prayer because they are the prayers of the community, normally prayed with and in the community.  The mass and the Liturgy of the Hours which the Church celebrates everyday as the official prayer and worship of the Church help to strengthen our individual faith with the help of the community.  Through community worship and fellowship, our faith will grow from strength to strength.  Of course community worship does not replace personal and individual prayer, but both are necessary to complement each other.  Neglecting one or the other will lead to a loss of faith and a weakening of our spiritual and prayer life.

Indeed, it is through community worship and fellowship that we hear the wonders of God at work in our lives. By coming together in worship and fellowship, we testify to the works of God in our history.  All liturgical worship includes readings from the scriptures because they are the faith testimonies of the people in their encounters with God and their experiences of Him working so marvelously in their lives.  Indeed, we call the mass a Memorial and a thanksgiving.  How do we celebrate faith if not through thanksgiving to God and through sharing of faith stories? The Eucharist is the occasion to celebrate faith through prayer and the Word of God.

Sharing stories of faith must also extend beyond the Eucharistic celebration so that we can remember the wonders of God.  Isn’t this what the psalmist is exhorting us when he said, “Do not forget the works of the Lord! What we have heard and know, and what our fathers have declared to us, we will declare to the generation to come, the glorious deeds of the Lord and his strength. That they too may rise and declare to their sons that they should put their hope in God, And not forget the deeds of God but keep his commands”?  Nevertheless, it is not enough just to hear the deeds of God in the past.  We also need to share with each other what God is doing for us concretely in our lives, so that our faith can grow each day.  Our God is alive, not a dead God, and thus we must proclaim His deeds and love for us every day in our lives.

Yes, since our faith depends on each other, we must also realize that this principle is like a double edged sword.  Strong faith inspires, but the lack of faith can also weaken others’ faith.  We strengthen or weaken each other, edify or scandalize each other in faith.  So it behooves us how we live our faith!.  Our faith is dependent primarily on the Church’s faith, the local community and our relatives and friends.  Are you one who inspires faith, or one who destroys or weakens the faith of fellow Catholics around you?  Do you share your faith and God-experience with fellow Catholics or do you keep them to yourself?  Perhaps, you are lacking in God-experience, then all the more, you must seek out those Catholics who have encountered God in their daily life.  Whether by sharing our faith or hearing the faith stories of others, we grow in faith.

We need to find the right circle of friends so that we can be empowered in our ministry.  Do you have a group of friends to share your faith with, at work, home or in your community?  Conversely, if we surround ourselves with people, friends who have no faith, then our faith will suffer.  For those whose faith is an individualistic faith, they cannot grow in deep faith or in charity.  So let us take the words of warning seriously when the author of Hebrews says, “we must therefore do everything we can to reach this place of rest, or some of you might copy this example of disobedience and be lost.”

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