20190104
SEEING THE SALVATION
OF OUR GOD
04 JANUARY,
2019, Friday, Weekday of Christmas Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
White.
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First reading
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1 John 3:7-10 ©
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No-one sins who has been begotten by God
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My children, do not let anyone lead you
astray:
to live a holy life
is to be holy just as he is holy;
to lead a sinful life is to belong to the
devil,
since the devil was a sinner from the
beginning.
It was to undo all that the devil has done
that the Son of God appeared.
No one who has been begotten by God sins;
because God’s seed remains inside him,
he cannot sin when he has been begotten by
God.
In this way we distinguish the children of
God
from the children of the devil:
anybody not living a holy life
and not loving his brother
is no child of God’s.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 97(98):1,7-9 ©
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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.
Let the sea and all within it, thunder;
the world, and all its
peoples.
Let the rivers clap their hands
and the hills ring out their
joy
All the ends of the
earth have seen the salvation of our God.
at the presence of the Lord: for he comes,
he comes to rule the earth.
He will rule the world with justice
and the peoples with fairness.
All the ends of the
earth have seen the salvation of our God.
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Gospel Acclamation
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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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Or:
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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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Gospel
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John 1:35-42 ©
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'We have found the Messiah'
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As John stood with two of his disciples,
Jesus passed, and John stared hard at him and said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of
God.’ Hearing this, the two disciples followed Jesus. Jesus turned round, saw
them following and said, ‘What do you want?’ They answered, ‘Rabbi,’ –
which means Teacher – ‘where do you live?’ ‘Come and see’ he replied; so
they went and saw where he lived, and stayed with him the rest of that day. It
was about the tenth hour.
One
of these two who became followers of Jesus after hearing what John had said was
Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. Early next morning, Andrew met his brother
and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ – which means the
Christ – and he took Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked hard at him and said,
‘You are Simon son of John; you are to be called Cephas’ – meaning Rock.
SEEING THE SALVATION OF OUR GOD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 John 3:7-10; Ps 98:1,7-9; John 1:35-42 ]
We are still pondering
like Mary on the wonders of Christ’s birth. Like the shepherds, we are astonished that the
baby Jesus was proclaimed as the Saviour, Christ our Lord, the Word made flesh,
the Son of God. How is Christ the Saviour of the world? He came to
bring us the light of truth and love. This is the theme of the prologue
of St John’s gospel when he wrote, “What has come into being in him was
life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the
darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (Jn 1:4f)
This theme of light runs
through the whole gospel of John. Jesus is the light of the world. In today’s gospel, we note that it
was “the next day” as “John stood there with two of his disciples, Jesus
passed, and John stared hard at him and said, “Look, there is the lamb of
God.” (Jn 1:35) St John
made clear that he was not the light but only one who pointed to the
light. Again, the evangelist remarked, “they went and saw where he lived,
and stayed with him the rest of that day. It was about the tenth hour.”
They saw Jesus in the light of the day because Jesus is the light of the
world. To underscore that Jesus is the light, we read further that “early
next morning, Andrew met his brother and said to him, ‘We have found the
Messiah’ – which means the Christ – and he took Simon to Jesus.”
Again, it was at daylight that Christ was revealed to Simon Peter.
Indeed, we read at the
midnight mass that Jesus is the fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah. “The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness – on them
light has shined.” (Isa 9:2) He is
that “true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.”
(Jn 1:9) Hence, throughout St John’s
gospel, Jesus is portrayed as the light. Nicodemus came in the dark
to hear Jesus the Light revealing to him the things of heaven and about how to
be born again. (cf Jn 3:2-12) The Samaritan woman’s
sinful past was revealed to her by the Lord. She said to the people,
“Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the
Messiah, can he?” (Jn 4:29) Jesus gave sight to the man
born blind. Unlike the religious leaders who suffered from spiritual blindness,
he could see. (Jn 9) Lazarus was
in the tomb living in darkness but the Lord moved the stone away and brought
Him back to life. (Jn 11) Thomas who
lacked faith was not able to see the Lord but later with the encouragement of
the community, he was given faith to see Him. And so, he declared “My
Lord and my God!” (Jn 20:28)
However, those who
reject Jesus cannot see the light.
We read in John’s gospel that Judas “after receiving the piece of bread, he
immediately went out. And it was night.” (Jn 13:30) This is what St John
warns us in the first reading. He said, “do not let anyone lead you
astray: to live a holy life is to be holy just as God is holy; to lead a sinful
life is to belong to the devil, since the devil was a sinner from the
beginning. It was to undo all that the devil has done that the Son of God
appeared.” This is why the world cannot accept the gospel of our Lord.
The world lives in darkness. This is the reason why the world cannot tell
the difference between light and darkness. Without the light of God,
relativism is the rule of the day. In advocating relativism the world in
truth is admitting that we do not know the truth. Everything is grey to
us. Everything seems good and bad. So we cannot make a decision.
This is precisely the
tactic of the Evil One. He presents that which is evil as good. Just as he misled Eve into thinking that
eating the forbidden fruit will give her fuller light and knowledge, the Devil
is misleading the world into thinking that the sins we commit are good for
us. He presents sex, pornography, same-sex union, abortion and euthanasia
as something good for us. That was how he tried to entice Jesus in the
Temptation Story, presenting to Him what appeared to be of help to His ministry
of proclaiming the kingdom of God by tempting Him to use His divine powers for
easy victory. But Jesus saw through the deception of the Evil
One. Of course, the devil never gave up and tried to dissuade Him
from taking the path of the cross by using Peter to hold Him back saying, “‘God
forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.’ But he turned and said to
Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are
setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.'” (Mt 16:22f)
Today, if we want to
overcome the deception of the Evil One and not live in darkness as Judas did,
we must come to the Lord. This
was the case of the disciples of John the Baptist. When their
master pointed out to them, “Look, there is the lamb of God” the two disciples,
upon hearing, this took the initiative to follow after Jesus. They did
not hang on to John the Baptist since they have been told that he was not the
light. We too must be ready to let go of our past, all that we cherish
and relish, the things of the world, glory, power, honour, wealth and
popularity so that we can find greater happiness in Christ. Like the
disciples of John the Baptist, we might have to leave and be detached even from
things that are good for something greater. And John the Baptist was
happy to let go of his disciples and give them to Jesus because he was not the
light but only an announcer of the light.
But we must be clear of
why we follow Jesus. Many Christians are baptized but they do not follow
Jesus. Some
are baptized because their friends are all Christians. Some are baptized
because their families have been Christians for generations. Some are
baptized so that they can send their children to Catholic Schools. Some
are baptized because it is good to have a religion for backup. Some are
baptized because they want God to give them wealth, power and glory. Some
are baptized because of class consciousness. That was why “Jesus
turned round, saw them following and said, ‘What do you want?'” This is
an important question. What are we searching for in life? Are we
seriously looking for the truth? Are we truly seeking for authentic love?
To find the truth and to
experience love, we do not listen to lectures and talks. They are good for the mind but we
will not be converted simply by listening to talks. Jesus did not sit the
potential disciples down and began to teach them about God and about
Himself. Neither did they ask Him questions about God. Instead,
they asked, “‘Rabbi,’- which means Teacher – ‘where do you live?’ ‘Come and
see,’ he replied; so they went and saw where he lived, and stayed with him the
rest of that day. It was about the tenth hour.” There is nothing greater
than personal knowledge through intimacy. Only when they had lived with
Jesus, not just listening to Him but seeing how He lived, loved and cared, did
they come to believe that Jesus indeed was the Messiah. It was such a
revealing encounter that the time was noted. “It was about the tenth
hour.” Their lives were transformed.
Indeed, all those who
encounter the Lord in a personal way will have their lives transformed. They will be born again as Simon
did. He was given a new name, a new mission and a new life. “Jesus
looked hard at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John; you are to be called
Cephas.” Indeed, those of us who have come to know the Lord not just
intellectually but experienced Him personally as the love of God and are
baptized in Him, will walk in truth and in love too. In this way, the
words of St John are fulfilled. “No one who has been begotten by God sins;
because God’s seed remains inside him, he cannot sin when he has been begotten
by God. In this way we distinguish the children of God from the children of the
devil: anybody not living a holy life and not loving his brother is no child of
God’s.” When Christ is our light and our truth, He will lead us to the
fullness of life. Following Him and allowing Jesus to be born in our hearts,
will keep us from sin because He gives us the power of sonship. “He came
to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to
all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become
children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh
or of the will of man, but of God.” (Jn 1:11-13)
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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