20190204
HALL
OF FAME – HEROES OF FAITH
04 FEBRUARY,
2019, Monday, 4th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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Hebrews 11:32-40 ©
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The example of the Old Testament saints
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Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David,
Samuel and the prophets – these were men who through faith conquered
kingdoms, did what is right and earned the promises. They could keep a lion’s
mouth shut, put out blazing fires and emerge unscathed from battle. They were
weak people who were given strength, to be brave in war and drive back foreign
invaders. Some came back to their wives from the dead, by resurrection; and
others submitted to torture, refusing release so that they would rise again to
a better life. Some had to bear being pilloried and flogged, or even chained up
in prison. They were stoned, or sawn in half, or beheaded; they were homeless,
and dressed in the skins of sheep and goats; they were penniless and were given
nothing but ill-treatment. They were too good for the world and they went out
to live in deserts and mountains and in caves and ravines. These are all heroes
of faith, but they did not receive what was promised, since God had made
provision for us to have something better, and they were not to reach
perfection except with us.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 30(31):20-24 ©
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Let your heart take
courage, all who hope in the Lord.
How great is the goodness, Lord,
that you keep for those who
fear you,
that you show to those who trust you
in the sight of men.
Let your heart take
courage, all who hope in the Lord.
You hide them in the shelter of your
presence
from the plotting of men;
you keep them safe within your tent
from disputing tongues.
Let your heart take
courage, all who hope in the Lord.
Blessed be the Lord who has shown me
the wonders of his love
in a fortified city.
Let your heart take
courage, all who hope in the Lord.
‘I am far removed from your sight’
I said in my alarm.
Yet you heard the voice of my plea
when I cried for help.
Let your heart take
courage, all who hope in the Lord.
Love the Lord, all you saints.
He guards his faithful
but the Lord will repay to the full
those who act with pride.
Let your heart take courage,
all who hope in the Lord.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Jn17:17
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Your word is truth, O Lord:
consecrate us in the truth.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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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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Gospel
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Mark 5:1-20 ©
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The Gadarene swine
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Jesus and his disciples reached the
country of the Gerasenes on the other side of the lake, and no sooner had Jesus
left the boat than a man with an unclean spirit came out from the tombs towards
him. The man lived in the tombs and no one could secure him any more, even with
a chain; because he had often been secured with fetters and chains but had
snapped the chains and broken the fetters, and no one had the strength to
control him. All night and all day, among the tombs and in the mountains, he
would howl and gash himself with stones. Catching sight of Jesus from a
distance, he ran up and fell at his feet and shouted at the top of his voice,
‘What do you want with me, Jesus, son of the Most High God? Swear by God you
will not torture me!’ – for Jesus had been saying to him, ‘Come out of the
man, unclean spirit.’ ‘What is your name?’ Jesus asked. ‘My name is legion,’ he
answered ‘for there are many of us.’ And he begged him earnestly not to send
them out of the district.
Now
there was there on the mountainside a great herd of pigs feeding, and the
unclean spirits begged him, ‘Send us to the pigs, let us go into them.’ So he
gave them leave. With that, the unclean spirits came out and went into the
pigs, and the herd of about two thousand pigs charged down the cliff into the
lake, and there they were drowned. The swineherds ran off and told their story
in the town and in the country round about; and the people came to see what had
really happened. They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed
and in his full senses – the very man who had had the legion in him
before – and they were afraid. And those who had witnessed it reported
what had happened to the demoniac and what had become of the pigs. Then they
began to implore Jesus to leave the neighbourhood. As he was getting into the
boat, the man who had been possessed begged to be allowed to stay with him.
Jesus would not let him but said to him, ‘Go home to your people and tell them
all that the Lord in his mercy has done for you.’ So the man went off and
proceeded to spread throughout the Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him.
And everyone was amazed.
HALL OF FAME –
HEROES OF FAITH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Heb 11:32-40; Ps 31:20-24; Mk 5:1-20 ]
Chapter 11 of the Letter
to the Hebrews could be entitled as Hall of Fame – Heroes of Faith. Just as there is a Hall of Fame for
celebrities and illustrious individuals, the Church also has a Hall of Fame
celebrating our saints and martyrs for the faith. Today’s first
reading is a conclusion to chapter 11, which describes the heroic faith of our
forefathers in the Old Testament. It was because of their faith in God
and their struggles in realizing the plan of God in their lives that the
Christian Faith was born.
Indeed, when we reflect
on the faith of the Old Testament Fathers, we cannot but be inspired by their
faith and vision. Abraham was truly the Father of Faith because he obeyed God to set out to
a land that he did not know. He was a rich man already and old in age,
75. He was childless. Yet, upon the call of God to build a nation,
with a promise of descendants, he set out in faith to Canaan. And when
asked to sacrifice his only son, he surrendered in faith without delay or
hesitation. Moses was equally exemplary in faith. He was
enjoying a good life as a prince of Pharaoh, and later comfortably married and
settled in Midian. Yet, when the Lord called him to deliver the Hebrews
from slavery and lead them to build a nation in the Promised Land, he set
forth. Against all odds, he fought the huge army of Pharaoh and later on
fended off the tribes that sought to harm the Israelites on their way to the
Promised Land. Joshua who took over the leadership from Moses also
managed to subdue all their enemies and brought the Hebrews into the Promised
Land.
The beginning of the
foundation of Israel was weak and the situation was tumultuous. The tribes were divided and were
often harassed by their enemies. God raised prophets and leaders for
them, such as Gideon, Samson, David, Samuel who helped Israel to be delivered
from the hands of their enemies. These leaders with deep faith in God and
focused in their vision, were steadfast in upholding their allegiance to God
and His people. The scripture reading of today also alluded to the
great Prophet Elijah who raised the widow’s son back to life, Daniel who was
put into the lion’s den but was not killed; his three friends who were put into
the furnace but were not burnt. Some prophets or leaders of course were
hurt, imprisoned and killed, like Samson whose eyes were dug out by the
Philistines.
What was important was
that all suffered for God and for their faith and for the people. They did not however merely work for the
present but for the future as well. “These are all heroes of faith, but
they did not receive what was promised, since God had made provision for us to
have something better, and they were not to reach perfection except with
us.” Although they did not realize the vision they had for themselves,
they remained hopeful. They never gave up their dream to build the
Kingdom of God.
This dream to build the
kingdom of God continued in
the lives of John the Baptist, our Lord Jesus Christ, the apostles and the
early Christians. In our time, we have missionaries who came from Europe
to share their faith with people in the East. Beginning from the 15th Century
onwards, Europeans from Portugal, Spain and France came to the East to spread
the Good News of Jesus Christ. Many left their homeland, suffered and
died in the East. Some of them died as martyrs for their faith. We
have read about the Korean and Japanese martyrs. Many were cruelly
tortured to death for their faith, they and their loved ones. Many
missionaries too were tortured and executed mercilessly as the peoples of the
land felt that they were betraying their ancestors and bringing foreign
elements into the country. In our time, closer to us, many Catholics died
for their faith in Cambodia during the reign of terror under the Pol Pot
communist government when many were tortured to death.
Of course, not all
missionaries died such cruel and tragic death. Many had fruitful ministries
in the lands where they were in. In our country, we have MEP
Fathers from France who started the local Church in Singapore. Without
the French Fathers, the local Church would never have been born. Then
other congregations and institutes came, like the Jesuits, the Franciscans and
then lately the Carmelites. Following them, we also have the entry of the
religious brothers and sisters. We have the sisters from the Convent of
the Holy Infant Jesus who came to support the poor in education and social
needs. Then we have the La Salle Brothers and the Gabrielite Brothers
that started schools for the boys. Besides them, we have the Canossian
Sisters, FMDM, FMM and Marist brothers. These are our modern heroes of
faith because they gave up their lives for the service of God and our people.
Having received the gift
of faith from them and the blessings of their service in nurturing our faith,
giving us good education and providing for our material and physical needs, we
too must now ask ourselves how we should in turn become heroes of faith as
well. In
the gospel, Jesus healed the man who was then a pagan living in the country of
Gerasenes. He was possessed by an unclean spirit, lived alone in the
tombs and was extremely violent. However, Jesus casted the evil spirit
out of him. Thereafter, “the man who had been possessed begged to be
allowed to stay with him. Jesus would not let him but said to him, ‘Go
home to your people and tell them all that the Lord in his mercy has done for
you.’ So the man went off and proceeded to spread throughout the
Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him. And everyone was
amazed.” We too were once without faith, as St Peter said, “Once you were
not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy,
but now you have received mercy.” (1 Pt 2:10) He continued, “But you are a
chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that
you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his
marvelous light.” (1 Pt 2:9)
Like the man who was
delivered from the evil spirit, we are called to announce the Lord and His good
news to all so that they too can inherit the good news and share in our joy.
It is with gratitude
that we should continue the good works that our forefathers had done for
us. Without their sacrifices and love, we would not have been able to be
what and who we are today. And there are many people under bondage today,
from their fears, resentment, hurts, betrayals, hatred, anger and illnesses,
poverty and injustices. Like him, the Lord does not ask us just to
witness to our own kind, that is Catholics alone, but to all men and women who
have not met the Lord Jesus, His mercy, compassion and love. We do this
by simply announcing what the Lord has done for us and then concretely
expressing our gratitude by doing for others what He has done for us through
our forefathers, our teachers and leaders who continue to sacrifice their lives
for us and for the country.
For us to continue what
our forefathers had done, we must first be imbued with their faith in God. Without faith, we will not be able
to persevere in our mission. Like them, we will not be spared from
trials, opposition and challenges. We will easily give up unless we have
the faith of Abraham, Moses, the prophets and the apostles. We need to
strengthen our faith in Christ before we can be missionaries for Christ.
Secondly, we need to buy into their vision, the plan of God for humanity.
They were clear and focused on their mission.
The vision was simple,
namely, to establish the reign of God’s love and mercy. The mission is
varied, depending on the charisms,
whether it is in teaching, social involvement, especially among the poor,
marginalized, the hungry, the refugees, spiritual formation in catechesis or
spiritual growth. Regardless, we are to help everyone to grow into the
manhood of Jesus Christ. This mission is therefore holistic, all
embracing, involving the whole person, his intellect, will, affective,
spiritual and physical needs. It involves not just the individual but
also his relationship with the rest of humanity and with the cosmos at large.
There is only one vision but the mission is towards the realization of the
Kingdom of God.
So with the psalmist, in
all our trials, we must take courage and be firm. “Let your heart take courage, all
who hope in the Lord. How great is the goodness, Lord, that you keep
for those who fear you, that you show to those who trust you in the sight of
men. You hide them in the shelter of your presence from the plotting of
men; you keep them safe within your tent from disputing tongues. Blessed
be the Lord who has shown me the wonders of his love in a fortified city. ‘I am
far removed from your sight’ I said in my alarm. Yet you heard the voice of my
plea when I cried for help.” Let us not act like the inhabitants and
owners of the pigs at Gerasa who, out of fear at either the supernatural power
of Jesus, or loss of their livelihood, pleaded Jesus to leave them alone.
We must welcome Jesus and with Him, we must continue the work of liberation of
all men and women from their fears, poverty, injustices, ignorance and slavery
to sin addictions and selfishness.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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