20191222
PREACHING
THE OBEDIENCE OF FAITH
22 December,
2019, Sunday, 4th Week of Advent
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
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First reading
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Isaiah 7:10-14 ©
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The maiden is with child
The Lord spoke to
Ahaz and said, ‘Ask the Lord your God for a sign for yourself coming either
from the depths of Sheol or from the heights above.’ ‘No,’ Ahaz answered ‘I
will not put the Lord to the test.’
Then
Isaiah said:
‘Listen
now, House of David:
are
you not satisfied with trying the patience of men
without
trying the patience of my God, too?
The
Lord himself, therefore,
will
give you a sign.
It is
this: the maiden is with child
and
will soon give birth to a son
whom
she will call Immanuel,
a
name which means “God-is-with-us.”’
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm 23(24):1-6 ©
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Let
the Lord enter! He is the king of glory.
The
Lord’s is the earth and its fullness,
the
world and all its peoples.
It is
he who set it on the seas;
on
the waters he made it firm.
Let
the Lord enter! He is the king of glory.
Who
shall climb the mountain of the Lord?
Who
shall stand in his holy place?
The
man with clean hands and pure heart,
who
desires not worthless things.
Let
the Lord enter! He is the king of glory.
He
shall receive blessings from the Lord
and
reward from the God who saves him.
Such
are the men who seek him,
seek
the face of the God of Jacob.
Let
the Lord enter! He is the king of glory.
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Second reading
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Romans 1:1-7 ©
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Our apostolic mission is to preach the obedience of faith to all
pagan nations
From Paul, a
servant of Christ Jesus who has been called to be an apostle, and specially
chosen to preach the Good News that God promised long ago through his prophets
in the scriptures.
This
news is about the Son of God who, according to the human nature he took was a
descendant of David: it is about Jesus Christ our Lord who, in the order of the
spirit, the spirit of holiness that was in him, was proclaimed Son of God in
all his power through his resurrection from the dead. Through him we received
grace and our apostolic mission to preach the obedience of faith to all pagan
nations in honour of his name. You are one of these nations, and by his call
belong to Jesus Christ. To you all, then, who are God’s beloved in Rome, called
to be saints, may God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ send grace and
peace.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Mt1:23
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Alleluia,
alleluia!
The
virgin will conceive and give birth to a son
and
they will call him Emmanuel,
a name
which means ‘God-is-with-us’.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 1:18-24 ©
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How Jesus Christ came to be born
This is how Jesus
Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before
they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy
Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her
publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do
this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph
son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has
conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and
you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from
their sins.’ Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord
through the prophet:
The
virgin will conceive and give birth to a son
and
they will call him Emmanuel,
a name which
means ‘God-is-with-us.’ When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord
had told him to do: he took his wife to his home.
PREACHING THE
OBEDIENCE OF FAITH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ISAIAH 7:10-14; ROMANS 1:1-7; MATTHEW 1:18-24 ]
As the feast of Christmas is just a few
days away, the Church wants to prepare us for the real significance of this
celebration. The truth is that
many, perhaps even Christians, do not even know what they are really
celebrating. Christmas for many is a nice, sentimental season where we
can celebrate with our loved ones. It is a time of festivity and a
time to wind down, take a break from our work and business, as we wait for the
New Year.
Whilst all these are not excluded in our
Christmas celebration, we need to ask the cause of our joy and celebration. What are we celebrating? We
are celebrating Jesus truly God and truly man. We are celebrating the
Emmanuel, God with us, as the scripture readings proclaim today. God is not
just with us in creation, in history, but He has become one with us in the
flesh. This is what St Paul wrote, “This news is about the Son of God
who, according to the human nature he took, was a descendant of David: it is
about Jesus Christ our Lord who, in the order of the spirit, the spirit of
holiness that was in him, was proclaimed Son of God in all his power through
his resurrection from the dead.”
This is the Good News St Paul said, “that
God promised long ago through his prophets in the scriptures.” This is unimaginable and, for many,
unbelievable! Indeed, even for Mary and Joseph, it took time to
digest this fact. St Joseph needed time for discernment and assurance
from God. That God chose to be one of us and with us in the flesh is
beyond comprehension. St Paul, writing to the Corinthians said, “Jews
demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a
stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who
are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of
God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the
weakness of God is stronger than men.” (1 Cor 1:22-25)
So we should not be surprised how the
world views the celebration of Christmas. For most, they are just joining in the cozy and
romantic spirit and atmosphere, the fun and the merry-making. For others,
it as an occasion to celebrate love and giving, especially to those who are
poor and marginalized. So they are happy to celebrate with
Christians. But this does not mean that they are celebrating the
incarnation, the Word becoming flesh in Jesus. At most, Jesus was a great
prophet, leader and a good man. Surely, not the Son of God and neither
God!
What about us? Can we say that we
have also arrived at this real wonder of our celebration that we can proclaim
that God is with us in
a very real, personal and existential manner in Jesus, in His life, death and
resurrection; in all His words and deeds? How do we know we have come to
this faith? The answer is obedience of faith. This is what St Paul
wrote, “Through him we received grace and our apostolic mission to preach the
obedience of faith to all pagan nations in honour of his name.”
What does obedience of faith entail?
Faith is first and foremost an assent to the truth revealed to us by God. This was the case of St Joseph.
Whilst making his own plans to divorce Mary informally, and being a man of honour,
he changed his mind when the angel of the Lord revealed to him the plan of
salvation. Most of all, when he came to know that the son of Mary was
indeed the work of the Holy Spirit and that Jesus would be the one to save the
people from their sins, he obeyed without assurance simply because
of the Word of the Lord. We read, “he did what the angel of the Lord had
told him to do: he took his wife to his home.”
This is the first level of faith. It is to put our trust not in the
words of man but in the Word of God. St Paul, writing to the Corinthians said,
“I was with you in weakness and in much fear and trembling; and
my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in
demonstration of the Spirit and power, that your faith might
not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” (1 Cor 2:3-5) The obedience of faith
therefore is what Mary also said to the Lord, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the
Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” (Lk 1:38) This is the same kind of
obedience that Abraham demonstrated.
Faith, however, is more than just an
intellectual assent to a doctrine or truth. It has implications as to how we would
live after knowing the truth. To proclaim that Jesus is the Way, the
Truth and the Life means that we are going to follow Jesus in all that we do
and how we live. So faith is more than just accepting the Word of God as
true and the teachings of the Church as an explanation of the revealed Word of
God.
The irony is that many Catholics profess
the doctrines of the Church but these doctrines are empty doctrines because
they have no effect on their lives.
As Jesus, quoting from the prophet Isaiah, said, “These people honor me with
their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.” (Mt 15:8 cf Isa 29:13) Faith in what we believe must
be demonstrated in how we live. Otherwise, there is a dichotomy.
Such intellectual faith cannot save us and cannot give us fullness of
life. This explains why many Catholics do not find their faith
life-giving. For many it is a mere ritual, a chore, a duty and a routine
that they do week after week. But it is not a living faith. What
they believe in is one thing, but how they live their lives at home, in the
office, in business, or with their friends, are entirely unrelated to what the
Word of God tells them.
This was the case of Ahaz in today’s first
reading. Assyria was
becoming a strong military power and the army was known to be ruthless and
fierce. Threatened by Assyria, the King of Syria and Israel wanted King
Ahaz of Judah to join them in fighting against Assyria, failing which, they
would overthrow Ahaz. To protect himself, Ahaz sought alliance with
Assyria. Instead of listening to the Word of God spoken through Isaiah,
that God would protect him; he was stubborn and followed his own plans.
He trusted in himself and sought the help of man instead of the help of
God. He relied on military might rather than the power of God. And
he continued to reject God’s word, as he did not wish to change his plan in
asking Assyria for help even when he was given a sign.
What about us? What is the
level of our practical faith in God? Are we open to His Word and ready to
obey Him? Are
we ready to welcome the Lord into our lives? Are we ready to allow Him to
take flesh in us? The psalmist says, “Who shall climb the mountain of the
Lord? Who shall stand in his holy place? The man with clean hands and pure
heart, who desires not worthless things. He shall receive
blessings from the Lord and reward from the God who saves him. Such are
the men who seek him, seek the face of the God of Jacob.” Faith in the
Lord presumes that we live the truths taught to us.
Today, we are called to be like St Joseph
who is known to be a just man.
He not only accepted in faith the word of the Lord, but he carried it out
immediately the moment he woke from his sleep. St Paul is another shining
example of how encountering the Lord at Damascus resulted in him giving his
entire life to the proclamation of the Good News, in and out of season.
He regarded himself as “a servant of Christ Jesus who has been
called to be an apostle, and specially chosen to preach the Good News.”
Whether it was Mary, Joseph or St Paul, all considered themselves to be
servants of the Good News, proclaiming the marvelous truth that Christ is the
Son of God, the Emmanuel, and the God who is with us in the flesh.
In Him is our salvation and our reconciliation with God.
If we truly believe this truth, then we
must let the Word of God take flesh in us today as well. We do this through proclamation of
what God has done for us in our lives and how we experience Christ, His
presence, guidance and strength in daily life. We show His love to others
through our very lives of gentleness, compassion, meekness, kindness, humility
and generosity. Reaching out to others, showing our compassion and
love, others will come to encounter the living God, the Lord Jesus through us
in the flesh, which is but a stepping-stone to faith in Him.
Accordingly, as we approach Christmas, let
us allow the Lord to enter into our lives. We must be watchful that we do not reduce
Christmas to a material celebration of fun, merry-making, food and partying,
and forgetting that such external celebrations, unless they come from a heart
filled with gratitude and joy for Christ’s coming into our lives, are
meaningless, empty and passing. Christmas is almost here; have you let
Him into your life yet? Hear the appeal of the psalmist, “Let the Lord enter!
He is the king of glory.” Let us make room for Him in our hearts by
making time for prayer, contemplation and for friendship and love.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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