20190517
CALMING
OUR TROUBLED HEARTS THROUGH FAITH IN GOD’S WISDOM
17 MAY, 2019,
Friday, 4th Week of Easter
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
White.
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First reading
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Acts 13:26-33 ©
|
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God has fulfilled his promise by raising
Jesus from the dead
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Paul stood up in the synagogue at Antioch
in Pisidia, held up a hand for silence and began to speak:
‘My
brothers, sons of Abraham’s race, and all you who fear God, this message of
salvation is meant for you. What the people of Jerusalem and their rulers did,
though they did not realise it, was in fact to fulfil the prophecies read on
every sabbath. Though they found nothing to justify his death, they condemned
him and asked Pilate to have him executed. When they had carried out everything
that scripture foretells about him they took him down from the tree and buried
him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he appeared
to those who had accompanied him from Galilee to Jerusalem: and it is these
same companions of his who are now his witnesses before our people.
‘We
have come here to tell you the Good News. It was to our ancestors that God made
the promise but it is to us, their children, that he has fulfilled it, by
raising Jesus from the dead. As scripture says in the second psalm: You
are my son: today I have become your father.’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 2:6-11 ©
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You are my Son. It is I
who have begotten you this day.
or
Alleluia!
‘It is I who have set up my king
on Zion, my holy mountain.’
I will announce the decree of the Lord:
The Lord said to me: ‘You are my Son.
It is I who have begotten you
this day.
You are my Son. It is I
who have begotten you this day.
or
Alleluia!
‘Ask and I shall bequeath you the nations,
put the ends of the earth in
your possession.
With a rod of iron you will break them,
shatter them like a potter’s
jar.’
You are my Son. It is I
who have begotten you this day.
or
Alleluia!
Now, O kings, understand,
take warning, rulers of the earth;
serve the Lord with awe
and trembling, pay him your
homage.
You are my Son. It is I
who have begotten you this day.
or
Alleluia!
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Gospel Acclamation
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Col3:1
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Since you have been brought back to true
life with Christ,
you must look for the things that are in
heaven, where Christ is,
sitting at God’s right hand.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Jn14:6
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Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, says
the Lord;
No one can come to the Father except
through me.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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John 14:1-6 ©
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I am the Way, the Truth and the Life
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Jesus said to his disciples:
‘Do not let your hearts be troubled.
Trust in God still, and trust in me.
There are many rooms in my Father’s house;
if there were not, I should have told you.
I am going now to prepare a place for you,
and after I have gone and prepared you a
place,
I shall return to take you with me;
so that where I am
you may be too.
You know the way to the place where I am
going.’
Thomas said, ‘Lord, we do not know where
you are going, so how can we know the way?’ Jesus said:
‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.
No one can come to the Father except
through me.’
CALMING OUR
TROUBLED HEARTS THROUGH FAITH IN GOD’S WISDOM
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ACTS 13:26-33; PS 2:6-11; JOHN 14:1-6 ]
“Jesus said to the disciples: ‘Do
not let your hearts be troubled.'” Why were the disciples troubled
and unsettled? Earlier on, after washing the feet of His disciples, Jesus
revealed to them that one of them would betray Him. He said, “Very truly,
I tell you, one of you will betray me.” (Jn 13:21) Secondly, He told them of His
imminent departure. “Little children, I am with you only a little
longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you,
‘Where I am going, you cannot come.'” (Jn 13:33) Finally, Jesus also spoke of
Peter’s denial of Him. Peter who was overly confident of his
loyalty to the Lord said, “‘Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down
my life for you.’ Jesus answered, ‘Will you lay down your life for me?
Very truly, I tell you, before the cock crows, you will have denied me three
times.'” (Jn 13:37f)
We too have reasons to
be troubled. Some of us are burdened by our past sins. We feel we have committed too many evils
and sins in the past. We cannot forgive ourselves. The past events
continue to haunt us and will not allow our hearts to rest in peace. Deep
in our hearts, we wonder whether God will forgive us our past if we were to die
tonight. Will He accept us into His Father’s Home? We feel unworthy
and condemn ourselves. Sometimes, we live in regret. We wonder how
our bad decisions and selfish actions have affected the lives of our loved ones
and friends. How many lives have we destroyed and hurt so badly that they
are not able to carry on in life? We feel guilty that we have impacted
their future adversely with the harsh words spoken, the violence we showed and
our selfish actions. We too have betrayed their trust and our Lord.
Perhaps we are troubled
over the future. We
look at what is happening in society and the world, especially in the areas of
marriage, sexual identity, family and promiscuity; we are bewildered at what is
happening to the time immemorial values that had withstood since the foundation
of the world. Then there is no respect for the sacredness of life
anymore; more and more people are advocating abortion and euthanasia,
notwithstanding the merciless killing of terrorists or wars that are fought or
death caused by injustices and poverty. Finally, the world is also
destroying creation because of the wrongful and unethical use of science and
technology, resulting in global warming and the destruction of the ecology.
So how can we not be
troubled when we see so much evil and selfishness in the world and in ourselves
in the first place? Precisely, the key to overcoming our troubled heart
is not to focus on our feelings and fears but on God. When we focus on our feelings and the
future, we become angry and resentful of the past and anxious about the
future. Rather, we are called to be like Jesus, to focus on God and His
divine power, wisdom and providence. This was the advice of our Lord,
“Trust in God still, and trust in me.” Indeed, instead of looking at
ourselves and our problems, our eyes should be focused on the Lord. Only
by trusting in the Lord can we find peace in our souls. This was what the
Lord went through as well when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane. He
said to His Father, “‘Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet,
not my will but yours be done.’ Then an angel from heaven appeared to him
and gave him strength.” (Lk 22:42f) Jesus found strength in His
Father. “Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say – ‘Father, save
me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour.
Father, glorify your name.” (Jn 12:27f)
But the key to trust is
to be in relationship with Him and His Father. This was why the Lord told the
disciples, “There are many rooms in my Father’s house; if there were not, I
should have told you. I am going now to prepare a place for you, and after I
have gone and prepared you a place, I shall return to take you with me; so that
where I am you may be too. You know the way to the place where I am
going.” Where was Jesus going? We are told that He was going back
to His Father. “Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that
his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father.” (Jn 13:1) Jesus was going back to be with
His Father where He was since all eternity. “I glorified you on earth by
finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in
your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world
existed.” (Jn 17:4f) So it
was not so much that Jesus was going any “spatial place” but He was going to be
with His Father.
If there is a place, it
is in the heart of the Father.
This is what Jesus meant when He told the disciples, “There are many rooms in
my Father’s house; if there were not, I should have told you.” These
rooms do not refer to the different mansions in heaven but it speaks of the
depth of relationship one has with the Father. It is like St Paul urging
the Corinthians, “Make room in your hearts for us; we have wronged no one, we
have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one.” (2 Cor 7:2) So Jesus is making the way
possible for us to have a deep relationship with the Father. He is paving
the way for us to have access to the Father through the Holy Spirit that would
be given to us at Pentecost after His death and resurrection. This is
what He meant when He said, “I am going now to prepare a place for you, and
after I have gone and prepared you a place, I shall return to take you with me;
so that where I am you may be too.”
For this reason, Jesus
is the Way to the Father’s heart.
Hence, when St Thomas asked the Lord, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are
going, so how can we know the way?’ Jesus said: I am the Way, the Truth and the
Life. No one can come to the Father except through me.'” This does not
mean that those who do not know Jesus are condemned but it does mean in the
final analysis that to know the Father, we can only come to Him through the Son
because He reveals to us the Father’s heart. “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) Thus when
Philip asked again, “‘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.'” (Jn 14:8-10) Indeed, as “As scripture
says in the first psalm: You are my son: today I have become your
father.'” This is vouched for in the responsorial psalm today.
As the Way, He is the
answer to the mysteries of this world. He reveals the Truth to us and
gives us Life. That is why He is the Way to the Truth and to Life.
Truth is contrasted with the ignorance of the world which leads us to sin. It was the ignorance of the Jewish
leaders that caused Jesus to be nailed to the cross. This was what St
Paul said to the Jews. “What the people of Jerusalem and their rulers
did, though they did not realise it, was in fact to fulfil the prophecies read
on every sabbath. Though they found nothing to justify his death, they
condemned him and asked Pilate to have him executed. When they had carried out
everything that scripture foretold about him they took him down from the tree
and buried him in a tomb.”
Jesus not only reveals
to us the Truth about Himself and the plan of God for humanity but also gives
us life. “But God raised
him from the dead, and for many days he appeared to those who had accompanied
him from Galilee to Jerusalem: and it is these same companions of his who are
now his witnesses before our people.” In Jesus, we find fullness of
life when we share with Him our shame by burying our sins in our tomb of death
so that we can be raised to new life in Christ. In the resurrection
of our Lord, God showed His fidelity to His Son by raising Him and giving back
to Him the glory that He shared with the Father. So if the Lord has
conquered sin and death, we should not be troubled but place our entire
confidence in Him. He will see to our needs, our victory and our
lives. We can rest our souls in the Lord who said to His Father, “Father,
into your hands I commend my spirit.” (Lk 23:46)
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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