20181215 BE A FORERUNNER OF CHRIST
15 DECEMBER,
2018, Saturday, 2nd Week, Advent
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Violet.
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First reading
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The prophet Elijah will come again
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The prophet Elijah arose like a fire,
his word flaring like a torch.
It was he who brought famine on the
people,
and who decimated them in his
zeal.
By the word of the Lord, he shut up the
heavens,
he also, three times, brought
down fire.
How glorious you were in your miracles,
Elijah!
Has anyone reason to boast as
you have?
Taken up in the whirlwind of fire,
in a chariot with fiery
horses;
designated in the prophecies of doom
to allay God’s wrath before
the fury breaks,
to turn the hearts of fathers towards
their children,
and to restore the tribes of
Jacob,
Happy shall they be who see you,
and those who have fallen
asleep in love.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Lord of hosts, bring us
back; let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.
O shepherd of Israel, hear us,
shine forth from your cherubim
throne.
O Lord, rouse up your might,
O Lord, come to our help.
Lord of hosts, bring us
back; let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.
God of hosts, turn again, we implore,
look down from heaven and see.
Visit this vine and protect it,
the vine your right hand has
planted.
Lord of hosts, bring us
back; let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.
May your hand be on the man you have
chosen,
the man you have given your
strength.
And we shall never forsake you again;
give us life that we may call
upon your name.
Lord of hosts, bring us
back; let your face shine on us and we shall be saved.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The day of the Lord is near;
Look, he comes to save us.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Lk3:4,6
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Prepare a way for the Lord,
make his paths straight,
and all mankind shall see the salvation of
God.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Elijah has come already and they did not
recognise him
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As they came down from the mountain the
disciples put this question to Jesus, ‘Why do the scribes say that Elijah has
to come first?’ ‘True;’ he replied ‘Elijah is to come to see that everything is
once more as it should be; however, I tell you that Elijah has come already and
they did not recognise him but treated him as they pleased; and the Son of Man
will suffer similarly at their hands.’ The disciples understood then that he
had been speaking of John the Baptist.
BE A FORERUNNER OF CHRIST
In the responsorial
psalm, the psalmist expresses our cry to the Lord to come and save us. “O shepherd of Israel, hear us,
shine forth from your cherubim throne. O Lord, rouse up your might, O Lord,
come to our help. God of hosts, turn again, we implore, look down from
heaven and see. Visit this vine and protect it, the vine your right hand has
planted.” Indeed, many are seeking to see the Lord and His mercy.
“Lord of hosts, bring us back; let your face shine on us and we shall be
saved.” We recognize our misery and our emptiness in
life. We know that we are seeking the face of God so that we can
find real happiness. The book of Sirach remarks, “Happy shall they be who
see you, and those who have fallen asleep in love.”
How can this prayer be
fulfilled today? The truth is that Christ has already come but many do
not recognize Him.
Christ in His incarnation has shown us the face of God by His life, teaching,
miracles and most of all, the greatest miracle of His passion, death and
resurrection. Jesus told Philip who too wanted to see the face of the
Father, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know
me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the
Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and
the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but
the Father who dwells in me does his works.” (Jn 14:9-10)
Of course, this is not
surprising because even the Jews did not recognize the prophets when they came,
and least of all, the forerunner of the Messiah, John the Baptist. Instead, they found excuses to
reject Him and yet pretended to wait for the return of Elijah as prophesied in
Malachi, “Lo, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible
day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of parents to their children and
the hearts of children to their parents, so that I will not come and strike the
land with a curse.” (Mal 4:5f) The truth is that he has already come in the
person of John the Baptist. This was what Jesus said, “True, Elijah is to come
to see that everything is once more as it should be; however, I tell you that
Elijah has come already and they did not recognise him but treated him as they
pleased; and the Son of Man will suffer similarly at their hands.”
Like Elijah, John the
Baptist preached boldly in his message of repentance. Indeed, Elijah was one of the
greatest prophets, “How glorious you were in your miracles, Elijah! Has anyone
reason to boast as you have? – taken up in the whirlwind of fire, in a chariot
with fiery horses; designated in the prophecies of doom to allay God’s wrath
before the fury breaks, to turn the hearts of fathers towards their children,
and to restore the tribes of Jacob.” John the Baptist was sent to do the
same thing, to prepare the Way for the Lord to come by asking the people to repent
of their sins.
Why is it that the world
could not recognize Jesus when He came and cannot recognize Him even
today? There
are three reasons why the world cannot recognize the presence of the Messiah in
our midst. Firstly, many are wounded by life’s tragedies,
failures in life, broken relationships, financial difficulties and
sicknesses. When we face so much pain and suffering in life, we wonder
whether God is with us and whether He truly loves us because if He did, He
would have come to our rescue. There are some too who are deeply wounded by the
Church, especially religious leaders and also fellow Catholics. They
cannot accept that in a family of God, they could be treated in that manner
without compassion and justice. Finally, many are misled by the illusions
of the world and the worldly lifestyle of pleasure, power, materialism,
relativism and egoism that is being promoted. As a consequence,
they are led deeper into sin, darkness, addictions, slavery and hopelessness.
So how can we help them
if not by being a forerunner like Elijah and John the Baptist? We must be fired up by being the torch of
Elijah and the light of the world. “The prophet Elijah arose like a fire,
his word flaring like a torch. It was he who brought famine on them, and who
decimated them in his zeal.” Following John the Baptist, we are called to
reveal the face of God to the world through our words and actions. This
was what was prophesied of John the Baptist when he was born, which we can also
make our own. “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most
High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to
give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins. By
the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to
give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to
guide our feet into the way of peace.”
The season of Advent
requires that each one of us acts as a forerunner for Christ to the
world. This
explains why the Church advocates all the spiritual, material and social
preparations. We want the world to be reminded of Christ’s coming as
Saviour of the World. Indeed, through our good works and encouragement, we can
reveal the face of Christ to a broken and wounded people who have lost hope in
their future and of life now and hereafter. It is only when we
reach out to the poor, the abandoned, the lonely elderly, the misunderstood
colleague, the disheartened parents, the frustrated and dejected young people
that they will see the face of God again.
Good works and deeds of
charity must be followed by our sharing of Christ at work in our lives. We must find occasions to talk to
them about Jesus, the Saviour of humanity. We do this not by preaching or
quoting from the scriptures or expounding our lofty doctrines but simply by
sharing with others what Christ has done for us and how by turning to Him in
prayer, meditation and especially in the reception of the Eucharist and the
sacrament of reconciliation, we find healing, strength and encouragement.
In a nutshell, it is not enough to be the Good News to others, but we must give
them the Good News incarnated in Christ as well. Only when the time is
opportune, without sounding too imposing, do we invite them gently to return to
Church, make a good confession, celebrate the Eucharist, and for those who are
more receptive, to attend a silent or community renewal retreat. For
those who have left the Church, they should be invited for Christian
fellowship, Christmas celebration and be encouraged to join groups like
Landings, Alpha Program, Charismatic Renewal, etc. Most importantly, they
need to be introduced to good and exemplary Catholics.
For this reason, we
cannot be forerunners of Christ our Saviour unless we first imbibe the message
of John the Baptist.
We ourselves must first repent, acknowledge and confess our sins and live a
life of holiness. Without which, we will be ineffective messengers of our
Lord. Conversion and repentance must begin with us. We must accept
Christ ourselves. We must first welcome Christ to our lives by entering
into the wilderness in prayer and contemplation of the Word of God, like John
the Baptist. Unless we pray and ask for His grace, we cannot be
authentic witnesses. That is the real problem. Many Catholics want to
be saviours of the world, but they do it without the help of the One and Only
Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ. They do not pray and spend time with the
Lord before they serve Him in mission. Indeed, we need to ask for His grace,
especially for our leaders. With the psalmist, we too pray, “May your
hand be on the man you have chosen, the man you have given your strength. And
we shall never forsake you again; give us life that we may call upon your
name.” In the final analysis, only God can save us and show us His
face. We are like John the Baptist, happy to hear the bridegroom’s voice
and happier to know that the Lord is loved and known by so many. As
a forerunner, we remain conscious that our role is to make the Lord increase
and we decrease. He is the Word, we are the voice. He
is the Light, we are the torch. He is the Saviour, we are simply
His messengers.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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