20170709
KNOWING THE FATHER THROUGH THE HUMANITY OF
CHRIST
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Zechariah 9:9-10 ©
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The Lord says this:
Rejoice heart and soul, daughter of Zion!
Shout with gladness, daughter of Jerusalem!
See now, your king comes to you;
he is victorious, he is triumphant,
humble and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
He will banish chariots from Ephraim
and horses from Jerusalem;
the bow of war will be banished.
He will proclaim peace for the nations.
His empire shall stretch from sea to sea,
from the River to the ends of the earth.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 144(145):1-2,8-11,13b-14
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Second reading
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Romans 8:9,11-13 ©
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Your interests are not in the unspiritual, but in the spiritual,
since the Spirit of God has made his home in you. In fact, unless you possessed
the Spirit of Christ you would not belong to him, and if the Spirit of him who
raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, then he who raised Jesus from the
dead will give life to your own mortal bodies through his Spirit living in you.
So then, my
brothers, there is no necessity for us to obey our unspiritual selves or to
live unspiritual lives. If you do live in that way, you are doomed to die; but
if by the Spirit you put an end to the misdeeds of the body you will live.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Mt11:25
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are you, Father,
Lord of heaven and earth,
for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom
to mere children.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 11:25-30 ©
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Jesus exclaimed, ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of
earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing
them to mere children. Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do.
Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son
except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to
whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
‘Come to me,
all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my
yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find
rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.’
KNOWING THE FATHER THROUGH THE HUMANITY OF CHRIST
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ZECH 9:9-10; PS 144:1-2,8-11,13-14; ROM 8:9.11-13; MT 11:25-30]
There is so
much division in the world today, in society, in our communities and even at
home. Everyone is seeking peace but the irony is that there are more
wars and divisions. It is because we are ignorant. Many think
that through violence and the use of force and strength, peace can be
won. On the home front, we are worried about so many things in
life. We have our financial worries, health concerns and of course the
well-being of our loved ones. We fear that our children will not do well
in their studies. We worry about our jobs, especially whether we will be
retrenched. Indeed, all of us have countless worries. St Paul warns
those who live unspiritual lives or unenlightened lives. “There is no
necessity for us to obey our unspiritual selves or to live unspiritual lives.”
We are finding the wrong way to peace.
Today, we are
called to be prophets of peace in the world. In the first reading, we read of the
prophecy of Zechariah bringing hope to those in exile. How can we be
prophets of peace unless we find peace in our own life? We must come to
the Lord. “Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened and I will
give you rest.”
How did Jesus
carry His burden? He did not carry it alone either. He was assured
that the Father was always with Him. He said, “And the one who sent me is with me; he has not
left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him.” (Jn 8:29)
And when he knew that even His own disciples would abandon Him, He said, “The
hour is coming, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because the
Father is with me.” (Jn 16:32) We too can carry our crosses if only we have
the same awareness of the Father’s love and presence in our lives.
Secondly,
Jesus knew the Father sufficiently to trust Him and surrender His life to
Him. “Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one
knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son
and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” This personal knowledge
of the Father was what enabled Jesus to accept whatever happened to Him.
He could do the Father’s will because He shared the heart and mind of the
Father. It was His Abba experience that gave Jesus the impetus for
His mission. Without this personal knowledge of the Father, Jesus would
not have been so passionate in His mission. Indeed, Jesus speaks of this
mutual union of will and knowledge between Him and His Father. It is true
for us all. Unless we know the vision and mission of an organization, we
cannot give ourselves fully to the work of the organization. And when it
concerns someone whom we love, we would willingly give ourselves, if not for
our sake, for the sake of those we love.
Thirdly,
Jesus carried the yoke of His ministry with love and humility. Jesus said, “Shoulder
my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will
find rest for your souls.” Instead of focusing on power, Jesus
demonstrated service; instead of fame, Jesus served with humility; instead of
wealth, Jesus lived a life of poverty and simplicity. These are the means
to be freed from the illusory gods of the world. When there is love, it
is no longer a question of fulfilling some laws, like the scribes and the
Pharisees; but all about sharing in the joy of the other person. If we
carry our responsibilities without love, then it becomes a real chore. We
need to carry it with the heart of God’s love as an act of humble and selfless
service. In this way, the yoke would be lessened. Indeed, all
parents who sacrifice for their children do so out of love. When there is
love, no sacrifice is too difficult. But when there is no love, every
action is a burden.
How, then,
can we come to know the heart of the Father so that we too can give ourselves
to the same mission that Jesus took upon Himself? Today, as we celebrate
Bible Sunday, we are asked how we should listen to the Lord so that we too can
be of one mind and one heart. Without listening to the
Lord, and coming to know Him personally, we will not be able to share in His
mission and love for His people or be able to communicate the heart of Jesus to
the world. So it is critical that the first stage of mission is
coming to the Lord to learn from Him. That is what He asks of us when He
said, “Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened and I will give you
rest.”
We need to
know the Father more deeply by coming to know Him through Jesus. The way to encounter God is
always through the humanity of Christ. This is what St John Paul II in
his apostolic letter, at the beginning of the new millennium urges us to do;
follow the path of contemplation on the humanity and divinity of Christ. What
better way to know the Lord if not through the scriptures. As St Jerome
reminds us, ignorance of the Word is to be ignorant of Christ since the Lord
speaks through the scriptures. It is important to realize that contemplation of
the Lord’s life, His passion, death and resurrection must be rooted in the
gospel and in the bible. This is a necessary way to share in Jesus’
mission.
To come to
know the Lord, firstly, we need to be childlike. Jesus said, “I bless you,
Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned
and the clever and revealing them to mere children. Yes, Father, for that is
what it pleased you to do.” Humility and a child-like relationship
with the Father will help us to have a personal relationship with Him.
Pride is always the biggest obstacle to learning and the way we shut God out of
our lives. There are many people who do not see the need to consult God
because they think they know everything and have all the answers. Only
humble people see the need to go on their knees to pray for divine
wisdom. The truly great people are those who do not simply rely on their
own ingenuity but also seek the wisdom and assistance of God in doing their
work, especially in leadership. God only speaks to those who are ready to
listen to Him. We do not need to be scripture scholars to pray the Word
of God. All we need is to have a childlike disposition of love.
Two
child-like ways to pray the scripture is to use the Lectio Divina and Ignatian
Contemplation. The Lectio Divina method uses the various steps of reading,
praying, meditating and contemplating on the Word of God to allow the Lord to
speak to us. In the scriptures, we listen to Jesus talking to us as a
child would listen to his or her parents, with faith and love. Or we can
penetrate the heart of the Father more fully by contemplating on the humanity
of Jesus, especially by using the method of Ignatian contemplation.
Through imagination and fantasy, we come to understand the heart and mind of
Christ more deeply, especially His love, compassion and mercy for
humanity. By so doing, we also come to know the heart of the
Father. In this way, we can be prophets of love and mercy in our dealings
with others.
Secondly, we
need to keep our minds and hearts pure. Many have difficulties
reading and praying the Word of God because they have not gone for the
sacrament of confession for a long time. There is an obstacle in
communicating with the Lord. This is why St Paul warns us. “Your
interests are not in the unspiritual, but in the spiritual, since the Spirit of
God has made his home in you. In fact, unless you possessed the Spirit of
Christ you would not belong to him.” Sin blinds us as much as
pride. When we are full of anger, greed and pride, we cannot see
the truth that God wants to reveal to us.
Finally, we
cannot be prophets of peace unless we share the yoke of Jesus. “Come to me, all you who
labour and are overburdened and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and
learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for
your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.” To shoulder the
yoke of Jesus means to share a common yoke with Jesus. The truth is that
we should never carry our problems alone in life. We must carry with
Jesus. When we feel alone in our problems, that is how it becomes overwhelming.
Jesus did not mean for us to suffer alone or carry our cross alone. He
asks us to carry the cross and follow after Him. He did not ask us to
carry the cross alone but we have one to follow after. Truly, all
things in life can be overcome when we carry our burdens with others.
Hence, we
need each other to grow in faith and to witness to Christ together. Again when we
speak of the yoke that Jesus invites us to carry with Him, He is also speaking
of the fact that we are all united together as One Body. By baptism, we
are yoked together, just like a couple in marriage. We belong to each
other and we as one Body of Christ must journey together in faith. Just
as in marriage or in a family, we are all responsible to each other and for
each other. We should never travel alone without the assistance and
guidance of family members. We are to support each other in prayer and in
our faith.
For that
reason, we must begin to pray and share the Word of God together regularly, beginning with our family
members, then extending to our classmates, colleagues in the office, church
organisations and neighbourhood groups. Unless we share our insights and
experiences of Christ at work in our lives, we will never know how real He is
at work in our daily life. This is the key to the building up of personal
faith and bonding of the community, more so than attending faith formation
courses which, although helpful, remain at the cerebral level. In this
way, journeying together, we are called to give witness to Christ. In
this way, we become true witnesses and prophets of our Lord.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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