20170905
CONSCIOUSNESS OF
IDENTITY AS THE BASIS FOR AUTHENTICITY
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: Green.
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First reading
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1 Thessalonians
5:1-6,9-11 ©
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You will not be expecting us to write
anything to you, brothers, about ‘times and seasons’, since you know very well
that the Day of the Lord is going to come like a thief in the night. It is when
people are saying, ‘How quiet and peaceful it is’ that the worst suddenly
happens, as suddenly as labour pains come on a pregnant woman; and there will
be no way for anybody to evade it.
But it is not as if you live in the dark, my brothers, for
that Day to overtake you like a thief. No, you are all sons of light and sons
of the day: we do not belong to the night or to darkness, so we should not go
on sleeping, as everyone else does, but stay wide awake and sober. God never
meant us to experience the Retribution, but to win salvation through our Lord
Jesus Christ, who died for us so that, alive or dead, we should still live
united to him. So give encouragement to each other, and keep strengthening one
another, as you do already.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm
26(27):1,4,13-14 ©
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I am sure I shall see
the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.
The Lord is my light and my help;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
before whom shall I shrink?
I am sure I shall see
the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.
There is one thing I ask of the Lord,
for this I long,
to live in the house of the Lord,
all the days of my life,
to savour the sweetness of the Lord,
to behold his temple.
I am sure I shall see
the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.
I am sure I shall see the Lord’s
goodness
in the land of the living.
Hope in him, hold firm and take heart.
Hope in the Lord!
I am sure I shall see
the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Heb4:12
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The word of God is something alive and
active:
it can judge secret emotions and
thoughts.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Lk7:16
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Alleluia, alleluia!
A great prophet has appeared among us;
God has visited his people.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 4:31-37 ©
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Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town in
Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath. And his teaching made a deep
impression on them because he spoke with authority.
In the synagogue there was a man who was possessed by the
spirit of an unclean devil, and it shouted at the top of its voice, ‘Ha! What
do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who
you are: the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus said sharply, ‘Be quiet! Come out of
him!’ And the devil, throwing the man down in front of everyone, went out of
him without hurting him at all. Astonishment seized them and they were all
saying to one another, ‘What teaching! He gives orders to unclean spirits with
authority and power and they come out.’ And reports of him went all through the
surrounding countryside.
CONSCIOUSNESS OF IDENTITY AS THE BASIS FOR AUTHENTICITY
St Paul wrote to the
Christians asking them to be
prepared at all times for the Day of Lord, which comes “like a thief in the
night”, or “as labour pains come on a pregnant woman.” Indeed, if we are
not prepared at all times, we might not be ready to face the consequences of
our actions. This is so true for so many people. They are complacent
and careless in the way they manage their lives. They do not take care of
their health until one day they suffer a heart attack or a stroke, and then it
is too late. This is true also in their moral life. A man continues
to have an affair with a woman. By the time he is fully aware, he would
have been found out. And that causes his marriage to break down and his
family to break up. It is too late for regrets.
Indeed, most of us do not take the writings on
the wall seriously. They
are all there for us to see. We have seen the price that our friends and
colleagues have had to pay for failing to be alert to what they were
doing. This is true even for the current trends in the world. Many
of us are blind to what is happening outside Singapore. We see the
consequences of secularization in the world, leading to individualism,
relativism, materialism and consumerism. We have seen the gradual
destruction of the family unit and the moral decadence of political, religious
and corporate leaders. We have seen the divisions caused by
corruption, ambition and selfishness of leaders. As individuals and as a
nation, if we are not careful, we will go down the same slippery path.
This was the same warning that St Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, “but it is not as if you
live in the dark, my brothers, for that Day to overtake you like a
thief.” For us as Christians, we have no excuse. We cannot
exonerate ourselves and later blame God or the government for our woes.
St Paul makes it clear that “God never meant us to experience the
Retribution.” When tragedy strikes, we should not look for
scapegoats. We have been enlightened in the truth. At least for the
world, those who are ignorant may be excused. St Paul says, “No, you are
all sons of light and sons of the day: we do not belong to the night or to
darkness, so we should not go on sleeping, as everyone else does, but stay wide
awake and sober.”
In other words, if we are sons of light and sons of the
day, then we need to be true to our identity as God’s children.
We must live our identity as such. This is authentic living. To
call ourselves children of God and allow the devil to possess us and control
us, like the possessed man in the synagogue, is to deny our true identity as
sons and daughters of God. When we give permission to the devil to
dictate to us how we live our lives, we are no longer children of the light but
of darkness. Being true to our identity therefore is the key to living an
authentic life and a life of happiness.
Jesus is the exemplar of what it means to be true to one’s
identity. We read in the gospel how
“his teaching made a deep impression on them because he spoke with
authority.” What is the basis of this authority? How could He speak
with authority if not for His consciousness of His Sonship and therefore of His
mission? He knew who He was. He was always conscious that He
is the Son of the Father. As the Son of God, He could only act the way He
acted and spoke the way He spoke. As the personal representative of the
Father, He acted in His place. This gave Him the authority to speak
with that inner conviction. His teaching left an indelible imprint on His
listeners not only because He spoke with conviction but His words were active
and alive. This was demonstrated in the exorcism of the possessed man.
He did not need any reminder of His sonship and so when the devil exclaimed, “Ha! What do you want with us,
Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the
Holy One of God”, Jesus said sharply, “Be quiet! Come out of him!”
He knew His authority came from the Father and that He did what the Father
willed. That was why He could command the devil to leave the man.
But we need to be reminded because we are weak and forgetful of our identity as
the sons and daughters of God.
Indeed, because many of us are not really conscious of our
identity as the sons and daughters of God, we are diffident in praying over those who are possessed or under spiritual
disturbance. This is equally true when we pray over those who are
sick or for those who ask us to intercede for them. We pray without conviction
and without authority. Only those who are conscious of their identity can
pray with authority, so much so that even evil spirits are afraid of
us. Those who are filled with the Holy Spirit and conscious of His
presence in their lives can pray with great conviction and power.
Authority over evil spirits and illnesses require us to speak and act with the
authority of sonship as Jesus did.
How can we be true to our identity? Union with Christ is the
means by which we live an authentic life. St Paul says, we are called “to win salvation through our Lord
Jesus Christ, who died for us so that, alive or dead, we should still live
united to him.” In other words, it is immaterial whether we are
biologically dead or alive, but what it important is that we are united with
Christ at all times in the way we live our lives, in the way we think, act and
say. We need to come to Jesus so that we can reclaim our
sonship. This is what baptism is all about. It brings about our
sonship in Christ.
Secondly, St Paul says that we need to “give encouragement to each other, and
keep strengthening one another.” We forget our sonship
when we are not in union with our brothers and sisters. It is said that
birds of a feather flock together. We need the support of our fellow
Christians if we are to grow in our sonship and daughtership. Through our
union with our brothers and sisters, we are clearer about our identity.
The mistake many Catholics make is that whilst they claim to be sons and
daughters of God, they live like orphans, not knowing the Father and not
knowing the rest of His sons and daughters. Only by belonging to the
Church and the Christian community is our identity strengthened and
affirmed. Together, we can counter the negative trends and amoral values
of the world that harm our families and society.
In Christ and together with Him, we find strength to resist the
evils of the world and walk in the light. This is what the
psalmist says, “The Lord is my light and my help; whom shall I fear? The Lord
is the stronghold of my life; before whom shall I shrink? There is one
thing I ask of the Lord, for this I long, to live in the house of the Lord, all
the days of my life, to savour the sweetness of the Lord, to behold his temple.
I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living. Hope in
him, hold firm and take heart. Hope in the Lord!” Indeed, if we want to
walk in the light, in truth and love, we are called to turn to Jesus who is our
brother. We are called to walk with His Church in truth and love.
Written by The Most Rev
William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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