20180813
RADIATING THE GLORY
OF GOD
13 AUGUST,
2018, Monday, 19th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Ezekiel 1:2-5,24-28 ©
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Ezekiel's vision of the glory of the
Lord
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On the fifth of the month – it was
the fifth year of exile for King Jehoiachin – the word of the Lord was
addressed to the priest Ezekiel son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldaeans, on
the bank of the river Chebar.
There the hand of the Lord came on me. I looked; a stormy
wind blew from the north, a great cloud with light around it, a fire from which
flashes of lightning darted, and in the centre a sheen like bronze at the heart
of the fire. In the centre I saw what seemed four animals. I heard the noise of
their wings as they moved; it sounded like rushing water, like the voice of
Shaddai, a noise like a storm, like the noise of a camp; when they halted, they
folded their wings, and there was a noise.
Above the vault over their heads was something that looked
like a sapphire; it was shaped like a throne and high up on this throne was a
being that looked like a man. I saw him shine like bronze, and close to and all
around him from what seemed his loins upwards was what looked like fire; and
from what seemed his loins downwards I saw what looked like fire, and a light
all round like a bow in the clouds on rainy days; that is how the surrounding
light appeared. It was something that looked like the glory of the Lord. I
looked, and prostrated myself.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 148:1-2,11-14 ©
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Your glory fills all
heaven and earth.
or
Alleluia!
Praise the Lord from the heavens,
praise him in the heights.
Praise him, all his angels,
praise him, all his host.
Your glory fills all
heaven and earth.
or
Alleluia!
All earth’s kings and peoples,
earth’s princes and rulers,
young men and maidens,
old men together with
children.
Your glory fills all
heaven and earth.
or
Alleluia!
Let them praise the name of the Lord
for he alone is exalted.
The splendour of his name
reaches beyond heaven and
earth.
Your glory fills all
heaven and earth.
or
Alleluia!
He exalts the strength of his people.
He is the praise of all his
saints,
of the sons of Israel,
of the people to whom he
comes close.
Your glory fills all
heaven and earth.
or
Alleluia!
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Gospel Acclamation
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Ps147:12,15
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Alleluia, alleluia!
O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
He sends out his word to the earth.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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cf.2Th2:14
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Through the Good News God called us
to share the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 17:22-27 ©
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'They will put the Son of Man to
death'
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One day when they were together in
Galilee, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘The Son of Man is going to be handed
over into the power of men; they will put him to death, and on the third day he
will be raised to life again.’ And a great sadness came over them.
When they reached Capernaum, the collectors of the
half-shekel came to Peter and said, ‘Does your master not pay the half-shekel?’
‘Oh yes’ he replied, and went into the house. But before he could speak, Jesus
said, ‘Simon, what is your opinion? From whom do the kings of the earth take
toll or tribute? From their sons or from foreigners?’ And when he replied,
‘From foreigners’, Jesus said, ‘Well then, the sons are exempt. However, so as
not to offend these people, go to the lake and cast a hook; take the first fish
that bites, open its mouth and there you will find a shekel; take it and give
it to them for me and for you.’
RADIATING THE GLORY OF GOD
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ EZK 1:2-5,24-28; PSALM 148:1-2,11-14; MATT 17:22-27]
In the first reading from the Prophet Ezekiel, we read of the call of
Ezekiel to be a prophet of God for the exiles in Babylonia. He
was among the 10,000 captives banished to Babylon from Judah in 597 B.C. in the
first deportation. He was sent among the captives who were disheartened,
thinking that all was lost and that God had abandoned His people. The
mission of Ezekiel was to assure them that God had not left them. Even
though He was in the Temple in Jerusalem, God was still with His people.
We read of the vision of Ezekiel when he saw the glory and majesty of
God. His glory and majesty was revealed in cloud,
light and fire. God reveals Himself through nature. The vision of
the four animals that Ezekiel saw portrays the omnipotence of God. The
four animals in their appearance were of human form. “Each had four faces,
and each of them had four wings.” (Eze 1:6)
The four faces symbolize the all knowledge of God and the wings symbolize
the presence of God everywhere in the universe. He is not confined to the
temple in Jerusalem. “As for the appearance of their faces: the four had
the face of a human being, the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an
ox on the left side, and the face of an eagle.” (Eze 1:6, 10)
The lion symbolizes the strength of God, the ox, the service of God, the
human being, the perfect man; and the eagle, divinity.
Most of all, Ezekiel saw the throne of God’s glory.
“It was something that looked like the glory of the Lord. I looked, and
prostrated myself.” Before the glory of God, we will all bow down,
regardless. Some will cover their faces because of the awesomeness of
God’s glory; others will bow down and hide their faces because of the fear of
judgment. “I saw what looked like fire, and a light all round like a bow
in the clouds on rainy days; that is how the surrounding light appeared.”
However, God remained the rainbow of humanity, giving hope to the people even
in their exile. The responsorial psalm declares the glory of God. “Your
glory fills all heaven and earth. Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise him
in the heights. The splendor of his name reaches beyond heaven and earth. He
exalts the strength of his people. He is the praise of all his saints, of
the sons of Israel, of the people to whom he comes close.”
In the gospel, Jesus came to restore the glory of the Kingdom of
God. He came as a humble and lowly King.
Hence, when Peter was asked whether his master paid the Temple tax as was
required by all adult Jews for the maintenance of the Temple, he replied in the
affirmative without knowing the answer. Jesus took the occasion to
enlighten Peter and the apostles on His identity. The truth is that the
kings did not pay taxes nor did he collect taxes from his own family. The
kingdom belonged to the king and so they did not have to pay anything.
Clearly, the sons were exempt. That being the case, since God is the king
of the earth, and Jesus being His son, He would have been exempted from paying
the Temple tax as well.
However, how could Jesus affirm His identity without causing unnecessary
tension with the authorities? On the surface, it
seemed to contradict the integrity of Jesus for willing to submit to an unjust
law so as not to offend the temple tax collectors when He had no issue
condemning the religious leaders for their hypocrisy. Was Jesus
contradicting Himself? The truth is that although He was not required to
pay the Temple Tax, yet, He recognized the tax as something positive for the upkeep
of the Temple. Not all recognized Him yet as the Son of God, the Son of
the Kingdom, and so to set a good example He instructed Peter to pay the tax to
avoid scandal. Whilst we can fight for our rights, sometimes we should
refrain from insisting on our rights as Jesus did, for the greater good of all.
Nevertheless, to reinforce His identity as the Son of God, Jesus
instructed Peter to pay the temple tax by taking a shekel from a fish.
By so doing, Jesus was reaffirming His authority over creation, which included
His power over the fishes, whether in the miraculous catch or in providing a
shekel for them to pay the tax. Would such instruction contradict Jesus’
policy of not performing a miracle for His own benefit? In this case, it
was not so much for Himself, but as Jesus said, it was for the sake of the
people because in truth, He was not required to pay any taxes. So the tax
was paid indirectly by divine providence.
There is also an additional reason why Jesus asked Peter to find the
shekel from the fish. After the announcement that “the
Son of Man is going to be handed over into the power of men, they will put him
to death, and on the third day he will be raised to life again”, the evangelist
noted, “a great sadness came over them.” Jesus felt the need to strengthen
the faith of Peter and the apostles, that no matter what happened, God would
provide and see them through, even in the mundane things of life. Jesus
was asking Peter to trust Him again and to rely on the grace of God.
Peter once again went in faith and found the coin in the fish’s mouth.
God cares for each one of us and we need to believe in Him even when we
go through the trials and crosses of life. This small incident was to
restore faith in Peter and the apostles who were worried over the imminent
death of our Lord.
Today, we are called to affirm our faith in Jesus who came to restore
the glory of the kingdom through His death and resurrection.
Jesus revealed the glory of God not through the fullness of His power and
majesty, as Ezekiel saw in his vision, but He came in lowliness. That
explains why the disciples could not understand Jesus when He prophesied His
impending death. Their understanding of Jesus was still unclear.
They were thinking of Jesus as a political king who would overthrow the Roman
Power and establish the sovereignty of Israel once again. So when they
heard about his imminent death, they were unsettled because of their wrong
perception of the kingdom that they thought Jesus came to offer.
The passion and death of Jesus is the way to restore the glory of God.
In Jesus’ death, He offered His entire self for the service of the People of
God. Through the offering of Himself, He taught us the meaning of love,
service and forgiveness. The kingdom of God is about humble and selfless
love in service. Only love and service can build the kingdom of God,
unity among all peoples. If the world is divided, it is because of greed,
power and glory. By His death on the cross, Jesus reveals to us
that love is more powerful than hatred. Indeed, God can bring good out of
evil.
By His resurrection, He shows us that life is more powerful than
death. This was why Jesus did not simply speak
about His death but also His resurrection. The cross is but the passage
to the resurrection. Without dying, there can be no resurrection. By
conquering death through His resurrection, Jesus shows us what life in the
kingdom of God is like. It is about joy in service, love and compassion
for the poor and the suffering. It was at His passion and
resurrection that Jesus’ kingship was confirmed by Pilate and by His Father.
We too are called to radiate the glory of God.
By our lives, we are called to be the presence of God because we are created in
His image and likeness. Through our goodness we are called to be the
light of the world. (cf Phil 2:14f)
We must let the glory of God be revealed in our life. We must guard
ourselves from losing His glory by our sins. This was the case of
the Israelites. They did not heed the call of the prophets to
repentance. They did not live the covenanted life. Both the leaders
and the people disobeyed the laws and worshipped false gods. Their greed
and selfishness blinded them from seeing the truth that God revealed through
the prophets. It was because of their sins that they were in exile, so
that they would repent. The prophet Daniel exhorts us to live a life of
wisdom in righteousness. “Those who are wise shall shine like the
brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the
stars forever and ever.” (Dn 12:3)
Written by The Most Rev William Goh,
Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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