20190902
GOING
BACK TO THE HEART OF THE GOSPEL
02 SEPTEMBER,
2019, Monday, 22nd Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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1 Thessalonians
4:13-18 ©
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Do not grieve about those who have died
in Jesus
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We want you to be quite certain, brothers,
about those who have died, to make sure that you do not grieve about them, like
the other people who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again,
and that it will be the same for those who have died in Jesus: God will bring
them with him. We can tell you this from the Lord’s own teaching, that any of
us who are left alive until the Lord’s coming will not have any advantage over
those who have died. At the trumpet of God, the voice of the archangel will call
out the command and the Lord himself will come down from heaven; those who have
died in Christ will be the first to rise, and then those of us who are still
alive will be taken up in the clouds, together with them; to meet the Lord in
the air. So we shall stay with the Lord for ever. With such thoughts as these
you should comfort one another.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm
95(96):1,3-5,11-13 ©
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The Lord comes to rule
the earth.
O sing a new song to the Lord,
sing to the Lord all the
earth.
Tell among the nations his glory
and his wonders among all the
peoples.
The Lord comes to rule
the earth.
The Lord is great and worthy of praise,
to be feared above all gods;
the gods of the heathens are naught.
It was the Lord who made the
heavens,
The Lord comes to rule
the earth.
Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad,
let the sea and all within it
thunder praise,
let the land and all it bears rejoice,
all the trees of the wood
shout for joy
at the presence of the Lord for he comes,
he comes to rule the earth.
The Lord comes to rule
the earth.
With justice he will rule the world,
he will judge the peoples with
his truth.
The Lord comes to rule
the earth.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Jn8:12
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Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the light of the world, says the
Lord;
anyone who follows me will have the light
of life.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Lk4:18
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord has sent me to bring the good
news to the poor,
to proclaim liberty to captives.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 4:16-30 ©
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'This text is being fulfilled today,
even as you listen'
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Jesus came to Nazara, where he had been
brought up, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day as he usually did.
He stood up to read and they handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written:
The spirit of the Lord has been given to
me,
for he has anointed me.
He has sent me to bring the good news to
the poor,
to proclaim liberty to captives
and to the blind new sight,
to set the downtrodden free,
to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour.
He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back
to the assistant and sat down. And all eyes in the synagogue were fixed on him.
Then he began to speak to them, ‘This text is being fulfilled today even as you
listen.’ And he won the approval of all, and they were astonished by the
gracious words that came from his lips. They said, ‘This is Joseph’s son,
surely?’
But
he replied, ‘No doubt you will quote me the saying, “Physician, heal yourself”
and tell me, “We have heard all that happened in Capernaum, do the same here in
your own countryside.”’
And
he went on, ‘I tell you solemnly, no prophet is ever accepted in his own
country.
‘There
were many widows in Israel, I can assure you, in Elijah’s day, when heaven
remained shut for three years and six months and a great famine raged
throughout the land, but Elijah was not sent to any one of these: he was sent
to a widow at Zarephath, a Sidonian town. And in the prophet Elisha’s time
there were many lepers in Israel, but none of these was cured, except the Syrian,
Naaman.’
When
they heard this everyone in the synagogue was enraged. They sprang to their
feet and hustled him out of the town; and they took him up to the brow of the
hill their town was built on, intending to throw him down the cliff, but he
slipped through the crowd and walked away.
GOING BACK TO
THE HEART OF THE GOSPEL
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ 1 Th 4:13-18; Ps 96:1, 3-5, 11-13; Lk 4:16-30 ]
The greatest strength of
the Catholic Church, which is also her weakness, is her institutions. As a Church that is more than 2000 years
old, she has grown in number, rules, laws, with a very complex structure and
numerous institutions. Whilst such structures, rules and institutions
help to regulate the life of the Church and preserve her unity, it can also
stifle growth and dynamism. This explains why in many parts of the world,
Catholicism is losing its appeal. People are finding the Church outdated,
irrelevant, not moving with the times, unable to respond effectively to the
challenges in modern times, losing connection with the young people.
Indeed, whilst it is necessary to have rules and institutions to regulate the
doctrines, morality, worship and governance, yet we must not forget what we
ultimately seek to do. The emphasis on right doctrines, right worship,
right morality is to help us to live the life of faith in Christ. But
these are the means. What is the end point?
We must therefore return
to the essentials of the gospel.
The whole purpose of Jesus’ coming is to proclaim the Good News. In the
inauguration of His mission, He spelt out His mission statement, citing from
the Prophet Isaiah, “The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has
anointed me. He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, and to proclaim
liberty to captives and to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free, to
proclaim the Lord’s year of favour.” The Good News that He has come to
proclaim is not concerned with laws, rituals and worship. It is
about liberating lives, healing people, giving meaning, purpose and hope.
Indeed, the Good News is
directed principally at the poor. Who are the poor? We must be
careful that we do not reduce the poor to those who are sociologically and
economically poor. Jesus did not come to start a rebellion and provide an
economic policy. He was not a social activist. The poor
refers to anyone who is in need, whether material or spiritual. It
includes those who are hungry, financially in trouble and those who are rich
but find emptiness and meaninglessness in life. Most of all, the poor are
those who thirst for God and hope to find fulfillment in Him. So there
are many kinds of poor in society today. They live unfulfilled life.
Life is empty because no
one can fill their hearts alone except God. Unfortunately, this world is a world without
God. Jesus came to offer a rich life, a life that is lived in God and
with God. It is a life that is in touch with our brothers and sisters, a
life of sharing, caring and loving. When there is true love and
fellowship, life always has a meaning. Without genuine love and
friendship, no matter what we have, we remain poor. All the pleasures of
this world cannot give us happiness. So long as we can share, we can
love, we are always rich. Most of all, Jesus came to reconcile us with God, for
in our union with Him, we find true peace, security and joy. Jesus came
to give us nothing less than God Himself in the Holy Spirit.
Secondly, the Good News
is about freedom.
Without freedom, man cannot find peace and happiness. Many of us are
captives in some ways, to the world, our sins and possessions, power and
glory. Most of all, many are captives of Satan. Whilst the
world is seeking more freedom, in truth, the more freedom they demand,
ironically, the more they come under the bondage of their passions, their will,
their desires, their attachments. The freedom promoted by the world is
not true freedom but enslavement because they are not free to control their
passions and addictions. They allow sin, anger, hatred, revenge, envy,
jealousy, gluttony, greed, pride, laziness and lust to consume them, making
them live a life that is unsettled, without peace or real joy, without freedom;
only enemies, within and without.
What is the freedom
offered by Jesus?
Citing from Isaiah, the Lord said, “to proclaim liberty to captives and to the
blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord’s year of
favour.” The freedom given by Jesus is more than just physical
freedom or the freedom to do whatever we want. It is a freedom to love,
to serve and a freedom to live a life of truth. This freedom is not the
abused freedom exercised by the world, when the individual’s preferences take
precedence over the common good. Rather, the freedom that Jesus came to
offer is a freedom for selfless service and for truth.
This freedom is ours
when we are given new sight and vision. Many are looking at the world from a wrong
perspective. They are looking at the world with wounded eyes and
disillusioned hearts. Their outlook of the world is negative and
vindictive. Instead of seeing the world as one humanity, they perceive
everyone to be their enemies and competitors. They only see themselves as
the most important people in the world, superior to other races and other
cultures. To be given new sight is to see goodness even in the sinfulness
of this world. It is to view the world with hope because of Christ.
It is to look at the world with the eyes of God, eyes of compassion, eyes of
love, eyes of empathy and eyes of forgiveness.
Thirdly, we need to be
assured of the certainty of a future.
St Paul wrote to the Christians, “We want you to be quite certain, brothers,
about those who have died, to make sure that you do not grieve about them, like
the other people who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose
again, and that it will be the same for those who have died in Jesus: God
will bring them with him.” Indeed, the world lives without hope.
That is why they are promoting euthanasia. If you suffer, then you should
have the right to end your life. That is why people only live for today,
wanting to enjoy as much as they can because they believe that they only live
once. Once they are dead, everything is finished. Hence,
people only live for this world. They have been bewitched by the secular
and humanistic world that we are simply made of matter without a soul.
Once dead, we become like the rest of creation. If we just live for this
world, then we are the most pitiable of peoples.
In the final analysis,
the gospel, as Jesus said, is “to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the
Lord’s year of favour.”
The gospel must provide hope to humanity in the midst of our daily struggles in
life. We know that this life can be very challenging. Loving is
never easy because it involves sacrifice. Speaking the truth is often met
with resistance, rejection and persecution because the enemies of truth feel
threatened by us. But this is where we are called to give hope to
humanity, that unconditional love exists, humble service can be found, and that
generosity of hearts abound. What the world needs today is encouragement,
not condemnation, hope or despair.
What the world needs
today is to hear that God has not abandoned them. He exists and He loves us. He
feels with us and is one with us in our pain and struggles. He knows our
weaknesses and is ever ready to forgive every time we turn to Him with a
contrite heart. He works through our brothers and sisters. There is
always hope, and genuine love exists even in the midst of selfishness and
evil. Ultimately, with Christ, we will triumph over hatred with love, revenge
with forgiveness, falsehood with truth, death with eternal life. With the
psalmist, we must declare, “The Lord is great and worthy of praise, to be
feared above all gods; the gods of the heathens are naught. It was the
Lord who made the heavens. Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad, let
the sea and all within it thunder praise, let the land and all it bears
rejoice, all the trees of the wood shout for joy at the presence of the Lord
for he comes, he comes to rule the earth. With justice he will rule the world,
he will judge the peoples with his truth.”
So the question we need
to ask is, can we say with the Lord that “This text is being fulfilled today
even as you listen”?
Is the Good News heard and experienced by our people? Do people who come
to our churches find hope, inspiration, encouragement and new perspective
towards life in facing challenges? Or are we more like the
Jewish leaders in the gospel, burdening our people with more laws, empty
rituals and routine practices that have lost its meaning and purpose?
They could not accept Jesus because of past prejudices. They were so set
in their ways and although they found the message of our Lord appealing, their
past conditioning prevented them from being receptive to His message. As
a consequence, they missed out on the miracles the Lord wanted to work in their
lives. Indeed, such people have transformed the Good News to Bad News.
As Catholics, we must be
careful that we do not reduce the full gospel to simply a meticulous observance
of laws, rubrics and rituals. They are means and we need to adapt accordingly.
Sabbath is made for man, not man for the Sabbath. (cf Mk 2:27) This is the guiding
principle. Of course, there will be some Catholics who are very
legalistic in the way they practise their faith, always looking out to condemn
and criticize those who break the laws, without understanding the
context. With such people, like the Lord, we should not retaliate or be
offended. We are told that when the people were enraged and intended “to
throw him down the cliff, but he slipped through the crowd and walked
away.” Indeed, we just need to transcend such narrow-minded people with
small minds and not able to see the bigger objective and message of the
gospel. Let us never forget that the end of the gospel is life, not
death. Jesus said, “I came that they may have life, and have it
abundantly.” (Jn 10:10) John concluded
his 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)
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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