20170824
BREAKING DOWN THE BARRIERS OF SKEPTICISM
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Red.
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First reading
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Apocalypse 21:9-14 ©
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The angel came to speak to me, and said, ‘Come here and I will
show you the bride that the Lamb has married.’ In the spirit, he took me to the
top of an enormous high mountain and showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming
down from God out of heaven. It had all the radiant glory of God and glittered
like some precious jewel of crystal-clear diamond. The walls of it were of a
great height, and had twelve gates; at each of the twelve gates there was an
angel, and over the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of
Israel; on the east there were three gates, on the north three gates, on the
south three gates, and on the west three gates. The city walls stood on twelve
foundation stones, each one of which bore the name of one of the twelve
apostles of the Lamb.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 144(145):10-13a,17-18 ©
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Your friends, O Lord, make known the glorious splendour
of your reign.
All your creatures shall thank you, O Lord,
and your friends shall repeat their blessing.
They shall speak of the glory of your reign
and declare your might, O God.
Your friends, O Lord, make known the glorious
splendour of your reign.
They make known to men your mighty deeds
and the glorious splendour of your reign.
Yours is an everlasting kingdom;
your rule lasts from age to age.
Your friends, O Lord, make known the glorious
splendour of your reign.
The Lord is just in all his ways
and loving in all his deeds.
He is close to all who call him,
who call on him from their hearts.
Your friends, O Lord, make known the glorious
splendour of your reign.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Jn1:49
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Rabbi, you are the Son of God,
you are the King of Israel.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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John 1:45-51 ©
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Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found the one
Moses wrote about in the Law, the one about whom the prophets wrote: he is
Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.’ ‘From Nazareth?’ said Nathanael ‘Can
anything good come from that place?’ ‘Come and see’ replied Philip. When Jesus
saw Nathanael coming he said of him, ‘There is an Israelite who deserves the
name, incapable of deceit.’ ‘How do you know me?’ said Nathanael. ‘Before
Philip came to call you,’ said Jesus ‘I saw you under the fig tree.’ Nathanael
answered, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel.’ Jesus
replied, ‘You believe that just because I said: I saw you under the fig tree.
You will see greater things than that.’ And then he added ‘I tell you most
solemnly, you will see heaven laid open and, above the Son of Man, the angels
of God ascending and descending.’
BREAKING DOWN THE BARRIERS OF SKEPTICISM
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ Rev 21:9-14; Ps 145:10-13,17-18; Jn 1:45-51 ]
We are all
conditioned creatures, whether we admit it or not. This explains why not all of
us see life and people the same way. We are conditioned first and
foremost by our knowledge of the situation. We have limited understanding
of what we know in life. Some of us who are trained in that specialty
will have a wider understanding of the subject matter. So the depth of
our knowledge will influence the way we look at an event. But
knowledge alone will not suffice to convict us because whilst knowledge can
give us understanding, it is the heart that engages us totally; mind, body and
soul. So what usually dictates our response to life situations is very
much influenced by the experiences we have had in life, from conception, to
birth, childhood, and throughout life. Positive experiences make us more
receptive, whilst negative experiences make us prejudicial.
So right from
the onset, we must recognize that we look at life and events with our limited
world view. No one has a complete view of life and the world. So in all
humility, we must accept that we do not know everything or have experienced
what others had. This is true especially with respect to our understanding of
other religions and traditions. That is why we must be careful about
passing judgments on people who have different religions or who come from
different traditions. We can only claim that the Catholic Faith is
the true Church, but we cannot deny the claims of others because we are not in
that tradition or in that religion and have not undergone the same religious
experience or lesser still, a proper understanding of their religions.
Indeed, we
need not look too far. Even within the Catholic Tradition, there are tensions
among the different spiritualties that are permitted in the Church. There are those
who advocate the Extra-Ordinary Rite of the Mass, claiming it to be the true
and authentic mass. They insist on reception of communion by tongue and
kneeling down. At the other end of the spectrum, we have those in the
charismatic renewal who celebrate the Eucharist more freely, with greater
vibrancy in songs, worship and even bodily expressions. Then, we have the
“ordinary” Catholics who belong to the Vatican II tradition, who are averse to
praying in tongues, resting in the Spirit or exhibiting bodily expressions in
worship on one hand; and the restrictive and ritualistic worship of the Tridentine
mass on the other.
But in truth,
who are we to judge which is appropriate or not, or which is the best way to
encounter God deeply? We can insist on the rubrics and the traditions. But
the truth is that those who experience God in their own tradition would remain
convinced that theirs is the best form of worship. And those who are
outside of these traditions would look at such people and judge them to be
queer, conservative or too sentimental and expressive. But if we
are humble enough to put aside our prejudices and humbly allow ourselves to
experience God through these different traditions and spiritualties, then
perhaps, we could appreciate better where those advocates of their tradition
are coming from. It is close-mindedness and prejudice from our
limited background that hinder us from opening ourselves to new experiences and
new ways of encountering God.
Today we are
called to break down the barriers and to widen our scope of life. We find inspiration in the
person of Bartholomew, whose other name was Nathanael, in the
gospel. He himself was skeptical of Jesus when Philip told him, “We
have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, the one about whom the
prophets wrote: he is Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” The immediate
reaction of Nathaniel was swift. “From Nazareth? Can anything good come
from that place?” Nathaniel came from Cana, four miles away from
Nazareth. It appeared that Nazareth was not an outstanding town and the
people there were frowned upon. Perhaps it was the place that housed a
Roman Garrison. Perhaps the people were not that educated and morally
upright. So, too, Nathaniel had a poor image of that village and those
who came from there.
But Philip
helped him to overcome his narrow judgement of Jesus, who came from that
village.
He invited Nathanael. He said, without forcing him, “Come and see.”
It was an open invitation with a gentle nudge from Philip. We, too, must
initiate the invite when we want to help people to be open to other traditions
and experiences. We must take the step to welcome people to our Church,
our movements and our spiritual tradition. Without initiating the invite,
those who are skeptical would remain outside the circle because they feel
threatened or suspicious of those within the tradition. Having a friend
to invite us to experience what they experienced, is the first step.
Secondly,
those invited must take the courage to respond with docility by keeping their
skepticism aside and holding off their reservations. That was what Nathanael
did. He accepted the invitation to go and see Jesus. He was
courageous to find out for himself so that he could clear his doubts. He
did not stay from afar and continue to denigrate Jesus, but with humility he
went to check it out for himself. We must do the same.
Thirdly,
those who accept the invitation must be affirmed and encouraged. We must make them feel
loved, welcomed and accepted. This was what the Lord did. He said of
Nathanael when he came to visit Him, “There is an Israelite who deserves the
name, incapable of deceit.” He affirmed Nathanael’s goodness in his
sincerity and integrity. Indeed, such was the character of
Nathanael. He did not put on a pretense when Philip told him about the
Messiah he found. But at the same time, he was ready to find out for
himself. When we give credit and recognition to a person’s aspirations,
pains and struggles, we help him to drop his defences in opening himself to the
Lord.
But that was
not all, Jesus offered Him encouragement in his search for God. When Nathanael said,
“How do you know me?”, Jesus replied, “Before Philip came to call you, I saw
you under the fig tree.” In saying this, Jesus was recognizing
Nathanael’s sincerity in searching for God. Sitting under the fig
tree is a symbol of a man deep in prayer. Jesus affirmed the genuine
desire and hunger of Nathanael. He could identify with him and articulate
what was in his heart. By so doing, Nathanael’s heart opened to Him.
When we are
able to reach out to the person and touch his heart, we will then enable him to
open his mind to see greater things and come to faith. This was the consequence of
Nathanael’s warm acceptance by the Lord. His response to the Lord after
meeting Him in person was his confession of faith. “Rabbi, you are the
Son of God, you are the King of Israel.” When his heart was opened
to the Lord, his mind was able to see more than what others could see in
Him. Jesus replied, “You believe that just because I said: I saw you
under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that. I tell
you most solemnly, you will see heaven laid open and, above the Son of Man, the
angels of God ascending and descending.” Indeed, only those who
have faith in Jesus could see Him as the mediator between God and man.
Today, like
Jesus who is the bridge from God to man and man to God, we too are called to be
the bridge for others to come to know and experience His love. Like the psalmist, we
are called to make known the glorious splendour of God’s reign.
“All your creations shall thank you, O Lord, and your friends shall repeat
their blessing. They shall speak of the glory of your reign and declare your
might, O God. They make known to men your mighty deeds and the glorious
splendour of your reign. The Lord is just in all his ways and loving in
all his deeds. He is close to all who call him, who call on him from their
hearts.” Indeed, as the bride of the Lamb in the New City of
Jerusalem, we are called to radiate the glory of God in our lives so that we
can show forth His glory in our lives, just as the apostle Bartholomew did
after he encountered the goodness of the Lord. He is among the twelve
foundation stones of the city walls.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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