20180428
TEMPTATION TO SEEK UNION WITH GOD WITHOUT
GOING THROUGH JESUS IN THE SPIRIT
28 APRIL, 2018, Saturday, 4th Week of Easter
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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Acts 13:44-52 ©
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Since you have rejected the word of God, we must turn to the
pagans
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The next sabbath almost the whole town assembled to hear the word
of God. When they saw the crowds, the Jews, prompted by jealousy, used
blasphemies and contradicted everything Paul said. Then Paul and Barnabas spoke
out boldly. ‘We had to proclaim the word of God to you first, but since you
have rejected it, since you do not think yourselves worthy of eternal life, we
must turn to the pagans. For this is what the Lord commanded us to do when he
said:
I have made you a light for the nations,
so that my salvation may reach the ends of the
earth.’
It made the pagans very happy to hear this and they thanked the
Lord for his message; all who were destined for eternal life became believers.
Thus the word of the Lord spread through the whole countryside.
But the Jews
worked upon some of the devout women of the upper classes and the leading men
of the city and persuaded them to turn against Paul and Barnabas and expel them
from their territory. So they shook the dust from their feet in defiance and went
off to Iconium; but the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 97(98):1-4 ©
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All the ends of the earth have seen the
salvation of our God.
or
Alleluia!
Sing a new song to the Lord
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.
All the ends of the earth have seen the
salvation of our God.
or
Alleluia!
The Lord has made known his salvation;
has shown his justice to the nations.
He has remembered his truth and love
for the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen the
salvation of our God.
or
Alleluia!
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
ring out your joy.
All the ends of the earth have seen the
salvation of our God.
or
Alleluia!
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Gospel Acclamation
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Rm6:9
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Christ, having been raised from the dead, will never die again.
Death has no power over him any more.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Jn8:31-32
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Alleluia, alleluia!
If you make my word your home
you will indeed be my disciples,
and you will learn the truth, says the Lord.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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John 14:7-14 ©
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To have seen me is to have seen the father
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Jesus said to his disciples:
‘If you know me, you know my Father too.
From this moment you know him and have seen him.’
Philip said, ‘Lord, let us see the Father and then we shall be
satisfied.’
‘Have I been
with you all this time, Philip,’ said Jesus to him, ‘and you still do not know
me?
‘To have seen me is to have seen the Father,
so how can you say, “Let us see the Father”?
Do you not believe
that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
The words I say to you I do not speak as from myself:
it is the Father, living in me, who is doing this work.
You must believe me when I say
that I am in the Father and the Father is in me;
believe it on the evidence of this work, if for no other reason.
I tell you most solemnly,
whoever believes in me
will perform the same works as I do myself,
he will perform even greater works,
because I am going to the Father.
Whatever you ask for in my name I will do,
so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If you ask for anything in my name,
I will do it.’
TEMPTATION TO SEEK UNION WITH GOD WITHOUT GOING THROUGH JESUS IN
THE SPIRIT
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ACTS 13:44-52; PSALM 98; JOHN 14:7-14 ]
Philip said to
Jesus, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”
Indeed, in order to live our lives meaningfully, it is necessary to know our
origin, the source of life and love. When Philip asked Jesus to show them the
Father, he was asking Jesus to reveal God to them. Of course Philip,
being a Jew like all those who belong to strict monotheistic religions, could
never conceive a God who is Trinitarian. The fact remains that without
knowledge of God, one cannot truly find meaning in life, on earth or after this
life on earth. This is the constant message of the scriptures, that man
who is made in the image and likeness of God cannot find fulfillment unless he
is one with Him, his creator. In a similar vein, St Augustine in his
“Confession” wrote that our hearts are restless until we rest in Him.”
Without God, we have no foundation because we cannot explain ourselves.
We are a given. Without God, we cannot explain our purpose in life.
Without God, we cannot ground our values as there is no point of reference
since there is no absolute reference point.
Having established
that union with God is the quest of every person, it must be said that we
can be in full union only with one whom we know. If we do not know
who God is, how can we love Him, serve Him and be intimate with Him? A
personal relationship with God or with anyone presupposes that we are dealing
with someone tangible, and that we know the person. This explains why
Philip asked Jesus to show them who God is. So we need someone to reveal
to us who God is. But who can do it? Who can go up to the heaven to
fetch God down to earth? The truth is that no can tell us who God is unless He
is God Himself! We do not even know ourselves so how can we know
God? In St John’s gospel, Jesus told the Pharisees. “You are from below;
I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.” (Jn 8:23)
St Paul similarly said, “the depths of a man can only be known by his own
spirit, not by any other man, and in the same way the depths of God can only be
known by the Spirit of God.” (1 Cor 2:11)
This explains why the Church says that our knowledge of God depends on God who
reveals. Unless God reveals Himself, no one through his own efforts can
know Him, even though he might, from the works of creation, come to believe
that a supreme creator exists.
Who then is
the revealer of the Father? The response of Jesus is clear. “If you know me, then
you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen
him.” As if exasperated by the slowness of His disciples in perceiving
the truth about Himself, He said, “Have I been with you for so long a time and
you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How
can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father
and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my
own. The father who dwells in me is doing his works.” In other words,
Jesus is claiming to be identical to the Father, even if He were not the
Father. But He truly represents the Father in His very being, in His
words and deeds. He is the mind and heart of the Father.
Of course, His
claim to share the divine life of the Father was shocking to the monotheistic
Jews. We can therefore appreciate why the Jews in the first reading
were so much against St Paul who preached the Crucified Christ as the Son of
God. At the same time, they could not understand how such heretical
claims of Jesus to be the Lord and Son of God could attract so many believers
including Jews.
So if
the Jews sought to discredit Paul’s message, it was because thye were confused.
On one hand, they thought that Paul was destroying Judaism and misleading
people to worship the false God, since they only believed in one God. But
they were also as St Luke wrote “prompted by jealousy.” So they tried all
ways to have them removed from the city by instigating “some of the devout
women of the upper classes and the leading men of the city and persuaded them
to turn against Paul and Barnabas and expel them from their
territory.” Instead of studying the matter objectively, they were
reactive and defensive. They could not accept that Christ is the revealer
of the Father.
Consequently, we
read that since the message was rejected by their fellow Jews, Paul and
Barnabas felt that they should then share the message with those who were
interested and receptive. Ironically, it was the Gentiles that
gave Paul and Barnabas a positive reception, although it must be admitted that
it was not always the case as well. Yet, the rejection of the gospel
message became an impetus to spread the message to the Gentiles, as we read in
the Acts. Paul and Barnabas interpreted this development as the way God
wants to use them to spread the gospel to the whole world. They said, “We
had to proclaim the word of God to you first, but since you have rejected it,
since you do not think yourselves worthy of eternal life, we must turn to the
pagans. For this is what the Lord commanded us to do when he said: I have
made you a light for the nations, so that my salvation may reach the ends of
the earth.”
Such was
their conviction of their message and what the Lord wanted of them that they
were not thwarted or discouraged in any way by the hostility of their
listeners.
Instead, we read, “so they shook the dust from their feet in defiance and went
off to Iconium; but the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy
Spirit.” They were happy to bring the gospel elsewhere. What the
Jews lost, the Gentiles gained. Indeed, “It made the pagans very happy to
hear this and they thanked the Lord for his message; all who were destined for
eternal life became believers. Thus the word of the Lord spread through
the whole countryside.”
But
strangely, among some Catholics and Christians, there is a temptation to return
to the Old Testament. This approach is not only an anomaly but even contrary to
our Christian Faith, which proclaims that Christ is the only Mediator to the
Father. “For there is only one God, and there is only one mediator
between God and mankind, himself a man, Christ Jesus.” (1 Tim 2:5)
Instead of coming to God the Father through the Son, many are seeking union
with God without Jesus. There are some forms of prayers being advocated
by Catholics and Christians that seek union with God through contemplation
without having the need to go through Jesus. They want to take a
short-cut, by-passing Jesus and going directly to the Father through some forms
of meditation. Any theological attempt or spiritual attempt to reach the
Father without Jesus would be a rejection of Jesus as the Mediator of the
Father, the Way, the Truth and the Life. Any attempt to seek union with
God, just like the Jews who wanted to find Him through some form of theophany,
would be a denial that Jesus is the revealer of the Father and the only way to
the Father. We must be wary of such forms of spirituality that are not truly
Christian. Any Christian form of prayer must be Christic and pneumatic.
Our faith is
in the One God who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The only way to the
Father is through Jesus in the Holy Spirit. Our intimacy with God is
achieved only by seeking union with Jesus in the Holy Spirit. Only Jesus
can bring us to the Father through the Holy Spirit given to us. So, let
us deepen our union with the Holy Spirit dwelling in us so that He can lead us
to Jesus. In knowing Jesus, His mind and heart, we come to know the
Father too. Jesus said, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my
Father will love him, and we shall come to make our home with him.” (Jn 14:23)
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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