20180413
CHRISTIANITY ON
TRIAL
13 APRIL, 2018, Friday, 2nd Week of
Easter
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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Acts 5:34-42 ©
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They were glad to have had the honour of suffering humiliation
for the sake of the name
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One member of the Sanhedrin, a Pharisee called Gamaliel, who was a
doctor of the Law and respected by the whole people, stood up and asked to have
the apostles taken outside for a time. Then he addressed the Sanhedrin, ‘Men of
Israel, be careful how you deal with these people. There was Theudas who became
notorious not so long ago. He claimed to be someone important, and he even
collected about four hundred followers; but when he was killed, all his
followers scattered and that was the end of them. And then there was Judas the
Galilean, at the time of the census, who attracted crowds of supporters; but he
got killed too, and all his followers dispersed. What I suggest, therefore, is
that you leave these men alone and let them go. If this enterprise, this movement
of theirs, is of human origin it will break up of its own accord; but if it
does in fact come from God you will not only be unable to destroy them, but you
might find yourselves fighting against God.’
His advice
was accepted; and they had the apostles called in, gave orders for them to be
flogged, warned them not to speak in the name of Jesus and released them. And
so they left the presence of the Sanhedrin glad to have had the honour of
suffering humiliation for the sake of the name.
They preached
every day both in the Temple and in private houses, and their proclamation of
the Good News of Christ Jesus was never interrupted.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 26(27):1,4,13-14 ©
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There is one thing I ask of the Lord, to live in
the house of the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
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, to live in
the house of the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
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.
There is one thing I ask of the Lord, to live in
the house of the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
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!
There is one thing I ask of the Lord, to live in
the house of the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
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Gospel Acclamation
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Alleluia, alleluia!
We know that Christ is truly risen from the dead:
have mercy on us, triumphant King.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Mt4:4
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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John 6:1-15 ©
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The feeding of the five thousand
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Jesus went off to the other side of the Sea of Galilee – or
of Tiberias – and a large crowd followed him, impressed by the signs he
gave by curing the sick. Jesus climbed the hillside, and sat down there with
his disciples. It was shortly before the Jewish feast of Passover.
Looking up,
Jesus saw the crowds approaching and said to Philip, ‘Where can we buy some
bread for these people to eat?’ He only said this to test Philip; he himself
knew exactly what he was going to do. Philip answered, ‘Two hundred denarii
would only buy enough to give them a small piece each.’ One of his disciples,
Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said, ‘There is a small boy here with five
barley loaves and two fish; but what is that between so many?’ Jesus said to
them, ‘Make the people sit down.’ There was plenty of grass there, and as many
as five thousand men sat down. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and
gave them out to all who were sitting ready; he then did the same with the
fish, giving out as much as was wanted. When they had eaten enough he said to
the disciples, ‘Pick up the pieces left over, so that nothing gets wasted.’ So
they picked them up, and filled twelve hampers with scraps left over from the
meal of five barley loaves. The people, seeing this sign that he had given,
said, ‘This really is the prophet who is to come into the world.’ Jesus, who
could see they were about to come and take him by force and make him king,
escaped back to the hills by himself.
CHRISTIANITY ON TRIAL
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ ACTS 5:34-42; Jn 6:1-15 ]
How do we know that the Jesus’ movement started
by the apostles and disciples of Jesus is of divine origin? How do we
know that Jesus is truly from God and not someone who was out to deceive us
into believing that He is from God?
So important is the need to verify this claim that Jesus is not only
from God but God Himself, that the readings during the Easter season seek to demonstrate
that Jesus is truly risen and therefore He is Lord. Unless He is
Lord, we cannot speak of the divinity of Jesus and declare to the whole world
that only faith in Jesus’ name and no other can one be saved. So what are
the signs that can lead us to faith?
Firstly, we are dependent on the testimony of the disciples and
apostles. But why must we believe that their testimonies are true unless they
are backed up by deeds? What then are the signs that give credibility to
their testimonies?
The first sign is that they worked miracles in
the name of Jesus. It was not that they performed miracles, but they
performed miracles in the name of Jesus. The implication is that the
miracles they worked were a continuation of the ministry of Jesus when He was
on earth. Since such miracles were done in His name, it means that Jesus
must be alive.
Secondly, they were ready to suffer for the name of Jesus.
Even when they were flogged and warned, “not to speak in the name of Jesus”,
they continued to testify to the Lord. They were too happy and “glad to
have had the honour of suffering humiliation for the sake of the name.”
In other words, the apostles were ready to be identified with Jesus in His
sufferings only because they were convinced that death could not overcome them.
Thirdly, we are told that the disciples were ever ready to
testify to Jesus. St Luke says that “they preached every day both in the
Temple and in private houses, and their proclamation of the Good News of Christ
Jesus was never interrupted.” In spite of being warned and threatened,
they were not deterred from proclaiming the gospel. Instead, they were
even more zealous than ever. Thus, we must conclude that their
testimonies are credible; if not, they would not have exhibited such zeal,
passion, conviction and love for the Lord. So either they were mad, or
madly in love with the Risen Lord!
However, the apostles certainly were themselves not so gullible as to
believe in Jesus without reason either. They too must have put Jesus
on trial before they committed themselves to Him. What then are
the signs that would establish the fact that Jesus truly is from God? The
gospel of John gives us the signs of Jesus’ divine origin. In today’s
gospel, Jesus is presented as the New Moses, the one who brought the New
Covenant to fulfillment. He is the New Moses predicted by Moses himself
in Deuteronomy when he said, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet
like me from among you, from your brethren – him shall you heed (Dt 18:15).”
How then can we justify that He is certainly the one?
Firstly, the evangelist noted that the following events happened
“shortly before the Jewish feast of Passover.” The
Jewish Passover of course reminds us of the Exodus experience of the
Israelites. In celebrating the Passover, they celebrated the memorial of
their redemption. It is from this perspective that the gospel text must
be interpreted.
Hence, when we are told, “Jesus went off to the other side of the Sea
of Galilee – or of Tiberias,” what was John implying? It is a
reenactment of Moses who led the people across the Red Sea from Egypt to the
Promised Land. Then we are told that “a large crowd followed Him,
impressed by the signs He gave by curing the sick.” Again, this statement
reminds us of how the Hebrews were impressed by the Ten Plagues and the signs
that Moses performed before Pharaoh was forced to release them.
Next, the evangelist recorded “Jesus climbed the hillside, and
sat down there with His disciples.” We must remember that Moses was
considered the great prophet of God because he was always going to the Mountain
to receive the Word of God. Jesus, by ascending the hillside, was
implicitly claiming that He is the prophet of God. However, He not only
spoke the Word of God but He is God’s word Himself. His word is
authoritative and effective, as demonstrated by the miracles He performed and
the works of healing and compassion. Jesus is therefore recognized as the
Teacher.
In order that we not hesitate in believing that His claims are true,
Jesus performed the miracle of the multiplication of loaves to
feed five thousand people. By so doing, He was repeating what Moses
did. Just as Moses prayed to God for manna, so too, Jesus multiplied
bread for the hungry people who followed Him to the desert. Bread, as we
know in the Torah, is the symbol for the Word of God. So, the implication
of feeding the Jews with the bread means that Jesus was now the Eschatological
prophet who came to nurture them with the Word of God. However, Jesus was
not contented simply to speak the Word of God. In a couple of day’s time,
we will read that Jesus went further to make the claim that He is the
Word of God made flesh.
Finally, we take note that at the end of the meal, “twelve hampers with
scraps left over from the meal of five barley loaves were collected.”
This is simply an attempt to speak of the bounty of God’s love for us. In
the Promised Land, we will have everything in plenty and no one will be in
want. Thus, the meal that Jesus provided was a messianic meal,
the banquet that we are all called to partake. Indeed, by receiving
Jesus, the Word of God and the Bread of Life made flesh, we will find fullness
of life.
Consequently, at the end of the miracle, the evangelist concurs with
“the people, seeing this sign that he had given, said, ‘This really is
the prophet who is come into the world.’” Jesus, who could see they
were about to come and take him by force and make him king, escaped back to the
hills by himself.” So in the understanding of the evangelist, there is no
doubt that Jesus is the New Moses, the New Covenant, and the Shepherd that will
lead us to the Promised Land.
Now that we have put the apostles and Jesus Himself, the Founder on
trial, we must realize that before the world, we are now on trial.
The world wants to know whether we truly believe in Jesus as the Word of God
made flesh. What signs can we show that our faith in Jesus is real and
that He is truly alive in us? What signs must we produce?
Firstly, we must manifest the same zeal to proclaim Jesus to
the world, to make Him known and loved; and that we will use every means at our
disposal so that Jesus will be recognized as the Saviour of the world.
Unless we show ourselves to be people who are ready to take risks for Jesus,
make sacrifices for the mission, humble ourselves to accept humiliation,
failure and ridicule; it would be hard to convince others that we have faith in
Jesus as Lord.
Secondly, people will know that Jesus is alive and is the Lord of our
lives when they see us as instruments by which the Lord continues to
work miracles in our days. Unless we believe in the power of the
Risen Lord who has given us the gifts of the Spirit to continue His ministry of
love, compassion and liberation, we cannot proclaim that Jesus is Lord and is
alive. Indeed, are we like Philip who was almost in despair? The
problem with the apostles is that they did not believe that little is always
too much in the hands of Christ. We are called to be like Andrew who
brought the problem to Jesus to solve. In other words, we must trust in
the divine providence and the power of the Risen Lord to work even in hopeless
situations.
Finally, the third sign, which will manifest the Risen Lord in our
lives, is when we have the magnanimous spirit of the little boy who
had not much to offer but gave all. And with what he had, Jesus found the
materials for a miracle. Yes, Jesus could do great things only with people who
have a heart to love and who hold nothing back when it comes to love and
compassion. When we are generous with ourselves and give ourselves
totally to the Lord, He will reward us abundantly beyond our imagination.
Yes, today, we are invited to proclaim Jesus with power. If we
want the Lord to work in our lives and feel His Risen Presence, then today we
are invited to come into contact with Him, especially through the
Eucharist, which entails both a reception of Jesus as the Word of God
and the Bread life. Unless, we are devoted to the Word of Jesus and to
the Eucharist, we will not be able to find strength, power and commitment in
our mission of offering Jesus as the Gift of God to all so that they might find
life in Him. Yes, we come to Jesus, not like the Jews who wanted to make
use of Him for selfish interests. We must come to Him only because we
want to make Him loved and known by the whole world as Saviour and Lord.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh,
Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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