20200119
BEING
A WITNESS TO JESUS THE LIGHT OF HUMANITY
19 January,
2020, Sunday, 2nd Week in Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Isaiah 49:3,5-6 ©
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I will make you the light of the nations so that my salvation may
reach to the ends of the earth
The
Lord said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel,
in
whom I shall be glorified’;
I was
honoured in the eyes of the Lord,
my
God was my strength.
And
now the Lord has spoken,
he
who formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to
bring Jacob back to him,
to
gather Israel to him:
‘It
is not enough for you to be my servant,
to
restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back the survivors of Israel;
I
will make you the light of the nations
so
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.’
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Responsorial
Psalm
|
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Psalm 39(40):2,4,7-10 ©
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Here
I am, Lord! I come to do your will.
I
waited, I waited for the Lord
and
he stooped down to me;
he
heard my cry.
He
put a new song into my mouth,
praise
of our God.
Here
I am, Lord! I come to do your will.
You
do not ask for sacrifice and offerings,
but
an open ear.
You
do not ask for holocaust and victim.
Instead,
here am I.
Here
I am, Lord! I come to do your will.
In
the scroll of the book it stands written
that
I should do your will.
My
God, I delight in your law
in
the depth of my heart.
Here
I am, Lord! I come to do your will.
Your
justice I have proclaimed
in
the great assembly.
My
lips I have not sealed;
you
know it, O Lord.
Here
I am, Lord! I come to do your will.
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Second reading
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1 Corinthians 1:1-3 ©
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May God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ send you grace and
peace
I, Paul,
appointed by God to be an apostle, together with brother Sosthenes, send
greetings to the church of God in Corinth, to the holy people of Jesus Christ,
who are called to take their place among all the saints everywhere who pray to
our Lord Jesus Christ; for he is their Lord no less than ours. May God our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ send you grace and peace.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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cf.Lk19:38,2:14
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Alleluia,
alleluia!
Blessings
on the King who comes,
in
the name of the Lord!
Peace
in heaven
and
glory in the highest heavens!
Alleluia!
|
Or:
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Jn1:14,12
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Alleluia,
alleluia!
The
Word was made flesh and lived among us:
to
all who did accept him
he
gave power to become children of God.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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John 1:29-34 ©
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'Look: there is the Lamb of God'
Seeing Jesus
coming towards him, John said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away
the sin of the world. This is the one I spoke of when I said: A man is coming
after me who ranks before me because he existed before me. I did not know him
myself, and yet it was to reveal him to Israel that I came baptising with
water.’ John also declared, ‘I saw the Spirit coming down on him from heaven
like a dove and resting on him. I did not know him myself, but he who sent me
to baptise with water had said to me, “The man on whom you see the Spirit come
down and rest is the one who is going to baptise with the Holy Spirit.” Yes, I
have seen and I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God.’
BEING A WITNESS
TO JESUS THE LIGHT OF HUMANITY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Is 49:3.5-6; Ps 40:2, 4, 7-10; 1 Cor 1:1-3; Jn 1:29-34 ]
In the second reading,
St Paul was writing to the Christians in Corinth who were facing internal and
external challenges.
There was division among the Church leaders as some rallied around Peter, Paul
or Apollos. At the same time, the prosperity of the city also bred
corruption of all sorts. Idolatry, prostitution, sexual immorality and
cheating abounded, like in all urban cities.
It was within this context
that St Paul issued a personal invitation to all Christians to be holy. He sent “greetings to the church of
God in Corinth, to the holy people of Jesus Christ, who are called to take
their place among all the saints.” What a beautiful reminder to all of us
that we are called to holiness. A Christian’s universal call is the
call to holiness. To be holy is to be consecrated, to be set apart for
the glory of God and for His service. We are called to manifest His love,
light and presence in the way we live our lives. That is what it means to
be called saints because a saint is one who reflects the presence of Christ in
his or her life. A saint therefore is one who is a citizen of heaven.
This same call is
addressed to us all as Christians. More
than ever in the world today, we need Christians who are courageous in living
lives that are in opposition to the rest of the world. The real
tragedy among Catholics is that we all live a double life. We are
Catholics only in Church but we live a secular life with worldly values in our
daily life. The options and the choices we make are basically dictated by
the world, whether it is sex, marriage, family, career, entertainment,
education or pursuits. We share the desire for the illusory pleasures and
pursuits of the world. So we are counter-witnesses of the gospel by the
way we live our lives. In church, we behave like saints but outside the
church, we indulge and subscribe to the immoral activities and wisdom of the
world.
Once again, St Paul reminds
us that we are being sent. We are called to be apostles of Christ. He was conscious of his call when he
wrote, “I, Paul, appointed by God to be an apostle.” By virtue of our
baptism, we too are given a special calling from God to preach the gospel according
to our charisms and the state of life we have been called. Every one of
us, regardless of who we are, has a contribution to make in the proclamation of
the gospel. Each one is given a role, a job, a ministry for us to partake in
Christ’s mission to the world. This mission can take place within the
Church or without. It can be direct or indirect witnessing. But in
all that we do, we must be ready, like St Paul, to make available our gifts,
resources, talents for His service so that God’s plan for His Church and the
world can be realized. It does not matter what we do for God but what
matters is that we do everything for the glory of God and the service of the
Church and of humanity. The Lord said to the Suffering Servant of Isaiah,
“You are my servant, Israel, in whom I shall be glorified.”
This call to glorify God
comes in two ways. The call to service in the gospel is both ad intra an ad
extra. The
Lord told the Suffering Servant, “He who formed me in the womb to be his
servant, to bring Jacob back to him, to gather Israel to him” also said, “It is
not enough for you to be my servant, to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring
back the survivors of Israel: I will make you the light of the nations so that
my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” In other words, we must be a
witness within the Church and also to be a witness to Christ in the
world. It is a call to re-evangelize the gospel within and to
evangelize to the world.
It is for this reason
that we must first form ourselves in the right values of the gospel. If we are not evangelized ourselves
and are not clear of what the gospel is teaching us, we will not be able to be
convinced sufficiently to live them out, much less to share with the rest of
the world. The work of re-evangelizing our fellow Catholics, to renew
their faith and their personal relationship with the Lord through worship,
prayer, the Word of God and formation is of utmost importance. Until this is
done, the work of evangelization cannot be properly carried out. We must
first be informed in the faith, reignite our relationship with the Lord and
fall in love with the Word of God before we can be witnesses.
But we must also point
others to the Lord as well.
There are many people in the world seeking security, peace, love and joy.
Our calling is to show them that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the
Life. He is their savior and He is the One whom they are seeking to give
them fullness of life. We must not be misled into thinking that
faith is a private matter, as many people say. Many are saying that
faith is a personal matter and not to be spoken about. St John the
Baptist on the other hand, was ever ready to refer others to Jesus.
“Seeing Jesus coming towards him, John said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God that
takes away the sin of the world. This is the one I spoke of when I said: A man
is coming after me who ranks before me because he existed before me. I did not
know him myself, and yet it was to reveal him to Israel that I came baptising
with water.'” John the Baptist came to witness for Christ and to lead
people to the Lord. As Christians, our task is not just to be saved
by Christ but to lead all peoples to Him so that they, too, can find new life
and be saved.
Indeed, John the Baptist
did not keep Jesus for Himself or pretend that he himself was the
Messiah. “Seeing
Jesus coming towards him, John said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God that takes
away the sin of the world. This is the one I spoke of when I said: A man is
coming after me who ranks before me because he existed before me. I did not
know him myself, and yet it was to reveal him to Israel that I came baptising
with water.'” Although he himself was a very popular preacher and
prophet, attracting large crowds and disciples to himself, he knew when it was
time for him to let go and take a back seat. He was always conscious that
he was only a voice of the bridegroom. Christ is the Word. When He
came, it would be time for the voice to fade out. That is why, John the
Baptist said, “He must increase and I must decrease.” (Jn 3:30) Such was the humility of John
the Baptist, his sincerity and his clarity of his calling. He was
contented to do what God wanted him to do and let Christ be glorified.
This is what true service is all about, the basis for effective ministry, never
to bring others to ourselves. Our task is to bring them to the
Lord. We must never keep Jesus away from others or take away His
limelight.
If we want to be true
witnesses of our Lord, then we need to fall in love with Jesus and the Word of
God. This can only happen through the Holy Spirit because He is the One
who leads us to Jesus. Catholics
cannot be evangelizers and witnesses unless they are renewed in the power of
the Spirit. This is what St John the Baptist reminds us. He could
say, “Yes, I have seen and I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God”,
only because he encountered the Lord personally. John also declared,
“I saw the Spirit coming down on him from heaven like a dove and resting on
him.” He himself heard the Lord saying, “The man on whom you see the
Spirit come down and rest is the one who is going to baptise with the Holy
Spirit.” We too must renew our relationship with the Holy Spirit we received at
baptism and confirmation. The baptism of John the Baptist was
preliminary to the baptism that Jesus wants to give us. His baptism was
for the repentance and forgiveness of sins. But Jesus gives us the Holy
Spirit, He sanctifies us not just by taking away our sins but He also empowers
us with the Holy Spirit to live and proclaim the Good News to all of
humanity. Only after receiving the Holy Spirit can we be ready to
go out and proclaim the Gospel in the power of the Spirit. In the work of
witnessing, we cannot depend on our own strength but only in the Lord.
Isaiah said, “I was honoured in the eyes of the Lord, my God was my
strength.” The psalmist says, “I waited, I waited for the Lord and he
stooped down to me; he heard my cry. He put a new song into my mouth, praise of
our God.”
In the final analysis,
the power of witnessing lies in not what we say but what we do. If we wish to be true evangelizers
in the world, we only need to do His holy will in our daily lives. This
is what will convince people. This is what the psalmist is teaching
us. With him, we also must say, “Here I am, Lord! I come to do your
will. You do not ask for sacrifice and offerings, but an open ear. You
do not ask for holocaust and victim. Instead, here am I. In the
scroll of the book it stands written that I should do your will. My God, I
delight in your law in the depth of my heart.” What the Lord is
asking of us is not our external sacrifices but that we be the living sacrifice,
the lamb of sacrifice like Jesus who died on the cross for us doing His
Father’s will. We are called to be that holocaust, that lamb today,
offered for humanity as we seek to live out His precepts in our daily
life. We are called to proclaim His justice and His truth. “Your
justice I have proclaimed in the great assembly. My lips I have not sealed; you
know it, O Lord.” May our lives indeed be a reflection of Christ so that
we can truly edify others as we lead them to the fullness of life in Christ.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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