20190602
COMMUNICATORS
OF THE GOOD NEWS MUST BE IDENTIFIED WITH JESUS
02 JUNE, 2019,
Sunday, 7th Week of Easter (World Communications Sunday)
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
White.
In some dioceses the
Ascension of the Lord is celebrated today. If this applies to you, please
reconfigure Universalis to use the appropriate local calendar.
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First reading
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Acts 7:55-60 ©
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The stoning of Stephen
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Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit,
gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God’s right
hand. ‘I can see heaven thrown open’ he said ‘and the Son of Man standing at
the right hand of God.’ At this all the members of the council shouted out and
stopped their ears with their hands; then they all rushed at him, sent him out
of the city and stoned him. The witnesses put down their clothes at the feet of
a young man called Saul. As they were stoning him, Stephen said in invocation, ‘Lord
Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he knelt down and said aloud, ‘Lord, do not
hold this sin against them’; and with these words he fell asleep.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 96(97):1-2,6-7,9 ©
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The Lord is king, most
high above all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
The Lord is king, let earth rejoice,
the many coastlands be glad.
His throne is justice and
right.
The Lord is king, most
high above all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
The skies proclaim his justice;
all peoples see his glory.
All you spirits, worship him.
The Lord is king, most
high above all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
For you indeed are the Lord
most high above all the earth,
exalted far above all spirits.
The Lord is king, most
high above all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
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Second reading
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Apocalypse
22:12-14,16-17,20 ©
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Come, Lord Jesus
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I, John, heard a voice speaking to me:
‘Very soon now, I shall be with you again, bringing the reward to be given to
every man according to what he deserves. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the
First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Happy are those who will have
washed their robes clean, so that they will have the right to feed on the tree
of life and can come through the gates into the city.’
I,
Jesus, have sent my angel to make these revelations to you for the sake of the
churches. I am of David’s line, the root of David and the bright star of the
morning.
The
Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’ Let everyone who listens answer, ‘Come.’ Then
let all who are thirsty come: all who want it may have the water of life, and
have it free.
The
one who guarantees these revelations repeats his promise: I shall indeed be
with you soon. Amen; come, Lord Jesus.
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Gospel
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John 17:20-26 ©
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Father, may they be completely one
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Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said:
‘Holy Father,
I pray not only for these,
but for those also
who through their words will believe in
me.
May they all be one.
Father, may they be one in us,
as you are in me and I am in you,
so that the world may believe it was you
who sent me.
I have given them the glory you gave to
me,
that they may be one as we are one.
With me in them and you in me,
may they be so completely one
that the world will realise that it was
you who sent me
and that I have loved them as much as you
loved me.
Father, I want those you have given me
to be with me where I am,
so that they may always see the glory you
have given me
because you loved me before the foundation
of the world.
Father, Righteous One,
the world has not known you,
but I have known you,
and these have known that you have sent
me.
I have made your name known to them
and will continue to make it known,
so that the love with which you loved me
may be in them,
and so that I may be in them.’
COMMUNICATORS OF
THE GOOD NEWS MUST BE IDENTIFIED WITH JESUS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Acts 7:55-60; Ps 97; Apocalypse 22:12-14.16-17.20; John 17:20-26]
Today, we celebrate
World Communications Sunday. Human beings are not just individuals but
they are also social beings. We
need to communicate ourselves, our feelings, our thoughts and our hopes and
needs to our fellowmen through sight, sound, touch, smell and taste. We
do this through conversation, sometimes expressed in song, dance, music, the
arts, poetry, philosophy and intellectual discussion through the channels of
social and digital media and print. Through communication, we hope to
strengthen our unity with our fellowmen, so that together, we can build a world
of justice tempered with compassion, strengthened by love for the prosperity
and growth of our nations.
This was what Jesus set
out to do. He began His mission by saying, “The time is fulfilled, and
the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” (Mk 1:15) This Good News is spelled
out in His inauguration address cited from the prophet Isaiah. “The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to
the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of
sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of
the Lord’s favor.” (Lk 4:18f) The Good
News is to reconcile man with man through living a life of justice and
compassion so that there will be no poor or captives or oppressed among
us. This happens when man is first reconciled with God. Jesus as
the Communicator of the Good News in person leads the way in what we should do
as communicators.
Unfortunately, instead
of communicating truth, beauty, love and hope, some of us are spreading lies,
distorting truths, disseminating fake news, and propagating a culture of death,
suicide, rebellion, hatred, divisiveness, intolerance, promiscuity. They use the means of communication,
employing the tools from social, digital and print media to confuse the young,
by promoting relativism, individualism and freedom that does not respect the
common good of the community. By promoting falsehood and what is vile,
they poison not just the minds of our young people but the rest of society.
But we should not
condemn them because they do not know the truth and they have no love in their
hearts. People who spread
lies and hatred are people who have been wrongly indoctrinated by others who
want to take revenge on the world because they feel their rights have been
violated. They are angry with society and the world, including
themselves. They seek to be rich, powerful and famous. They want to
indulge in all the pleasures of this world. In other words, they are
ruled by ignorance and sin. This explains why their words are full of
venom and rancor. They are vindictive, full of anger and hatred for
society and establishments. When we try to enlighten them in the truth,
we see the backlash of evil attacking us even more ferociously. They
close their ears to the truth and eyes to love.
This was the case of St
Stephen in the first reading. When he spoke the truth about Jesus and shared his mystical
vision of the glory of God, “all the members of the council shouted
out and stopped their ears with their hands; then they all rushed at him, sent
him out of the city and stoned him.” The irony of life is that those of
us who speak the truth are more tolerant of those who live in darkness.
When evil is exposed and confronted, it will fight back even more forcefully,
at times even inciting violence and hatred. So we should not be surprised
that when we seek to proclaim the truth about God, about the right values for
humanity and for the common good, we will be attacked by the evil forces of the
world. If they cannot attack us directly, they will use other means to
discredit us, by exposing the weaknesses in our lives and the scandals in our organizations.
Like Jesus, we will be persecuted for exposing the lies of the world. So
as communicators of the Good News, how should we remain firm and focused on
speaking words of wisdom, truth, love and peace?
Firstly, we need to come
to Jesus who is the Word of God, the revealer of the Father and His
Communication Officer. In
the gospel, Jesus said, “Father, Righteous One, the world has not known you,
but I have known you, and these have known that you have sent me. I have made
your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love
with which you loved me may be in them, and so that I may be in them.”
Indeed, Jesus is the One who reveals to us the love of His heavenly Father so
that His love might be in us as in Jesus. In this way, we will also share
the life, truth and love of God. Necessarily, we cannot communicate the truth
without first coming under the tutorship of our Lord, the great teacher and
communicator of truth and love. The second reading tells us that the
Spirit invites us, “Come. Let everyone who listens answer, ‘Come.’ Then let all
who are thirsty come; all who want it may have the water of life, and have it
free.” Indeed, we cannot be the communicators of the Good News, of truth
and love unless we listen to the Lord and His gospel, and drink from the heart
of Jesus, His love and mercy. Unless, we are convicted of the truth,
beauty and wisdom of the gospel as proclaimed by the Lord, we cannot
disseminate His teachings to the rest of humanity.
Secondly, we must recall
the fundamental goal of communication, which the Lord had made clear, is that
it is for the purpose of communion and unity. He prayed, “Holy Father, I pray not only for
these, but for those also who through their words will believe in me. May
they all be one. Father, may they be one in us, as you are in me and I am in
you, so that the world may believe it was you who sent me. I have given them
the glory you gave to me, that they may be one as we are one. With me in them
and you in me, may they be so completely one that the world will realize that
it was you who sent me and that I have loved them as much as you loved
me.” Indeed, we must ask ourselves, does whatever we communicate bring
greater unity, love and peace through mutual understanding that is grounded on
truth? We all desire unity with each other and unity with God. There is
no greater thing in life than to live a life of love, peace and unity with
ourselves and with others. Even if we are successful in the world,
famous, wealthy and powerful, but have many enemies, our happiness will not
last.
Indeed, we must use
digital network and social media to foster unity among peoples of all nations,
races, creed and languages. This is what Pentecost seeks to do, to make us all
into a family of God united in love. We must, therefore, ensure that the
use of social media and the internet do not become means to divide the
community, people and sow seeds of division and mistrust. Those who use
social media and the digital network must not use them in such a way that it
weakens inter-personal social relationships. Finally, we must not use the
digital network to spread lies and distort the truth or to use them for evil
and selfish purposes. This would be the wrong use of information
technology. On the contrary, the use of social and digital network is to
strengthen bonds, improve understanding and trust among all peoples. It
is the way in which we share stories and experiences so that we can inspire
each other in life. It is also the way to educate and form people in the
truth. They are resources for the promotion of peace and unity.
Hence, for our archdiocese, we are beginning another chapter by launching
CatholicSGRadio to help Catholics to grow in their faith. There will be
talk shows, reflections, Christian music and prayers 24 hours, 7 days a week.
Thirdly, communication
is to serve humanity by facilitating the development of their full potential in
life, which is the same as glorifying God in their lives. This is what the Lord said, “Father, I
want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they may always
see the glory you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of
the world.” St Irenaeus reminds us that the glory of God is found in man
fully alive. When we grow through understanding of the truth,
communicating love and hope to others, growing in communion and compassion for
our fellowmen, we give glory to God. To become the glory of God is to do
what Jesus did in reaching out to our fellowmen, being life-givers. This
is the goal of communication, to make us all one in Christ, in love and in
service. In this way, we find true fulfillment and happiness.
In the final analysis,
we do not only communicate with words and ideas, but the best form of
witnessing is living an exemplary life. We are called to follow St Stephen who was
courageous in speaking the truth clearly and yet when opposed by his enemies,
there was certainly no anger, resentment or bitterness in his heart.
Instead, he prayed for their forgiveness in the same way Jesus did when He was
hanging on the cross. Stephen said in invocation, “Lord Jesus, receive my
spirit” and as he knelt down, he added, “Lord, do not hold this sin against
them.” And we are told, “The witnesses put down their clothes at the feet
of a young man called Saul.” St Paul must have been so moved by the life
of St Stephen and the calmness and serenity in the way he looked at his
enemies, that his heart was stirred and moved. This prepared the way for
his own conversion. As a result, he became a great communicator of the
Good News of God’s mercy in Christ to the Gentiles. We too can bring
people to God not just through words, discussion, study and the use of
technology to communicate our thoughts and feelings; we need to be witnesses of
the Good News in our lives. That is why Jesus is the Good News in person,
His message is identified with Himself.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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