20170330
HOSTILITY AGAINST CHRIST AND HIS GOSPEL
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
|
First reading
|
Exodus 32:7-14 ©
|
The Lord spoke to
Moses, ‘Go down now, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have
apostatised. They have been quick to leave the way I marked out for them; they
have made themselves a calf of molten metal and have worshipped it and offered
it sacrifice. “Here is your God, Israel,” they have cried “who brought you up from
the land of Egypt!”’ the Lord said to Moses, ‘I can see how headstrong these
people are! Leave me, now, my wrath shall blaze out against them and devour
them; of you, however, I will make a great nation.’
But Moses
pleaded with the Lord his God. ‘Lord,’ he said ‘why should your wrath blaze out
against this people of yours whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with arm
outstretched and mighty hand? Why let the Egyptians say, “Ah, it was in
treachery that he brought them out, to do them to death in the mountains and
wipe them off the face of the earth”? Leave your burning wrath; relent and do
not bring this disaster on your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, your
servants to whom by your own self you swore and made this promise: I will make your
offspring as many as the stars of heaven, and all this land which I promised I
will give to your descendants, and it shall be their heritage for ever.’
So the
Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.
|
Responsorial
Psalm
|
|
Psalm
105(106):19-23 ©
|
O Lord, remember
me out of the love you have for your people.
They fashioned a calf
at Horeb
and
worshipped an image of metal,
exchanging the God
who was their glory
for the
image of a bull that eats grass.
O Lord, remember
me out of the love you have for your people.
They forgot the God
who was their saviour,
who had
done such great things in Egypt,
such portents in the
land of Ham,
such
marvels at the Red Sea.
O Lord, remember
me out of the love you have for your people.
For this he said he
would destroy them,
but
Moses, the man he had chosen,
stood in the breach
before him,
to turn
back his anger from destruction.
O Lord, remember
me out of the love you have for your people.
|
Gospel
Acclamation
|
cf.Jn6:63,68
|
Glory to you, O
Christ, you are the Word of God!
Your words are
spirit, Lord, and they are life;
you have the message
of eternal life.
Glory to you, O
Christ, you are the Word of God!
|
Or
|
Jn3:16
|
Glory to you, O
Christ, you are the Word of God!
God loved the world
so much that he gave his only Son:
everyone who believes
in him has eternal life.
Glory to you, O
Christ, you are the Word of God!
|
Gospel
|
John 5:31-47 ©
|
Jesus said to the
Jews:
‘Were I to testify on
my own behalf,
my testimony would
not be valid;
but there is another
witness who can speak on my behalf,
and I know that his
testimony is valid.
You sent messengers
to John,
and he gave his
testimony to the truth:
not that I depend on human
testimony;
no, it is for your
salvation that I speak of this.
John was a lamp
alight and shining
and for a time you
were content to enjoy the light that he gave.
But my testimony is
greater than John’s:
the works my Father
has given me to carry out,
these same works of
mine testify
that the Father has
sent me.
Besides, the Father
who sent me
bears witness to me
himself.
You have never heard
his voice,
you have never seen
his shape,
and his word finds no
home in you
because you do not
believe in the one he has sent.
‘You study the
scriptures,
believing that in
them you have eternal life;
now these same
scriptures testify to me,
and yet you refuse to
come to me for life!
As for human
approval, this means nothing to me.
Besides, I know you
too well: you have no love of God in you.
I have come in the
name of my Father
and you refuse to
accept me;
if someone else comes
in his own name
you will accept him.
How can you believe,
since you look to one
another for approval
and are not concerned
with the approval
that comes from the one God?
Do not imagine that I
am going to accuse you before the Father:
you place your hopes
on Moses,
and Moses will be
your accuser.
If you really
believed him
you would believe me
too,
since it was I that
he was writing about;
but if you refuse to
believe what he wrote,
how can you believe
what I say?’
HOSTILITY
AGAINST CHRIST AND HIS GOSPEL
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [
EXODUS 32:7-14; JOHN 5:31-47]
Since the healing of
the paralyzed man at the Sabbath, we read of the growing hostility and
opposition against Jesus from the Jewish leaders. Today, Christianity is in
many ways under assault from all sides. Externally, the world is opposed
to the teachings of the gospel. Those involved in business and in
politics find the gospel a nuisance to their aspirations and their
pursuits. Internally, many Catholics are not even convinced of the
truth of the Word of God, paying lip service to the Bible as an inspired book
with God as the author. Much less do they show allegiance to the
teachings of the Holy Father and the Magisterium as authoritative teachers and
interpreters of the Word of God!
Why are people opposed to the gospel,
including so called Catholics and Christians? In the first reading, we
read that the people apostatized simply because they were looking for a vacuum
to fill their empty lives when Moses left them to go to the mountain to receive
the Ten Commandments. Many people seek to fill their emptiness by
creating false gods in their lives. Idolatry is the worship of false
gods, something that cannot give true happiness and life. In a word, idolatry
is a worship of nothingness. Those who worship idols will come to naught.
“All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are
worthless.” (Isa 44:9)
“Those who make them will be like them and so will all who trust in
them.” (Ps 115:8)
Idolatry can come in the form of worship of our spouse, our children, our work,
our possessions, power, status and our pleasures in life. These things
cannot last and bring us real happiness.
Secondly, like the Jewish leaders, people
are opposed to the gospel because of selfish interests. They are afraid
to lose their status quo in society. As Jesus remarked, “Besides, I know
you too well; you have no love of God in you. I have come in the name of my
Father and you refuse to accept me; if someone else comes in his own name you
will accept him. How can you believe since you look to one another for
approval and are not concerned with the approval that comes from the one
God?” People in the world, including nominal Catholics, reject the truth
of the gospel because their interests and desires of this world are being
challenged. For some, they feel that the gospel is a cause of them losing
business in the entertainment world or power in the political and scientific
world, especially when the Church condemns certain forms of entertainment or
immoral bio-ethical practices and social injustices. When the profits of
such people are undermined, they defend their position by aggressively
attacking the teachings of the Church and the Bible.
Thirdly, enemies of the Church are those
who worship their intelligence. They have deep intellectual pride.
They take offence when their views are not accepted. They only believe in
themselves and their reasoning. Anything that is opposed to their beliefs
or their reasoning is not acceptable. They lack humility to recognize the
limits of reason, particularly their own reasoning. In the final analysis,
they are not keen to seek the truth but they only want to prove that others are
wrong. They want to show themselves to be wise in the world.
That is why they would go to the social media to make sure their views are
heard loud and clear; and would vehemently defend their position right to the
end. As Jesus said, they are seeking for human approval. Jesus came
and spoke only for our salvation, out of love for us. He made it clear,
“as for human approval, this means nothing to me.” Jesus was not
interested in arguing with the Jewish authorities. He knew that such
intellectual arguments will go nowhere because there is a lack of sincerity to
search for the truth. All they wanted was to prove Jesus wrong. So
too, there are many enemies of the Church, within and without, who just want to
flaunt their sophisticated arguments, showing themselves to be very
intelligent, not to defend the truth but to win an argument.
In the light of such opposition, what
must we do? How do we respond to our critics? Firstly, we depend on
human witnesses. Jesus appealed to John the Baptist. He said, “Were
I to testify on my own behalf, my testimony would not be valid; but there is
another witness who can speak on my behalf, and I know that his testimony is
valid. You sent messengers to John and he gave his testimony to the
truth.” We too need Catholics to be witnesses to Christ. We need
courageous Catholics who are willing to stand up for their faith. We need
Catholics who are living signs of God’s love and mercy in the world. We
are called to be like John the Baptist, by being a light in darkness, not
cursing the darkness but simply to be that light. Indeed, “John was
a lamp alight and shining and for a time you were content to enjoy the light
that he gave.” There is nothing more convincing than Christians
witnessing to the truth in their lives by words and deeds. Unfortunately,
many of our Catholics are hiding behind the light and not allowing their lamp
to shine. As Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A city built on
a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it
under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the
house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so
that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in
heaven.” (Mt 5:14-16)
Secondly, we need to rely on the works of
Christ. “But my testimony is greater than John’s: the works my Father has
given me to carry out, these same works of mine testify that the Father has
sent me. Besides, the Father who sent me bears witness to me himself.”
Clearly, the best testimony is always in the fruits and works of what a person
teaches. What he says is not as important as how he lives his life.
In the case of Jesus, we have seen His miracles at work, and His works of
mercy, compassion and healing. How do we know the gospel is true if not
through the fruits of love that Catholics manifest in their lives?
Catholics need to give testimony to Jesus at work in their lives. St Paul
wrote, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who
is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good
pleasure.” (Phil 2:12b,
13) When we
listen to the beautiful testimonies of how God works miracles in the lives of
our Catholics, especially when they are transformed, then we know that this God
we worship is a living God and the true God.
Thirdly, we need to seek the scriptures
to find the Lord. Jesus reprimanded the Jews, “You have never heard his
voice, you have never seen his shape, and his word finds no home in you because
you do not believe in the one he has sent.” This was because they sought
the scriptures to select texts that justified their prejudices. They
failed to see that the scriptures point us to Jesus, the truth as proclaimed by
Him. We cannot see God but we can see God and hear Him in Jesus.
This is what Jesus said, “You study the scriptures, believing that in them you
have eternal life; now these same scriptures testify to me and yet you refuse
to come to me for life!” In truth, the scriptures point towards Jesus as
the fulfillment. He enlightened the disciples at Emmaus, “These are my
words that I spoke to you while I was still with you – that everything written
about me in the Law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.”
(Lk 24:44) Again at
the Transfiguration when Moses and Elijah appeared together with Jesus, we have
a reiteration that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Laws as represented by Moses
and the eschatological prophet as represented by Elijah. In a word, Jesus
is the Word of God in person, because all the Laws and the prophecies are
fulfilled in Him. This explains why Jesus said, “Do not imagine that I am
going to accuse you before the Father: you place your hopes on Moses, and Moses
will be your accuser. If you really believed him, you would believe me too,
since it was I that he was writing about but if you refuse to believe what he
wrote, how can you believe what I say?”
So today, let us testify for Jesus.
Let us be His witnesses and light in the world. Let us search the scriptures,
not to look for answers to satisfy our prejudices and preconceived notions, but
to allow scriptures to lead us to Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life.
When we allow the Word of God to work in and through us, our lives will be
changed. Indeed, “when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you
accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God’s word, which is
also at work in you believers.” (1 Th 2:13)
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
