20190110
LOVING THE FAMILY OF GOD
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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1
John 4:19-5:4 ©
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Anyone who loves God must
also love his brother
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We are to love,
because God
loved us first.
Anyone who says,
‘I love God’,
and hates his
brother,
is a liar,
since a man who
does not love the brother that he can see
cannot love God,
whom he has never seen.
So this is the
commandment that he has given us,
that anyone who
loves God must also love his brother.
Whoever believes
that Jesus is the Christ
has been
begotten by God;
and whoever
loves the Father that begot him
loves the child
whom he begets.
We can be sure
that we love God’s children
if we love God
himself and do what he has commanded us;
this is what
loving God is –
keeping his
commandments;
and his
commandments are not difficult,
because anyone
who has been begotten by God
has already
overcome the world;
this is the
victory over the world –
our faith.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm
71(72):1-2,14-15,17 ©
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All nations
shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.
O God, give your
judgement to the king,
to a
king’s son your justice,
that he may
judge your people in justice
and
your poor in right judgement.
All nations
shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.
From oppression
he will rescue their lives,
to
him their blood is dear.
(Long may he
live,
may
the gold of Sheba be given him.)
They shall pray
for him without ceasing
and
bless him all the day.
All nations
shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.
May his name be
blessed for ever
and
endure like the sun.
Every tribe
shall be blessed in him,
all
nations bless his name.
All nations
shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Lk7:16
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Alleluia,
alleluia!
A great prophet
has appeared among us;
God has visited
his people.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Lk4:17
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Alleluia,
alleluia!
The Lord has
sent me to bring the good news to the poor,
to proclaim
liberty to captives.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Mt4:16
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Alleluia,
alleluia!
The people that
lived in darkness
has seen a great
light;
on those who
dwell in the land and shadow of death
a light has
dawned.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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cf.Mt4:23
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Alleluia,
alleluia!
Jesus proclaimed
the Good News of the kingdom
and cured all
kinds of diseases among the people.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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cf.1Tim3:16
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Alleluia,
alleluia!
Glory to you, O
Christ,
proclaimed to
the pagans;
glory to you, O
Christ,
believed in by
the world.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke
4:14-22 ©
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'This text is being
fulfilled today, even as you listen'
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Jesus, with the
power of the Spirit in him, returned to Galilee; and his reputation spread
throughout the countryside. He taught in their synagogues and everyone praised
him.
He came to Nazara, where he had been brought up, and
went into the synagogue on the sabbath day as he usually did. He stood up to
read and they handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll
he found the place where it is written:
The spirit of
the Lord has been given to me,
for he has
anointed me.
He has sent me to
bring the good news to the poor,
to proclaim
liberty to captives
and to the blind
new sight,
to set the
downtrodden free,
to proclaim the
Lord’s year of favour.
He then rolled
up the scroll, gave it back to the assistant and sat down. And all eyes in the
synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to speak to them, ‘This text is
being fulfilled today even as you listen.’ And he won the approval of all, and
they were astonished by the gracious words that came from his lips.
10 JANUARY, 2019, Thursday after the Epiphany
LOVING
THE FAMILY OF GOD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ 1 JN 4:19-5:4; PS 72:1-2, 14-15, 17; LK 4:14-22 ]
What does the
birth of Jesus mean for us? This is what we are called to contemplate with Mary during
this period of Epiphany. The real purpose of Christ being born into humanity is
in order that we might become children of God and hence members of God’s
family. Christ came so that we can share in the life of God. There
is this holy exchange that takes place. God became man so that man can
become “god.”
How do we
know we are reborn in Christ? St John tells us that “we can be sure that we
love God’s children if we love God himself and do what he has commanded us;
this is what loving God is – keeping his commandments.” Christmas is more than
a sentimental festival or a season of merry-making and fun. The
celebration makes sense only when we share in the rebirth of Christ as God’s children.
This rebirth in Christ is seen by our love for Him in doing what He has
commanded us. Indeed, the sign of love is not a mere nice feeling but in
the actions we do for the person whom we love. To love is to desire to
make the beloved loved. This is expressed in keeping His
commandments. All children desire to please their parents because they
love them. Conversely, parents too want to please their children and
often pamper them because they love them. So love is more than just
obeying the commandments of God, it is to seek to love Him in truth and in
spirit.
How are we to
love God? He wants us to love Him in others. This is because
God came for all of us. This is the reason for the Incarnation too.
He wants to be one of us, to feel with us and to be identified with us in our
sufferings and struggles. So the greatest love we can give to God is not
just spending time in prayer and adoration and contemplation but in
charity. St John says, “Anyone who says, ‘I love God’, and hates his
brother, is a liar, since a man who does not love the brother that he can see
cannot love God, whom he has never seen. So this is the commandment that
he has given to us, that anyone who loves God must also love his brother.”
Who is this
“brother” that we are called to love? First and foremost, this brother is a member
of the Christian family. We are therefore obligated not just to
love our loved ones but to love all Christians. This is because as St
John wrote, “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ has been begotten by
God; and whoever loves the father that begot him loves the child whom he
begets.” To love someone is to love whoever he or she loves.
Indeed, many young people feel that their parents do not love them, in spite of
what they have done for them, simply because they reject their friends.
Not welcoming their friends is as good as hurting their sentiments and their
feelings. This is true in every area of life. As a priest who
was a great lover of dogs once said to us, “If you love me, love my dogs!”
So if you love God, then love His children. Every parent wants his
children to be loved, appreciated and recognized in life.
So we must
ask ourselves, what kind of love do we give to our own family members, and then by extension, to
fellow Catholics in the church, in our neigbourhood, in Singapore and beyond
our shores? The truth is that for many of us, our love is very
parochial minded and inward looking. We only reserve our love for those
who love us, our special friends, but we do not reach out to others around us,
whether they are our colleagues or Catholic neighbours. We keep the love
among our small little clique and do not try to include others into our
family. Indeed, the Church is called Catholic because it is
universal. Many Catholics fail to realize that they need to help other
Catholics beyond their family, parish and Singapore. We are called to
help the poorer Catholics, the poorer parishes and those who are in need of
resources and not spend all we have on ourselves and our loved ones.
Secondly, we
are called to love beyond our Catholic Family to those who do not know Him. That was what Jesus
did in today’s gospel. We read that Jesus came to Nazareth, His hometown,
to preach in the synagogue. After reading the text from Isaiah and hearing
Him declare, “This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen”. We
are told that “he won the approval of all, and they were astonished by the
gracious words that came from his lips.” So long as the words of Isaiah
were applied to the Jews, they were happy. Jesus could have just ended
His teaching about the prophecy of Isaiah being fulfilled in their
days. But He did not. Following His exposition, He gave a
good wake up call to His fellow Jews that this Good News of deliverance,
liberation and restoration of their dignity, poverty, physical and spiritual
health was not meant only for the Jews but for all, including the
Gentiles. When they heard this, they were incensed and unable to accept
that God’s blessings could be given to others besides the Jewish people.
Yet, the
truth remains that God has no favourites. This is what St Paul wrote, “there is no
partiality with God. For all who have sinned without the Law will also
perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by
the Law” (Rom 2:11f) In the
gospel, St Luke wrote that Peter, having seen Cornelius, a Gentile, receiving
the Holy Spirit before his baptism, came to understand God’s love for us
all. He said, “I now realize how true it is that God does not show
favoritism.” (Acts 10:34) The
impartiality of God is proclaimed throughout the bible. “For the Lord
your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome,
who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.” (Dt 10:17) Job also declares, that God
“shows no partiality to princes and does not favor the rich over the poor, for
they are all the work of his hands.” (Job 34:19)
So how can we
love beyond ourselves, our loved ones, and our Catholic family? We are called
once again to rediscover His love for us. St John underscores
that the call to love our Catholic Family and beyond is not something beyond
our strength. “We are to love, then, because God loved us
first.” Only because we have been loved by Him can we find the
strength and capacity to love others as He has loved us. Only the
experience of God’s love could give Jesus the impetus to fight against the
temptations of life, as He did immediately after His baptism in the desert after
40 days of fasting and prayer. After such an intimate time with the
Father, “Jesus, with the power of the Spirit in him, returned to Galilee; and
his reputation spread throughout the countryside. He taught in their synagogues
and everyone praised him.”
It was only
with His love that St John could say with conviction, “his commandments are not
difficult, because anyone who has been begotten by God has already overcome the
world; this is the victory over the world – our faith.” Truly, if
God loves us, we can overcome all things. In life, we all have burdens,
but the burden becomes light when everything is done in love and for
love. So if we find the commandments difficult it is because we lack love
in what we do, even in ministry and in service. We see others as irritants
that need to be gotten rid of. There is no love in our hearts. We
do not see them as truly our brothers and sisters, because we do not see the
face of Christ in them.
For this
reason, we are invited to contemplate His incarnation during this Christmastide
so that we can draw out the love of God for us as we contemplate on
His generosity in emptying Himself to share our humanity. Christ has come
to show us the love of His Father in His works and ministry. He has come
to show us the way and to lead the way. It is our faith in God’s love for
us, expressed in His incarnation and His passion that gives us victory because
Christ, who is truly man, has shown us the way. In His humanity, He has
conquered sin and loved us unto death. So we, too, simply have to walk
His way by allowing Him to be born in us through the Holy Spirit given to us at
Baptism, and renewed every time when we celebrate the Eucharist or the
Sacrament of reconciliation. Filled with His Spirit too, we can proclaim
the Good News to the poor so that one, as the responsorial psalm says, “All
nations shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.”
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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