20190425
GOD’S
BLESSINGS PRESUPPOSE SINCERE REPENTANCE
25 APRIL, 2019,
Easter Thursday
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
White.
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First reading
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Acts 3:11-26 ©
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You killed the prince of life: God,
however, raised him from the dead
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Everyone came running towards Peter and
John in great excitement, to the Portico of Solomon, as it is called, where the
man was still clinging to Peter and John. When Peter saw the people he
addressed them, ‘Why are you so surprised at this? Why are you staring at us as
though we had made this man walk by our own power or holiness? You are
Israelites, and it is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of
our ancestors, who has glorified his servant Jesus, the same Jesus you
handed over and then disowned in the presence of Pilate after Pilate had
decided to release him. It was you who accused the Holy One, the Just One, you
who demanded the reprieve of a murderer while you killed the prince of life.
God, however, raised him from the dead, and to that fact we are the witnesses;
and it is the name of Jesus which, through our faith in it, has brought back
the strength of this man whom you see here and who is well known to you. It is
faith in that name that has restored this man to health, as you can all see.
‘Now
I know, brothers, that neither you nor your leaders had any idea what you were
really doing; this was the way God carried out what he had foretold, when he
said through all his prophets that his Christ would suffer. Now you must repent
and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, and so that the Lord may
send the time of comfort. Then he will send you the Christ he has predestined,
that is Jesus, whom heaven must keep till the universal restoration comes which
God proclaimed, speaking through his holy prophets. Moses, for example, said: The
Lord God will raise up a prophet like myself for you, from among your own
brothers; you must listen to whatever he tells you. The man who does
not listen to that prophet is to be cut off from the people. In fact, all the
prophets that have ever spoken, from Samuel onwards, have predicted these days.
‘You
are the heirs of the prophets, the heirs of the covenant God made with our
ancestors when he told Abraham: in your offspring all the families of the earth
will be blessed. It was for you in the first place that God raised up his
servant and sent him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked
ways.’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 8:2,5-9 ©
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How great is your name,
O Lord our God, through all the earth!
or
Alleluia, alleluia,
alleluia!
How great is your name, O Lord our God,
through all the earth!
What is man that you should keep him in
mind,
mortal man that you care for
him?
How great is your name,
O Lord our God, through all the earth!
or
Alleluia, alleluia,
alleluia!
Yet you have made him little less than a
god;
with glory and honour you crowned
him,
gave him power over the works of your
hand,
put all things under his feet.
How great is your name,
O Lord our God, through all the earth!
or
Alleluia, alleluia,
alleluia!
All of them, sheep and cattle,
yes, even the savage beasts,
birds of the air, and fish
that make their way through
the waters.
How great is your name,
O Lord our God, through all the earth!
or
Alleluia, alleluia,
alleluia!
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Sequence
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Christians, to the Paschal Victim
offer sacrifice and praise.
The sheep are ransomed by the Lamb;
and Christ, the undefiled,
hath sinners to his Father reconciled.
Death with life contended:
combat strangely ended!
Life’s own Champion, slain,
yet lives to reign.
Tell us, Mary:
say what thou didst see
upon the way.
The tomb the Living did enclose;
I saw Christ’s glory as he rose!
The angels there attesting;
shroud with grave-clothes resting.
Christ, my hope, has risen:
he goes before you into Galilee.
That Christ is truly risen
from the dead we know.
Victorious king, thy mercy show!
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Gospel Acclamation
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Ps117:24
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Alleluia, alleluia!
This day was made by the Lord:
we rejoice and are glad.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 24:35-48 ©
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It is written that the Christ would
suffer and on the third day rise from the dead
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The disciples told their story of what had
happened on the road and how they had recognised Jesus at the breaking of
bread.
They
were still talking about all this when Jesus himself stood among them and said
to them, ‘Peace be with you!’ In a state of alarm and fright, they thought they
were seeing a ghost. But he said, ‘Why are you so agitated, and why are these doubts
rising in your hearts? Look at my hands and feet; yes, it is I indeed. Touch me
and see for yourselves; a ghost has no flesh and bones as you can see I have.’
And as he said this he showed them his hands and feet. Their joy was so great
that they still could not believe it, and they stood there dumbfounded; so he
said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ And they offered him a piece of
grilled fish, which he took and ate before their eyes.
Then
he told them, ‘This is what I meant when I said, while I was still with you,
that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets and in
the Psalms has to be fulfilled.’ He then opened their minds to understand the
scriptures, and he said to them, ‘So you see how it is written that the Christ
would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that, in his name,
repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all the nations,
beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to this.’
GOD’S BLESSINGS
PRESUPPOSE SINCERE REPENTANCE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ACTS 3:11-26; PS 8:2,5-9; LK 24:35-48 ]
Does repentance come
first before forgiveness, or vice versa? In the Old Testament, the forgiveness of sins
was always preceded by repentance. This has always been the teaching of
the prophets, including John the Baptist. But the Good News that Jesus
came to proclaim is that our sins are already forgiven, even before we
repent. We find this in the parables of the Lost Sheep, the Prodigal Son
and the Lost Coin. (Cf Lk 15) Jesus demonstrated in His life
and ministry when He ate and drank with sinners saying, “Those who are well
have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not
the righteous but sinners.” (Mk 2:17)
But how is it that the
apostles returned to the Old Testament in proclaiming repentance before
forgiveness? Both scripture
readings apparently underscore the need for repentance to receive His
blessings. St Peter said, “Now you must repent and turn to God, so that
your sins may be wiped out, and so that the Lord may send the time of
comfort.” Then we have the evangelist recording Jesus’ instructions to
the apostles, “In his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be
preached to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to
this.” In truth, there is no contradiction. God’s forgiveness was
already given to us even before the coming of Christ, but we are not ready to
receive His forgiveness. Real acceptance of God’s forgiveness entails
repentance of sins.
Truly, there a danger
for those Christians who want to receive God’s blessings without repentance. This was the warning of the great
Lutheran theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, to his fellow Lutherans in his
classic work, “The Cost of Discipleship.” Bonhoeffer defined “cheap grace” as
“the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without
church discipline. Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without
discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ.”
Indeed, when Christianity is professed without commitment, we reduce costly
grace to cheap grace. Such nominal profession of faith will not bring us
any real benefits in life. This was the case with the servant who was
forgiven a great amount of debt by his master but was unforgiving towards his
fellow servant who owed him just a day’s wage. (cf Mt 18:23-35) This is the situation of
many Catholics as well. They might be baptized and confirmed, but they
are not living the life of a disciple of Christ. They do not pray, read the
Word of God, announce Him to others, share His life and love with the rest of
humanity. Instead, their reference point is what the world says and what
others say, not what Jesus has to say about the issues of morality and
life. Complacency is cheap grace.
When we choose to
continue living a sinful life, it is not that we are not forgiven but we have
not received God’s forgiveness that has already been given to us. This is what St Paul meant when he
wrote, “Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do
not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes,
sodomites, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers – none of
these will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Cor 6:9f) Hence, receiving God’s
blessings presuppose that we are willing to turn away from sin and turn to
Him. This was what St Peter said to the crowd. If they repent of
their sins, “then he will send you the Christ he has predestined, that is
Jesus, whom heaven must keep till the universal restoration comes which God
proclaimed, speaking through his holy prophets.” Again, St Peter reminded
them that God’s blessings have always been given to them since the time of
Abraham. “You are the heirs of the prophets, the heirs of the covenant
God made with our ancestors when he told Abraham: in your offspring all the
families of the earth will be blessed. It was for you in the first place that
God raised up his servant and sent him to bless you by turning every one of you
from your wicked ways.” God has chosen us for Himself. He wants to
bless us and our families, but we cannot receive His blessings if we continue
to choose evil and selfishness over truth and love.
But how can we receive
His forgiveness from our hearts? When we are convicted that we have
already been forgiven because of His overwhelming love for us. This was what St Peter sought to strike in
the hearts of his listeners. The call to repentance is always the
initiative of God. He calls us to repentance through His prophets and His
apostles. It is God who invites us to repent and He takes the
initiative. When man sins, God responds to our sins by grace. “But
when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he
saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but
according to his mercy, through the water[a] of rebirth and
renewal by the Holy Spirit.” (Tit 3:4f)
How can this be done? He
began by making them aware of their foolishness and ignorance that made them do
what they did.
He said, “You are Israelites, and it is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
the God of our ancestors, who has glorified his servant Jesus, the same Jesus
you handed over and then disowned in the presence of Pilate, after Pilate had
decided to release him. It was you who accused the Holy One, the Just One, you
who demanded the reprieve of a murderer while you killed the prince of life.
God, however, raised him from the dead, and to that fact we are the
witnesses.” Indeed, many of us sin more out of ignorance and
shortsightedness in the pursuit of freedom, love and life. We all want to
choose life and love but we have chosen the wrong way because we have been
deceived by the world’s offer of pleasure, sex, money, power and fame.
Secondly, we need to use
scriptures to convict our listeners. St Paul wrote, “All scripture is inspired
by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training
in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient,
equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim 3:16) Thus, Jesus told the
disciples, “‘This is what I meant when I said, while I was still with you, that
everything written about me, in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets and in the
Psalms, has to be fulfilled.’ He then opened their minds to understand the scriptures,
and he said to them, ‘So you see how it is written that the Christ would suffer
and on the third day rise from the dead, and that, in his name, repentance for
the forgiveness of sins.'” If we go through the scriptures, then we can
see how Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament.
From Moses, through Isaiah, Zechariah, Jeremiah, the Psalms, Jesus’ passion and
resurrection were foretold. It would be the way that God would save the
world, through the suffering, death and resurrection of His Son. Jesus
shows us the infinite mercy and unconditional love of God. What, then, are we
to say about these things? “If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not
withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also
give us everything else? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is
God who justifies.” (Rom 8:31-33)
Thirdly, we need to
confirm by our personal testimony, our encounters with the Risen Lord. It was not enough that Jesus died but that
He was raised so that we can be certain that He is the One whom God sent to
save us. For this reason, Jesus appeared to the apostles, especially to
St Peter first, since he, like the rest, needed to be assured of Christ’s
forgiveness for them. They said to one another, “The Lord has risen
indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” (Lk 24:34) “They were still talking about
all this when Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with
you!’ In a state of alarm and fright, they thought they were seeing a
ghost. But he said, ‘Why are you so agitated, and why are these doubts rising
in your hearts? Look at my hands and feet; yes, it is I indeed. Touch me and
see for yourselves; a ghost has no flesh and bones as you can see I have.’ And
as he said this he showed them his hands and feet. Their joy was so great that
they still could not believe it, and they stood there dumbfounded; so he said
to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ And they offered him a piece of
grilled fish, which he took and ate before their eyes.” It was this sight
of Jesus, who came to offer them peace and reconciliation by showing Himself as
the Risen Lord that gave them closure for their betrayal of our Lord.
With this forgiveness
received, they became apostles for the Lord, proclaiming His forgiveness and
mercy to the world.
It was Christ that they sought to proclaim; not themselves. Indeed, we
know that someone has encountered the Lord when he or she does not draw people
to himself or herself but draws them to the Lord. “When Peter saw the
people he addressed them, ‘Why are you so surprised at this? Why are you staring
at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or holiness? It is
the name of Jesus which, through our faith in it, has brought back the strength
of this man whom you see here and who is well known to you. It is faith in that
name that has restored this man to health, as you can all see.” Truly, it
is our hope as well that people will come to accept Jesus as Lord through the
recognition of Him as their saviour, and thereby repent and receive His
blessings as a consequence. In this way, with the psalmist, we too can
declare, “How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!
What is man that you should keep him in mind, mortal man that you care for
him?”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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