20170202 BE THE LIGHT OF THE NATIONS BY LIVING A LIFE OF
CONTRADICTION
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
EITHER:
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First reading
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Malachi 3:1-4 ©
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The Lord God says
this: Look, I am going to send my messenger to prepare a way before me. And the
Lord you are seeking will suddenly enter his Temple; and the angel of the
covenant whom you are longing for, yes, he is coming, says the Lord of Hosts.
Who will be able to resist the day of his coming? Who will remain standing when
he appears? For he is like the refiner’s fire and the fullers’ alkali. He will
take his seat as refiner and purifier; he will purify the sons of Levi and
refine them like gold and silver, and then they will make the offering to the
Lord as it should be made. The offering of Judah and Jerusalem will then be
welcomed by the Lord as in former days, as in the years of old.
OR:
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Alternative
First reading
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Hebrews 2:14-18 ©
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Since all the
children share the same blood and flesh, Christ too shared equally in it, so
that by his death he could take away all the power of the devil, who had power
over death, and set free all those who had been held in slavery all their lives
by the fear of death. For it was not the angels that he took to himself; he
took to himself descent from Abraham. It was essential that he should in this
way become completely like his brothers so that he could be a compassionate and
trustworthy high priest of God’s religion, able to atone for human sins. That
is, because he has himself been through temptation he is able to help others
who are tempted.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm
23(24):7-10 ©
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Who is the king of
glory? He, the Lord, he is the king of glory.
O gates, lift high
your heads;
grow
higher, ancient doors.
Let him
enter, the king of glory!
Who is the king of
glory? He, the Lord, he is the king of glory.
Who is the king of
glory?
The Lord,
the mighty, the valiant,
the Lord,
the valiant in war.
Who is the king of
glory? He, the Lord, he is the king of glory.
O gates, lift high
your heads;
grow
higher, ancient doors.
Let him
enter, the king of glory!
Who is the king of
glory? He, the Lord, he is the king of glory.
Who is he, the king
of glory?
He, the
Lord of armies,
he is the
king of glory.
Who is the king of
glory? He, the Lord, he is the king of glory.
When a Feast of the Lord
falls on a weekday, there is no reading after the Psalm and before the Gospel.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Lk2:32
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The light to
enlighten the Gentiles
and give glory to
Israel, your people.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 2:22-40 ©
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When the day came for
them to be purified as laid down by the Law of Moses, the parents of Jesus took
him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, – observing what stands
written in the Law of the Lord: Every first-born male must be consecrated to
the Lord – and also to offer in sacrifice, in accordance with what is
said in the Law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.
Now in
Jerusalem there was a man named Simeon. He was an upright and devout man; he
looked forward to Israel’s comforting and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had
been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had
set eyes on the Christ of the Lord. Prompted by the Spirit he came to the
Temple and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the
Law required, he took him into his arms and blessed God; and he said:
‘Now, Master, you can
let your servant go in peace,
just as you promised;
because my eyes have
seen the salvation
which you have
prepared for all the nations to see,
a light to enlighten
the pagans
and the glory of your
people Israel.’
As the child’s father
and mother stood there wondering at the things that were being said about him,
Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘You see this child: he is
destined for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a
sign that is rejected – and a sword will pierce your own soul too –
so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare.’
There was
a prophetess also, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was
well on in years. Her days of girlhood over, she had been married for seven
years before becoming a widow. She was now eighty-four years old and never left
the Temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer. She came by just
at that moment and began to praise God; and she spoke of the child to all who
looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.
When they
had done everything the Law of the Lord required, they went back to Galilee, to
their own town of Nazareth. Meanwhile the child grew to maturity, and he was
filled with wisdom; and God’s favour was with him.
BE THE
LIGHT OF THE NATIONS BY LIVING A LIFE OF CONTRADICTION
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ MALACHI 3:1-4; HEBREWS 2:14-18; LUKE 2:22-40 ]
There are many people in
the world today who are yearning to see the Lord. There is a big vacuum
in their life. Consciously or unconsciously, they are longing for
meaning, fulfilment, peace, joy and love. Somehow, even with all their
self-sufficiency in material and physical needs, they remain restless and
empty. Like Simeon in the gospel, they long to see the light of
salvation. Like Israel, they await for the Lord to return to the
Temple. We must remember that after Malachi, there were no more
prophets. They expected Elijah to come again before the Messiah returned.
Of course, with the birth of John the Baptist, the Messiah had indeed come to
the Temple of Jerusalem as a little baby being presented to the Father for the
salvation of humanity.
What is the cause of so
much emptiness, hatred and intolerance in the world? This emptiness in
life is caused by various factors.
Firstly, secularism has
taken God out of public life, even in schools and in some Catholic
organizations. The question of God, faith and religion are relegated to a
private matter not to be discuss in pubic and too shameful for some to even
acknowlge their faith. The in-thing today is to claim to be a “free
thinker”. All signs of the sacred are gradually being removed from
public view.
Secondly, the promotion of
relativism has brought about individualism and subjectivism. Without any
absolute foundation in whatever we do, we cannot speak of God who is the
perfection of life. There is also a greater diminishing capacity to love
beyond oneself, to think of others and put God and humanity before self.
It is all about me and my happiness. There is a lack of gratitude for
what we have received from our parents, forefathers and from society.
Thirdly, without an
experience of the sacred and the transcendent, the human person is reduced to a
material being. Although he has a soul with spiritual needs, this
dimension of his life is forgotten or rather, suppressed. Left with the
body, he seeks fulfilment through self-indulgence, entertainment and
pleasure. Materialism and consumerism are the manifestations of someone who
has lost touch with the sacred and the joy of encountering the transcendence in
his life. His life is no more than that of an animal – work, eat, enjoy
and sleep.
Today, as we celebrate the
feast of the Presentation of the Lord, we are reminded of our calling to be the
light of the nations as our Lord was. “The Lord God says this: Look, I am
going to send my messenger to prepare a way before me.” We are the
messengers that He is sending to the world today so that we can bring the light
of Christ, the light of hope and mercy to humanity. Like Jesus, we are
called to purify the House of God so that all will come to worship Him in
spirit and in truth, with grateful hearts and pure hands.
And how can we do this if
not by living a life of contradiction in a positive way? In the gospel
Simeon prophesied, “You see this child: he is destined for the fall and for the
rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected –– so
that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare.” Indeed, as
Christians, we are called to live a life of the kingdom hereafter on this earth
as a foretaste of the life that is to come. We are called to live out the
gospel values as enshrined in the beatitudes.
But today, some of us have
become a contradiction to the life that we are called to live. Instead of
living a life of simplicity, we want to enjoy the world and its pleasures as
much as anyone else. We are as much attached to the world and its
temptations like the rest of humanity. Instead of living a life of charity,
exemplary of a loving, caring and forgiving community, we form cliques and
pressure groups within the community. Instead of submitting in obedience
to God’s will and our legitimate superiors we expect all superiors to obey us
because we believe we know the will of God better than them.
It is necessary once again,
to reclaim our role in living lives that are contradictory to that of the
world’s. We must be prophetic in the way we live our lives if we are to
attract others to join us. Like John the Baptist, Malachi, Eljah and our
Lord, we are called to be prophets in our lives, more in how we live than in
what we preach or say.
We read that Simeon “was an
upright and devout man.” He was a man who was much in touch with the Holy
Spirit. “He looked forward to Israel’s comforting and the Holy
Spirit rested on him.” Unless, we are much connected with the Holy Spirit
and docile to His prompting, we cannot be truly prophets of God. A
Christian life without being consecrated to God first and foremost in prayer is
a contradiction for there is nothing more important than to be in intimacy with
God who is the source of life and love. When we do not pray as
individuals and together as a community, we will eventually lose our sign as
prophets of God.
Secondly, a Christian does
not live for himself or herself, or even for his or her family alone. The
ultimate goal of family life is for the service of the Church and of
humanity. It is not a closed community because we are to live for Christ,
the Bridegroom and His Church. Some church organizations operate as if they are
elite clubs, exclusive, admitting only friends and relatives. The
Church must always be ad intra for the mission of ad extra. We live
as a community so that empowered and enriched by our community, we can then be
available for service to the larger community. Any organization that is
inward- looking will lose the reason for its existence and eventually die as it
will no longer attract members to join them.
So how can we live for the
Church? The first is to live a contemplative life and the second is to
undertake social or pastoral work. But having an emphasis on one
dimension does not preclude the other aspect of spiritual life as well.
Some express their love for
the Church through a contemplative life as in the case of Anna who spent her
days fasting and praying for the Church. “She was now eighty-four years old and
never left the Temple, serving God night and day with fasting and
prayer.” Indeed, we have many who are sick or old or who simply
choose to spend time in prayer, fasting and doing penance for the mission of
the Church.
For most of us, we are
called to active apostolate in the mission of the Church. We are called
to identify ourselves with our fellowmen as Jesus did. There can be no
social mission without personal identification with our brothers and sisters in
their struggles and sufferings. This is what the author of Hebrews tells
us. “It was essential that he should in this way become completely like
his brothers so that he could be a compassionate and trustworthy high priest of
God’s religion, able to atone for human sins.” It is for this reason that
we must live a life of simplicity so that we can identify with the poor, the
suffering and their pains. Solidarity is the first stage of being
prompted by the Spirit to reach out to help others through works of mercy and
education.
It is critical that we be
identified with our people in their sufferings if we are to help them
effectively. If we lack mercy today, it is because we live in our own
world of self-sufficiency. We no longer feel with the anxiety of parents
for their children in their financial difficulties; or the worker who is
unjustly treated at work; or someone who has been abused sexually, physically
or emotionally. Unless we ourselves have some direct or personal contact
with such problems, tragedies and wounded people, we tend to act from our
reasoning and not from our feelings. Christ, “set free all those who had
been held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death. For it was not the
angels that he took to himself; he took to himself descent from Abraham.”
Christ assumed our humanity and conquered suffering and death to show us the
way to set ourselves free from sin, slavery and death as well.
So today, on this feast of
the Presentation of the Lord, let us renew our vows that we made to the Lord on
the day of our profession and ordination or baptism. We know we have
failed to live lives of contradiction because of our human frailty. But
let us take courage. Be like Mary, offer whatever little we have and God
will work wonders in our lives. Mary offered “in sacrifice, a pair of
turtledoves or two young pigeons.” So if we bring the little we
have, the Lord will show that He is the mighty one. Let us welcome Christ our
King into our lives and He will rule over us as we give ourselves once again in
complete obedience to Him, expressed in a life of poverty and chastity, knowing
that only He can enrich us with His blessings and joy; and give us a love beyond
all measure that no one and nothing can give.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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