20180127
FAITH NEEDS TIME TO GROW AND MATURE
27 JANUARY, 2018, Saturday, 3rd Week, Ordinary Time
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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2 Samuel 12:1-7,10-17 ©
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The Lord sent Nathan the prophet to David. He came to him and
said:
‘In the same town were two men,
one rich, the other poor.
The rich man had flocks and herds
in great abundance;
the poor man had nothing but a ewe lamb,
one only, a small one he had bought.
This he fed, and it grew up with him and his children,
eating his bread, drinking from his cup,
sleeping on his breast; it was like a daughter to him.
When there came a traveller to stay, the rich man
refused to take one of his own flock or herd
to provide for the wayfarer who had come to him.
Instead he took the poor man’s lamb
and prepared it for his guest.’
David’s anger flared up against the man. ‘As the Lord lives,’ he
said to Nathan ‘the man who did this deserves to die! He must make fourfold
restitution for the lamb, for doing such a thing and showing no compassion.’
Then Nathan
said to David, ‘You are the man. So now the sword will never be far from your
House, since you have shown contempt for me and taken the wife of Uriah the
Hittite to be your wife.”
‘Thus the
Lord speaks, “I will stir up evil for you out of your own House. Before your very
eyes I will take your wives and give them to your neighbour, and he shall lie
with your wives in the sight of this sun. You worked in secret, I will work
this in the face of all Israel and in the face of the sun.”’
David said
to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’ Then Nathan said to David, ‘The
Lord, for his part, forgives your sin; you are not to die. Yet because you have
outraged the Lord by doing this, the child that is born to you is to die.’ Then
Nathan went home.
The Lord
struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David and it fell gravely ill.
David pleaded with the Lord for the child; he kept a strict fast and went home
and spent the night on the bare ground, covered with sacking. The officials of
his household came and stood round him to get him to rise from the ground, but
he refused, nor would he take food with them.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 50(51):12-17 ©
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A pure heart create for me, O God.
A pure heart create for me, O God,
put a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
nor deprive me of your holy spirit.
A pure heart create for me, O God.
Give me again the joy of your help;
with a spirit of fervour sustain me,
that I may teach transgressors your ways
and sinners may return to you.
A pure heart create for me, O God.
O rescue me, God, my helper,
and my tongue shall ring out your goodness.
O Lord, open my lips
and my mouth shall declare your praise.
A pure heart create for me, O God.
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Gospel Acclamation
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cf.Ps26:11
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Instruct me, Lord, in your way;
on an even path lead me.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Jn3:16
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Alleluia, alleluia!
God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son:
everyone who believes in him has eternal life.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 4:35-41 ©
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With the coming of evening, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let us
cross over to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd behind they took him, just
as he was, in the boat; and there were other boats with him. Then it began to
blow a gale and the waves were breaking into the boat so that it was almost
swamped. But he was in the stern, his head on the cushion, asleep. They woke
him and said to him, ‘Master, do you not care? We are going down!’ And he woke
up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Quiet now! Be calm!’ And the wind
dropped, and all was calm again. Then he said to them, ‘Why are you so
frightened? How is it that you have no faith?’ They were filled with awe and
said to one another, ‘Who can this be? Even the wind and the sea obey him.’
FAITH NEEDS TIME TO GROW AND MATURE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ 2 SAMUEL
12:1-7.10-17; MARK 4:35-41 ]
The reign of God
is not something that will happen overnight. It begins small but it will
certainly end in a way beyond human expectations because it is the work of
God. The scripture readings today give us two concrete
illustrations from the lives of God’s people when they struggled to grow in
maturity in their faith.
Indeed, whilst
we must walk by faith, not by sight, faith is not a given. Faith,
as Jesus says in the gospel, is like a seed that is planted, requires time to
grow and come to full maturity. This is an important reminder and
consolation for us, especially those of us who are impatient in wanting to grow
in holiness and wiping out all our sinful habits and vices that cling to us so
easily. Quite often in our struggles to be faithful to God, we continue
sinning. This makes us feel lousy and disappointed with ourselves.
We become discouraged at the slow progress and as a consequence, we give up
trying to be good or being active in Church. Hence, we must take a leaf
from King David and the disciples of Jesus.
In the first
place, we have the example of King David who grew in faith. He did not become a
great king overnight but went through many trials, mistakes and failures in
love and fidelity before he learnt how to be a good and holy king worthy of
being the Anointed One of the Lord. Today’s first reading reveals to us
the humility and contrition of King David when confronted by the Prophet Nathan
for the sin of adultery he committed by seducing his own army officer’s wife
and making her pregnant. In attempting to save face, he had him killed in
battle. King David paid a heavy price for this sin. But he accepted
the punishment from the Lord with regret, but without resentment. He
repented of his sin and through his mistakes, learnt to be a great and holy
king, obedient to the Lord and always leading his people.
Even more
telling is the faith of the disciples when their boat was caught in the
storm. We can be certain the situation must have been rather
precarious, considering the fact that we are not dealing with those
who have no experience at sea. The fact that the disciples were afraid in
spite of the fact that they were fishermen and therefore not unfamiliar with
such bad weather, indicates that the storm must have been quite violent and
dangerous. They would have met many stormy times before, but this one was
life-threatening, so much so they cried out to Jesus in fear, “Master, do you
not care? We are going down!”
Such
sentiments of abandonment and accusation that God does not care for us are
common to us as well. When times are good, we can praise and thank God, singing
marvelous praises of Him, of His majesty and power. Of course, some
forget about Him all together when they are self-sufficient and do not need
God’s help. So long as they can manage on their own, they do not see the
need to rely on God. They live in self-deception, thinking that because
they have money and position, they can do without God’s grace. For this
reason, our faith is tested only when we are going through the storms of
life. The acid test of whether we have faith in God is not in good times
but in bad, turbulent and troubled times. When we are down and out, when
there is no longer anything or anyone we can depend on, especially ourselves, then
God is the final answer to all our needs. However, most do not trust God
and come to Him only when all other recourse have failed. God is always
the last hope for proud humanity, who thinks that all problems can be solved by
science, technology, power, money and influence.
In contrast we
have Jesus who was apparently quite unperturbed by the storm.
He was “in the stern, his head on the cushion, asleep.” How could he
remain so calm when even the fishermen in the face of the raging storm knew
that their lives were at stake? He was so completely at rest in His
Father’s bosom that the He did not exhibit any fear at all. It shows
Jesus’ total confidence in His Father’s love and protection for Him. In
other words, it demonstrates the faith of Jesus in His Father’s divine
providence. He trusted in His Father’s care for Him.
It was the
same faith that gave Him the power to still the storm. Upon waking up, with
confidence He rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Quiet now! Be calm!”
It is significant that He addressed the sea in a similar way He commanded the
Evil Spirits as well. In reprimanding and commanding the sea to be still,
it appears that there was an evil force that was causing the storm. For
this reason, we can be confident that whatever storms we are going through in
life, whether the problems we are facing are from the outside, such as the loss
of our job, a mistake we have to face, a terminal illness we have to embrace or
our enemies to contend with; or the storms within ourselves, such as our anger,
hatred, insecurity, fear, anxiety, the Lord will be able to put all these
storms to rest if only we learn to trust in Him and place our security in
Him. He can even deal with any evil spirits that oppress us from within
or without.
At times, He
might appear to be sleeping and not care about us, but He does not abandon us.
When we feel so overwhelmed by our problems and responsibilities in life, we
can be certain that He is always with us and waiting for the opportunity to
intervene in our lives. He cares deeply for us and He knows when and how
to help us in the most effective way. He might not calm the storms
immediately, for in His wisdom He is not just concerned with our immediate
needs but our personal growth and long term destiny as well. He wants us
to grow in faith, in understanding and in maturity through the storms of
life. If He were to rescue us at the onset of the storm, we might never
learn anything from our mistakes, or face the challenges of life. Crises
in life are always opportunities for growth, rather than obstacles.
When facing
the storms of life, we need to keep our eyes focused on Jesus, His mercy and His
love, just as King David did. Although his son died, he knew the reason
for the Lord’s mercy. Watching his son die was perhaps the conversion
experience for David. The responsorial psalm which he composed is certainly
expressive of his sentiments, a man who truly repented of his sins and turned
to God for mercy. He did not resent God when his petition for his son to
be spared of death was not granted. He took everything in faith.
The truth is
that many of us do not know Jesus intimately enough to have faith in Him,
unlike Jesus’ faith in His Father, especially when He was hanging on the
cross. Even in absurdity and complete failure and helplessness, Jesus
entrusted His mission to His Father. Against all hope, Jesus trusted that
His Father will vindicate Him. Jesus could entrust His life to His Father
because He knew His Father’s love. What about us? Do we know Jesus
well enough to trust in His judgment, His mercy and love? Or do we try to
tell Him how to act and what He must do to put things right? We can only
enjoy the same peace that Jesus gave to His disciples provided we too come to
know Him. It is significant that at the end of the miracle, Jesus
reproached them saying, “Why are you so frightened? How is it that you have no
faith?”
The reason of
course is given in the next sentence, “They were filled with awe and said to
one another, “Who can this be? Even the wind and sea obey
him.’” This question is now addressed to us. Who is Jesus in your
estimation? Who is Jesus to you in your heart? Do you truly believe that
He is the Son of God and the Son of Man? Do you really believe He died
and resurrected? The truth is that many of us are merely parroting what
the Church believes about Jesus but we do not make the Church’s faith our
own. Without a personal conviction of the identity and person of
Jesus, we cannot surrender our lives to Him in faith.
Hence, we
must seek to grow in faith. We cannot be complacent in our faith and
simply leave everything to chance. It is true that faith is a gift from
God. But this gift is given only to those who are receptive and desire
it. Through our efforts, making time for personal prayer, worship,
reading of the Word of God and celebrating the Eucharist, we make it possible
for Jesus to engage us in a relationship with Him. Through the graces
received, we will, as we come to know Jesus in the head, eventually be able to
translate doctrines into a relationship with Him in prayer and in life.
We must activate our faith in action, trusting Him and surrendering
ourselves to His holy will. By following His Word and submitting to His
divine will, we will begin to see the wisdom and the power of God in arranging
everything perfectly for us. As a consequence, our faith will grow from
strength to strength when we see the results and the miracles of what faith can
do for us. We will begin to trust in the Lord more and more.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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