20190103
RECOVERING OUR LOST
IDENTITY
03 JANUARY,
2019, Thursday, Weekday of Christmas Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
White.
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First reading
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1 John 2:29-3:6 ©
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Everyone must try to be as pure as
Christ
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You know that God is righteous –
then you must recognise that everyone
whose life is righteous
has been begotten by him.
Think of the love that the Father has
lavished on us,
by letting us be called God’s children;
and that is what we are.
Because the world refused to acknowledge
him,
therefore it does not acknowledge us.
My dear people, we are already the
children of God
but what we are to be in the future has
not yet been revealed;
all we know is, that when it is revealed
we shall be like him
because we shall see him as he really is.
Surely everyone who entertains this hope
must purify himself, must try to be as
pure as Christ.
Anyone who sins at all
breaks the law,
because to sin is to break the law.
Now you know that he appeared in order to
abolish sin,
and that in him there is no sin;
anyone who lives in God does not sin,
and anyone who sins
has never seen him or known him.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 97(98):1,3-6 ©
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All the ends of the
earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Sing a new song to the Lord
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.
All the ends of the
earth have seen the salvation of our God.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
ring out your joy.
All the ends of the
earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Sing psalms to the Lord with the harp
with the sound of music.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
acclaim the King, the Lord.
All the ends of the
earth have seen the salvation of our God.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Alleluia, alleluia!
A hallowed day has dawned upon us.
Come, you nations, worship the Lord,
for today a great light has shone down
upon the earth.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Jn1:14,12
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.
To all who received him he gave power to
become children of God.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Heb1:1-2
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Alleluia, alleluia!
At various times in the past
and in various different ways,
God spoke to our ancestors through the
prophets;
but in our own time, the last days,
he has spoken to us through his Son.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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John 1:29-34 ©
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'Look: there is the Lamb of God'
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Seeing Jesus coming towards him, John
said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.
This is the one I spoke of when I said: A man is coming after me who ranks
before me because he existed before me. I did not know him myself, and yet it
was to reveal him to Israel that I came baptising with water.’ John also
declared, ‘I saw the Spirit coming down on him from heaven like a dove and
resting on him. I did not know him myself, but he who sent me to baptise with
water had said to me, “The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is
the one who is going to baptise with the Holy Spirit.” Yes, I have seen and I
am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God.’
RECOVERING OUR LOST IDENTITY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ 1 JN 2:29–3:6; PSALM 98; JOHN 1:29-34 ]
The greatest privilege
for us, Christians, is to be known as God’s children. St John wrote, “Think of the love that the
Father has lavished on us, by letting us be called God’s children; and that is
what we are.” Indeed, this is our real identity. However, not many
know that they are God’s children and that is why they do not live as
such. Some of us might pay lip service to the idea that we are God’s
children but we do not believe or feel that way. Consequently, they live
a life without any real direction, purpose or motivation. Their goals in
life at most remain earthly or even worldly. But once they are attained,
they experience emptiness. This is true especially for those who have
climbed the corporate or social ladder and are successful in career, business
or in life.
Why is it that they do
not know their identity? St John said, this is “Because the world refused
to acknowledge him, therefore it does not acknowledge us.” When we do not know who God is or that God
even exists, we live in darkness. Without God, we cannot explain our
existence and that of the world, much less its meaning and purpose. Cut
off from God, we are isolated in ourselves. However, we are contingent creatures.
Man needs to find an explanation outside of himself. Only when he comes
to acknowledge that God exists and that this God is our Heavenly Father, the
Source of Life and Love, can we then know our identity as sons and daughters of
God.
What prevents us from
recognizing God as our Father? It is because of sin. St John says, “Surely everyone who
entertains this hope must purify himself, must try to be as pure as Christ.
Anyone who sins at all breaks the law, because to sin is to break the
law.” Sin makes us focus on ourselves. We do not reach out or
go beyond our ego and our needs. Sin blinds us to the presence of God and
the love of Christ. Sin blinds us and makes us ignorant about what is
right and what is truth. When we are overcome by sin, we are
inward-looking, insecure, suspicious and envious of others.
Not only does sin hinder
us from coming to know God as our Father, but the consequences of sin also make
us lose faith in God.
When we sin or suffer the consequences of the sins of others, whether of
injustice, betrayal, slander, dishonesty or lust, we become angry, not just
with those who hurt us but also with God. We feel that God is not fair
and just to us. He allows the evil men to prosper and get away with their
evil deeds whilst the innocent people suffer. We begin to wonder where
the love and mercy of God is. Truly, in crises, in suffering and in pain,
many give up on God because they do not experience a loving and personal God
that could help lift them up.
For this reason, the celebration
of the birth of our Lord and His incarnation celebrates the love of God made
flesh. When
the Word became man, God was revealed through the humanity of our Lord Jesus
Christ. In Jesus, we come to know not just the existence of God but
that God is our Father. The life of Jesus was lived in filial
obedience to the Father. Jesus in His life and ministry demonstrated His
intimacy with the Father. It was His experience of the Father’s love that
made Him call God, Abba, Daddy, the most intimate terms. This experience of the
Father’s love was reinforced when He was baptized and from the heavens, the
Father spoke, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
(Mt 3:17) Jesus is the only one who knows
the Father. “All things have been committed to me by my
Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the
Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” (Mt 11:27)
Jesus reveals the face
of the Father to us in His teaching.
He tells us that God is the Father of all, regardless. “But I tell you,
love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be
children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil
and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Mt 5:44f) Even our enemies are our
brothers and sisters because God is the Father of all of humanity. That
is why we are called to love each other. This is what it means to fulfill
the command of our Lord, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is
perfect.” (Mt 5:48)
More importantly, Jesus
reveals the face of His Father to us by His life and works. He told Philip who said to Jesus,
“Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus replied,
“Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time?
Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the
Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the
Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own
authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his
work.” (Jn 14:8-10)
In His life, in His very being, in what He did and say, Jesus reveals to us the
mercy and compassion of God.
Jesus shows us the way
to His Father.
Thomas asked, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know
the way?” (Jn 14:5) Jesus
answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No
one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will
know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen
him.” (Jn 14:6f) It was by His
life, death and resurrection that the glory of God is seen. Through the
self-emptying of our Lord in a life of humble service, of compassion and
healing, Jesus shows us how to live as children of God. This is what St
John wrote, “Surely everyone who entertains this hope must purify himself, must
try to be as pure as Christ. Anyone who sins at all breaks the law, because to
sin is to break the law.”
However, Jesus is more
than an exemplar of what it means to be a child of God. He gives us the
power to be His sons and daughters as well. St John wrote, “The true
light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was
in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not
recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not
receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who
believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God
– children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a
husband’s will, but born of God.” (Jn 1:9-13)
How does Jesus empower
us in our sonship and daughtership? Firstly, He takes away the sins of
the world. John the Baptist
testified, “Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the
world. This is the one I spoke of when I said: A man is coming after me who
ranks before me because he existed before me.” By His death and
resurrection, Jesus conquered the evil of sin and demonstrated that the final
word is love and eternal life. Death has no power over us. If we do
not fear death, then we can avoid sin because sin is selfishness and self-centeredness.
A man in sin wants to preserve his life. However, Jesus said, “For
whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for
me will save it.” (Lk 9:24)
Secondly, He gives us
the power of the Holy Spirit.
Again, John the Baptist says, “I saw the Spirit coming down on him from heaven
like a dove and resting on him. I did not know him myself, but he who sent me
to baptize with water had said to me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come
down and rest is the one who is going to baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ Yes, I
have seen and I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God.” After
His death and resurrection, the Father sent forth the Spirit in the name of Jesus.
The Holy Spirit in us helps us to recognize deep in our hearts that God is our
Father. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of His
Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls
out, ‘Abba, Father.’ (Gal 4:6)
So having recovered our
identity in Christ, we are now called to live out this life of sonship and
daughership in imitation of Him.
Our whole life is to show forth the glory of God through our life and our
work. In this way, all peoples could rejoice with the psalmist, “Sing a
new song to the Lord for he has worked wonders. His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation
of our God. Shout to the Lord, all the earth, ring out your joy.” In this
way, we journey to become more and more like Him. This is our hope as
John wrote, “My dear people, we are already the children of God but what we are
to be in the future has not yet been revealed; all we know is, that when it is
revealed we shall be like him because we shall see him as he really is.”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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