20190520
MIRACLES
AND PREACHING
20 MAY, 2019,
Monday, 5th Week of Easter
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
White.
|
First reading
|
Acts 14:5-18 ©
|
|
We have come with good news to turn you
to the living God
|
Eventually with the connivance of the
authorities a move was made by pagans as well as Jews to make attacks on the
apostles and to stone them. When the apostles came to hear of this, they went
off for safety to Lycaonia where, in the towns of Lystra and Derbe and in the
surrounding country, they preached the Good News.
A
man sat there who had never walked in his life, because his feet were crippled
from birth; and as he listened to Paul preaching, he managed to catch his eye.
Seeing that the man had the faith to be cured, Paul said in a loud voice, ‘Get
to your feet – stand up’, and the cripple jumped up and began to walk.
When
the crowd saw what Paul had done they shouted in the language of Lycaonia,
‘These people are gods who have come down to us disguised as men.’ They
addressed Barnabas as Zeus, and since Paul was the principal speaker they
called him Hermes. The priests of Zeus-outside-the-Gate, proposing that all the
people should offer sacrifice with them, brought garlanded oxen to the gates.
When the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard what was happening they tore their
clothes, and rushed into the crowd, shouting, ‘Friends, what do you think you
are doing? We are only human beings like you. We have come with good news to
make you turn from these empty idols to the living God who made heaven and
earth and the sea and all that these hold. In the past he allowed each nation
to go its own way; but even then he did not leave you without evidence of
himself in the good things he does for you: he sends you rain from heaven, he
makes your crops grow when they should, he gives you food and makes you happy.’
Even this speech, however, was scarcely enough to stop the crowd offering them
sacrifice.
|
Responsorial Psalm
|
|
Psalm
113B(115):1-4,15-16 ©
|
Not to us, Lord, but to
your name give the glory.
or
Alleluia!
Not to us, Lord, not to us,
but to your name give the
glory
for the sake of your love and your truth,
lest the heathen say: ‘Where
is their God?’
Not to us, Lord, but to
your name give the glory.
or
Alleluia!
But our God is in the heavens;
he does whatever he wills.
Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
Not to us, Lord, but to
your name give the glory.
or
Alleluia!
May you be blessed by the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.
The heavens belong to the Lord
but the earth he has given to
men.
Not to us, Lord, but to
your name give the glory.
or
Alleluia!
|
Gospel Acclamation
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
Christ has risen and shone upon us
whom he redeemed with his blood.
Alleluia!
|
Or:
|
Jn14:26
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Holy Spirit will teach you everything
and remind you of all I have said to you.
Alleluia!
|
Gospel
|
John 14:21-26 ©
|
|
The Advocate, whom the Father will send
in my name, will teach you everything
|
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘Anybody who receives my commandments and
keeps them
will be one who loves me;
and anybody who loves me will be loved by
my Father,
and I shall love him and show myself to
him.’
Judas – this was not Judas
Iscariot – said to him, ‘Lord, what is all this about? Do you intend to
show yourself to us and not to the world?’ Jesus replied:
‘If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him and make our home
with him.
Those who do not love me do not keep my
words.
And my word is not my own:
it is the word of the one who sent me.
I have said these things to you while
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 I have said to you.’
MIRACLES AND
PREACHING
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ACTS 14:5-18; JOHN 14:21-26 ]
When Judas asked Jesus, “Lord, what is
all this about? Do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” he
was perhaps expecting another great spectacular performance of our Lord to show
forth His power. Indeed, most of us are like Judas. We want
to see signs and portents. Indeed, Jesus remarked, “Unless you see signs
and wonders you will not believe.” (Jn 4:48) Even King Herod was
curious. At the trial of Jesus, we read that “When Herod saw Jesus, he
was very glad, for he had been wanting to see him for a long time, because he
had heard about him and was hoping to see him perform some sign.” (Lk 23:8) Many evangelists think
that the most effective way to bring about conversion is the demonstration of
miracles, especially healing. Indeed, all the big crusades and Christian
rallies and gatherings are centered on miracles and healing.
This is the way to get the crowd to attend and also to get funding.
Catholics are no different. They would go to this shrine and that shrine
to ask for miracles and healing. Many are obsessed with apparitions of
our Lady and sometimes of our Lord. So the question is whether miracles
and healing are necessary to proclaim the gospel message.
The reality is that
miracles alone cannot bring people to faith. In fact, in the first reading, we read that the
miracle of healing performed by Paul led to a misunderstanding of the message
that Paul wanted to convey. Instead of being led to the Lord, they ended
up worshipping him. They thought that Paul and Barnabas were the Greek
gods that came to visit them again. Legend has it that when Zeus and
Hermes visited the city, they found no hospitality except for one poor elderly
couple who took them in. They destroyed all the inhabitants of that city
and rewarded the elderly couple. That explains why they quickly offered
them sacrifices.
This is true even in our
times. Many people worship faith healers, not our Lord. Their faith is focused on the faith healer
rather than on the Lord who heals. Many are superstitious simply because
they are desperate for help. Being vulnerable, they are attracted to all
kinds of faith healing. It is no better than those who seek bomohs and
mediums for help. It must be noted that miracles and healings are not
confined to the Christian faith alone. Even in other religions, there
could also be healing miracles. It is no wonder that those who are simply
focused on miracles will hop from one faith healer to another or from one
shrine to another, or one religion to another. For such people, it is not
a question of faith in God but they would worship any religion or healer that
can give them what they want. Such so-called faith is a self-centered
faith and a utilitarian faith. It does not change lives but makes them
even worse than before.
That is the reason why
our Lord never wanted to use miracles to prove Himself. He did not perform spectacular
miracles to make His mission easier. Indeed, right at the start of His
ministry, He was tempted by Satan to take the easy way out. He was asked
to turn stones into bread. He was brought to the pinnacle of the Temple
and asked to jump to reveal Himself as the Son of God. He was seduced to
worship Satan so that He could have all the kingdoms of the world. (Cf Mt 4:1-11) Jesus performed miracles for
the service of people and always out of compassion. It was never meant to
be a display of power and glory. Thus, He completely ignored King Herod
when he asked for a show of His miraculous powers. Jesus chose to
proclaim the Kingdom of God in human lowliness, in poverty and in
suffering. This is as St Paul would say, “To those who are the called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For
God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger
than human strength.” (1 Cor 1:24f)
On the other hand, we
have those who disdain the use of miracles and healings to draw people to the
Lord. For them,
preaching is more important. To them, it is powerful preaching that will
convict the people and they would turn to the Lord. Hence, we have some
priests and preachers who give much emphasis and time to the work of preaching
and teaching. Worse still, there are some who reduce the proclamation of
the Good News to academic study of the faith. They spend hours debating
and arguing over the doctrines of the Church, using all kinds of philosophical,
sociological, scriptural and theological arguments. All these labour
under the belief that preaching and teaching will change the minds of people
and bring them to faith. I suspect sometimes, when we only preach and
teach but do not minister in the power of the Holy Spirit in the healing
ministry, it is because we lack faith in God’s power to heal today. What
we have is only intellectual faith but we lack experiential faith in the power
of God in our lives.
Precisely, when the
Christian faith is reduced to an intellectual study based on reason alone, it
loses its appeal to the masses. Only people who are educated and are self-sufficient
in their needs have the time to study and speculate on doctrines and
theology. The common people are worried about their food, a roof over
their heads, their sources of livelihood, their health and jobs. When we
cannot feel the presence of God in our lives and faith is reduced to mere
doctrines alone, we will begin to wonder whether God exists at all and even if
He does, He does not care for us and cannot help us. In such situations,
there is no longer any reason why one should even worship Him at all. Without
miracles, faith becomes rationalistic; it is true only in the mind. When
we face real problems, doctrines and words cannot keep us alive.
So the truth lies
between these two extreme positions. The gospel cannot be proclaimed merely by
word alone or by deeds alone. The preaching of the Word must precede the
miracle or follow the miracle. One cannot do away with the preaching of
the Word but one cannot also do away with the importance of miracles in the
work of conversion. Jesus not only asked the disciples to go and
proclaim the Good News to all of creation but assured them that “these signs
will accompany those who believe ….” (Mk 16:15-18) Jesus told the apostles,
“As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Cure
the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.” (Mt 10:7f)
For miracles to be
effective, it must be preceded by preaching, as in the case of St Paul. He healed only after preaching
and faith was present in the crippled man. “He listened to Paul
preaching, he managed to catch his eye. Seeing that the man had the faith to be
cured, Paul said in a loud voice, ‘Get to your feet – stand up’, and the
cripple jumped up and began to walk.” Only when Paul felt that the man
had faith and was ready to acknowledge the Lord, did he then cure him. In
asking Him to stand up, the cripple showed his faith in Christ through His
obedience to the command of Paul. So the miracle was worked on account of
the faith that was sown in the heart of the man through preaching.
However, it is possible
for a miracle to take place first. But explanation must follow, without which
no faith would be elicited. A case in point was when Peter healed the
crippled beggar first and then explained the reason for the healing. “When he saw Peter and John about
to go into the temple, he asked them for alms. Peter looked intently at
him, as did John, and said, ‘Look at us.’ And he fixed his attention on
them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, ‘I have
no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, stand up and walk.” (Acts 3:3f) It was only later on that
Peter explained that it was Jesus whom they crucified and raised by the Father
that healed the lame man. (Acts 3:11-26)
In the final analysis,
the purpose of miracles and preaching is to lead a person to the Lord. Healing miracles do not always
happen. Otherwise, we would live for eternity on this earth. Those
of us who are healed will one day fall sick again. More importantly,
salvation is not just the body but also the soul, the entire being. It is
to live the life of Christ in love.
Only by loving Jesus,
can we live out the commandments of God not in a slavish manner but out of love
for Him and His people. Hence,
in the gospel Jesus said, “Anybody who receives my commandments and keeps them
will be one who loves me; and anybody who loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I shall love him and show myself to him.” When we share in His life
of love and service, Jesus assures us, “my Father will love him, and we shall
come to him and make our home with him.” The Father and the Son dwelling
in us in the Holy Spirit is what sharing in the Trinitarian life of God is all
about. It is this life that alone can fulfill us. This is the
promise of our Lord when He said, “I have said these things to you while 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 I have said to you.”
The Holy Spirit dwelling in us will lead us to Jesus and to the Father.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment