20190928
HOW
BIG IS YOUR GOD?
28 SEPTEMBER,
2019, Saturday, 25th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
|
First reading
|
|
Zechariah 2:5-9,14-15 ©
|
Raising my eyes, I saw a vision. It was
this: there was a man with a measuring line in his hand. I asked him, ‘Where
are you going?’ He said, ‘To measure Jerusalem, to find out her breadth and her
length.’ And then, while the angel who was talking to me stood still, another
angel came forward to meet him. He said to him, ‘Run, and tell that young man
this, “Jerusalem is to remain unwalled, because of the great number of men and
cattle there will be in her. But I – it is the Lord who speaks – I will
be a wall of fire for her all round her, and I will be her glory in the midst
of her.”’
Sing, rejoice,
daughter of Zion;
for I am coming
to dwell in the middle of you
– it is the Lord who speaks.
Many nations will join the Lord,
on that day;
they will become his people.
|
Responsorial Psalm
|
|
Jeremiah 31:10-12,13 ©
|
The Lord will guard us,
as a shepherd guards his flock.
O nations, hear the word of the Lord,
proclaim it to the far-off
coasts.
Say: ‘He who scattered Israel will gather
him,
and guard him as a shepherd
guards his flock.’
The Lord will guard us,
as a shepherd guards his flock.
For the Lord has ransomed Jacob,
has saved him from an
overpowering hand.
They will come and shout for joy on Mount
Zion,
they will stream to the
blessings of the Lord.
The Lord will guard us,
as a shepherd guards his flock.
Then the young girls will rejoice and will
dance,
the men, young and old, will
be glad.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
I will console them, give them
gladness for grief.
The Lord will guard us,
as a shepherd guards his flock.
|
Gospel Acclamation
|
cf.Ac16:14
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O Lord,
to accept the words of your Son.
Alleluia!
|
Or:
|
cf.2Tim1:10
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
Our Saviour Jesus Christ abolished death
and he has proclaimed life through the
Good News.
Alleluia!
|
Gospel
|
Luke 9:43-45 ©
|
At a time when everyone was full of
admiration for all he did, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘For your part, you
must have these words constantly in your mind: “The Son of Man is going to be
handed over into the power of men.”’ But they did not understand him when he
said this; it was hidden from them so that they should not see the meaning of
it, and they were afraid to ask him about what he had just said.
HOW BIG IS YOUR
GOD?
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Zech 2:5-9, 14-15; Jeremiah 31:10-12, 13; Lk 9:43-45 ]
Whether because of
ignorance or insecurity on our part, we tend to project our fears onto the way
we conceive of God.
Our conception of God tends to be narrow-minded and often the expression of our
own fears. This was the case of the disciples of Jesus. St
Luke noted that “at a time when everyone was full of admiration for all he did,
Jesus said to his disciples, ‘For your part, you must have these words
constantly in your mind: The Son of Man is going to be handed over into the
power of men.'” The words of Jesus were certainly incomprehensible to the
disciples because of what they had seen in Jesus. He had given powers to the
apostles to heal and to exorcise. He had just fed the five thousand with
five loaves and two fish. He even showed them the glory of His resurrection in
the Transfiguration experience at Mount Tabor. He healed an epileptic boy
under the influence of the demon. So how could their master with such
powers and the divine assistance with Him suffer such a fate? It was
simply inconceivable.
Indeed, they could not
understand or were afraid to face the truth. “But they did not understand him when he said
this; it was hidden from them so that they should not see the meaning of it,
and they were afraid to ask him about what he had just said.” Rather than
confronting the reality of what Jesus said, they thought that by brushing it
aside, things would be well and that Jesus’ prophecy would not happen. Indeed,
even if the Lord were to explain to them, they would not understand. It
is like elders and parents telling their children why they must study hard, not
to mix with wrong company, not to drink and smoke, not to get involved in
serious physical relationships in their teens but to focus on their studies,
yet, they would not listen. They have to learn the hard way through
mistakes, betrayals, break-ups, failures and even addictions. This was
what the Lord told the disciples before He left this world. He said, “I
have said these things to you so that when the hour comes you may remember that
I told you about them. I still have many things to say to you, but you
cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you
into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever
he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” (Jn 16:4, 12, 13)
So, too, was the case of
the returning Jews from exile. They
were asked to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple. The prophet Zechariah had
a vision, “there was a man with a measuring line in his hand. I asked
him, ‘Where are you going?’ He said, ‘To measure Jerusalem, to find out her
breadth and her length.’ And then, while the angel who was talking to me stood
still, another angel came forward to meet him. He said to him, ‘Run, and tell
that young man this, ‘Jerusalem is to remain unwalled, because of the great
number of men and cattle there will be in her.'” This was the old mentality of
the Jews. They saw themselves as the exclusive race destined for
salvation whilst the rest of humanity was condemned to perdition.
It was their pride of being the Chosen People of God that gave them the superiority
complex over others, excluding the rest of humanity from the love and mercy of
God.
Clearly, in the New
Covenant, the Lord did not want Israel to be an exclusive club of people. They were to be more welcoming of
all, not just their fellow Jews but even to non-Jews. Jerusalem was not
meant to be a place just for the Jews but for all of humanity. All will
know Him. The prophet Jeremiah already foretold of this even before the
fall of Judah. The Lord said, “this is the covenant that I will make with
the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law
within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and
they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to
each other, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of
them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity,
and remember their sin no more.” (Jer 31:33f)
Indeed, Jerusalem would
no longer be confined to a place because it would be without borders. This is because the kingdom of God
is not a matter of territory and space. God is dwelling in heaven and on
earth, especially in the hearts of men and women. “‘But I – it is the
Lord who speaks – I will be a wall of fire for her all round her, and I will be
her glory in the midst of her’. Sing, rejoice, daughter of Zion; for I am
coming to dwell in the middle of you – it is the Lord who speaks. Many nations
will join the Lord, on that day; they will become his people.” God is the
light of the World and He enlightens all men and women. When He lives in
our hearts, we will be radiant with God’s glory. All that is needed is
that we keep His word and commandments. The Lord said to His disciples, “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) This is how big our God is, who
works beyond human confines. He lives in the hearts of those who are at
peace with Him and with their fellowmen. He does not dwell only in
Christians.
This is made possible
only because of the death and resurrection of our Lord. If Jesus did not go through the
passion, conquer death by His death, we would not be able to receive the Spirit
of the Risen Lord that empowers us to do what He has done. When the
Spirit abides in us, we too find new life. “A new heart I will give you,
and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the
heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within
you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances.
Then you shall live in the land that I gave to your ancestors; and you shall be
my people, and I will be your God.” (Ez 36:24-28) Indeed, the disciples only
came to understand after the resurrection how great the Father of Jesus Christ
is who raised Him from the dead when no one thought it was possible.
Jesus said to them, “‘Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe
all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah
should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?’ Then beginning with
Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in
all the scriptures.” (Lk 24:25-27) God, in raising Jesus, shows us
that life is greater than death, love greater than hatred, and goodness greater
than evil.
We should not place
limits on the ways God works and how He saves humanity. God said through Isaiah, “my
thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than
your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isa 55:8f) We cannot delimit how He
wants to reach out to all of humanity. Even St Peter came to understand
the wisdom and magnanimity of God’s plan for our salvation, “I truly understand
that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and
does what is right is acceptable to him.” (Acts 10:34f) He remarked, “Truly I tell
you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God
ahead of you.” (Mt 21:31) Even if
we know that Jesus is our Saviour and Lord, and that He is the Way, the Truth
and the Life, it does not mean that we will be saved whilst others will not.
For our God is so big that in the final judgment, He will only ask us this
question, have we loved? “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the
least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” (Mt 25:40) By so doing, we have fulfilled
the greatest of all commandments. “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the
Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and
with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your
strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mk 12:29-31)
Vatican II teaches, “All this holds true not only for
Christians, but for all men of good will in whose hearts grace works in an
unseen way. For, since Christ died for all men, and since the ultimate
vocation of man is in fact one, and divine, we ought to believe that the Holy
Spirit in a manner known only to God offers to every man the possibility of
being associated with this paschal mystery.” (Gaudium et spes 22)
In the same vein, but more positively the Church, “Likewise, other religions
found everywhere try to counter the restlessness of the human heart, each in
its own manner, by proposing ‘ways,’ comprising teachings, rules of life, and
sacred rites. The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in
these religions. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct
and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many
aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray
of that Truth which enlightens all men.” (Nostra Aetate, 2)
Hence, we must ask
ourselves the question, “How big is your God?” If we believe in an all loving
embracing Heavenly Father of us all, surely, we cannot believe that God the
Father of all humanity would condemn those who are non-Christians who do not
know Him because of ignorance. And even if we are sinners, we are assured
of God’s forgiveness when we repent, simply because as the Lord said, all
sinners are sick and need healing and forgiveness. He said, “‘I desire mercy,
not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” This
God “makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the
righteous and on the unrighteous.” (Mt 5:45)
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment