Tuesday, 28 May 2019

WHEN THE LIMITS OF DIALOGUE HAVE BEEN REACHED, FAITH TAKES OVER

20190529 WHEN THE LIMITS OF DIALOGUE HAVE BEEN REACHED, FAITH TAKES OVER


29 MAY, 2019, Wednesday, 6th Week of Easter
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: White.

First reading
Acts 17:15,22-18:1 ©

I proclaim the God you already worship without knowing it
Paul’s escort took him as far as Athens, and went back with instructions for Silas and Timothy to rejoin Paul as soon as they could.
  So Paul stood before the whole Council of the Areopagus and made this speech:
  ‘Men of Athens, I have seen for myself how extremely scrupulous you are in all religious matters, because I noticed, as I strolled round admiring your sacred monuments, that you had an altar inscribed: To An Unknown God. Well, the God whom I proclaim is in fact the one whom you already worship without knowing it.
  ‘Since the God who made the world and everything in it is himself Lord of heaven and earth, he does not make his home in shrines made by human hands. Nor is he dependent on anything that human hands can do for him, since he can never be in need of anything; on the contrary, it is he who gives everything – including life and breath – to everyone. From one single stock he not only created the whole human race so that they could occupy the entire earth, but he decreed how long each nation should flourish and what the boundaries of its territory should be. And he did this so that all nations might seek the deity and, by feeling their way towards him, succeed in finding him. Yet in fact he is not far from any of us, since it is in him that we live, and move, and exist, as indeed some of your own writers have said:
“We are all his children.”
‘Since we are the children of God, we have no excuse for thinking that the deity looks like anything in gold, silver or stone that has been carved and designed by a man.
  ‘God overlooked that sort of thing when men were ignorant, but now he is telling everyone everywhere that they must repent, because he has fixed a day when the whole world will be judged, and judged in righteousness, and he has appointed a man to be the judge. And God has publicly proved this by raising this man from the dead.’
  At this mention of rising from the dead, some of them burst out laughing; others said, ‘We would like to hear you talk about this again.’ After that Paul left them, but there were some who attached themselves to him and became believers, among them Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman called Damaris, and others besides.
  After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 148:1-2,11-14 ©
Your glory fills all heaven and earth.
or
Alleluia!
Praise the Lord from the heavens,
  praise him in the heights.
Praise him, all his angels,
  praise him, all his host.
Your glory fills all heaven and earth.
or
Alleluia!
All earth’s kings and peoples,
  earth’s princes and rulers,
young men and maidens,
  old men together with children.
Your glory fills all heaven and earth.
or
Alleluia!
Let them praise the name of the Lord
  for he alone is exalted.
The splendour of his name
  reaches beyond heaven and earth.
Your glory fills all heaven and earth.
or
Alleluia!
He exalts the strength of his people.
  He is the praise of all his saints,
of the sons of Israel,
  of the people to whom he comes close.
Your glory fills all heaven and earth.
or
Alleluia!

Gospel Acclamation
Col3:1
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!
Or:
Jn14:16
Alleluia, alleluia!
I shall ask the Father,
and he will give you another Advocate 
to be with you for ever.
Alleluia!

Gospel
John 16:12-15 ©

The Spirit of truth will lead you to the complete truth
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘I still have many things to say to you
but they would be too much for you now.
But when the Spirit of truth comes
he will lead you to the complete truth,
since he will not be speaking as from himself
but will say only what he has learnt;
and he will tell you of the things to come.
He will glorify me,
since all he tells you
will be taken from what is mine.
Everything the Father has is mine;
that is why I said:
All he tells you
will be taken from what is mine.

WHEN THE LIMITS OF DIALOGUE HAVE BEEN REACHED, FAITH TAKES OVER

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ACTS 17:1522-18:1; JOHN 16:12-15 ]
How should we proclaim Christ to the world?  Should we follow the evangelical way of simply announcing Christ as the unique and only Saviour of the world without compromising our words as what Peter said to the Sanhedrin, “Let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead.  This Jesus is ‘the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.’ There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.”  (Acts 4:10-12)  In this instance, the Word of God is simply proclaimed without any attempt at inculturation.  Of course, in the case of Peter, he was addressing the Jewish religious leaders and so they knew what and who he was talking about.
Or should we follow that of Paul in Athens when he spoke “before the whole Council of the Areopagus” through natural theology or reason?  St Paul appealed to the intelligentsia of Athens, the academics, intellectuals and philosophers by using reason to bring them to faith in Christ.  He began his speech by underscoring what they had in common.  He commended them on their search for the Unknown God.  He said, “Men of Athens, I have seen for myself how extremely scrupulous you are in all religious matters, because I noticed, as I strolled round admiring your sacred monuments, that you had an altar inscribed: To An Unknown God.”  Such a common starting point opens up the possibility of dialogue because the truth is that all of us, regardless whether we are believers of any religion or not, are seeking for the ultimate truth and love in life.
Next, he went on to show that this Unknown God was already in their midst as He is the creator of all.  He said, “Well, the God whom I proclaim is in fact the one whom you already worship without knowing it. Since the God who made the world and everything in it is himself Lord of heaven and earth, he does not make his home in shrines made by human hands. Nor is he dependent on anything that human hands can do for him, since he can never be in need of anything; on the contrary, it is he who gives everything – including life and breath – to everyone. From one single stock he not only created the whole human race so that they could occupy the entire earth.” God, therefore, is not domesticated in statues or shrines because He transcends all that He has created.
Furthermore, the one God not only created the world but He created us and we are all called His children.  “From one single stock he not only created the whole human race so that they could occupy the entire earth, but he decreed how long each nation should flourish and what the boundaries of its territory should be. And he did this so that all nations might seek the deity and, by feeling their way towards him, succeed in finding him.  Yet in fact he is not far from any of us, since it is in him that we live, and move, and exist, as indeed some of your own writers have said: ‘We are all his children.’   Since we are the children of God, we have no excuse for thinking that the deity looks like anything in gold, silver or stone that has been carved and designed by man.”
Until this stage, what St Paul said made sense and resonated with the intellectuals.  This is also the approach the Church in the Vatican offers us in our outreach to non-Christian religions. Following Paul’s speech at Areopagus, Vatican II in this “Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions” began by acknowledging that we are one people seeking God in our own ways.  “One is the community of all peoples, one their origin, for God made the whole human race to live over the face of the earth. One also is their final goal, God. His providence, His manifestations of goodness, His saving design extend to all men.   Men expect from the various religions answers to the unsolved riddles of the human condition.”  (NA 1)  “From ancient times down to the present, there is found among various peoples a certain perception of that hidden power which hovers over the course of things and over the events of human history; at times some indeed have come to the recognition of a Supreme Being, or even of a Father. This perception and recognition penetrates their lives with a profound religious sense.”  (NA 2)
The question is, does dialogue bring about conversion to the Lord?  Critics have said that the method of Paul in this instance was a failure.  In fact, we read “at this mention of rising from the dead, some of them burst out laughing; others said, ‘We would like to hear you talk about this again.'”  Of course, “there were some who attached themselves to him and became believers, among them Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman called Damaris, and others besides.”  So the philosophical dialogue did not bring about much conversion at all.  Indeed, reason and intellectual debate, whether it is on religious doctrines or moral issues, will not change people’s minds.  Hence, on issues like same-sex union or abortion and euthanasia, no amount of argument will convince the person who has already made up his or her mind to change his or her stand. This is true for those who are believers in their religions.
So it must be clear that inter-religious dialogue does not aim at conversion of other believers.  Inter-religious dialogue is to strengthen harmony, appreciation and respect for each other’s religions.  Those who are engaged in inter-religious dialogue are already staunch believers in their own religions.  So, what then is the objective of inter-religious dialogue? Nostra Aetate sets out the purpose, “In her task of promoting unity and love among men, indeed among nations, she considers above all in this declaration what men have in common and what draws them to fellowship.”  (NA 1)  Hence, “the Church, therefore, exhorts her sons, that through dialogue and collaboration with the followers of other religions, carried out with prudence and love and in witness to the Christian faith and life, they recognize, preserve and promote the good things, spiritual and moral, as well as the socio-cultural values found among these men.”  (NA 2)
So which is a better approach?  Should we use the evangelical approach that is hard selling and even seen as coercive and imposing to proclaim the gospel, or that of dialogue which seems ineffective other than in maintaining the status quo and harmony among believers of other religions? If that were the case, how could we be faithful to the Lord’s command to make disciples of all nations, proclaiming Him as the Lord and Saviour, the Way, the Truth and the Life?  Before we dismiss completely the approach of Paul at Areopagus, we must also consider that at times, we need to inculturate our message so that the audience could be more receptive to the gospel.  St Paul used different strategies, depending on his audience.  He even had Timothy circumcised for the work of the mission so that he could be more acceptable to the Jews even though it was not a religious necessity for Timothy to be circumcised.  (Acts 16:3)  When he was put on trial before the Sanhedrin, he divided them by appealing to the Pharisees on their common belief in the resurrection against the Sadducees who did not.  (cf Acts 23:6-10) It means, therefore, the approach we use will depend on the circumstances.  There is no right or wrong approach.
Yet, at the end of the day, we must recognize that there are limits to an intellectual approach to faith. This is why Christianity and other religions are called “Faiths”.  Arguments as to which religion is true or not cannot be agreed on the basis of reason alone.  This is equally true for atheism and humanism as well.  In the final analysis, it boils down to faith.  Hence, the Athenians laughed when they heard Paul speaking about the resurrection.  Even the resurrection of our Lord cannot be proven but it requires faith.  Without faith, one cannot see the Risen Lord or believe in Him.  This is not to say that we are asking someone to commit himself to faith blindly without showing credibility in what we believe and why we believe.  “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
So what is the best approach to announcing Jesus?  Reason might bring some to conversion but by far the most effective way is personal testimony of what Christ has done for us and how we have encountered His power, love and mercy in our life, whether in prayer, worship, relationships, work or in our trials.  John concluded the gospel saying, “But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.”  (Jn 20:31)
Yet, let us not forget that faith ultimately comes from the Holy Spirit.  “Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now. But when the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come.”  Only the Holy Spirit can open the hearts and minds of those with whom we share our faith.  Conversion ultimately is the work of the Holy Spirit.  Sometimes, He opens the minds of those who hear the gospel through a discourse, sometimes through a sharing or testimony; and other times still, through works of love and mercy.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved


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