20170523 CONFRONTING THE TRUTH
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
|
First reading
|
Acts 16:22-34 ©
|
The crowd joined in
and showed their hostility to Paul and Silas, so the magistrates had them
stripped and ordered them to be flogged. They were given many lashes and then
thrown into prison, and the gaoler was told to keep a close watch on them. So,
following his instructions, he threw them into the inner prison and fastened
their feet in the stocks.
Late that
night Paul and Silas were praying and singing God’s praises, while the other
prisoners listened. Suddenly there was an earthquake that shook the prison to
its foundations. All the doors flew open and the chains fell from all the
prisoners. When the gaoler woke and saw the doors wide open he drew his sword
and was about to commit suicide, presuming that the prisoners had escaped. But
Paul shouted at the top of his voice, ‘Don’t do yourself any harm; we are all
here.’ The gaoler called for lights, then rushed in, threw himself trembling at
the feet of Paul and Silas, and escorted them out, saying, ‘Sirs, what must I
do to be saved?’ They told him, ‘Become a believer in the Lord Jesus, and you
will be saved, and your household too.’ Then they preached the word of the Lord
to him and to all his family. Late as it was, he took them to wash their
wounds, and was baptised then and there with all his household. Afterwards he
took them home and gave them a meal, and the whole family celebrated their
conversion to belief in God.
|
Responsorial
Psalm
|
|
Psalm
137(138):1-3,7-8 ©
|
You stretch out
your hand and save me, O Lord.
or
Alleluia!
I thank you, Lord,
with all my heart:
you have
heard the words of my mouth.
In the presence of
the angels I will bless you.
I will
adore before your holy temple.
You stretch out
your hand and save me, O Lord.
or
Alleluia!
I thank you for your
faithfulness and love,
which
excel all we ever knew of you.
On the day I called,
you answered;
you
increased the strength of my soul.
You stretch out
your hand and save me, O Lord.
or
Alleluia!
You stretch out your
hand and save me,
your hand
will do all things for me.
Your love, O Lord, is
eternal,
discard
not the work of your hands.
You stretch out
your hand and save me, O Lord.
or
Alleluia!
|
Gospel
Acclamation
|
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
Christ has risen and
shone upon us
whom he redeemed with
his blood.
Alleluia!
|
Or
|
cf.Jn16:7,13
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
I will send you the
Spirit of truth, says the Lord;
he will lead you to
the complete truth.
Alleluia!
|
Gospel
|
John 16:5-11 ©
|
Jesus said to his
disciples:
‘Now I am going to
the one who sent me.
Not one of you has
asked, “Where are you going?”
Yet you are sad at
heart because I have told you this.
Still, I must tell
you the truth:
it is for your own
good that I am going
because unless I go,
the Advocate will not
come to you;
but if I do go,
I will send him to
you.
And when he comes,
he will show the
world how wrong it was,
about sin,
and about who was in
the right,
and about judgement:
about sin: proved by
their refusal to believe in me;
about who was in the
right: proved by my going to the Father and your seeing me no more;
about judgement:
proved by the prince of this world being already condemned.’
CONFRONTING
THE TRUTH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [
ACTS
16:22-34; PS 137:1-3,7-8; JOHN 16:5-11 ]
One of the most painful things to talk
about to anyone, especially our loved ones, is departure. Whether we are
the one leaving, or the other person, it is often too difficult to speak about
it. It could be someone joining the priestly or religious
life. Breaking the news to our parents or our loved ones is always
an anguished moment. Sometimes, our relationship with our friend is not
working well and we have decided to call it a day. Telling our boyfriend
or girlfriend that we want to have a break is extremely heartbreaking.
But there is nothing like telling someone that we have a terminal illness and
we might not last long.
In all these situations, our tendency is
to hide or not to talk about such unpleasant things. We will delay as long as
possible. We might give some hints about our departure but we would not
say it. Worst of all, we do not know whether the other party gets the
hint; or if he or she suspects, they do not dare to clarify and live in
suspense and anxiety. Indeed, the truth is always difficult to
reveal. This precisely was the case of the opponents to the gospel.
Instead of listening to Paul and Silas and investigate the matter, they threw
them into the deepest and darkest part of the dungeon. They wanted to
suppress the truth of what they were saying. They made it as if Paul and
Silas were such notorious criminals that they had them stripped, flogged and
“given many lashes and then thrown into prison. Furthermore, “the gaoler
was told to keep a close watch on them. So, following his instructions, he
threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.”
But the lesson we can learn from this
event is that the truth cannot be hidden, regardless of how men try to suppress
and cover up the truth. We are told how Paul and Silas, instead of feeling
imprisoned and constrained by their chains, were more than liberated. In
high spirits, “late that night Paul and Silas were praying and singing God’s
praises, while the other prisoners listened.” Indeed, it is said no one
can imprison our hearts even if they imprison our bodies. Even in
captivity, they were able to give praise and thanks to God. They knew
that God was on their side and that God would not fail them.
And indeed, they were not wrong. We
read that something miraculous happened. “Suddenly there was an
earthquake that shook the prison to its foundations. All the doors flew open
and the chains fell from all the prisoners.” Surely, all of them
who witnessed this powerful sign of God’s protection would have remembered the
psalm we just prayed. “I thank you, Lord, with all my heart: you have
heard the words of my mouth. In the presence of the angels I will bless you. I
will adore before your holy temple. I thank you for your faithfulness and
love, which excel all we ever knew of you. On the day I called, you answered;
you increased the strength of my soul. You stretch out your hand and save
me, your hand will do all things for me. Your love, O Lord, is eternal, discard
not the work of your hands.”
The immediate response to this divine
intervention was to bring in the light! “The gaoler called for lights, then
rushed in, threw himself trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas, and escorted
them out, saying, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’” Truly, when we
encounter the power of God, we seek the light and the truth. When the
gaoler saw what happened, his response was to seek salvation by wanting to know
the truth. He was then imprisoned by fear although he was the
gaoler. He was fearful for his life in the event the prisoners
escaped. But Paul assured him, “Don’t do yourself any harm; we are all
here.” How appropriate that Paul would assure him that they were there to
save him and not destroy him.
So too was the case with Jesus. He
did not hide His imminent departure from His disciples. Pointedly, Jesus
said, “Now I am going to the one who sent me. Not one of you has asked,
‘Where are you going?’ Yet you are sad at heart because I have told you
this. Still, I must tell you the truth.” Jesus knew that His
disciples were unsettled. They had heard the prophecies of His passion, but they
could not quite accept them. They were still in denial and were hoping
that the prophecies would not come to pass. But the truth must be
said. Hence, Jesus felt the need to prepare the disciples by explaining
to them why His departure was necessary.
Jesus made it clear that unless He went,
the Holy Spirit would not come. “It is for your own good that I am
going because unless I go, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I do go, I
will send him to you.” Whilst all departures of our loved ones are
heartbreaking and distressful, understanding why the departure is necessary
will help us to cope with the pain of loss. Jesus was very much aware of
His disciples’ attachment to Him and their fears, and He sought to reassure
them that His going was for their benefit in the long run. Having Him
around can do them much good, but His going away and then sending the Holy
Spirit would do them even greater good because only in the power of the Holy
Spirit could they be sent forth to the whole world to proclaim the Good News that
they had received. So long as Jesus was with them, the Good News
would be confined to that small band of disciples.
Most of all, with the coming of the Holy
Spirit, He would “show the world how wrong it was, about sin, proved by their
refusal to believe in me.” The greatest sin is not the sins that we
commit out of weakness, temptations and ignorance. Most of the time, our
sins originate from fear, anxiety and self-preservation. Rather, the
basis of all sin is the rejection of Jesus because when we reject the truth
that Jesus has come to reveal to us the love, mercy and justice of God, we end
up doing more wrong. Faith in Jesus is the way to experience the
forgiveness and mercy of God.
Secondly, the Holy Spirit will vindicate
Jesus that He was in the right, “proved by my going to the Father and your
seeing me no more.” The resurrection and ascension of Jesus vindicated
Jesus’ claim of divine filiation with the Father. He is the Son of God
and His origin came from the Father. Rightly so, after completing His
mission on earth, He returned to the Father. He said, “Now I am going to
the one who sent me.” He was sent by the Father and after completing His
mission, He returned to the Father from whom He originated. The
resurrection was the endorsement of the Father on the life and mission of
Jesus. The ascension signifies Jesus sitting at the right hand of the
Father, with all the powers of divinity restored. He now rules the world
and His kingdom is established.
Thirdly, the Holy Spirit will show us
“about judgement: proved by the prince of this world being already
condemned.” In the final analysis, judgement is meted to us through
self-judgment. No one condemns us, not God either. But in rejecting
Jesus and the way of life offered by Him, we consign ourselves to live in a
world of misery, in anger, greed and fear. How do we know we have been
judged? By the fruits of how we live our lives. Jesus in the gospel
makes it clear, “You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from
thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears
good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.” (Mt 7:16f)
We too must learn from Jesus in helping
our loved ones to be prepared when the time for our departure comes. We
must be courageous in confronting the truth of the situation. It is always
better to speak about it; and to do it positively so that all are at ease and
can come to terms with it, seeing everything in the light of divine providence
and His wisdom. The truth is that in life, departure will come sooner or
later. There will be a time for us to step down from office. There
will come a time when your children need to move on to start their own families.
There will come a time when we have to depart from this world. Rather
than hide the pain of departure, we should help each other to share a common
desire to surrender each other to the Lord. When separation is
united by a greater mutual union of will, that separation, even though painful,
brings joy and a greater union. This is true in the case of giving up
your sons and daughters for the service of the Church or the country.
If we are generous like Jesus, the end
result will always be in our favour. What we lose is what we
gain. By letting our elderly loved ones go, they return to their
true home in heaven where “he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will
be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things
have passed away.” (Rev 21:4)
By allowing our children to move on in their lives and not tie them to our
apron strings, we set them free to establish themselves in society, giving them
fulfillment and growth. By allowing a relationship to break when both
parties are incompatible, we find peace, freedom and new joy. So
let us trust in the divine providence and intervention of God in our lives as
Jesus, Paul and Silas did. Let us imitate the gaoler who became a
believer in the Lord Jesus. He and His household were saved that day “and
the whole family celebrated their conversion to belief in God.”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment