20190704 INSPIRING FAITH
IN OTHERS
04 JULY, 2019,
Thursday, 13th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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Genesis 22:1-19 ©
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The sacrifice of Isaac
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God put Abraham to the test. ‘Abraham,
Abraham’ he called. ‘Here I am’ he replied. ‘Take your son,’ God said ‘your
only child Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There you shall
offer him as a burnt offering, on a mountain I will point out to you.’
Rising
early next morning Abraham saddled his ass and took with him two of his
servants and his son Isaac. He chopped wood for the burnt offering and started
on his journey to the place God had pointed out to him. On the third day
Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. Then Abraham said to his
servants, ‘Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there; we will
worship and come back to you.’
Abraham
took the wood for the burnt offering, loaded it on Isaac, and carried in his
own hands the fire and the knife. Then the two of them set out together. Isaac
spoke to his father Abraham, ‘Father’ he said. ‘Yes, my son’ he replied.
‘Look,’ he said ‘here are the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the
burnt offering?’ Abraham answered, ‘My son, God himself will provide the lamb
for the burnt offering.’ Then the two of them went on together.
When
they arrived at the place God had pointed out to him, Abraham built an altar
there, and arranged the wood. Then he bound his son Isaac and put him on the
altar on top of the wood. Abraham stretched out his hand and seized the knife
to kill his son.
But
the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven. ‘Abraham, Abraham’ he said. ‘I
am here’ he replied. ‘Do not raise your hand against the boy’ the angel said.
‘Do not harm him, for now I know you fear God. You have not refused me your
son, your only son.’ Then looking up, Abraham saw a ram caught by its horns in
a bush. Abraham took the ram and offered it as a burnt-offering in place of his
son. Abraham called this place ‘The Lord Provides’, and hence the saying today: On
the mountain the Lord provides.
The
angel of the Lord called Abraham a second time from heaven. ‘I swear by my own
self – it is the Lord who speaks – because you have done this,
because you have not refused me your son, your only son, I will shower
blessings on you, I will make your descendants as many as the stars of heaven
and the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants shall gain possession
of the gates of their enemies. All the nations of the earth shall bless
themselves by your descendants, as a reward for your obedience.’
Abraham
went back to his servants, and together they set out for Beersheba, and he
settled in Beersheba.
The first psalm shown
here is used in the whole world except the USA, and the second one is used in
the USA because of a clerical error.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 114(116):1-6,8-9 ©
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I will walk in the
presence of the Lord in the land of the living.
I love the Lord for he has heard
the cry of my appeal;
for he turned his ear to me
in the day when I called him.
I will walk in the
presence of the Lord in the land of the living.
They surrounded me, the snares of death,
with the anguish of the tomb;
they caught me, sorrow and distress.
I called on the Lord’s name.
O Lord, my God, deliver me!
I will walk in the presence
of the Lord in the land of the living.
How gracious is the Lord, and just;
our God has compassion.
The Lord protects the simple hearts;
I was helpless so he saved me.
I will walk in the
presence of the Lord in the land of the living.
He has kept my soul from death,
my eyes from tears
and my feet from stumbling.
I will walk in the presence of the Lord
in the land of the living.
I will walk in the
presence of the Lord in the land of the living.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Mt11:25
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are you, Father,
Lord of heaven and earth,
for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom
to mere children.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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2Co5:19
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Alleluia, alleluia!
God in Christ was reconciling the world to
himself,
and he has entrusted to us the news that
they are reconciled.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 9:1-8 ©
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'Your sins are forgiven; get up and
walk'
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Jesus got in the boat, crossed the water
and came to his own town. Then some people appeared, bringing him a paralytic
stretched out on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic,
‘Courage, my child, your sins are forgiven.’ And at this some scribes said to
themselves, ‘This man is blaspheming.’ Knowing what was in their minds Jesus
said, ‘Why do you have such wicked thoughts in your hearts? Now, which of these
is easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Get up and walk”? But
to prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive
sins,’ – he said to the paralytic – ‘get up, and pick up your bed and
go off home.’ And the man got up and went home. A feeling of awe came over the
crowd when they saw this, and they praised God for giving such power to men.
INSPIRING FAITH
IN OTHERS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Genesis 22:1 – 19; Ps 116:1-6,8-9; Mt 9:1-8 ]
What is the greatest
enemy of religion? Some
might think that atheism is the greatest enemy of religion. But more
insidious than atheism, which is an explicit denial of the existence of God,
secularism is by far the greatest enemy of religion. Unlike atheism where
there is a possibility of dialogue, in secularism, all dialogue is possible
except God. The starting point of secularism is that in all discussions,
God cannot be brought onto the table. Secularism is against faith and
relies only on reason. As a consequence, by marginalizing faith from
dialogue, and therefore from all public life and institutions, the presence of
the Sacred and the presence of faith believers are hidden from public
life. Religion, faith and religious practices are confined to places of
worship and private life. There is a deliberate intent to remove all religions
from schools and public institutions.
This is so in order that
faith and religions have no impact on society and life. Such a situation will delimit others from
coming into contact with God and religion. Without any personal contact
with faith believers or with the Sacred, eventually, God will be forgotten
because He is no longer felt. That explains why there is a growing number
of people who have no religion because they are not exposed to the Sacred, have
no contact with faith believers and no opportunity to see the power of God at
work in the lives of others. But the truth is that many of them are
searching for something deeper in life. As St Paul remarked, “But how are
they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe
in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone
to proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As
it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good
news!'” (Rom 10:14f)
In the gospel we read
that there was a man who was paralyzed. He was paralyzed by his sins. The biggest
obstacle to faith and the cause of the loss of faith is always sin. When
a person lives in sin, he lives for himself only. He does not care about
others but only his selfish needs, security and comfort. When we sin, our
conscience is numbed and we cannot hear the Word of God. Indeed, one of
the reasons for dryness in prayer life is due to unconfessed sins or attachment
to a particular sin that we are not willing to surrender to the Lord.
When we are crippled in mind and heart, it leads to sickness in our body as
well. A sound body requires a sound mind. So this man was crippled
by the lack of faith due to his sinful life.
But thanks to his
friends who had faith in God and in Jesus, he was brought before the Lord to be
healed. So strong was
their faith that they would not give up when they could not find access to the
house where Jesus was teaching. When we have faith, we have a will, and
where there is a will, there is always a way. So, ingeniously, they made
a hole in the roof and lowered the man down before the Lord. They had
confidence that Jesus would be able to heal him, otherwise, they would not have
bothered to go through all the hassle of bringing him to the Lord. They
knew that the Lord who is all merciful would not reject such a request.
True enough, we read that
“seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, ‘Courage, my child, your sins
are forgiven.'” It
was their faith in Jesus that began the process of healing. Jesus went
straight to the heart of the sickness, which was his sins that blocked him from
faith in God. Jesus knew that unless the man opened his heart to faith, no
healing could take place. Thus, He assured the man that his sins were
forgiven. He had doubted whether God could forgive his sinful past.
The Lord gave him the strength by saying to him, “Courage” and “my
child!” What wonderful and consoling words for the man! When we are
lost and wounded and have given up on ourselves, hearing someone say, “courage”
would inspire hope and give us back our faith again. When Jesus said, “my
child”, He was reaffirming the man that in spite of his sinfulness, he remained
forever the child of God. So we can see that the faith of his friends and
the faith of Jesus in the paralyzed man that he had a future, gave him hope to
let go of his sinful past that crippled him all these years.
The moment his sins were
forgiven and his faith restored, he was physically healed as well. It must be noted that physical
healing is secondary to spiritual healing. For the person who is sick,
spiritual healing is the most important. This explains why in the
Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, even if the person is not healed
physically, we know the Sacrament is efficacious because the person is healed
at the core of his heart, namely, his soul. Whether he is healed
physically is secondary, depending on the plan that God has for this
person. However, physical healing often takes place when a person removes
all the obstacles to faith, which is a prerequisite to receiving God’s healing
grace. If the physical healing takes place, it is in order to demonstrate
concretely God’s mercy to those who are suffering, and at the same time, to
inspire faith and hope in others who still doubt God’s power to heal and to
save. Hence, the Lord said, “But to prove to you that the Son of
Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,’ – he said to the paralytic – ‘get
up, pick up your bed and go off home.’ And the man got up and went
home. A feeling of awe came over the crowd when they saw this, and they
praised God for giving such power to men.”
In the first reading, we
are presented with the exemplary faith of Abraham who is given the title, ‘the
Father of faith’. Although
he and his wife were far advanced in age, wealthy and fulfilled, in faith and
obedience he left his homeland for a distant and foreign land, relying simply
on God’s promise of an heir. Sometime later, after the birth of
Isaac, when the Lord asked him to sacrifice his only son, his lifeline for
generations to come, without hesitation, he took his son the next morning to be
sacrificed at Mount Moriah. He did not question the wisdom or the love of
God for him. He could have gone against such an abominable command to not
just sacrificing his only son but the life of an innocent child. Yet, in
faith, he obeyed. And when his son asked him, “Father, look, here are the
fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” what do we
think his response was? Not knowing how to tell him the truth, he said,
“God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering.”
Indeed, it was this
faith of Abraham that showed forth his total trust in God and His divine
providence even when he could not humanly understand. Against all human logic and
reasoning, he acted in faith and in trust. He would not reserve his son
to himself but would give everything to God, the author of life and
death. In sacrificing Isaac, he gave all of himself to God because Isaac
was his only son. Because of his faith, the Lord rewarded him, and
demonstrated His love and mercy. God does not want any human sacrifice or
even animal sacrifice, but He wants our total trust, love and obedience, and
the sacrifice of our will and our being.
Abraham’s faith has
become a source of blessing for all of us. “The angel of the Lord called Abraham a
second time from heaven. ‘I swear by my own self – it is the Lord who
speaks – because you have done this, because you have not refused me your
son, your only son, I will shower blessings on you, I will make your
descendants as many as the stars of heaven and the grains of sand on the
seashore. Your descendants shall gain possession of the gates of their enemies.
All the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by your descendants, as a
reward for your obedience.” Indeed, our faith in God will bless others
with faith in Him as well. Faith inspires faith.
Consequently, it is
important to ask ourselves whether we inspire faith in the lives of others,
especially our loved ones, friends, colleagues and the community. Unless we have strong faith ourselves, we
cannot inspire others. Parents who lack faith do a great disservice to
their children because they deprive them of the greatest gift in life, that is,
faith in God. Without faith, there is no hope. Without hope, there
is no life. So we must not follow the bad example of the religious leaders
during the time of Jesus that sought to hinder faith in others. But we
must be like Abraham and the friends of the paralyzed man, inspiring faith in
others by sharing our faith, our life and faith testimonies of the wonderful
mercy and power of God at work in our lives.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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