20190509
A
REVEALED RELIGION MEANS THAT WE ARE TAUGHT BY GOD HIMSELF
09 MAY, 2019,
Thursday, 3rd Week of Easter
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
White.
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First reading
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Acts 8:26-40 ©
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Philip baptizes a eunuch
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The angel of the Lord spoke to Philip
saying, ‘Be ready to set out at noon along the road that goes from Jerusalem
down to Gaza, the desert road.’ So he set off on his journey. Now it happened
that an Ethiopian had been on pilgrimage to Jerusalem; he was a eunuch and an
officer at the court of the kandake, or queen, of Ethiopia, and was in fact her
chief treasurer. He was now on his way home; and as he sat in his chariot he
was reading the prophet Isaiah. The Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go up and meet that
chariot.’ When Philip ran up, he heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and
asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ ‘How can I’ he replied ‘unless
I have someone to guide me?’ So he invited Philip to get in and sit by his
side. Now the passage of scripture he was reading was this:
Like a sheep that is led
to the slaughter-house,
like a lamb that is dumb
in front of its shearers,
like these he never
opens his mouth.
He has been humiliated
and has no one to defend him.
Who will ever talk about
his descendants,
since his life on earth
has been cut short!
The eunuch turned to Philip and said,
‘Tell me, is the prophet referring to himself or someone else?’ Starting,
therefore, with this text of scripture Philip proceeded to explain the Good
News of Jesus to him.
Further
along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, ‘Look, there is
some water here; is there anything to stop me being baptised?’ He ordered the
chariot to stop, then Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water and Philip
baptised him. But after they had come up out of the water again Philip was
taken away by the Spirit of the Lord, and the eunuch never saw him again but
went on his way rejoicing. Philip found that he had reached Azotus and
continued his journey proclaiming the Good News in every town as far as
Caesarea.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm
65(66):8-9,16-17,20 ©
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Cry out with joy to God,
all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
O peoples, bless our God,
let the voice of his praise
resound,
of the God who gave life to our souls
and kept our feet from
stumbling.
Cry out with joy to God,
all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
Come and hear, all who fear God.
I will tell what he did for my
soul:
to him I cried aloud,
with high praise ready on my
tongue.
Cry out with joy to God,
all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
Blessed be God
who did not reject my prayer
nor withhold his love from me.
Cry out with joy to God,
all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
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Gospel Acclamation
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord, who hung for us upon the tree,
has risen from the tomb.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Jn6:51
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Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the living bread which has come down
from heaven,
says the Lord.
Anyone who eats this bread will live for
ever.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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John 6:44-51 ©
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I am the living bread which has come
down from heaven
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Jesus said to the crowd:
‘No one can come to me
unless he is drawn by the Father who sent
me,
and I will raise him up at the last day.
It is written in the prophets:
They will all be taught
by God,
and to hear the teaching of the Father,
and learn from it,
is to come to me.
Not that anybody has seen the Father,
except the one who comes from God:
he has seen the Father.
I tell you most solemnly,
everybody who believes has eternal life.
‘I am the bread of life.
Your fathers ate the manna in the desert
and they are dead;
but this is the bread that comes down from
heaven,
so that a man may eat it and not die.
I am the living bread which has come down
from heaven.
Anyone who eats this bread will live for
ever;
and the bread that I shall give is my
flesh,
for the life of the world.’
A REVEALED
RELIGION MEANS THAT WE ARE TAUGHT BY GOD HIMSELF
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ACTS 8:26-40; PS 66:8-9,16-17,20; JOHN 6:44-51 ]
In today’s world where
we seek to promote religious harmony through inter-religious dialogue, there is
always the challenge for Christians, Muslims and even Judaism to compromise on
their belief that their religion is the true religion. This claim is grounded on the fact
that essentially, the three major monotheistic religions believe that their
religion is a revealed religion and not simply a consequence of man’s reasoning
or logical deduction in arriving at the knowledge of God through insight and
understanding. This claim to being the true religion often challenges
those who engage in inter-religious dialogue, simply because on one hand, to
deny that their faith is a true faith would be to go against their
belief. On the other hand, to claim supremacy of their religion would
cause other religions to feel uncomfortable and even apologetic because we can
be sure that believers of other religions are equally if not more convinced
that their religion is the right way to God.
Indeed, the crux of the
issue is the claim that one’s religion is revealed and not based on human
reasoning or man’s attempts to find God. Christianity considers itself a revealed
religion. Faith in Jesus as the Son of God cannot be proven. Faith
in God as the Holy Trinity depends on faith in Jesus who revealed to us that He
is one with the Father and that together they sent us the Holy Spirit.
Without faith in Jesus and in God as the source of revelation, we would not be
able to accept the inerrancy of the Holy Bible, or the teachings of the
Magisterium or the efficacy of the sacraments. Without faith in the
teachings of Christ and the scriptures, we cannot speak of faith in life after
death, the resurrection of the body, the communion of saints, eternal life, the
final judgement, and hell and heaven.
However, as Catholics,
although we believe that our faith is grounded on the revelation of God, it
does not mean that our faith is not reasonable. There is a real difference between
revelation and reason. Our Catholic Faith is not a reasoned Faith, which
means that it is not based on some logical deduction about God, although faith
has its own inner logic. Hence, our knowledge of God presupposes that God
has revealed Himself and our response is faith. This explains why it is
difficult to expect people who have no faith in divine revelation, especially
those who are humanistic and atheistic, to accept the truths of the Christian
Faith, or even other truths claimed by other religions. To them,
everything must be logically proven and even empirically established and
agreeable to their thinking before they could be accepted.
But for us, one cannot
know God fully and without error by mere human reasoning alone. This precisely is the theme of today’s
scripture readings, that we need to be taught by God Himself in order that we
can come to know Him as He really is. This was why Jesus said, “No
one can come to me unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me, and I will
raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets: They will all be
taught by God, and to hear the teaching of the Father, and learn from it, is to
come to me.” But the question is, who can teach us about the Father? No
one can teach us about God unless He has seen God or is with God.
Only Jesus who comes
from God can reveal to us who God is. Jesus made it clear, “Not that anybody has seen the
Father, except the one who comes from God: he has seen the Father.” In
the Old Testament, no one can see God and live. Even Moses had to see the
back of God behind the cleft of the rock. (cf Ex 33:18-23) St John stresses this point of
Jesus being the revealer of God because He Himself has seen God. “No one
has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart,
who has made him known.” (Jn 1:18) And to
Nicodemus, the Lord remarked, “If I have told you about earthly things and you
do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?
No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the
Son of Man.” (Jn 3:12f)
That is why for the
Christian, to see Jesus is to see the Father. And so, when St Thomas asked the Lord, “‘Lord,
we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said
to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through me. ‘If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now
on you do know him and have seen him.'” (Jn 14:5-7) Again Jesus reiterated to Philip
who said to Him, “‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’
Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still
do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show
us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father
is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father
who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father
and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works
themselves.” (Jn 14:8-11)
Consequently, knowledge
of God presupposes our faith in Jesus. Jesus is the revealer and the revelation
of God because He is identified with God. He is the bread of
life. “I tell you most solemnly, everybody who believes has eternal
life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the desert and they
are dead; but this is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that a man may
eat it and not die. I am the living bread which has come down from
heaven.” Jesus is the Word of God. Manna is more than just physical
bread but a foreshadowing of the Word of God. That is the reason why the
discourse on Jesus as the Bread of Life is preceded by the multiplication of
loaves for the Five Thousand. Jesus as the New Moses not only came to
give us physical food but more importantly, spiritual food.
What is this spiritual
food that gives us life if not our relationship with God? Jesus’ coming in the flesh is in order
that we can know Him, see Him, feel Him, touch Him and hear Him. This was
what St John wrote, “We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we
have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched
with our hands, concerning the word of life -this life was revealed, and we
have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was
with the Father and was revealed to us – we declare to you what we have
seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our
fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.” (1 Jn 1:1-3)
Eternal life is to be in
relationship with the Father, to be one in mind and in heart. It is this relationship with God
that counts at the end of the day. The Lord reminds us that the first
commandment is “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with
all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second
is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other
commandment greater than these.” (Mk 12:30f) Loving God and loving our
neighbours and oneself are the deepest levels of relationship. This is
what it means to be in communion and to receive communion. And it is for
this reason that Jesus not only gives us the Word of God but also His flesh so
that we can be in communion with Him. He said, “Anyone who eats this
bread will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the
life of the world.” This flesh, of course, is the Eucharist, which is the
Sacrament of His real presence for us so that receiving Him in communion, we
can be in union with Him and with His Father in the Spirit and in union with
our brothers and sisters.
Today, like Philip, we
are called to explain to others who are drawn by the Father how Jesus is the
fullness of God’s revelation so that they can find faith in Him. Jesus said, “No one can
come to me unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me, and I will raise him
up at the last day.” Led by the Spirit, he took the initiative of
explaining to the Eunuch how Jesus was the fulfillment of the text of the
Suffering Servant of Isaiah. Having been taught by the Holy Spirit
through Philip, he found faith and sought for baptism. We too must
inspire faith and bring people to Jesus. But we leave the rest to the
Holy Spirit to convict the person’s heart and bring Him to faith. What is
required for the person is simply his humility and docility.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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