20181006
CONVICTION THROUGH THE
EYES OF FAITH
06 OCTOBER,
2018, Saturday, 26th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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Job 42:1-3,5-6,12-17 ©
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In dust and in ashes I repent
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This was the answer Job gave to the Lord:
I know that you are all-powerful:
what you conceive, you can
perform.
I am the man who obscured your designs
with my empty-headed words.
I have been holding forth on matters I
cannot understand,
on marvels beyond me and my
knowledge.
I knew you then only by hearsay;
but now, having seen you with
my own eyes,
I retract all I have said,
and in dust and ashes I
repent.
The Lord blessed Job’s new fortune even
more than his first one. He came to own fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand
camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand she-donkeys. He had seven sons
and three daughters; his first daughter he called ‘Turtledove’, the second
‘Cassia’ and the third ‘Mascara.’ Throughout the land there were no women as
beautiful as the daughters of Job. And their father gave them inheritance
rights like their brothers.
After
his trials, Job lived on until he was a hundred and forty years old, and saw
his children and his children’s children up to the fourth generation. Then Job
died, an old man and full of days.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm
118(119):66,71,75,91,125,130 ©
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Let your face shine on
your servant, O Lord.
Teach me discernment and knowledge
for I trust in your commands.
It was good for me to be afflicted,
to learn your statutes.
Let your face shine on
your servant, O Lord.
Lord, I know that your decrees are right,
that you afflicted me justly.
By your decree it endures to this day;
for all things serve you.
Let your face shine on
your servant, O Lord.
I am your servant, give me knowledge;
then I shall know your will.
The unfolding of your word gives light
and teaches the simple.
Let your face shine on
your servant, O Lord.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Mt11:25
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are you, Father,
Lord of heaven and earth,
for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom
to mere children.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 10:17-24 ©
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Rejoice that your names are written in
heaven
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The seventy-two came back rejoicing.
‘Lord,’ they said ‘even the devils submit to us when we use your name.’ He said
to them, ‘I watched Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Yes, I have given
you power to tread underfoot serpents and scorpions and the whole strength of
the enemy; nothing shall ever hurt you. Yet do not rejoice that the spirits
submit to you; rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven.’
It
was then that, filled with joy by the Holy Spirit, he said:
‘I
bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from
the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. Yes, Father,
for that is what it pleased you to do. Everything has been entrusted to me by
my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the
Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.’
Then
turning to his disciples he spoke to them in private, ‘Happy the eyes that see
what you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what
you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.’
CONVICTION THROUGH THE EYES OF FAITH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ JOB 42:1-3,5-6,12-17; LK 10:17-24 ]
Why is it that many of
us are lacking in faith? Why
is it that some of us, even though we are believers, do not really believe in
God? Even for those of us who are active in Church, our faith is easily
shaken in times of trials and difficulties. Many of us question God and
His mercy at the first sign of trouble. Some, who were once very active
in the Church apostolate, have even lapsed in their faith. This is
particularly true if one loses a beloved one in a tragic death, or when at the
height of success, discovers that he/she has a terminal illness. At any
rate, even if we do not give up our faith, our hearts would be restless and we
would doubt His love.
In the light of this realization between
an intellectual knowledge of the Faith and a personal experience of God’s love,
we must avoid falling into the trap of Job and his friends. They were
moralizing and theologizing the sufferings and tragedies that Job was going
through. They wanted to prove that Job had sinned and offended God in some way
and that he was simply suffering the retribution for his sins. Yet, the
message of the book of Job is clear. Faith in God is not
dependent on academic knowledge and syllogistic reasoning. Faith has
to do with the heart more than the head. It is based on trust in God.
We believe only because God has revealed Himself, and based on His
authority, we believe in faith.
Truly, God is greater
than human logic.
This is what Job arrived at after a long discourse on the cause of his
misfortune. In humility and faith, he surrendered his life to God.
In shame, he confessed, “I am the man who obscured your designs with my
empty-headed words. I have been holding forth on matters I cannot understand,
on marvels beyond me and my knowledge.” Similarly, the prophet Isaiah
also said, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my
ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are
my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isa 55:8-9)
So what is the cause of
the lack of faith? The
cause for the lack of faith is because for many of us our faith is simply on
the cerebral level. As Job humbly acknowledged and confessed, “I knew you
then only by hearsay; but now, having seen you with my own eyes, I retract all
I have said, and in the dust and ashes I repent.” Reliance on
intellectual knowledge alone is from hearsay. Faith must be founded on a
first-hand experience and encounter with God.
What we need is to see
the power and love of God with our eyes. Only when God led him to consider the wonders of
creation did Job come to realize his ignorance. “I know that you
are all-powerful: what you conceive, you can perform.” Through the
contemplation of His wisdom and power in creation, Job came to realize that
God’s mind is beyond his comprehension. Similarly, St Paul remarked, “O the
depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are
his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ‘For who has known the mind
of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?’ ‘Or who has given a gift to
him that he might be repaid?’ For from him and through him and to him are all
things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” (Rom 11:33-36)
In the gospel, we have the
disciples of Jesus witnessing the power of God at work in their ministry. “The
seventy-two came back rejoicing. ‘Lord,’ they said ‘even the devils
submit to us when we use your name.'” Indeed, they were amazed that they
could have such power over the devils by merely uttering the name of Jesus when
they knew they were just ordinary people. In response, Jesus said to them, “I
watched Satan fall like lightening from heaven. Yes. I have given
you power to tread underfoot serpents and scorpions and the whole strength of
the enemy; nothing shall ever hurt you.” Truly, witnessing the power of
God at work in our days can certainly strengthen our faith in God and our faith
in the Risen Lord. Those of us who are engaged in the ministry of healing
and deliverance cannot but be amazed at the mercy and power of God at work
through our prayers. Witnessing healing miracles, especially for
those cases where doctors have given up hope and medical science cannot find a
cure for their illnesses, is most uplifting. Even more dramatic when we
are dealing with those who are under the bondage and oppression of evil
spirits! Lest we think that this seeing does not require faith, this is not
true. Seeing a marvelous event is not self-authenticating. It only
provides credibility for faith to believe that such an event is due to the work
of God and not some mysterious forces of nature or even the tricks of
men. Hence, miracles presuppose faith. The purpose of visual sight
is to enable one to have confidence in making an act of faith.
Of course, this seeing in faith
need not always be a tangible seeing but it can take the form of an
intellectual vision. This intellectual vision comes from faith and
less from reasoning and understanding. It comes from a personal
realization at the very core of our being of God’s presence and His wisdom.
We can describe it as an enlightenment. This conviction is what the
psalmist is referring to when he said, “Let your face shine on your servant, O
Lord.” It is an experience of hearing God speaking to us as in the case
of Job. When God was absent and Job could not hear Him, he fell into
confusion and dismay at what was happening to him and his family. But
when God spoke, it seemed all his questions, although not answered by God,
disappeared. Overwhelmed by God’s awesome power and presence; Job no
longer felt alone and afraid of the future. He did not dare to question
God further. Yes, he had seen the face of God, as suggested by the response
in the responsorial psalm. This explains why Jesus in response to the
jubilance of the disciples said, “Yet do not rejoice that the spirits submit to
you; rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven.”
There is still another way to arrive at
faith. It is the way of discernment, knowledge and understanding
of God’s commands or an appreciation of the Word of God. The psalmist
prayed, “Teach me discernment and knowledge for I trust in your commands. It
was good for me to be afflicted, to learn your statutes. Lord, I know
that your decrees are right, that you afflicted me justly. By your decree it
endures to this day; for all things serve you. I am your servant, give me
knowledge; then I shall know your will. The unfolding of your word gives light
and teaches the simple.” Knowing God’s will from the heart will
enable us to live with faith and confidence. St Paul said, “When you
received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the
word of men but as what it really is; the word of God, which is at work in you
believers.” (1 Th 2:13)
So where can we find
this faith in God? It
is truly a gift from God. Jesus, “turning to his disciples…spoke to them in
private, ‘Happy the eyes that see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings
wanted to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never
heard it.” Indeed, the power and wealth of this world cannot be compared
to a personal knowledge of God’s love and mercy. Nothing can be exchanged
for this encounter with God. It is truly a great blessing for those of us
who have been privileged to encounter God in a personal, real and conscious
way, whether dramatically or through ordinary events.
What is important is
that this gift of revelation comes through Christ in the Holy Spirit. This is what Jesus said, “Yes, Father, for
that is what it pleased you to do. Everything has been entrusted to me be
my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the
Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal
him.” Only Jesus can reveal to us the Father’s love. Only He who
has seen the face of the Father can reveal His face to us. That is why we
need to come to Jesus in faith and through contemplation of His life, passion,
and death and resurrection come to see the love of the Father.
But this is not possible
unless it is through the Holy Spirit, since
only He can make what is past present to us. If we are seeking to find a solution
to our troubles and the mystery of life, we might never find the answer.
But if we find God, all our questions will become redundant, for knowing that
He loves us, we can live the mystery of life in faith and confidence because we
feel secure in Him as does a child in his father. That is why Jesus said
“I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from
the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children.” Let us
come to the Lord like children in faith, trusting in the love and wisdom of
their parents. By being receptive and trusting, God will reveal to us His love
and mercy. Upon seeing His face, we will find peace and joy knowing
that our “names are written in heaven.” In other words, we have a place
secure in the heart of the Father’s bosom.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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