Thursday 29 November 2018

BEING AN EVANGELIZER

20181130 BEING AN EVANGELIZER


30 NOVEMBER, 2018, Friday, St Andrew, Apostle
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: Red.

First reading
Romans 10:9-18 ©

Faith comes from what is preached, and what is preached comes from the word of Christ
If your lips confess that Jesus is Lord and if you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved. By believing from the heart you are made righteous; by confessing with your lips you are saved. When scripture says: those who believe in him will have no cause for shame, it makes no distinction between Jew and Greek: all belong to the same Lord who is rich enough, however many ask his help, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
  But they will not ask his help unless they believe in him, and they will not believe in him unless they have heard of him, and they will not hear of him unless they get a preacher, and they will never have a preacher unless one is sent, but as scripture says: The footsteps of those who bring good news are a welcome sound. Not everyone, of course, listens to the Good News. As Isaiah says: Lord, how many believed what we proclaimed? So faith comes from what is preached, and what is preached comes from the word of Christ. Let me put the question: is it possible that they did not hear? Indeed they did; in the words of the psalm, their voice has gone out through all the earth, and their message to the ends of the world.

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 18(19):2-5 ©
Their word goes forth through all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
The heavens proclaim the glory of God,
  and the firmament shows forth the work of his hands.
Day unto day takes up the story
  and night unto night makes known the message.
Their word goes forth through all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
No speech, no word, no voice is heard
  yet their span extends through all the earth,
  their words to the utmost bounds of the world.
Their word goes forth through all the earth.
or
Alleluia!

Gospel Acclamation
Mt4:19
Alleluia, alleluia!
Follow me, says the Lord,
and I will make you into fishers of men.
Alleluia!

Gospel
Matthew 4:18-22 ©

'I will make you fishers of men'
As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew; they were making a cast in the lake with their net, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.’ And they left their nets at once and followed him. Going on from there he saw another pair of brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John; they were in their boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. At once, leaving the boat and their father, they followed him.

BEING AN EVANGELIZER

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ROM 10:9-18PS 19:2-5MT 4:18-22 ]
The word “proselytization” today has a negative connotation.  To proselytize is the attempt to convert someone to one’s own religious faith.  It is concerned with recruiting new members and winning someone over to one’s doctrines and cause.  As Christians, we do not proselytize.  It is not about getting new converts or persuading people to our cause.
Rather, Christians are called to engage in the work of evangelization.  It is the announcement of the Good News about Jesus Christ.  It is not so much a sharing of doctrines but a sharing of the Good News about a person, Jesus Christ, whom we encountered as the Son of the Living God.  St Paul wrote, “I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness – the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people.  To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”  (Col 1:25-27; cf Eph 3:8-11)
This Good News is offered by announcing and sharing.  It is given freely and must be received freely.  It is meant to give hope and direction to people who are looking for meaning and purpose.  The messengers of the Good News are not a threat to the life of people but they are meant to add greater value to the life that people are already living.  That is why the Good News is always proclaimed with joy and must be accepted in joy.  Today, many are waiting to receive the Good News.  But as St Paul said, “they will not ask his help unless they believe in him, and they will not believe in him unless they have heard of him, and they will not hear of him unless they get a preacher, and they will never have a preacher unless one is sent, but as scripture says: The footsteps of those who bring good news are a welcome sound.”
How, then, are we called to be evangelizers?  We have the example of St Andrew, the great evangelizer, to teach us what it takes to be an evangelizer. In the first place, we need someone to introduce us to Jesus.  Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist, but the latter pointed out to him that Jesus is the “Lamb of God.”  (Jn 1:35)  We will always need others to lead us to the Lord.  Later on in John’s gospel, we read how those who met Jesus would bring others to Him as well.  Andrew was one who brought others to Jesus.  We read in John’s gospel “There were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival.  They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘we would like to see Jesus.’ ‘Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.”  (Jn 12:20-22)  It is noteworthy that we need mediators to bring us to the Lord.  Faith is not self-taught but imparted.
Secondly, evangelization is not about the proclamation of doctrines, not even of morality, but encountering a person, which is Jesus Christ.  Again Pope Benedict wrote succinctly, “We have come to believe in God’s love: in these words the Christian can express the fundamental decision of his life. Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.”  (Deus est Carita, 1)  Indeed, St Andrew came to encounter the Lord personally by staying and living with Him.  When he and another disciple said to Jesus, “‘Rabbi’ (which means “Teacher”), where are you staying?’ ‘Come,” he replied, ‘and you will see.’  So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.”  (Jn 1:37-39)  It must have been a most memorable and significant encounter with Jesus that they even remembered the time.  Meeting Jesus and interacting with Him was their conversion experience.  They were impressed by the person of Jesus, not just His teachings and knowledge.
Secondly, evangelization is a spontaneous sharing of the Good News.  Upon encountering the Lord, they could not stop themselves from sharing their encounter with their loved ones.  The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon to tell him, “‘We have found the Messiah’ (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus.”  (Jn 1:4`f)  Later on, Jesus found Philip, and Philip brought Nathanael to the Lord.  (cf Jn 1:43-50)  A clear sign that we have received the Good News is the spontaneous desire to share our encounter and experience of Jesus with others.  It is not the sharing of doctrines or morality.  It is sharing about Jesus who has changed our lives.
That is why we need not go for formal training to be an evangelizer, a catechist, a theologian or a priest.  Every baptized Catholic is called to be an evangelizer by virtue of our baptism.  This is the common call for members of the royal priesthood.  All of us are called to share our personal relationship with the Lord with others.  In other words, we are not required to share and expound doctrines about our Lord but simply what the Lord has done for us and what He means to us for our life, direction and happiness.  When we share about our relationship with the Lord, it is non-threatening and certainly no one can accuse us of proselytizing or indoctrination.
Thirdly, evangelizers are called to make others evangelizers.  In the gospel of John, we have Andrew who brought the boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish to the Lord.  (Jn 6:5-8)   He was able to lead others to the Lord by inviting them to share whatever limited resources they have for the work of the mission.  Therefore it is not enough to evangelize others, but the ultimate goal of evangelization is to make those evangelized, evangelizers in return.  In this way, the gospel will never be short of preachers and evangelizers.  Indeed, if we do not mentor others after us to continue the work we are doing, we would have failed as teachers and evangelizers.  So even when evangelizing others, we must also teach them to be evangelizers by sharing the Good News the way we shared with them. 
Fourthly, official evangelization begins with we are called by the Lord.  In today’s gospel, we have the official call of the apostles by the Lord.  Peter and Andrew “were making a cast in the lake with their net, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.’ And they left their nets at once and followed him.”  This was followed later by the call of “another pair of brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John.”  Some are called to be full-time evangelizers, whether as a priest, religious or a lay person.  Those called to full time in the ministry are consciously undertaking the task of evangelization in a formal manner and acting in the name of the Church.
Fifthly, evangelization needs ongoing formation.  Again, we can learn from Andrew why it is important to grow in knowledge of our faith.  He was not afraid to ask Jesus hard questions even though the answers were difficult to understand.  When Jesus predicted the destruction of the Temple, we read that, “Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, ‘Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?” (Mk 13:3f)  They might not have fully understood what the Lord was saying to them but they were ready to learn and gave themselves time to understand what was difficult.  Indeed, only much later on in their ministry when these words were fulfilled that they came to understand more fully the prophecies of Jesus regarding His passion, death, resurrection and all that He taught them.
Finally, we must remember that we evangelize ourselves best by evangelizing others.  To evangelize is not a magnanimous act on our part.  We are simply giving freely what we receive freely.  However, more importantly, by saving others, we save ourselves.  By announcing to others about our faith, we reinforce our faith.  This is why St Paul wrote, “If your lips confess that Jesus is Lord and if you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved. By believing from the heart you are made righteous; by confessing with your lips you are saved.”  It is not enough to believe that Jesus is Lord but we must announce Him so that our conviction would be strengthened more and more.


Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved

Wednesday 28 November 2018

BE READY FOR THE JUST JUDGEMENT OF GOD

20181129 BE READY FOR THE JUST JUDGEMENT OF GOD


29 NOVEMBER, 2018, Thursday, 34th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: Green.

First reading
Apocalypse 18:1-2,21-23,19:1-3,9 ©

Babylon the Great has fallen
I, John, saw an angel come down from heaven, with great authority given to him; the earth was lit up with his glory. At the top of his voice he shouted, ‘Babylon has fallen, Babylon the Great has fallen, and has become the haunt of devils and a lodging for every foul spirit and dirty, loathsome bird. Then a powerful angel picked up a boulder like a great millstone, and as he hurled it into the sea, he said, ‘That is how the great city of Babylon is going to be hurled down, never to be seen again.
Never again in you, Babylon,
will be heard the song of harpists and minstrels,
the music of flute and trumpet;
never again will craftsmen of every skill be found
or the sound of the mill be heard;
never again will shine the light of the lamp,
never again will be heard
the voices of bridegroom and bride.
Your traders were the princes of the earth,
all the nations were under your spell.
After this I seemed to hear the great sound of a huge crowd in heaven, singing, ‘Alleluia! Victory and glory and power to our God! He judges fairly, he punishes justly, and he has condemned the famous prostitute who corrupted the earth with her fornication; he has avenged his servants that she killed.’ They sang again, ‘Alleluia! The smoke of her will go up for ever and ever.’ The angel said, ‘Write this: Happy are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb’, and he added, ‘All the things you have written are true messages from God.’

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 99(100):2-5 ©
Happy are those who are invited to the wedding-feast of the Lamb.
  Serve the Lord with gladness.
  Come before him, singing for joy.
Happy are those who are invited to the wedding-feast of the Lamb.
Know that he, the Lord, is God.
  He made us, we belong to him,
  we are his people, the sheep of his flock.
Happy are those who are invited to the wedding-feast of the Lamb.
Go within his gates, giving thanks.
  Enter his courts with songs of praise.
  Give thanks to him and bless his name.
Happy are those who are invited to the wedding-feast of the Lamb.
Indeed, how good is the Lord,
  eternal his merciful love.
  He is faithful from age to age.
Happy are those who are invited to the wedding-feast of the Lamb.

Gospel Acclamation
Mt24:42,44
Alleluia, alleluia!
Stay awake and stand ready,
because you do not know the hour
when the Son of Man is coming.
Alleluia!
Or:
Lk21:28
Alleluia, alleluia!
Stand erect, hold your heads high,
because your liberation is near at hand.
Alleluia!

Gospel
Luke 21:20-28 ©

There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars
Jesus said to his disciples, ‘When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, you must realise that she will soon be laid desolate. Then those in Judaea must escape to the mountains, those inside the city must leave it, and those in country districts must not take refuge in it. For this is the time of vengeance when all that scripture says must be fulfilled. Alas for those with child, or with babies at the breast, when those days come!
  ‘For great misery will descend on the land and wrath on this people. They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive to every pagan country; and Jerusalem will be trampled down by the pagans until the age of the pagans is completely over.
  ‘There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars; on earth nations in agony, bewildered by the clamour of the ocean and its waves; men dying of fear as they await what menaces the world, for the powers of heaven will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand.’

BE READY FOR THE JUST JUDGEMENT OF GOD

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ REV 18:1-2,21-23,19:1-3,9LUKE 21:20-28 ]
Often when we look at our own situation and that of the world‘s, we feel that evil people seem to be better off than those who do good.  The psalmist felt that way too, when he cried out to God. “For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles;  their bodies are healthy and strong.[a]They are free from common human burdens;  they are not plagued by human ills. This is what the wicked are like – always free of care, they go on amassing wealth.”  (Ps 73:3-5,12)  But the truth is that a day of retribution will come, either in this life or in the next.  “Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors!”  (Ps 73:18f)
Indeed, this was what happened, first to Jerusalem and then to Rome.  In the gospel, Jesus prophesied the eventual destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem and the city.  “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, you must realise that she will soon be laid desolate. For this is the time of vengeance when all that scripture says must be fulfilled. Alas for those with child, or with babies at the breast, when those days come!   They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive to every pagan country; and Jerusalem will be trampled down by the pagans until the age of the pagans is completely over.”  Jerusalem was destroyed and punished by the Romans for their rebellion and refusal to submit to the Roman culture.   Everyone in the city was killed when Emperor Titus entered the City in AD 70.
What happened to Jerusalem also happened to Rome, which was symbolised by Babylon because of the wickedness of the city, their persecution of Christians and a culture that was sensual and idolatrous.    In the first reading, we read of the judgement on Rome.  “At the top of his voice (the angel)  shouted, ‘Babylon has fallen, Babylon the Great has fallen, and has become the haunt of devils and a lodging for every foul spirit and dirty, loathsome bird. Then a powerful angel picked up a boulder like a great millstone, and as he hurled it into the sea, he said, ‘That is how the great city of Babylon is going to be hurled down, never to be seen again.'”
However, those who are good, as the responsorial psalm says, will be invited to the Wedding Feast of the Lamb. “Happy are those who are invited to the wedding-feast of the Lamb.”  Who are those who are invited to the Wedding Feast?  The psalmist says, those who “Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing for joy. Know that he, the Lord, is God.  He made us, we belong to him, we are his people, the sheep of his flock. Go within his gates, giving thanks.  Enter his courts with songs of praise.  Give thanks to him and bless his name.”  Indeed, for us we should remain firm in our faith, stand firm for the Lord so that the Lord will reward us and bring us to Him when the day of judgement arrives.  Jesus said, “When these things begin to take place, stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand.”
What is definite is that God will deliver us from our enemies and set us free.  This is what the martyrs sang, “Victory and glory and power to our God!”  They knew that only God could set them free from the hands of their enemies.  Through the death and resurrection of Christ, God has delivered us from our foes and most of all from death.  Grateful for this liberation, we have reason to rejoice in the victory of God.  He could do all this only because of His power over the whole of creation.   God is in charge of this world and the power of His love and justice makes it possible to win victory over evil.  
 Hence, we can sing praise to God because we know that His judgement is fair and just.  “Alleluia! He judges fairly, he punishes justly.”  Only God can judge our thoughts, the circumstances of our actions, and our intentions. He takes into consideration all that we were and are and do when He judges.  Very often, our actions today are influenced and conditioned by our past hurts and mistakes, by our upbringing and the events, positive or negative in our lives.   When God judges, He exercises compassion by considering everything about us and in our life.   He judges with the purity of love without prejudice or revengefulness.  That is why His judgement is fair and just.  Unlike God, human judgement is partial even when we seek to be true and objective.  We do not know all the facts of the situation or the interior thoughts and struggles of the person.  Furthermore, we are always working within the constraints of the laws.  And if it affects us, we tend to allow our personal interests to blind us to the objectivity of our judgements.
However, until that happens, we must continue to hold firm to our faith, and whilst being faithful, we should not be reckless.  Being faithful does not mean that we go headlong in confronting our enemies.  This was what the Lord advised His followers.  “Then those in Judaea must escape to the mountains, those inside the city must leave it, and those in country districts must not take refuge in it.”  Our Lord Himself withdrew when He knew His enemies were plotting to kill Him before His mission was well established.  “But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus. Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place.”  (Mt 12:14f)  So, too, the disciples of Jesus withdrew when the time came so that they could continue to spread the Word of God to other places.
To stand up for our faith does not mean that we take unnecessary risks.  But when called upon to do so, we must be ready to die for our faith.  This was the case of the early Christians and martyrs who died for the faith when persecuted by the Romans.  They were ready to be tortured by their enemies.  We read of the courageous faith of the Korean and Japanese martyrs as well.  Many of them were tortured to death, dying for Christ.  Such was the outstanding faith of the martyrs.  That is why the Church gives special honour to the martyrs in the celebration of the Eucharist because they joined Jesus in death and in life.
How, then, can we remain faithful and stand erect whilst waiting for the day of liberation?  We must seek to be true to our conscience in living out our responsibilities in life.  We have all been given different roles in life.  Whether we are homemakers, parents, professionals, workers or religious, we must undertake our responsibilities well.  Life is to follow Jesus in giving ourselves to others in service and love.  We need to offer ourselves, like St Paul, as a libation for others.  If we do that, then we can then say with St Paul, “As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”  (2 Tim 4:6-8)
Secondly, we need to be watchful through study of scripture, prayer, celebration of the sacraments, worship of the Eucharist and sharing of the Word of God with our fellow Catholics.  Without constant prayer, strengthened by the Eucharist and the Word of God, we will not be able to withstand the trials of the apostolate.  The reason why many Catholics not only do not stand up for their beliefs but even publicly oppose Catholic beliefs and doctrines is because they do not know their faith enough to be able to discern the truth from half-truths.  They are easily bought over by secular views and those that oppose the Catholic teachings.   But if we are well grounded in the Word of God, in our relationship with the Lord, we will be ready to defend the Church as St Peter exhorts us, “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 defence to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence.”  (1 Pt 3:14f)


Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved