20170520 RADICALISM OR ADAPTATION
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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Acts 16:1-10 ©
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From Cilicia Paul
went to Derbe, and then on to Lystra. Here there was a disciple called Timothy,
whose mother was a Jewess who had become a believer; but his father was a
Greek. The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of Timothy, and Paul, who
wanted to have him as a travelling companion, had him circumcised. This was on
account of the Jews in the locality where everyone knew his father was a Greek.
As they
visited one town after another, they passed on the decisions reached by the
apostles and elders in Jerusalem, with instructions to respect them.
So the
churches grew strong in the faith, as well as growing daily in numbers.
They
travelled through Phrygia and the Galatian country, having been told by the
Holy Spirit not to preach the word in Asia. When they reached the frontier of
Mysia they thought to cross it into Bithynia, but as the Spirit of Jesus would
not allow them, they went through Mysia and came down to Troas.
One night
Paul had a vision: a Macedonian appeared and appealed to him in these words,
‘Come across to Macedonia and help us.’ Once he had seen this vision we lost no
time in arranging a passage to Macedonia, convinced that God had called us to
bring them the Good News.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm
99(100):1-3,5 ©
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Cry out with joy
to the Lord, all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
Cry out with joy to
the Lord, all the earth.
Serve the
Lord with gladness.
Come
before him, singing for joy.
Cry out with joy
to the Lord, all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
Know that he, the
Lord, is God.
He made
us, we belong to him,
we are
his people, the sheep of his flock.
Cry out with joy
to the Lord, all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
Indeed, how good is
the Lord,
eternal
his merciful love.
He is
faithful from age to age.
Cry out with joy
to the Lord, all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord, who hung
for us upon the tree,
has risen from the
tomb.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Col3:1
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Since you have been
brought back to true life with Christ,
you must look for the
things that are in heaven, where Christ is,
sitting at God’s
right hand.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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John 15:18-21 ©
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Jesus said to his
disciples:
‘If the world hates
you,
remember that it
hated me before you.
If you belonged to
the world,
the world would love
you as its own;
but because you do
not belong to the world,
because my choice
withdrew you from the world,
therefore the world
hates you.
Remember the words I
said to you: A servant is not greater than his master.
If they persecuted
me, they will persecute you too;
if they kept my word,
they will keep yours as well.
But it will be on my
account that they will do all this,
because
they do not know the one who sent me.’
RADICALISM
OR ADAPTATION
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [
ACTS 16:1-10; PS 99:1-3,5; JOHN 15:18-21 ]
In a globalized world, religions are
being challenged on their claims to supremacy in beliefs. In the past, it
was common for religions to assert that theirs was the “one and only true
religion.” It was common for religions to brand others as pagan or
“false” religions. Until Vatican II, the Catholic Church had always
claimed to be the one and only true Church of Jesus Christ because of the
apostolic succession and apostolic faith that had been transmitted to us.
In our relations with Christians, we then labelled them as false church or at
least not the true church.
But Vatican II was truly a council beyond
its time as it foresaw the rapid changes that would take place in society and
in the world due to mass communications. Whilst identifying the Church of
Christ as subsisting in the Catholic Church, Vatican II also recognized that
“many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside of its visible
structure. These elements, as gifts belonging to the Church of Christ, are
forces impelling toward catholic unity.” (LH 8.2) Then in the decree on
Ecumenism, the Church reiterated the position of the Christian communities.
“Moreover, some and even very many of the significant elements and endowments
which together go to build up and give life to the Church itself, can exist
outside the visible boundaries of the Catholic Church: the written word of God;
the life of grace; faith, hope and charity, with the other interior gifts of
the Holy Spirit, and visible elements too. All of these, which come from Christ
and lead back to Christ, belong by right to the one Church of Christ.”
(Unitatis Reintegratio)
And with respect to other religions, the
Church also admited the possibility of salvation. “Those also can attain
to salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ
or His Church, yet sincerely seek God and moved by grace strive by their deeds
to do His will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience.
Nor does Divine Providence deny the helps necessary for salvation to those who,
without blame on their part, have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of
God and with His grace strive to live a good life. Whatever good or truth is
found amongst them is looked upon by the Church as a preparation for the
Gospel.” (LG 16.1) In Nostra Aetate, the Council taught that, “the
Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions. She
regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those
precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones
she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which
enlightens all men. Indeed, she proclaims, and ever must proclaim Christ ‘the
way, the truth, and the life’ (John 14:6), in whom men
may find the fullness of religious life, in whom God has reconciled all things
to Himself.”
How do these statements of the Church
synchronize with the scripture readings of today? In the gospel, Jesus
seems to be promoting a kind of radical lifestyle. He said, “If the world hates
you, remember that it hated me before you. If you belonged to the world, the
world would love you as its own; but because you do not belong to the world,
because my choice withdrew you from the world, therefore the world hates you.”
In John’s understanding, there is an opposition between the world and
Christ. But this must be seen in context because by the time of the
evangelist, the Church was already under persecution. He himself was
exiled in the island of Paphos. Jesus is not asking us to oppose the world
because earlier on, He said, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only
Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal
life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the
world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (Jn 3:16f)
To understand how time immemorial truths
can be applied in the light of new situations and challenges, it is important
that Church doctrines or religious beliefs be always situated in the context of
their time. Applying the Sacred Texts or religious doctrines without
considering the context in which such doctrines arose can cause more harm than
good. When preachers of religions and adherents take the words and repeat
them outside the context in which they were originally uttered, this becomes
dangerous, and more frighteningly so when people take videos of these speakers
or extract some words and messages for the social media. Hearing them
without the context can be rather misleading. That is how sometimes
papers sensationalize just by focusing on a passing remark of the speaker
without presenting the whole message. This was what happened to Pope
Benedict in his illustrious speech at the University of Regensburg on “Faith
and reason.” (2006)
We are not advocating relativism, that
is, that truth changes with the circumstances. Rather, the truth remains
the same but it has to be applied to concrete situations. The application
of the same truth requires adaptation because of new discoveries, scientific
advancements and new knowledge. It is just like the case of the bible
teaching that the world is flat and comprised of three levels or strata – the
heavens, the earth and the underworld. This is also true in many areas as
well. In the past, the Church would not permit a church burial to those
who committed suicide. But with the study of psychology, we have come to
realize that many who committed suicide did not doing so as an affront to the
sovereignty of God but were overwhelmed by suffering, loneliness and
depression.
So when this passage of the gospel was
written, Christianity was already under persecution as a new religion.
Christians were persecuted because of their faith in Christ. It was
out-lawed and those who were found to be Christians were punished even by
death. The Roman emperors hated the Christians because they were regarded as
disloyal citizens as they did not worship Caesar. This hatred for the
Christians was accentuated by the slanders of the Jews and those opposed to the
Christian Faith. The Christians were regarded as revolutionaries, since Christ
was their only King; cannibals because they ate the flesh and drank the blood
of Christ; and immoral because of their fellowship meal called “agape.”
Most of all, many feared the Christians because their faith brought
division to society and the families of those who were converted to the faith.
The ‘world’ therefore referred to those
who opposed the Christian way of life. That is why we read of St Paul and
St Peter exhorting the Christians to be good citizens so as to negate such
false accusations that Christians were divisive. However, when it comes
to morality, justice and righteous living, Christians could not compromise the
gospel values. If keeping the Word of Jesus causes us to be rejected, we
need to stand firm in our faith. Standing up for the truth, for what is
right, just and good is not destructive to society but
constructive. At the end of the day, freedom of worship must be
respected, but it cannot lead to fundamentalism and fanaticism, branding those
who embrace other religions as infidels, condemned or pagans. At
the end of the day, the Church makes it clear that it is our way of life, of
love, compassion, justice and truth that will determine whether we truly love
God or not. St John wrote accordingly, “How does God’s love abide in
anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister[f] in
need and yet refuses help?” (1 John 3:17)
This need to adapt without compromising
the truth is found in the way St Paul handled Timothy. When he wanted to bring
Timothy along in his missionary trips, he had him circumcised. “This was
on account of the Jews in the locality where everyone knew his father was a
Greek.” It was not that Timothy should be circumcised to be a Christian,
as this was already settled at the Council of Jerusalem earlier.
Furthermore, they were going from “one town after another, …(passing) on the
decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem, with instructions to
respect them.”
This position of St Paul appears to
contradict what he had opposed with regard to the circumcision of the Gentile
Christians. He argued, “We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners;
yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through
faith in Jesus Christ.” (Gal 2: 15-16). But in this
case, it was done for pragmatic reasons. Firstly, Timothy was a half Jew
since his woman was Jewish. Circumcision, although not necessary for the
Gentiles, was still part of the Jewish way of life. By so doing, he would
be more acceptable to a Jewish audience. But it also showed how liberal
Paul was in accepting Timothy as a Jew, as an orthodox Jew would not recognize
a mixed marriage. In truth, we can see how Paul could adapt the gospel
without compromising the truths of being saved by faith alone and that in
Christ, “there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free,
there is no longer male and female.” (Gal 3:28)
Written by The Most
Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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