20181020
STANDING UP FOR JESUS
IN THE POWER OF HIS SPIRIT
20 OCTOBER,
2018, Saturday, 28th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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Ephesians 1:15-23 ©
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Paul’s prayer for the enlightenment of
the faithful
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I, having once heard about your faith in
the Lord Jesus, and the love that you show towards all the saints, have never
failed to remember you in my prayers and to thank God for you. May the God of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and
perception of what is revealed, to bring you to full knowledge of him. May he
enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds
for you, what rich glories he has promised the saints will inherit and how
infinitely great is the power that he has exercised for us believers. This you
can tell from the strength of his power at work in Christ, when he used it to
raise him from the dead and to make him sit at his right hand, in heaven, far
above every Sovereignty, Authority, Power, or Domination, or any other name
that can be named not only in this age but also in the age to come. He has put
all things under his feet and made him, as the ruler of everything, the head of
the Church; which is his body, the fullness of him who fills the whole
creation.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 8:2-7 ©
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You gave your Son power
over the works of your hand.
How great is your name, O Lord our God,
through all the earth!
Your majesty is praised above the heavens;
on the lips of children and of
babes
you have found praise to foil your enemy,
to silence the foe and the
rebel.
You gave your Son power
over the works of your hand.
When I see the heavens, the work of your
hands,
the moon and the stars which
you arranged,
what is man that you should keep him in
mind,
mortal man that you care for
him?
You gave your Son power
over the works of your hand.
Yet you have made him little less than a
god;
with glory and honour you
crowned him,
gave him power over the works of your
hand,
put all things under his feet.
You gave your Son power
over the works of your hand.
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Gospel Acclamation
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1S3:9,Jn6:68
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Speak, Lord, your servant is listening:
you have the message of eternal life.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Jn15:26,27
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The Spirit of truth will be my witness;
and you too will be my witnesses.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 12:8-12 ©
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If you declare yourselves for me, I will
declare myself for you
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Jesus said to his disciples:
‘I
tell you, if anyone openly declares himself for me in the presence of men, the
Son of Man will declare himself for him in the presence of the angels. But the
man who disowns me in the presence of men will be disowned in the presence of
God’s angels.
‘Everyone
who says a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but he who blasphemes
against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
‘When
they take you before synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry
about how to defend yourselves or what to say, because when the time comes, the
Holy Spirit will teach you what you must say.’
STANDING UP FOR JESUS IN THE POWER OF
HIS SPIRIT
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ EPHESIANS 1:15-23; LUKE 12:8-12 ]
The Church is going
through one of the most difficult periods of her history but perhaps not the worst because
the Church had gone through much more trying periods and survived; coming out
stronger, purified and more evangelistic. What does it take for the
Church to survive the crisis of this age? In the gospel, Jesus made it
clear, “I tell you, if anyone openly declares himself for me in the presence of
men, the Son of Man will declare himself for him in the presence of God’s
angels. But the man who disowns me in the presence of men will be disowned in
the presence of God’s angels.” Unlike in the early days, when Christians
were persecuted and martyred for their faith, today there is no killing of
Christians as such, but the world is taking down Christians through half-truths,
ridicule, humiliation and exposing their weaknesses so that they lose
credibility in affirming any truths about the gospel. The world seeks to
silence the truth by discrediting bishops, priests, religious and teachers of
the faith by exposing their scandals and giving special spotlight on the
Church’s leaders so that she loses her moral voice in the world.
Pope Gregory the Great
in one of his homilies wrote, “For frequently the preacher’s tongue is bound
fast on account of his own wickedness; while on the other hand it sometimes
happens that because of the people’s sins, the word of preaching is withdrawn
from those who preside over the assembly. With reference to the wickedness of the
preacher, the psalmist says: But God asks the sinner: Why do you recite my
commandments? And with reference to the latter, the Lord tells
Ezekiel: I will make your tongue cleave to the roof of your mouth, so that
you shall be dumb and unable to reprove them, for they are a rebellious
house. He clearly means this: the word of preaching will be taken away
from you because as long as this people irritates me by their deeds, they are
unworthy to hear the exhortation of truth. It is not easy to know for whose
sinfulness the preacher’s word is withheld, but it is indisputable that the
shepherd’s silence while often injurious to himself will always harm his
flock.”
The enemies of the
gospel are varied. Externally, we are dealing with a secularist,
atheistic and humanistic culture. This is particularly so in the West, and in countries
like Singapore that are very exposed to Western culture. The gospel
message is challenged on all fronts. From divorce to disintegration of
family life, to same sex marriage; from abortion to euthanasia and even
suggestions to allow the killing of unwanted newborn babies, humanity is
desensitized in their conscience because of gradual conditioning by the mass
media and the promiscuous and materialistic culture promoted by society.
Indeed, key and foundational institutions are being attacked and redefined.
When we no longer cherish time immemorial institutions, humanity is on
the road to self-destruction.
These are the
consequences of secularism which gave birth to materialism and humanism.
Without God, there is no longer any basis for absolute truths and the
foundation for moral values.
This is what St Paul diagnosed, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness
suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to
them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the
world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been
understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without
excuse; for though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give
thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless
minds were darkened.” (Rom 1:18-21) Moral decadence is the consequence
of impiety, the refusal to acknowledge God. Instead, we have made
ourselves to be the new gods of humanity. “And since they did not see fit
to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that
should not be done. They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil,
covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they
are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful,
inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents, foolish, faithless, heartless,
ruthless. (cf Rom 1:22-32)
This sin of impiety,
which is the sin of blasphemy, is the ultimate sin against God. The Lord in the gospel declared, “Everyone
who says a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but he who blasphemes
against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.” When we are closed to the
truth and arrogance has overtaken us like those people building the Tower of
Babel (cf Gn 11:1-8), the world
will be even more divided. The division in society today is caused by
those who can no longer hear the truth. Jesus said to the Jews, “Why do you not
understand what I say? It is because you cannot accept my word. You are
from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father’s desires. He was
a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is
no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is
a liar and the father of lies.” (Jn 8:43f)
But our real enemy is
not from without but from within.
They come from ill-informed Catholics who do not know anything about their
faith and speak with such pontifical authority as if they are presenting the
truths of the Catholic faith. Their opinions are not founded on the Word
of God nor on the constant teaching of the Church. Such people, St Paul says,
“are confusing you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if
we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we
proclaimed to you, let that one be accursed!” (Gal 1:8f) Instead of referring to the Word of
God for their arguments, they take from the world’s atheistic secular
viewpoint. They are not grounded in the bible but just rational arguments
based on their reasoning unenlightened by faith. Their views are worldly
and not from the truths of the scriptures. St Paul warned the Ephesians,
“Now that after I have gone, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing
the flock. Some even from your own group will come distorting the truth
in order to entice the disciples to follow them.” (Acts 20:29f) They are the most insidious
enemies and traitors of the Church. They have even infiltrated the
hierarchy of the Church bringing their own selfish and perverted values.
Such Catholics and priests do great harm to the Church because they bring
disunity to the People of God. As Jesus said, “Every kingdom divided
against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will
stand.” (Mt 12:25)
In spite of these
oppositions and traitors, St Paul urges us never to give up fighting for the
faith. “I solemnly urge
you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or
unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in
teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound
doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers
to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth
and wander away to myths. As for you, always be sober, endure suffering,
do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.” (2 Tim 4:1-5)
How, then, can we remain
firm in our faith and find courage to witness to the gospel? Our
Catholics need formation. We
must not repeat the same mistake as at the reformation, when Catholics became
superstitious because they did not know their faith. We need to empower
our Catholics and encourage them to study the scriptures and be familiar with
the Catechism of the Catholic Church and understand why the Church hold such
doctrines and be able to explain them to others, giving an account of our
faith. St Peter said, “Do not fear what they fear, and do not be
intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to
make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope
that is in you.” (1 Pt 3:14f) St Paul
prayed, “May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a
spirit of wisdom and perception of what is revealed, to bring you to full
knowledge of him.” Being formed in our faith is a prerequisite.
Secondly, we need to be
strengthened in the hope before us.
St Paul says, “May he enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what
hope his call holds for you, what rich glories he has promised the saints will
inherit and how infinitely great is the power that he has exercised for us
believers.” It is this hope in eternal life and most of all in the power
of the Risen Christ who is at work in us that gives us the confidence that we
will triumph in the end. “This you can tell from the strength of his
power at work in Christ, when he used it to raise him from the dead and to make
him sit at his right hand, in heaven, far above every Sovereignty, Authority,
Power, or Domination.” With this assurance, we can claim the promise of
Jesus when He said, “When they take you before synagogues and magistrates and
authorities, do not worry about how to defend yourselves or what to say, because
when the time comes, the Holy Spirit will teach you what you must say.”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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