20170405 FIDELITY UNTO DEATH
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
|
First reading
|
|
Daniel
3:14-20,24-25,28 ©
|
King Nebuchadnezzar
said, ‘Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, is it true that you do not serve my
gods, and that you refuse to worship the golden statue I have erected? When you
hear the sound of horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, or any other
instrument, are you prepared to prostrate yourselves and worship the statue I
have made? If you refuse to worship it, you must be thrown straight away into
the burning fiery furnace; and where is the god who could save you from my
power?’ Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to King Nebuchadnezzar, ‘Your
question hardly requires an answer: if our God, the one we serve, is able to
save us from the burning fiery furnace and from your power, O king, he will
save us; and even if he does not, then you must know, O king, that we will not
serve your god or worship the statue you have erected.’ These words infuriated
King Nebuchadnezzar; his expression was very different now as he looked at
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. He gave orders for the furnace to be made seven
times hotter than usual, and commanded certain stalwarts from his army to bind
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the burning fiery furnace.
Then King
Nebuchadnezzar sprang to his feet in amazement. He said to his advisers, ‘Did
we not have these three men thrown bound into the fire?’ They replied,
‘Certainly, O king.’ ‘But,’ he went on ‘I can see four men walking about freely
in the heart of the fire without coming to any harm. And the fourth looks like
a son of the gods.’
Nebuchadnezzar
exclaimed, ‘Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego: he has sent
his angel to rescue the servants who, putting their trust in him, defied the
order of the king, and preferred to forfeit their bodies rather than serve or
worship any god but their own.’
|
Responsorial
Psalm
|
Daniel 3:52-56 ©
|
You are blest, Lord
God of our fathers.
To you
glory and praise for evermore.
Blest your glorious
holy name.
To you
glory and praise for evermore.
You are blest in the
temple of your glory.
To you
glory and praise for evermore.
You are blest on the
throne of your kingdom.
To you
glory and praise for evermore.
You are blest who
gaze into the depths.
To you
glory and praise for evermore.
You are blest in the
firmament of heaven.
To you
glory and praise for evermore.
|
Gospel Acclamation
|
Mt4:4
|
Praise and honour to
you, Lord Jesus!
Man does not live on
bread alone,
but on every word
that comes from the mouth of God.
Praise and honour to
you, Lord Jesus!
|
Or
|
cf.Lk8:15
|
Praise and honour to
you, Lord Jesus!
Blessed are those
who,
with a noble and
generous heart,
take the word of God
to themselves
and yield a harvest
through their perseverance.
Praise and honour to
you, Lord Jesus!
|
Gospel
|
John 8:31-42 ©
|
To the Jews who
believed in him Jesus said:
‘If you make my word
your home
you will indeed be my
disciples,
you will learn the
truth
and the truth will
make you free.’
They answered, ‘We
are descended from Abraham and we have never been the slaves of anyone; what do
you mean, “You will be made free”?’ Jesus replied:
‘I tell you most
solemnly,
everyone who commits
sin is a slave.
Now the slave’s place
in the house is not assured,
but the son’s place
is assured.
So if the Son makes
you free,
you will be free
indeed.
I know that you are
descended from Abraham;
but in spite of that
you want to kill me
because nothing I say
has penetrated into you.
What I, for my part,
speak of
is what I have seen
with my Father;
but you, you put into
action
the lessons learnt
from your father.’
They repeated, ‘Our
father is Abraham.’ Jesus said to them:
‘If you were
Abraham’s children,
you would do as
Abraham did.
As it is, you want to
kill me
when I tell you the
truth
as I have learnt it
from God;
that is not what
Abraham did.
What you are doing is
what your father does.’
‘We were not born of
prostitution,’ they went on ‘we have one father: God.’ Jesus answered:
‘If God were your
father, you would love me,
since I have come
here from God;
yes, I have come from
him;
not that I came
because I chose,
no,
I was sent, and by him.’
FIDELITY
UNTO DEATH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [
DANIEL 3:14-20,91-92,95; JOHN 8:31-42]
In the first reading, we are certainly
edified by the courage of the three young men in showing their fidelity to
God. Clearly, for them, God alone deserves obedience even unto
death. No other being on earth could command such respect and obedience,
not even the great King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. Before the King, they
were adamant in not worshipping any other god than the Lord. They told
the King, “Your question hardly requires an answer: if our God, the one we
serve, is able to save us from the burning fiery furnace and from your power, O
king, he will save us; and even if he does not, then you must know, O king,
that we will not serve your god or worship the statue you have erected.”
Not only did they did not fear the King, but they did not fear death and more,
being burnt to death in the fiery furnace. With great confidence and faith
they walked into the fire, confident that God would be equally faithful to them
as they were to Him. It was immaterial whether God would save them from
the fire or otherwise. Even if God did not save them, they would remain
faithful to Him even unto death.
Such kind of unconditional and absolute
non-questioning faith is very rare in the world. Many of us are faithful to God
provided He does what we tell Him to do. How many of us are willing to
accept the will of God in bad times? The truth is that even though God has
blessed us many times before, we easily forget His love and graciousness
towards us. The moment we are down or in trouble and if the Lord does not
come to our help, we begin to doubt His love and His fidelity to us.
Instead of submitting to His holy will, we take things into our own
hands. We might even turn to the false gods in our lives. For many
of us, God, in order to be our God, must be at our beck and call. In
truth, God is our servant and we are His master.
Lesser still today, are people who are
ready to stand up for the truth. Most people are diffident in their
faith. Today, it is not fashionable to have a religion, much less to be a
Catholic. If you were to ask most people about their religion, the proud
and right thing to say would be, “I am a free thinker.” Few would
publicly acknowledge themselves to be disciples of Christ. Fewer still,
would speak up for their faith and the truth of what Jesus taught. We all
want to be accepted by the world. We want to be popular and considered wise
by the world. We are so desperate to be accepted that our faith in God
today is considered a very private matter and it would be seen as inappropriate
even to mention our faith in public. Indeed, martyrs for Christ are few
today. Many are not ready to die for Christ and for the truth of the
gospel.
If that were the case, then, as Jesus
said, we are slaves. Like the Jews we too would say, “We are descended
from Abraham and we have never been the slaves of anyone; what do you mean, You
will be made free?’” We can be some nobility or influential people, yet we are
slaves because we need the approval of the world. So long as our
happiness is dependent on what people think and say about us, we can never be
happy. We are slaves to public opinion and the crowd. The
irony of life is that some of the so-called famous and powerful people of the
world, in Church, society and the corporate world, are the most insecure and
dependent on the world. Jesus made it clear that those who live in sin are
slaves; “I tell you most solemnly, everyone who commits sin is a slave. Now the
slave’s place in the house is not assured, but the son’s place is assured. So
if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”
Christ has indeed made us free by His
readiness to live in freedom. Jesus was ready to stand up for the truth.
In the gospel, we can see the mounting opposition against Him. His
ministry was causing the Jewish leaders uneasiness. This opposition will
intensify over the days. Regardless of the tide against His popularity, He went
ahead to do what He had been told. Jesus could give Himself completely
even when others were against Him, because He was clear that the Father sent
Him. He said to them, “If God were your father, you would love me, since
I have come here from God; yes, I have come from him; not that I came because I
chose, no, I was sent, and by him.” Jesus was fully conscious of His
identity as the Son of the Father.
Jesus was faithful to His mission unto
death. He knew He was sent by the Father. Such was the commitment
of our Lord. Like the three young men, Jesus too was unwavering in His
fidelity to the Father. He would not bend before His enemies.
Standing up for His Father meant that He had to carry the cross and face death.
Like the three young men, He was ready to meet His executioners. But
there is a great difference. Although God spared Isaac from being
sacrificed by Abraham, God did not spare His own Son. Although God
spared the lives of the three young men and sent His holy angel to prevent the
flames from consuming them, He did not spare Him from the passion and the
crucifixion, even to the extent of experiencing the Father’s “infidelity” to
Him by abandoning Him on the cross. The cry on the cross, “My God, My
God, why have you abandoned me” is the cry of one who was in the depths of
Sheol, for when God is not present, there is no life. All is darkness.
Jesus went through the depths of hell. Like Shadrach, Meshach and
Abednego, Jesus would also have said, “if our God, the one we serve, is able to
save us from the burning fiery furnace and from your power, O king, he will
save us; and even if he does not, then you must know, O king, that we will not
serve your god or worship the statue you have erected.”
How then can we, like the three young men
and our Lord, be faithful to our calling and, most of all, to our Christian
identity as Christ’s disciples? We must regain our identity as God’s
children. Jesus told the Jews, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would
do as Abraham did. As it is, you want to kill me when I tell you the truth as I
have learnt it from God; that is not what Abraham did. What you are doing is
what your father does.” If we truly love God, we would only do what
pleases Him and makes Him happy. If we are disobedient, it means that we
lack the love for God in our hearts. Our relationship with God is one of
slavery, one of fear of His punishment, one of use when He is our dispensing
machine, and not one of friendship, much less that of father-son. Just as
when we love someone, we would want to do everything to please him or her; so
too in our relationship with God as well. “For this reason the Father
loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again.” (Jn 10:17)
Secondly, we must let the Word of God
enter into our heart and mind. “If you make my word your home you will
indeed be my disciples, you will learn the truth and the truth will make you
free.” If we want to grow in fidelity to the Lord, to ourselves and to
those whom we have committed ourselves, we need to read prayerfully the Word of
God, listening to it in our heart, searching for the will of God by listening
to His voice. Unless, we pray the Word of God daily, our lives cannot
change. Growing in self-awareness, understanding who God is, His love and
mercy for us in the passion and death of His son, will help us to
treasure our real identity as sons and daughters of God. Only in this
truth, knowing it in our heart and not our head, will we be set free, for then
we will no longer fear. We know that God will triumph in the end.
All things will work out for good even if we cannot avoid the cross and even
death. God will send us His holy angels to protect us, as Nebuchadnezzar
exclaimed, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego: he has sent
his angel to rescue the servants who, putting their trust in him, defied the
order of the king, and preferred to forfeit their bodies rather than serve or
worship any god but their own.”
Written by The Most
Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment