20170418 THE DYNAMICS OF FAITH IN THE RESURRECTION
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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Acts 2:36-41 ©
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On the day of
Pentecost, Peter spoke to the Jews: ‘The whole House of Israel can be certain
that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.’
Hearing
this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the apostles, ‘What must
we do, brothers?’ ‘You must repent,’ Peter answered ‘and every one of you must
be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and
you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise that was made is for
you and your children, and for all those who are far away, for all those whom
the Lord our God will call to himself.’ He spoke to them for a long time using
many arguments, and he urged them, ‘Save yourselves from this perverse
generation.’ They were convinced by his arguments, and they accepted what he
said and were baptised. That very day about three thousand were added to their
number.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm
32(33):4-5,18-20,22 ©
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The Lord fills the
earth with his love.
or
Alleluia,
alleluia, alleluia!
The word of the Lord
is faithful
and all
his works to be trusted.
The Lord loves
justice and right
and fills
the earth with his love.
The Lord fills the
earth with his love.
or
Alleluia,
alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord looks on
those who revere him,
on those
who hope in his love,
to rescue their souls
from death,
to keep
them alive in famine.
The Lord fills the
earth with his love.
or
Alleluia,
alleluia, alleluia!
Our soul is waiting
for the Lord.
The Lord
is our help and our shield.
May your love be upon
us, O Lord,
as we
place all our hope in you.
The Lord fills the
earth with his love.
or
Alleluia,
alleluia, alleluia!
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Ps117:24
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Alleluia, alleluia!
This day was made by
the Lord:
we rejoice and are
glad.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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John 20:11-18 ©
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Mary
stayed outside near the tomb, weeping. Then, still weeping, she stooped to look
inside, and saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been,
one at the head, the other at the feet. They said, ‘Woman, why are you
weeping?’ ‘They have taken my Lord away’ she replied ‘and I don’t know where
they have put him.’ As she said this she turned round and saw Jesus standing
there, though she did not recognise him. Jesus said, ‘Woman, why are you
weeping? Who are you looking for?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said,
‘Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go
and remove him.’ Jesus said, ‘Mary!’ She knew him then and said to him in
Hebrew, ‘Rabbuni!’ – which means Master. Jesus said to her, ‘Do not cling
to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go and find the
brothers, and tell them: I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God
and your God.’ So Mary of Magdala went and told the disciples that she had seen
the Lord and that he had said these things to her.
THE
DYNAMICS OF FAITH IN THE RESURRECTION
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [
ACTS 2:36-41; PS 32:4-5,18-20,22; JN 20:11-18]
Christ is Risen. This is the heart
of the Church’s proclamation. The resurrection of Christ is the central
doctrine of the Christian Faith. The Church began with faith in the
resurrection of Christ. Without this confession of faith in the
resurrection, all the other doctrines will not hold water, whether it is the
incarnation or the identity of Jesus as Lord, Saviour and the Son of God or the
inerrancy of scriptures and the efficacious power of the sacraments and the
authority of the institutions.
But how do we arrive at faith in the
Risen Lord when we have not seen Him ourselves? How do we enter into the
faith of the apostles who claimed that they had seen the Risen Lord and were
witnesses to the resurrected Lord? Unless we can enter into the faith of
the apostles and make it our own, we cannot truly proclaim that Jesus is risen
and He is Lord. What then are the stages to arrive at the apostolic faith
which is the faith of the Church?
Firstly, faith begins with
proclamation. One can come to faith only through the proclamation of the
witnesses of the Lord. This is what St Paul wrote, “But how are they to
call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one
of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to
proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they are
sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good
news!’” (Rom 10:14f)
Indeed, this was what St Peter did at Pentecost, as we read in today’s first
reading. Proclamation therefore is necessary to bring people to
faith. Not just proclamation but proclamation with faith and
conviction! It is not only what we say but how we say it.
Proclamation is not an intellectual discourse. It is a teaching that is
rooted in faith. It seeks to strike the heart of the listeners.
Secondly, besides proclamation, the way
to bring people to faith is through testimony. There is nothing more
convincing than personal testimony. Faith in God is never the outcome of an
intellectual process by which we come to agree on the facts. That would
be reasoning and it is weak because reasoning can change with new evidence or
findings. That is why the theories offered by science keep changing as
they discover new evidence. But personal testimony is based on a personal
encounter and a living out of our experience. Again, this is what we read
in the early testimonies and account of the resurrection
apparitions. The Lord appeared to the apostles and the
disciples. According to St Paul, “he appeared to Cephas, then to the
twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one
time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then
he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all,
as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.” (1 Cor 15:5-8) In the
gospel, we have Mary Magdalene who saw the Lord and “went and told the
disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had said these things to her.”
Thirdly, we need to substantiate our
testimonies with credible reasons, otherwise we can be accused of subjectivism,
emotionalism and even hallucination. Faith is never against reason and so
it is our duty to show the logic of our faith and belief. Again, this was
what St Peter did. “He spoke to them for a long time using many
arguments, and he urged them, ‘Save yourselves from this perverse generation.’
They were convinced by his arguments, and they accepted what he said and were
baptised. That very day about three thousand were added to their number.”
Clearly, it was not only through their testimonies alone that brought about the
conversion of his listeners but he could show through scriptures and reasoning
that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah foretold by the prophets.
As such, although the resurrection can
only be perceived by faith, yet, we cannot do without reason as well. We
need to help people to understand and find confidence to believe. That
was how conversion in the early Church took place. It was not only
personal testimony and proclamation but also a systematic explanation for their
faith in the Risen Lord. Of course, we cannot prove the resurrection but we can
establish the facts that strengthen our case for belief. Otherwise we
might appear to be credulous and superstitious. For many intellectuals today,
without some reasonable explanation, it would be difficult for them to make the
leap of faith lest they are accused of being too credulous. Theology
precisely seeks to understand so that one might believe. Theology seeks
to give a systematic presentation for the credibility of a doctrine.
Reason does not destroy faith but buttress our faith even more firmly.
And for those who believe through study already, they may understand more
deeply what they already believe.
Fourthly, we need to make an act of
repentance. This is not just repentance from sin. This is
included. But this fundamental repentance is a call to believe. In
the gospel, Jesus began His ministry by proclaiming, “The time is fulfilled,
and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good
news.” (Mk 1:15)
In other words, we are called to repent by believing in the Good News. If
we accept in faith the Good News, then great things can happen. If
we believe in the Good News, then the outcome is repentance from our
sins. The motivation for change is never fear but love. This was
the response of the listeners to the discourse of Peter’s first homily.
“They were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the apostles, ‘What must we
do, brothers?’ ‘You must repent.’ Peter answered ‘and every one of you must be
baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you
will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise that was made is for you
and your children, and for all those who are far away, for all those whom the
Lord our God will call to himself.’” Thus, the call for change is based
on the fact of the promise of the Holy Spirit and the gift of sonship in
Christ.
Finally, those who believe will receive
the power of the Holy Spirit and will come to know the Risen Lord personally,
for this is precisely the work of the Holy Spirit. The work of the Holy
Spirit is not to announce new things but to bring us to a personal encounter
with the Lord. “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear
them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth;
for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will
speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify
me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (Jn 16:12-14) This explains
why the Charismatic renewal has helped many Christians to have a personal
encounter of the Risen Lord through the release of the Holy Spirit.
Only through the grace of the Holy Spirit can we know the Father through the
Son.
Furthermore, through the same Holy
Spirit, the apostles would be able to perform the same works that Jesus did as
He promised. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also
do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go
to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may
be glorified in the Son; if you ask anything in my name, I will
do it.” (Jn 14:12-14)
We read that in the early Church, when they prayed in the name of the Lord and
in the power of the Spirit, miracles and wonders happened. “’And
now, Lord, look upon their threats, and grant to thy servants to speak thy word
with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and
wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.’ And when
they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and
they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with
boldness.” (Acts 4:29-31)
Clearly, therefore, such miracles could only be possible unless the Lord is
risen since every healing miracle is done in the name of the Lord.
In the final analysis, the foundation of
faith, the motivation for proclamation and the power of belief in Christ’s
resurrection must be that of a personal encounter with the Risen Lord in
prayer, worship and in our daily life, witnessing to His presence and love at
work in our lives. This gift is given to us if we are receptive to
His love. The psalmist says, “The Lord looks on those who revere him, on
those who hope in his love, to rescue their souls from death, to keep them
alive in famine.” When we love the Lord like Mary, He will reward us with
the gift of seeing Him. We can see Him through the intellect but we can
see better through the heart. For the heart has an intuition of the lover
that the intellect does not. No wonder, it is recorded in the scriptures
that our Lord appeared to Mary Magdalene even before the apostles, perhaps
because Magdalene loved the Lord most among all His disciples.
Written by The Most
Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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