20180101 A NEW START FOR HUMANITY
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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Numbers 6:22-27 ©
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The Lord spoke to Moses and said, ‘Say this to Aaron and his sons:
“This is how you are to bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them:
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord let his face shine on you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord uncover his face to you and bring you peace.”
This is how they are to call down my name on the sons of Israel,
and I will bless them.’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 66(67):2-3,5,6,8 ©
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O God, be gracious and bless us.
O God, be gracious and bless us
and let your face shed its light upon us.
So will your ways be known upon earth
and all nations learn your saving help.
O God, be gracious and bless us.
Let the nations be glad and exult
for you rule the world with justice.
With fairness you rule the peoples,
you guide the nations on earth.
O God, be gracious and bless us.
Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.
May God still give us his blessing
till the ends of the earth revere him.
O God, be gracious and bless us.
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Second reading
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Galatians 4:4-7 ©
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When the appointed time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman,
born a subject of the Law, to redeem the subjects of the Law and to enable us
to be adopted as sons. The proof that you are sons is that God has sent the
Spirit of his Son into our hearts: the Spirit that cries, ‘Abba, Father’, and
it is this that makes you a son, you are not a slave any more; and if God has
made you son, then he has made you heir.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Heb1:1-2
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Alleluia, alleluia!
At various times in the past
and in various different ways,
God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets;
but in our own time, the last days,
he has spoken to us through his Son.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 2:16-21 ©
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The shepherds hurried away to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph,
and the baby lying in the manger. When they saw the child they repeated what
they had been told about him, and everyone who heard it was astonished at what
the shepherds had to say. As for Mary, she treasured all these things and
pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds went back glorifying and praising
God for all they had heard and seen; it was exactly as they had been told.
When the
eighth day came and the child was to be circumcised, they gave him the name
Jesus, the name the angel had given him before his conception.
01 JANUARY, 2018, Monday, Mary, Mother of God
A NEW START FOR HUMANITY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ NUMBERS 6:22-27; GALATIANS 4:4-7; LUKE 2:16-21
]
Whether we
admit it or not, the birth of Christ marks a decisive stage in the history of
humanity. The impact of Christ’s birth is felt by all, regardless of
race, language or religion. No religion or religious leader has had such
worldwide and eternal implications for the whole of humanity. This is
seen in the way, human history is demarcated according to AD, that is “Anno
Domini” meaning “in the year of the Lord” and BC, that is, “Before
Christ.” With the birth of Christ, the history of humanity is
distinguished between the time before and after Christ. It was only in
the 18th Century that the world coined the word, CE, that is,
“Common Era” or “Current Era” and BCE, that is, “Before the Common or Current
Era”, because of secularism and sensitivity to non-Christians. Whether we call
AD, BC or CE or BCE, the point remains that Christ is the demarcating line
between the two stages of human history.
In admitting
this fact, we are saying therefore that with the birth of Christ, humanity has
a new beginning. This is what St Paul says in his letter to the Galatians,
“When the appointed time came, God sent his Son.” In other words, for all
eternity, God was waiting for this appointed time to send His Son into the
world to redeem the world. Christ’s coming marked a new beginning of
world history.
What, then,
was the world before Christ, and the world after Christ? Before Christ,
the world had a bad start. God created our first parents to share in His life and love.
But they did not want to live from God or for God but from themselves and for
themselves. This pursuit of a false autonomy of humanity has
far-reaching implications. It is even more prevalent in our society today
because of secularism, humanism and atheism. Man wants to establish his
autonomy from God so that they can live their own life.
But by so
doing, by removing God out of the equation of freedom for humanity, man has
become a slave to his passions, fears and anxieties over his life and his
future; and most of all, over death. This has caused him to
become selfish, inward-looking, protective of his own life and happiness. He
seeks to defend himself from the pains of this world, suffering, hunger and
poverty by seeking more power, wealth and control. This is why there is
so much sufferings, wars, terrorism, competition and misunderstandings in the
world today, because man no longer trusts his fellowmen, nations feel
threatened by other nations.
To heal the
situation and to bring order into the world, laws are enacted to guide the
communities to live a harmonious life that is respectful of others. So in all communities,
including the Israelites and the Jews, laws were enacted to govern the lives of
the people so that they could live a life of justice and compassion. But
man is incorrigible and self-willed. He is wounded from within and with a
fallen nature, he remains selfish and self-centered. Instead of observing
the laws so that he can be at peace and live in harmony, he breaks the
laws. Indeed, God, through Moses, gave the people the Mosaic Laws.
These laws were meant to help the people live a covenanted life so that they
could be seen as a model community that lived the life of God. (cf Dt 4:6-8)
So before
Christ, man lived a life without purpose, without knowing their identity, their
destiny and calling. They were either slaves of the flesh or slaves of the
laws. Either way, they were slaves. They lived a life of fear and
anxiety about the future. The irony is that in seeking freedom from God,
man became a slave to himself and to the laws. He could not break out of
his slavery to sin and yet at the same time he could not fulfill the
laws. He was trapped in both situations. He was not free to be
himself to live a life of joy, peace and love.
But with the
coming of Christ, a new era had begun. St Paul says, “When the
appointed time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born a subject of the
Law, to redeem the subjects of the Law and to enable us to be adopted as
sons.” Jesus came to set us free from the Law and from our bondage to sin
and Satan. He came to give us back our identity as sons and daughters of
God. This is our real dignity. St Paul wrote, “you are not a slave
anymore; and if God has made you son, then he has made you heir.”
How great a
privilege we have! We are not only sons and daughters of God but also His
heirs, that is to say, we enjoy the same privileges and rights as Christ the
Son of God, our brother. St Paul wrote, “If children, then heirs, heirs of God and
fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also
be glorified with him.” (Rom 8:17) This is unimaginable; that
God would consider us as such. St John says, “See what love
the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we
are.” (1 Jn 3:1)
How does
Christ set us free from sin and from the Law so that we can be adopted as sons
and daughters of God? He came to show us the Way to the Father.
He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the
Father, but by me. If you had known me, you would have known my
Father also; henceforth you know him and have seen him.” (Jn 14:6f)
What is the way to the Father if not through a life of justice, mercy and compassion?
Jesus said, “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me; or else
believe me for the sake of the works themselves.” (Jn 14:11)
Indeed, through His works of mercy and compassion, His eating and drinking with
sinners, His healing miracles, works of exorcism and power over nature, He
showed the unconditional love of God. Hence, He was named “Jesus” at His
circumcision, the Lord Saves.
What is more,
He gave us the power to do the same as well. He said, “He who believes in me will
also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I
go to the Father.” (Jn 14:12) This power is the Holy Spirit living in us, given to
us in baptism. As sons and daughters of God, we are given the same power
to do what Jesus had done. Jesus told the disciples, “Go into
all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and
is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And
these signs will accompany those who believe.” (cf Mk 16:15-18)
But most of
all, we are no longer controlled by our human spirit, that is, a slave to the
flesh.
St Paul says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in
Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free
from the law of sin and death.” (Rom 8:1f)
“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the
flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things
of the Spirit.” (Rom 8:5f) We live in the life of the Spirit. When we
walk in the Spirit we enjoy the fruits of the Spirit, which are “love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
self-control” (Gal 5:22f)
So as we
hurry away to the New Year, let us leave our past behind, as “the shepherds
hurried away and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger”. We must leave our
regrets behind. What was done in the past should be remembered not with
regret but with gratitude, for all things happened for our good. Life is
a pedagogy and so they are meant to prepare us for the fullness of life.
Just as the era before Christ was to prepare for the coming of Christ, so too
let our mistakes be considered as God’s grace and blessings to bring us to the
future. Instead of mourning over our past, we must live for the present and
glorify God by the new life given to us in Christ as the shepherds did.
Consequently,
today we are called to be like Mary, to contemplate on the great privilege and
dignity of God’s calling and our call to be His sons and daughters. Mary, the mother of
our Lord, whose feast we celebrate today, showed herself to be a woman of the
New Era by giving her total obedience to the Lord in heeding the request to be
the mother of the Saviour. Her answer to God was not just at the
Annunciation but throughout her whole life, saying “yes” to the will of our
Father even in the death of her only Son for our salvation. We too must
say “yes’ to the Father’s will and cooperate with Him in bringing His Son to
the world for all of humanity.
Like Jesus
and Mary, we are called to make our life on earth a blessing to others. This was what the
Lord said to Moses. “Say this to Aaron and his sons: ‘This is how you are
to bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them: May the Lord bless you and
keep you. May the Lord let his face shine on you and be gracious to you. May
the Lord uncover his face to you and bring you peace.’” Indeed, we
are called to show the face of God to people as Jesus did in His earthly life,
from His infancy to His ministry, passion, death and resurrection. The
whole life of Jesus was to show us the love of His Father. “I made your
name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you
have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” (Jn 17:26)
We read that “the shepherds went back glorifying and praising God for all
they had heard and seen; it was exactly as they had been told.” Let us
too testify to His love, His wonders and graciousness in our lives like the
Shepherds did in repeating what they heard so that the New Humanity would be
born in all men and women once again.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
