20181205
ANTICIPATING THE JOY
OF HEAVEN IN CHRIST’S SECOND COMING
05 DECEMBER,
2018, Wednesday, 1st Week, Advent
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Violet.
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First reading
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Isaiah 25:6-10 ©
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The Lord will prepare a banquet for
every nation
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On this mountain,
the Lord of hosts will prepare for all
peoples
a banquet of rich food, a banquet of fine
wines,
of food rich and juicy, of fine strained
wines.
On this mountain he will remove
the mourning veil covering all peoples,
and the shroud enwrapping all nations,
he will destroy Death for ever.
The Lord will wipe away
the tears from every cheek;
he will take away his people’s shame
everywhere on earth,
for the Lord has said so.
That day, it will be said: See, this is
our God
in whom we hoped for salvation;
the Lord is the one in whom we hoped.
We exult and we rejoice
that he has saved us;
for the hand of the Lord
rests on this mountain.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 22(23) ©
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In the Lord’s own house
shall I dwell for ever and ever.
The Lord is my shepherd;
there is nothing I shall want.
Fresh and green are the pastures
where he gives me repose.
Near restful waters he leads me,
to revive my drooping spirit.
In the Lord’s own house
shall I dwell for ever and ever.
He guides me along the right path;
he is true to his name.
If I should walk in the valley of darkness
no evil would I fear.
You are there with your crook and your
staff;
with these you give me
comfort.
In the Lord’s own house
shall I dwell for ever and ever.
You have prepared a banquet for me
in the sight of my foes.
My head you have anointed with oil;
my cup is overflowing.
In the Lord’s own house
shall I dwell for ever and ever.
Surely goodness and kindness shall follow
me
all the days of my life.
In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell
for ever and ever.
In the Lord’s own house
shall I dwell for ever and ever.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Is33:22
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord is our judge, the Lord our
lawgiver,
the Lord our king and our saviour.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Look, the Lord will come to save his
people.
Blessed those who are ready to meet him.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 15:29-37 ©
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The crowds praised the God of Israel
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Jesus reached the shores of the Sea of
Galilee, and he went up into the hills. He sat there, and large crowds came to
him bringing the lame, the crippled, the blind, the dumb and many others; these
they put down at his feet, and he cured them. The crowds were astonished to see
the dumb speaking, the cripples whole again, the lame walking and the blind
with their sight, and they praised the God of Israel.
But
Jesus called his disciples to him and said, ‘I feel sorry for all these people;
they have been with me for three days now and have nothing to eat. I do not
want to send them off hungry, they might collapse on the way.’ The disciples
said to him, ‘Where could we get enough bread in this deserted place to feed
such a crowd?’ Jesus said to them, ‘How many loaves have you?’ ‘Seven’ they
said ‘and a few small fish.’ Then he instructed the crowd to sit down on the
ground, and he took the seven loaves and the fish, and he gave thanks and broke
them and handed them to the disciples, who gave them to the crowds. They all
ate as much as they wanted, and they collected what was left of the scraps,
seven baskets full.
ANTICIPATING THE JOY OF HEAVEN IN
CHRIST’S SECOND COMING
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ISA 25:6-10; MT 15:29-37 ]
The season of Advent is
to prepare us for the coming of the Lord, especially at Christmas. But it is important
that the Church puts us in perspective for the celebration of the Incarnation
at Christmas. Indeed, if we have paid attention especially to the liturgy
of the first week of Advent, the Church is more focused on the Second
Coming. In the opening prayer we prayed “that we may be ready to receive
Christ when he comes in glory and share in the banquet of heaven. “
Clearly, it means that our
hope for heaven is the real reason why we are celebrating Christmas.
Advent is to prepare us not just for the coming of Christ at Christmas, because
He has already come and is still with us, but to remind us that in celebrating
Christmas, we are awaiting His final return at the end of time. When He
returns in His glory, then we will share the fullness of His presence in our
lives. This sharing of the life of Christ is graphically presented as
coming to the mountain of the Lord, the heavenly Jerusalem which is heaven.
Yes, the liturgy wants us to be excited about heaven so that we have a great
desire to be in heaven with Jesus. But perhaps, many of us are not really
interested in heaven. This is because we think that heaven is quite a
boring place. Furthermore, many of us might think that we still young and
we have many more years to live on this earth.
Thus, before we can speak of Christ’s
return in glory and our share in the banquet of heaven, we must ask ourselves
whether we know what heaven is all about. Have we tasted heaven in our
life? If we have not, how can we have confidence that there is heaven in
the next life or that heaven is such a great place to be? So, do you know
what heaven is? Of course you know but do not recognize it! The
truth is that you have tasted heaven already. In the first reading,
we have a description of what heaven is like. Isaiah speaks of heaven as
“a banquet of rich food, a banquet of fine wines, of food rich and juicy, of
fine strained wines.” In heaven, God “will destroy Death for ever.” In the
gospel, we are told that Jesus multiplied bread to feed the hungry crowd until
they were totally satisfied. Not only did “they all ate as much as they
wanted,” but “they collected what was left of the scraps, seven baskets
full.” Seven of course is a biblical symbol of total fulfillment.
Hence, heaven is a state of great
joy, happiness and fulfillment where is there is fellowship, excitement, love
and life. All that we experience on this earth, especially in our
activities, is already a taste of the fullness of life that is given to us in
heaven. Whenever we encounter peace, joy and love, this is a preview of
heaven. Whenever we give ourselves to each other in love, friendship and
service, whether in our family, among our own friends, in school, at work and
at Church, we would have tasted what heaven is like. So heaven is a state of
life that is full of love, joy, dynamism and life.
Needless to say, this
heaven on earth is not perfect.
We have never said it is anyway. Rather it is a “taste” of the heavenly
banquet; not yet the full meal. We will experience some inconvenience,
unhappiness and misunderstandings in life. Not everything is always right
and according to our desires. We are not always nice to others and our
loved ones and friends do not always show love towards us either. So
heaven on earth is only a “taste” and a foretaste. Precisely, this
is the point of today’s liturgy. If we think that human friendship and
this life is great, Then God wants to give us something more excellent than we
can ever imagine. He wants to give us joy, love and life to the
fullness. This is what Prophet Isaiah says, “On this Mountain”, that is,
heaven, God will “wipe away the tears from every cheek” and “remove the
mourning veil” so that we can see Him face to face. Hence, heaven is
often described as a beatific vision. To meet God face to face means that
we encounter Him in His presence and love that we could say with the
Israelites, “See, this is our God to whom we hoped for salvation.” When
we experience the indwelling of God’s presence in our hearts, we will
experience a joy and love that is simply indescribable.
Such a foretaste of what
heaven is like is anticipated especially when we celebrate the Eucharistic
banquet. This is what the
gospel wants to remind us. In the multiplication of the loaves, Jesus was
anticipating the Eucharist, the gift of Himself to the Church. In fact,
the miracle of the loaves is narrated within a liturgical setting.
Similarly, in the Eucharist, we encounter once again in a very real way, the
presence of our Lord in the bread and wine. In the liturgy of the Word,
we hear the Lord speaking to us again. And in the worship service, we
find ourselves in deep communion with the Lord in prayer. So every time
we celebrate the Eucharist and listen to His Word in scripture when it is read,
Christ becomes so real and present to us in our hearts and mind so much so we
could, like the Israelites, say “We exult and we rejoice that he has saved
us.” In our union with Him, we are healed of our brokenness, fears and
anxieties. For this reason, the celebration of the liturgy and the
Eucharist is a real foretaste of heaven, since in the celebration we experience
the love and presence of God so intensely in our hearts.
However, this is only possible
because of Christ who has come among us in the flesh. In celebrating
Christmas, the Feast of Incarnation, we are acknowledging the presence of God
amongst men. It is in order that we might recognize the love of God that
God became man in Jesus. Through His works of love, compassion and
healing, Jesus revealed to His people who God is and what the kingdom is
like. This is clearly presented in today’s gospel where Jesus is shown as
a Good Shepherd reaching out to the lonely, lost and broken souls who are
searching for direction and meaning in life. And this presence of Jesus
is continued especially in the Sacraments, particularly in the Eucharist and
the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In the Eucharist, Jesus is fully present
to us in His entire being. That is why the Eucharist is the extension of
His incarnation and resurrection.
However, we who are so privileged
to have a foretaste of heaven in our fellowship with one another and our
fellowship with God are asked to share that joy with others. Before
we came to the Lord, we were also crippled; blind, and dumb like many people in
the world. We were crippled in love, blind to our own sinfulness and dumb
when it came to witnessing to Christ and His love. But now that Christ has
healed and given us a share of His love, He is appealing to all of us to make
His Incarnation and presence real again in the lives of so many people who are
still crippled, blind and dumb. Just as He told His disciples, “I feel
sorry for all these people … I do not want to send them off hungry,” He is
speaking these words to each one of us.
The question is whether
we will be like them, shake off our responsibility because of our lack of faith
and love and tell Jesus to
send them away instead. Nay, Jesus wants us to feel for the crowd.
In the miracle of the loaves, Jesus is asking us to multiply Him as He
multiplied the loaves and fed the people. After all, He has fed us
abundantly already. But more than the miracle of the multiplication of
loaves, He is challenging us to share that abundance with others, symbolized by
the seven baskets full of scraps that were collected.
So, how can we multiply
Jesus today? It is fitting
therefore that as we prepare for the Feast of Christmas, when Christ lives in
us and amongst us, we must ask ourselves how Christ is asking us to prolong His
presence among us. His presence is revealed when we are faithful to our
calling in life, regardless of what that may be. Are we generous
enough to show our gratitude to His love for us that we want give our lives to
serve Him and be with Him all the days of our lives? Are we equally
excited as He was in bringing all men to share in the banquet of the kingdom of
His Father?
In order to have the capacity to love and
give like Jesus, we must therefore deepen our love for the Lord and
listen to His calling and cry in our hearts for the love of His
people. Unless we love Him and grow in intimacy with Him, we would not
experience His love and presence in our lives. But if we do, we will be
so filled with His compassion and love that we feel the call to feed His people
who are hungry for spiritual food and the presence of God. Indeed, we are
all called to bring heaven down to earth for all so that anticipating the joy
of heaven, they too will look to that fullness of Christ’s coming in His glory
at the end of time.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights
Reserved
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