20190606
UNITY
AMONG CHRISTIANS REST ON FAITH IN CHRIST’S RESURRECTION
06 JUNE, 2019,
Thursday, 7th Week of Easter
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
White.
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First reading
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Acts 22:30,23:6-11 ©
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'You have borne witness in Jerusalem:
now you must do the same in Rome'
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Since the tribune wanted to know what
precise charge the Jews were bringing, he freed Paul and gave orders for a
meeting of the chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin; then he brought Paul
down and stood him in front of them. Now Paul was well aware that one section
was made up of Sadducees and the other of Pharisees, so he called out in the
Sanhedrin, ‘Brothers, I am a Pharisee and the son of Pharisees. It is for our
hope in the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.’ As soon as he said
this a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly
was split between the two parties. For the Sadducees say there is neither
resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, while the Pharisees accept all three. The
shouting grew louder, and some of the scribes from the Pharisees’ party stood
up and protested strongly, ‘We find nothing wrong with this man. Suppose a
spirit has spoken to him, or an angel?’ Feeling was running high, and the
tribune, afraid that they would tear Paul to pieces, ordered his troops to go
down and haul him out and bring him into the fortress.
Next
night, the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘Courage! You have borne witness for
me in Jerusalem, now you must do the same in Rome.’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm
15(16):1-2,5,7-11 ©
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Preserve me, Lord, I
take refuge in you.
or
Alleluia, alleluia,
alleluia!
Preserve me, God, I take refuge in you.
I say to the Lord: ‘You are my
God.
O Lord, it is you who are my portion and
cup;
it is you yourself who are my
prize.’
Preserve me, Lord, I
take refuge in you.
or
Alleluia, alleluia,
alleluia!
I will bless the Lord who gives me
counsel,
who even at night directs my
heart.
I keep the Lord ever in my sight:
since he is at my right hand,
I shall stand firm.
Preserve me, Lord, I
take refuge in you.
or
Alleluia, alleluia,
alleluia!
And so my heart rejoices, my soul is glad;
even my body shall rest in safety.
For you will not leave my soul among the
dead,
nor let your beloved know
decay.
Preserve me, Lord, I
take refuge in you.
or
Alleluia, alleluia,
alleluia!
You will show me the path of life,
the fullness of joy in your
presence,
at your right hand happiness
for ever.
Preserve me, Lord, I
take refuge in you.
or
Alleluia, alleluia,
alleluia!
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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.’
UNITY AMONG
CHRISTIANS REST ON FAITH IN CHRIST’S RESURRECTION
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Acts 22:30; 23:6-11; John 17:20-26 ]
In the gospel today, the
Lord prayed for unity among the disciples. “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.” Unity among Christians is an
essential sign for the authenticity of the message which we proclaim.
Otherwise, we lose credibility in our witnessing. Earlier on, Jesus told
the disciples, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just
as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone
will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (Jn 13:34f) Yet unity is not easy to achieve
because of the division in worship and doctrines among Christians.
Instead of one Church of Christ, the church is very fragmented into many
denominations, each holding variant views of certain aspects of
doctrines. As a result, the way we worship also differs.
In spite of differences
in worship, leadership and doctrines, yet all Christians have at least one
common position with respect to Christ, that is, His death and resurrection. This is the most critical tenet of
Christian Faith and it is the basis of Christian unity. As St Paul wrote,
“Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I
proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, through
which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed
to you – unless you have come to believe in vain. For I handed on to you
as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our
sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was
raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared
to Cephas, then to the twelve.” (1 Cor 15:1-5) So even if we disagree on
the other doctrines, as Christians we must hold on to our common faith in
Christ who died for our sins and rose for us, establishing Him as our Lord and
Saviour. “Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name
that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil 2:9-11)
Indeed, it is because of
His resurrection that we can affirm the truth of Jesus’ identity with His
Father. Jesus
expressed His identity with His Father when He prayed, “Father, may they be one
in us, as you are in me and I am in you … 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.”
This glory has been seen by the apostles and the disciples when Jesus died and
rose from the dead. They had a glimpse of Jesus’ glory as Lord of
life. Hence, as Christians, we could also affirm among ourselves
that Jesus, is “the way, and the truth, and the life.” (Jn 14:6)
Consequently, Jesus
said, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” (Jn 14:6) Union with the Father is only possible
through Jesus. This is because it will not be the Father who lives in us,
as it is in the case of the Father who is one with Jesus, one in being and
distinct in persons. Rather, we are one with the Father in and through
Jesus who is God and man. Our union with God is not one of being, but
mutuality of mind and will. That is why Jesus said, “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.” Indeed, Jesus is the way to the Father. Jesus also said,
“Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will
come to them and make our home with them.” (Jn 14:23) In other words, the Father
always comes to us in Jesus and through Him.
It is for this reason
that St Paul appealed to the Sanhedrin by highlighting faith in the
resurrection. “He
called out in the Sanhedrin, “Brothers, I am a Pharisees and the son of
Pharisees. It is for our hope in the resurrection of the dead that I am
on trial.” Some commentators suggested that Paul was just being strategic and
astute in raising this issue so that he could divide the assembly and save
himself from being incarcerated. This was because “Paul was well aware
that one section was made up of Sadducees and the other of Pharisees.”
But in truth, it was more because Paul understood that faith in the
resurrection is central to the gospel, which was the reason for his arrest.
The division between the
Christians and the Sanhedrin is caused by the claim of Jesus’ resurrection from
the dead. Faith or unbelief
in Jesus’ resurrection will determine the continuity and discontinuity between
the Jews and the Christians. However, between the Pharisees and the
Sadducees, the first level of difference is not even resolved, which is hope in
the resurrection. The state of affairs was that the Sadducees were
opposed to faith in the resurrection. “For the Sadducees say there is
neither resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, while the Pharisees accept all
three.” If at this point, the hope of the resurrection is disputed, then it
would be difficult to speak about Jesus’ resurrection.
The resurrection of our
Lord must be seen to be in continuity with the faith of the Jews. The basis for Jesus’ resurrection
can be affirmed as part of the development of faith in that it is in continuity
with the faith of the Jews. The thoughts on faith in the resurrection
came later in Judaism. But there are references to such development of
thought. Job in his misery said, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and
that at the last he will stand upon the earth; and after my skin has been
thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see on my
side, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. (Job 19:25-27) Again in the prophet
Daniel, he said, “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,
some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” (Dn 12:2) Finally, in the book of Maccabees,
the fourth brother “when he was near death, he said, ‘One cannot but choose to
die at the hands of mortals and to cherish the hope God gives of being raised
again by him. But for you there will be no resurrection to life!'” (2 Mac 7:14)
So with the Sadducees,
the Pharisees and the Christians differed on this important point on the
resurrection and the intermediate state. It is interesting to take note that the
Pharisees and Catholics affirm not just a final resurrection from the dead or
of the dead but also that of “angels and spirits.” It is also the reason
for Catholics to believe that when we die, the soul lives on until the day of
the resurrection. Until then, the soul, which is immortal, is either in
purgatory or in heaven, which is the Catholic’ justification for an
intermediate state before the resurrection of all on the last day.
It was this belief in the resurrection at the end of time that grounded the
Jewish and Catholic’ belief in the intermediate state. Hence, “some of
the scribes from the Pharisees’ party stood up and protested strongly, ‘We find
nothing wrong with this man. Suppose a spirit has spoken to him, or an angel?'”
This is the same point
that Paul used to substantiate his faith in the resurrection of Jesus. If
Paul had changed his worldview to accepting Jesus as the Messiah, it was rooted
in his personal conversion on the road to Damascus when he heard the Lord speaking to him, “I
am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting … Get up and go to Damascus;
there you will be told everything that has been assigned to you to do.”
Later on, the Lord said through Ananias, “The God of our ancestors has chosen you
to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear his own voice; for you
will be his witness to all the world of what you have seen and heard.” (Acts 22:8, 10; 14f) Using this argument, Paul was
opening the door of faith at least to the Pharisees in Jesus’ resurrection.
Once they accepted the resurrection of Jesus, then faith in the other doctrines
about Jesus, His identity with the Father, His Lordship and saving act in His
passion and death, the sending of the Holy Spirit to be with the Church for the
forgiveness of sin and the sacraments for our sanctification would not be an
issue.
Indeed, if Christians
were to be united, then at least we must hold our common faith in Christ’s
passion, death and resurrection for our salvation. Whilst it would be great if we can hold
common doctrines and worship, yet because of cultural differences and religious
experiences, it would be very difficult to bring about uniformity in beliefs
and worship. The unity of the Church should rest on diversity, respect
and mutual dialogue, and in humility seek the truth that the Lord has entrusted
to the Church, especially to the apostles. Hence, we must go back to the
Apostolic tradition which is found in scripture and tradition since the Lord
has entrusted the faith to the apostles. These words were not addressed
to all but to the apostles before His death. “Holy Father, I pray not
only for these, but for those also who through their words will believe in
me.” In other words, it is through the apostolic succession that authority
in teaching is given. “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I
will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against
it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever
you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will
be loosed in heaven.” (Mt 16:18f)
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights
Reserved
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