20190527
BEARING
WITNESS IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
27 MAY, 2019,
Monday, 6th Week of Easter
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
White.
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First reading
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Acts 16:22-34 ©
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Become a believer and you will be saved,
and your household too
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The crowd joined in and showed their
hostility to Paul and Silas, so the magistrates had them stripped and ordered
them to be flogged. They were given many lashes and then thrown into prison,
and the gaoler was told to keep a close watch on them. So, following his
instructions, he threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in
the stocks.
Late
that night Paul and Silas were praying and singing God’s praises, while the
other prisoners listened. Suddenly there was an earthquake that shook the prison
to its foundations. All the doors flew open and the chains fell from all the
prisoners. When the gaoler woke and saw the doors wide open he drew his sword
and was about to commit suicide, presuming that the prisoners had escaped. But
Paul shouted at the top of his voice, ‘Don’t do yourself any harm; we are all
here.’ The gaoler called for lights, then rushed in, threw himself trembling at
the feet of Paul and Silas, and escorted them out, saying, ‘Sirs, what must I
do to be saved?’ They told him, ‘Become a believer in the Lord Jesus, and you
will be saved, and your household too.’ Then they preached the word of the Lord
to him and to all his family. Late as it was, he took them to wash their
wounds, and was baptised then and there with all his household. Afterwards he
took them home and gave them a meal, and the whole family celebrated their
conversion to belief in God.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 137(138):1-3,7-8 ©
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You stretch out your
hand and save me, O Lord.
or
Alleluia!
I thank you, Lord, with all my heart:
you have heard the words of my
mouth.
In the presence of the angels I will bless
you.
I will adore before your holy
temple.
You stretch out your
hand and save me, O Lord.
or
Alleluia!
I thank you for your faithfulness and
love,
which excel all we ever knew
of you.
On the day I called, you answered;
you increased the strength of
my soul.
You stretch out your
hand and save me, O Lord.
or
Alleluia!
You stretch out your hand and save me,
your hand will do all things
for me.
Your love, O Lord, is eternal,
discard not the work of your
hands.
You stretch out your
hand and save me, O Lord.
or
Alleluia!
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Gospel Acclamation
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Christ has risen and shone upon us
whom he redeemed with his blood.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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cf.Jn16:7,13
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Alleluia, alleluia!
I will send you the Spirit of truth, says
the Lord;
he will lead you to the complete truth.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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John 16:5-11 ©
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Unless I go, the Advocate will not come
to you
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Jesus said to his disciples:
‘Now I am going to the one who sent me.
Not one of you has asked, “Where are you
going?”
Yet you are sad at heart because I have
told you this.
Still, I must tell you the truth:
it is for your own good that I am going
because unless I go,
the Advocate will not come to you;
but if I do go,
I will send him to you.
And when he comes,
he will show the world how wrong it was,
about sin,
and about who was in the right,
and about judgement:
about sin: proved by their refusal to
believe in me;
about who was in the right: proved by my
going to the Father and your seeing me no more;
about judgement: proved by the prince of
this world being already condemned.’
BEARING WITNESS
IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ACTS 16:11-15; PS 149:1-6, 9; JOHN 15:26-16:4]
Bearing witness to the
Good News is not always an easy task. That is why Jesus forewarned the
disciples in today’s gospel, “I
have told you all this so that your faith may not be shaken. They will expel
you from the synagogues. I have told you all this, so that when the time
for it comes you may remember that I told you.” Those who hear the
Good News might perceive it as Bad News. This is how the world feels with
regard to the Christian Message. Christianity is the target of secularism
in the West. This is ironical when Christianity was once an ally because
she promotes human rights, the culture of life and freedom of conscience,
charity and compassion. These values which are meant to help people live
in unity in truth and in love are now turned against Christianity itself.
How did it happen?
Firstly, the gospel is
rejected because of ignorance. Jesus
said, “Indeed the hour is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is
doing a holy duty for God. They will do these things because they have never
known either the Father or myself.” Indeed, we cannot blame them because
they do not know Jesus or the Father. That was what the Lord said at the
cross, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”
(Lk 23:34) This explains why those who
oppose Christianity do so, because they truly believe that Christianity is
against their interests and takes away peace, joy and freedom from their
lives. And some of these are so-called religious leaders that are
intolerant of others’ beliefs and seek to impose their faith on others,
sometimes using violence even.
Secondly, the gospel is
rejected because the heart is closed. Many worldly people oppose the gospel not
because they do not know Jesus or the Father. On the contrary, they know,
but they refuse to walk in truth and in love. They are concerned about
their own selfish interests and want their desires to be fulfilled, especially
sensual and worldly pleasures. This was how St Paul felt as well.
“For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of
them, and now I tell you even with tears. Their end is destruction; their
god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly
things.” (Phil 3:18f)
But we should not be discouraged because
we do not proclaim the gospel alone. The Lord is with us. He comes
to assist us by sending us His Holy Spirit. The proclamation
of the Good News is not about promoting some ideology, be it political, social
or even religious. The Good News is proclaimed in the power of God, not
through our human strength and endeavour. St Paul wrote, “My speech
and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a
demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest
not on human wisdom but on the power of God.” (1 Cor 2:4f) Indeed, Jesus too was
anointed right from the beginning of His ministry in the power of the Holy
Spirit. “Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to
Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country.
He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.” (Lk 4:14f)
How does the Holy Spirit
help us in our witnessing? Fundamentally, by making us witnesses to Jesus
and to the truth. “When
the Advocate comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of
truth who issues from the Father, he will be my witness. And you too will be
witnesses, because you have been with me from the outset.” In order to be
a proclaimer of the Good News, we must be witnesses of Jesus ourselves.
But how can we be His witnesses when we have not seen Him or lived with Him and
walked with Him, unlike the disciples of our Lord? In other words, we
were not with the Lord right from the outset. This is why the Spirit of
Jesus was sent by Jesus from the Father to bring us to a personal encounter
with Him so that through Him, we may come to know the Father and have faith in
Him. Only a personal relationship with the Father through the Son in the
Holy Spirit makes God real to us.
Secondly, the Holy
Spirit leads us to the fullness of truth by reminding us what the Lord taught
His disciples, and He has come to make all things new. “This is the Spirit of truth, whom
the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know
him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. I will not leave
you orphaned; I am coming to you.” (Jn 14:17f) “I have said these things to
you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom
the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of
all that I have said to you.” (Jn 16:25f) The Holy Spirit will convict
our hearts and bring us to the fullness of understanding of all that the Lord
has taught us and applied them to the challenges of our times.
Without this interior conviction of the heart of what the gospel says, we
cannot withstand the arguments and sophistry of the world.
Thirdly, the Holy Spirit
empowers us by giving us the gifts so that we can witness with truth, love,
understanding and fortitude. As
Christians, we receive the messianic gifts as well. “The spirit of the
Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of
counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.” (Isa 11:2) Through these gifts, we are
sanctified and our minds and will are transformed and elevated beyond our human
strength to do the work of God. When we exercise our ministry, especially
the work of proclamation in the power of the Spirit, we will preach and teach
with conviction “and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to
withstand or contradict.” (Lk 21:15)
In the first reading, we
have the example of St Paul in his missionary journey. We can feel his passion and the
sense of urgency in the work of evangelization. “Sailing from Troas we
made a straight run for Samothrace; the next day for Neapolis, and from there
for Philippi, a Roman colony and the principal city of that particular district
of Macedonia.” He wasted no time in announcing the gospel. He did
not allow opposition and persecution to dissuade him from announcing the
gospel. As was his policy, he would first preach to the Jews and when
rejected he would then reach out to the gentiles. There we read how he
joined the Jews for sabbath prayer. Again, he took the occasion to
announce Jesus to them.
Yet it was not simply
because of Paul’s passionate preaching alone that brought about
conversion. It
was the work of the Holy Spirit. He was merely an instrument. “One
of these women was called Lydia, a devout woman from the town of Thyatira who
was in the purple-dye trade. She listened to us, and the Lord opened her heart
to accept what Paul was saying.” This is in contrast to those who oppose and
reject the gospel because their hearts are shut and their minds are full of
pride. When hearts are coarsened by sin, we cannot listen to the Word of
God even if we have a great preacher. When our minds are darkened
by our pride, we will not be able to accept the truth spoken to us. Lydia
was able to listen and to believe only with the grace of the Holy Spirit, and
our Lord who opened her heart. This explains why it is not enough to
preach or even to do good works. In themselves, they are not sufficient,
unless we complement our preaching and support it by prayer, fasting and
penance, for conversion is the work of the Holy Spirit.
And the great consolation
of the Holy Spirit is when those who listen to the gospel receive it with joy. So it is not true that the gospel is
always rejected. With the help of the Holy Spirit, there are hearts that
will be receptive to what we want to share with them. And this was the
case of Lydia. “After she and her household had been baptised she sent us
an invitation: ‘If you really think me a true believer in the Lord,’ she said
‘come and stay with us’; and she would take no refusal.” Indeed, with
God’s help, nothing is impossible. So we should not get discouraged or
feel diffident in sharing the gospel with our loved ones, friends and even
strangers, provided we are in touch with the Lord through prayer and intimacy,
enlightened and convicted by constantly meditating on the Word of God and
through the miracles of transformation and healing when we exercise the gifts
of the Holy Spirit. In the process, God will also send us people to help
us, as was the case with Lydia who was a businesswoman. But after her conversion,
she used her resources to help Paul in his missionary work. The Holy
Spirit will send us helpers as well for the work of evangelization.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights
Reserved
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