20181129
BE READY FOR THE JUST
JUDGEMENT OF GOD
29 NOVEMBER,
2018, Thursday, 34th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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Apocalypse
18:1-2,21-23,19:1-3,9 ©
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Babylon the Great has fallen
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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.’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 99(100):2-5 ©
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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.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Mt24:42,44
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Stay awake and stand ready,
because you do not know the hour
when the Son of Man is coming.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Lk21:28
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Stand erect, hold your heads high,
because your liberation is near at hand.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 21:20-28 ©
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There will be signs in the sun and moon
and stars
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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 18:1-2,21-23,19:1-3,9; LUKE 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
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