20200110
CHRISTIAN FAITH AS THE WAY TO OVERCOME THE WORLD
|
First reading
|
1
John 5:5-13 ©
|
There are three witnesses:
the Spirit and the water and the blood
Who can overcome
the world?
Only the man who
believes that Jesus is the Son of God:
Jesus Christ who
came by water and blood,
not with water
only,
but with water
and blood;
with the Spirit
as another witness –
since the Spirit
is the truth –
so that there
are three witnesses,
the Spirit, the
water and the blood,
and all three of
them agree.
We accept the
testimony of human witnesses,
but God’s
testimony is much greater,
and this is
God’s testimony,
given as
evidence for his Son.
Everybody who
believes in the Son of God
has this
testimony inside him;
and anyone who
will not believe God
is making God
out to be a liar,
because he has
not trusted
the testimony
God has given about his Son.
This is the
testimony:
God has given us
eternal life
and this life is
in his Son;
anyone who has
the Son has life,
anyone who does
not have the Son does not have life.
I have written
all this to you
so that you who
believe in the name of the Son of God
may be sure that
you have eternal life.
|
Responsorial Psalm
|
|
Psalm
147:12-15,19-20
|
|
Gospel Acclamation
|
cf.1Tim3:16
|
Alleluia,
alleluia!
Glory to you, O
Christ,
proclaimed to
the pagans;
glory to you, O
Christ,
believed in by
the world.
Alleluia!
|
Or:
|
cf.Mt4:23
|
Alleluia,
alleluia!
Jesus proclaimed
the Good News of the kingdom
and cured all
kinds of diseases among the people.
Alleluia!
|
Or:
|
Mt4:16
|
Alleluia,
alleluia!
The people that
lived in darkness
has seen a great
light;
on those who
dwell in the land and shadow of death
a light has
dawned.
Alleluia!
|
Or:
|
Lk4:17
|
Alleluia,
alleluia!
The Lord has
sent me to bring the good news to the poor,
to proclaim
liberty to captives.
Alleluia!
|
Or:
|
Lk7:16
|
Alleluia,
alleluia!
A great prophet
has appeared among us;
God has visited
his people.
Alleluia!
|
Gospel
|
Luke
5:12-16 ©
|
'If you want to, you can
cure me'
Jesus was in one of the
towns when a man appeared, covered with leprosy. Seeing Jesus he fell on his
face and implored him. ‘Sir,’ he said ‘if you want to, you can cure me.’ Jesus
stretched out his hand, touched him and said, ‘Of course I want to! Be cured!’
And the leprosy left him at once. He ordered him to tell no one, ‘But go and
show yourself to the priest and make the offering for your healing as Moses
prescribed it, as evidence for them.’
His
reputation continued to grow, and large crowds would gather to hear him and to
have their sickness cured, but he would always go off to some place where he
could be alone and pray.
CHRISTIAN
FAITH AS THE WAY TO OVERCOME THE WORLD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 JOHN 5:5-13; PSALM 147:12-15.19-20; LUKE 5:12-16 ]
In the
understanding of St John, “the world” can mean what is earthly, or what is
worldly, depending on the context that it is used. When we speak of the
world, it is not about creation, which is a gift from God and is beautiful, but
the trends and the values promoted by the world. Today, more than ever,
the world is hostile towards the gospel because the values that they promote
contradict that of the gospel. It began with the fight against atheistic
values promoted by communism. When the threat of communism died down,
there arose another more insidious threat, which is secularism.
So how can we
overcome the challenges in the world? The way to overcome the confusing
trends in the world cannot be based solely on some rational argument over sexuality, marriage,
abortion, destruction of human embryos and euthanasia, but how we understand
life, the human being, our origin and destiny based on faith as well.
Reason is important because it purifies faith. But unless reason is
enlightened by faith, we cannot arrive at the truth of life. What,
then, is the foundation?
Christian
life is founded on the incarnation, passion, death and resurrection of our
Lord.
As St John says, “Only the man who believes that Jesus is the Son of God: Jesus
Christ who came by water and blood, not with water only, but with water and
blood, with the Spirit as another witness – since the Spirit is the truth – so
that there are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water and the blood, and all
three of them agree.” Christian faith declares in no uncertain
terms that Jesus is truly man but He is God. He came by water and
blood, of which both constitute Him as truly a man. But water and blood
also are symbols of baptism and the death of our Lord. It was at His
baptism, that He was filled with the Holy Spirit and the Father confirmed Him
as His beloved Son. It was at His death, that the Lord showed Himself to
be truly man. But it was also at His death, that the Father raised Him to
new life in the Spirit. So faith in the sacredness of human life and life
after death, and our calling to share in Christ’s life with the Father is
rooted in Christian belief in the Incarnation and the Paschal Mystery of Christ.
In the incarnation, Jesus has sanctified humanity. In His passion, death
and resurrection, Jesus has shown us that the way to fullness of life is
through death and sharing in His resurrection.
But how can
we be sure about the incarnation and the resurrection? St John said we
have testimonies. We have the testimony of the Apostles and the early Church which
we read in the Acts of the Apostles. We have the testimony of the
gospels. At the end of today’s first reading, he concluded by saying, “I
have written all this to you so that you who believe in the name of the Son of
God may be sure that you have eternal life.” So the apostles and the
early Christians by their life and martyrdom testified to us the reality of the
resurrection.
We also have
the testimony of God the Father and the Holy Spirit. The Father testified to His
Son at His baptism. He affirmed Him once again before His passion at the
Transfiguration. Upon His death, the Father raised Him from the dead. It
was the Father’s endorsement of all that Jesus said and did. But all
these, the Father worked together with the Holy Spirit. At
the conception of Jesus in the womb of Mary, the Holy Spirit overshadowed
her. At His baptism, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him. At His
resurrection, the Father raised Jesus from the dead in the power of the Holy
Spirit. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was given to the Church for the
work of witnessing. It is the Holy Spirit that gives us the
inner conviction of Christ as the Son of God. Only through the Holy
Spirit can we come to believe what we have not seen. (cf Jn 14:12f) It is the internal
testimony of the Holy Spirit in us that enables us to accept the truth of the
message proclaimed. (cf 1 Th 2:13)
Of course, we
have 2000 years of history of the Catholic Church. In spite of her
sinfulness and the crises that the Church went through, we remain as strong as
ever. Throughout the 2000 years of history, the Church has shown herself
to be unassailable, indefatigable and firm in her faith. We continue
to bring the Good News of hope, salvation and healing to humanity. Many
have died for the faith and many have found peace in God through encountering
His healing love and mercy. The Church has provided light to those in
darkness, hope to those in despair, mercy to those in need, compassion to those
who suffer. But the Church could do all these, not because of an
ideology, but because of our personal faith in Jesus as the Son of God.
If God the
Father, in union with the Holy Spirit, has vouched for the truth of Christ,
then we cannot but accept without conditions. He wrote, “We
accept the testimony of human witnesses, but God’s testimony is much greater,
and this is God’s testimony, given as evidence for his Son.” We
believe only because of the testimony of God and the Holy Spirit and this
testimony is demonstrated in the lives of Christians throughout the 2000 years
of history.
The
implications of faith in the incarnation means that we believe in all that
Jesus said and did even if we do not understand or agree. It means
accepting Jesus as the Word of God in person and by extension the scriptures
which He believed, cited and taught. As the psalmist says, “He makes his
word known to Jacob, to Israel his laws and decrees.” It means accepting
that Jesus is identified with the Church for He taught, “Whoever listens to you
listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me
rejects the one who sent me.” (Lk 10:16) Faith in the
incarnation also means that Jesus is now with the Church and safeguarding
her. “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my
church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” (Mt 16:18) Faith in Christ means
accepting the teaching of the Magisterium. Faith in Christ and His Church
means accepting the Sacraments as the means to encounter Him.
The
incarnation means that Christ is also identified with us as Christians. When Saul was persecuting
the Church, the Lord said to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
When Saul inquired, “Who are you, Lord?” Jesus said, “I am Jesus, whom you are
persecuting.” (cf Acts 9:4f) Faith in Christ means that He
is our head and we are members of His mystical body. Finally, faith in
the incarnation means to accept that Christian fellowship is the concrete way
to grow in Christian maturity and hence, one must be inserted into the
community of faith and not walk alone as a Catholic because we are the members
of the Body of Christ.
Indeed,
encountering the Lord personally like the leper is the only way to find faith
in Him. We read that the Lord touched the leper in spite of his
unworthiness and healed him. We too need to be touched by the Lord personally
to find healing and restoration of faith and love. This is what St John
wrote, “We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what
we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands,
concerning the word of life.’ (1 Jn 1:1f)
How, then,
can we encounter the Lord personally if not by meeting Him in prayer?
This was what the Lord did even in His busy ministry. We read that “His reputation
continued to grow, and large crowds would gather to hear him and to have their
sickness cured, but he would always go off to some place where he could be
alone and pray.” We, too, must draw strength from the Lord to grow in
wisdom and understanding and courage to overcome the world. Faith in
Jesus as truly man and as truly God gives us the courage and hope that as human
beings we too can overcome the world and its temptations because God is with
us. God ultimately is the One who will help us to overcome the
world.
So to sum up,
Catholic Education and theological formation is to help us all to overcome the
world with all its challenges. We are to be formed so that we will not just be
defenders of our faith but most of all to protect humanity and the world from
destruction. But this can be done only when our faith is founded in the
incarnation of our Lord, His passion, death and resurrection. Unless
reason is enriched and enlightened by faith, the world cannot but retrogress in
values and end up in dehumanization. But faith in Christ also means
accepting the teaching of the Magisterium and being a full member of the Body
of Christ. It means going back to the faith of the Church, the
study of scriptures, Church history and the rich theological and liturgical
traditions we have inherited so that we can be sure of the foundations of our
faith. Most of all, there can be no real witnessing unless we
encounter the Lord personally and be touched by Him like the leper.
Otherwise, our faith will always be an intellectual faith and not a personal
faith. So let us increase our intellectual faith so that our
personal faith may also be strengthened. With a deep faith in Christ,
together with Him, we can overcome the challenges of secularism, relativism and
materialism in our times.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment