20190404
HOSTILITY
AGAINST CHRIST AND HIS GOSPEL
04 APRIL, 2019,
Thursday, 4th Week in Lent
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Violet.
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First reading
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Exodus 32:7-14 ©
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Moses pleads with the Lord his God to
spare Israel
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The Lord spoke to Moses, ‘Go down now,
because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have apostatised. They have
been quick to leave the way I marked out for them; they have made themselves a
calf of molten metal and have worshipped it and offered it sacrifice. “Here is
your God, Israel,” they have cried “who brought you up from the land of
Egypt!”’ the Lord said to Moses, ‘I can see how headstrong these people are!
Leave me, now, my wrath shall blaze out against them and devour them; of you,
however, I will make a great nation.’
But
Moses pleaded with the Lord his God. ‘Lord,’ he said ‘why should your wrath
blaze out against this people of yours whom you brought out of the land of
Egypt with arm outstretched and mighty hand? Why let the Egyptians say, “Ah, it
was in treachery that he brought them out, to do them to death in the mountains
and wipe them off the face of the earth”? Leave your burning wrath; relent and
do not bring this disaster on your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
your servants to whom by your own self you swore and made this promise: I will
make your offspring as many as the stars of heaven, and all this land which I
promised I will give to your descendants, and it shall be their heritage for
ever.’
So
the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had
threatened.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 105(106):19-23 ©
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O Lord, remember me out
of the love you have for your people.
They fashioned a calf at Horeb
and worshipped an image of
metal,
exchanging the God who was their glory
for the image of a bull that
eats grass.
O Lord, remember me out
of the love you have for your people.
They forgot the God who was their saviour,
who had done such great things
in Egypt,
such portents in the land of Ham,
such marvels at the Red Sea.
O Lord, remember me out
of the love you have for your people.
For this he said he would destroy them,
but Moses, the man he had
chosen,
stood in the breach before him,
to turn back his anger from
destruction.
O Lord, remember me out
of the love you have for your people.
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Gospel Acclamation
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cf.Jn6:63,68
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Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word
of God!
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are
life;
you have the message of eternal life.
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word
of God!
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Or:
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Jn3:16
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Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word
of God!
God loved the world so much that he gave
his only Son:
everyone who believes in him has eternal
life.
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word
of God!
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Gospel
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John 5:31-47 ©
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You place your hopes on Moses but Moses
will be your accuser
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Jesus said to the Jews:
‘Were I to testify on my own behalf,
my testimony would not be valid;
but there is another witness who can speak
on my behalf,
and I know that his testimony is valid.
You sent messengers to John,
and he gave his testimony to the truth:
not that I depend on human testimony;
no, it is for your salvation that I speak
of this.
John was a lamp alight and shining
and for a time you were content to enjoy
the light that he gave.
But my testimony is greater than John’s:
the works my Father has given me to carry
out,
these same works of mine testify
that the Father has sent me.
Besides, the Father who sent me
bears witness to me himself.
You have never heard his voice,
you have never seen his shape,
and his word finds no home in you
because you do not believe in the one he
has sent.
‘You study the scriptures,
believing that in them you have eternal
life;
now these same scriptures testify to me,
and yet you refuse to come to me for life!
As for human approval, this means nothing
to me.
Besides, I know you too well: you have no
love of God in you.
I have come in the name of my Father
and you refuse to accept me;
if someone else comes in his own name
you will accept him.
How can you believe,
since you look to one another for approval
and are not concerned
with the approval that comes from the one
God?
Do not imagine that I am going to accuse
you before the Father:
you place your hopes on Moses,
and Moses will be your accuser.
If you really believed him
you would believe me too,
since it was I that he was writing about;
but if you refuse to believe what he
wrote,
how can you believe what I say?’
HOSTILITY
AGAINST CHRIST AND HIS GOSPEL
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ EXODUS 32:7-14; JOHN 5:31-47 ]
Since the healing of the paralyzed man at
the Sabbath, we read of the growing hostility and opposition against Jesus from
the Jewish leaders. Today, Christianity is in many ways under assault
from all sides. Externally, the world is opposed to the
teachings of the gospel. Those involved in business and in politics find
the gospel a nuisance to their aspirations and their pursuits.
Internally, many Catholics are not even convinced of the truth of the Word of
God, paying lip service to the Bible as an inspired book with God as the
author. Much less do they show allegiance to the teachings of the Holy
Father and the Magisterium as authoritative teachers and interpreters of the
Word of God!
Why are people opposed
to the gospel, including so called Catholics and Christians? In the first reading, we read that the
people apostatized simply because they were looking for a vacuum to fill their
empty lives when Moses left them to go to the mountain to receive the Ten
Commandments. Many people seek to fill their emptiness by creating
false gods in their lives. Idolatry is the worship of false gods,
something that cannot give true happiness and life. In a word, idolatry
is a worship of nothingness. Those who worship idols will come to naught.
“All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are
worthless.” (Is 44:9) “Those who make
them will be like them and so will all who trust in them.” (Ps 115:8) Idolatry can come in the
form of worship of our spouse, our children, our work, our possessions, power,
status and our pleasures in life. These things cannot last and bring us
real happiness.
Secondly, like the
Jewish leaders, people are opposed to the gospel because of selfish interests. They are afraid to lose their
status quo in society. As Jesus remarked, “Besides, I know you too well;
you have no love of God in you. I have come in the name of my Father and you
refuse to accept me; if someone else comes in his own name you will accept
him. How can you believe since you look to one another for approval and
are not concerned with the approval that comes from the one God?” People
reject the truth of the gospel because their worldly interests and desires are
being challenged. Some feel that the gospel is a cause of them losing
business in the entertainment world or power in the political and scientific
world, especially when the Church condemns certain forms of entertainment or
immoral bio-ethical practices and social injustices. When the profits of
such people are undermined, they defend their position by aggressively
attacking the teachings of the Church and the Bible.
Thirdly, enemies of the
Church are those who worship their intelligence. They have deep intellectual
pride. They take offence when their views are not accepted.
They only believe in themselves and their reasoning. Anything that is
opposed to their beliefs or their reasoning is not acceptable. They lack
humility to recognize the limits of reason, particularly their own
reasoning. In the final analysis, they are not keen to seek the truth but
they only want to prove that others are wrong. They want to show
themselves to be wise in the world. That is why they go on social media
to make sure their views are heard loud and clear; and vehemently defend their
position right to the end. As Jesus said, they are seeking for human
approval. Jesus came and spoke only for our salvation, out of love for
us. He made it clear, “as for human approval, this means nothing to
me.” Jesus was not interested in arguing with the Jewish
authorities. He knew that such intellectual arguments will go nowhere
because there is a lack of sincerity to search for the truth. All they
wanted was to prove Jesus wrong. So too, there are many enemies of the
Church, within and without, who just want to flaunt their sophisticated
arguments, showing themselves to be very intelligent, not to defend the truth
but to win an argument.
In the light of such
opposition, what must we do? How do we respond to our critics? Firstly, we depend on human
witnesses. Jesus appealed to John the Baptist. He said, “Were I
to testify on my own behalf, my testimony would not be valid; but there is
another witness who can speak on my behalf, and I know that his testimony is
valid. You sent messengers to John and he gave his testimony to the
truth.” We too need Catholics to be witnesses to Christ. We need
courageous Catholics who are willing to stand up for their faith. We need
Catholics who are living signs of God’s love and mercy in the world. We
are called to be like John the Baptist, by being a light in darkness, not
cursing the darkness but simply to be that light. Indeed, “John was
a lamp alight and shining and for a time you were content to enjoy the light
that he gave.” There is nothing more convincing than Christians
witnessing to the truth in their lives by words and deeds. Unfortunately,
many of our Catholics are hiding behind the light and not allowing their lamp
to shine. As Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A city built on
a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts
it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in
the house. In the same way, let your light shine before
others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in
heaven.” (Mt 5:14-16)
Secondly, we need to
rely on the works of Christ.
“But my testimony is greater than John’s: the works my Father has given me to
carry out, these same works of mine testify that the Father has sent me.
Besides, the Father who sent me bears witness to me himself.” Clearly,
the best testimony is always in the fruits and works of what a person
teaches. What he says is not as important as how he lives his life.
In the case of Jesus, we have seen His miracles at work, and His works of
mercy, compassion and healing. How do we know the gospel is true if not
through the fruits of love that Catholics manifest in their lives?
Catholics need to give testimony to Jesus at work in their lives. St Paul
wrote, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who
is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good
pleasure.” (Phil 2:12b, 13) When we listen to the
beautiful testimonies of how God works miracles in the lives of our Catholics,
especially when they are transformed, then we know that this God we worship is
a living God and the true God.
Thirdly, we need to seek
the scriptures to find the Lord. Jesus
reprimanded the Jews, “You have never heard his voice, you have never seen his
shape, and his word finds no home in you because you do not believe in the one
he has sent.” This was because they sought the scriptures to select texts
that justified their prejudices. They failed to see that the scriptures
point us to Jesus, the truth as proclaimed by Him. We cannot see God but
we can see God and hear Him in Jesus. This is what Jesus said, “You study
the scriptures, believing that in them you have eternal life; now these same
scriptures testify to me and yet you refuse to come to me for life!” In
truth, the scriptures point towards Jesus as the fulfillment. He
enlightened the disciples at Emmaus, “These are my words that I spoke to you
while I was still with you – that everything written about me in the Law of
Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” (Lk 24:44) Again at the Transfiguration when
Moses and Elijah appeared together with Jesus, we have a reiteration that Jesus
is the fulfillment of the Laws as represented by Moses and the eschatological
prophet as represented by Elijah. In a word, Jesus is the Word of God in
person, because all the Laws and the prophecies are fulfilled in Him.
This explains why Jesus said, “Do not imagine that I am going to accuse you
before the Father: you place your hopes on Moses, and Moses will be your
accuser. If you really believed him, you would believe me too, since it was I
that he was writing about but if you refuse to believe what he wrote, how can
you believe what I say?”
So today, let us testify
for Jesus. Let us be His
witnesses and light in the world. Let us search the scriptures, not to look for
answers to satisfy our prejudices and preconceived notions, but to allow the
scriptures to lead us to Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life. When we
allow the Word of God to work in and through us, our lives will be changed.
Indeed, “when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted
it not as a human word but as what it really is, God’s word, which is also at
work in you believers.” (1 Th 2:13)
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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