20200102
SEEKING
AUTHENTICITY
02 January,
2020, Thursday, Week of Christmas Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
|
First reading
|
1
John 2:22-28 ©
|
The anointing he gave you
teaches you everything
The
man who denies that Jesus is the Christ –
he is
the liar,
he is
Antichrist;
and
he is denying the Father as well as the Son,
because
no one who has the Father can deny the Son,
and
to acknowledge the Son is to have the Father as well.
Keep
alive in yourselves what you were taught in the beginning:
as
long as what you were taught in the beginning is alive in you,
you
will live in the Son
and
in the Father;
and
what is promised to you by his own promise
is
eternal life.
This
is all that I am writing to you about the people who are trying to lead you
astray.
But
you have not lost the anointing that he gave you,
and
you do not need anyone to teach you;
the
anointing he gave teaches you everything;
you
are anointed with truth, not with a lie,
and
as it has taught you, so you must stay in him.
Live
in Christ, then, my children,
so
that if he appears, we may have full confidence,
and
not turn from him in shame
at
his coming.
|
Responsorial Psalm
|
|
Psalm
97(98):1-4 ©
|
All
the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Sing
a new song to the Lord
for
he has worked wonders.
His
right hand and his holy arm
have
brought salvation.
All
the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
The
Lord has made known his salvation;
has
shown his justice to the nations.
He
has remembered his truth and love
for
the house of Israel.
All
the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
All
the ends of the earth have seen
the
salvation of our God.
Shout
to the Lord, all the earth,
ring
out your joy.
All
the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
|
Gospel Acclamation
|
Jn1:14,12
|
Alleluia,
alleluia!
The
Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.
To
all who received him he gave power to become children of God.
Alleluia!
|
Or:
|
Heb1:1-2
|
Alleluia,
alleluia!
At
various times in the past
and
in various different ways,
God
spoke to our ancestors through the prophets;
but
in our own time, the last days,
he
has spoken to us through his Son.
Alleluia!
|
Or:
|
Alleluia,
alleluia!
A
hallowed day has dawned upon us.
Come,
you nations, worship the Lord,
for
today a great light has shone down upon the earth.
Alleluia!
|
Gospel
|
John
1:19-28 ©
|
'One is coming after me who
existed before me'
This is how John
appeared as a witness. When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to
ask him, ‘Who are you?’ he not only declared, but he declared quite openly, ‘I
am not the Christ.’ ‘Well then,’ they asked ‘are you Elijah?’ ‘I am not’ he said.
‘Are you the Prophet?’ He answered, ‘No.’ So they said to him, ‘Who are you? We
must take back an answer to those who sent us. What have you to say about
yourself?’ So John said, ‘I am, as Isaiah prophesied:
a
voice that cries in the wilderness:
Make
a straight way for the Lord.’
Now these men had
been sent by the Pharisees, and they put this further question to him, ‘Why are
you baptising if you are not the Christ, and not Elijah, and not the prophet?’
John replied, ‘I baptise with water; but there stands among you – unknown
to you – the one who is coming after me; and I am not fit to undo his
sandal-strap.’ This happened at Bethany, on the far side of the Jordan, where
John was baptising.
SEEKING
AUTHENTICITY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ 1 JOHN 2:22-28; JOHN 1:19-28]
Christmas is a season of
joy because it ushers us into the peace of Christ. When Jesus was born, the angels
sang, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those
whom he favors!” (Lk 2:14) Then
yesterday we celebrated the Solemnity of Mary, the mother of God and also World
Day of peace. Yet, some of us cannot find peace in our souls and in our
lives. What is the cause of this restlessness, this division within and
without us?
It is because we fail to
live an authentic life, a life of integrity. Deep in our hearts, we all seek to be true
to ourselves. We desire to be genuine to ourselves and to others.
We are drawn to those who are themselves, living authentic lives, without any
pretenses. Indeed, we hate ourselves when we have to live as the
inauthentic self to others. We want to face the world without our
masks. We find great joy when people know and accept us for what we
are. The lack of peace comes about because we are always putting up
a show so that we will be accepted and popular in people’s eyes.
Unfortunately, the world
pressurizes us to live inauthentic lives because they expect us to be perfect. The world does not tolerate
imperfections or mistakes. We are loved and appreciated only if fit in
with the mold that the world has for us. The world dictates how beauty,
success and happiness are defined. Beauty means to look forever
young. It is the external beauty, the impression that we make on others
that counts, not what is inside our hearts or our real self. Success is
measured in terms of wealth, power and status. Happiness is reducible to
pleasure, praise and anything that boosts our ego. That is why many of us
are pressured to conduct ourselves in such a way so that we can gain public
acceptance.
This subtle pressure to
live inauthentically does not just happen in public life but also in our
personal and private life.
Even within religious circles, we are pressurized to ‘behave’ or be frowned
upon. Catholics are to behave and conduct themselves according to the
laws of the Church. But many of us find ourselves too weak to observe the
commandments of the Church or the teachings of the bible. Again, to find
acceptance, when we are in Church and in public, we behave as if we are very
good Catholics, involved in Church ministry, attend talks and retreats, or even
give talks and write nice things about the faith. But on the quiet, in
our private life, we are struggling with the teachings of the Church.
Many Catholics live a double life, professing one thing but living another form
of lifestyle. They lack integrity in living out what they teach and
believe about the faith. Some can speak and argue convincingly about
Catholic beliefs and teachings but their personal lifestyle contradicts all
that they teach and say.
Indeed, authenticity
sets us free and gives us true joy. Does authenticity therefore mean that
we should just be ourselves and give free rein to what and who we are? At the other extreme, there are people who
condemn those who pretend to be what they are not by flaunting who they
are. Such extreme approach to authenticity could fall into the trap
of inauthenticity as well. Does it mean that just because I cannot be
faithful to one man or one woman, gives me the right to have relationships with
multiple men or women even though I am married? Does it mean that because
I am hot-tempered, I can allow myself to give vent to whatever I feel and how I
feel? Does it mean that because I am obsessed with sex, I can go about
flirting around, engaging in salacious talks and sharing obscene
pictures? Does it mean that because I feel I am not attracted to the
opposite sex, I should have a same-sex partner in life? Does authenticity
mean to let the world know I am a gay?
What, then, is
authenticity? There is a big difference between being sincere with others
about who we are and living a life of authenticity. Whilst we should not pretend to be what we
are not, or worse still to portray ourselves to be just the opposite of who we
really are, which is what hypocrisy is all about, we should however seek true
authenticity. In other words, it is not enough to be true to others about
who we are; we must also be true to ourselves about who we really are.
What is our real identity? This is the crux of the question1
The real dilemma is that
many of us are confused about who we are. One of the greatest confusion
in our times has to do with sexual identity. We do not know who we are. Clearly,
from the biological viewpoint, one does not need to think who is male or
female. One look at the body will tell us who they are. But the
real problem is not the physiological consideration but the psychological
pathological condition. Biologically, they are male but they feel that
they are female and vice versa. Now besides the LGBTQ, we have another
group who call themselves Non-binary, when they feel they are neither male nor
female. Today, the world is saying that gender and appearances should not
be linked to sex. This call for freedom to be what we want, and what we
wear and what we like is becoming a trend today.
This confusion over our
identity has serious implications on marriage and family life. It leads to a redefinition of
marriage by separating procreation from love. Marriage is about
partnership and has nothing to do with procreation. That being the case,
same-sex union is possible because the biological and physiological dimension
of the person is denied. The body is not as important as the need to feel
loved, and accepted. Marriage is reduced to a psychological, emotional
and affective relationship expressed in physical love even with partners of the
same sex. Indeed, the world is becoming more and more confused over the
identity of the human person and not just its sexuality. And
the truth is, we act out of our perceived sexuality. Doing flows from
being is the basic principle of life.
This is why St John
urges us to go back to the beginning of creation, of God’s plan and His plan of
salvation. He
wrote, “Keep alive in yourselves what you were taught in the beginning: as long
as what you were taught in the beginning is alive in you, you will live in the
Son and in the Father; and what is promised to you by his own promise is
eternal life.” Jesus as the Son of God is the One who can show us
our true identity as human beings. “The truth is that only in the mystery
of the incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light. Christ, the final
Adam, by the revelation of the mystery of the Father and His love, fully
reveals man to man himself and makes his supreme calling clear. He Who is ‘the
image of the invisible God’ (Col. 1:15), is Himself the perfect man. To the
sons of Adam He restores the divine likeness which had been disfigured from the
first sin onward. Through Christ and in Christ, the riddles of sorrow and death
grow meaningful. Apart from His Gospel, they overwhelm us. Christ has risen,
destroying death by His death; He has lavished life upon us so that, as sons in
the Son, we can cry out in the Spirit; Abba, Father”. (GS 22)
Today, we have the
example of John the Baptist who was authentic in his way of life and authentic
to his identity. He
did not pretend to be what he was not. Although he had the opportunity to
mislead the people into believing that he was the Messiah or the prophet Elijah
that was to come, or even allowed others to believe in him as such since that
was the popular acclamation of who he was, he did not. He did not succumb
to popular opinion of him and deceive himself or sought to deceive others about
his identity. He made it clear to them. “He not only
declared, but he declared quite openly, ‘I am not the Christ’. I am, as Isaiah
prophesied: a voice that cries in the wilderness: Make a straight way for
the Lord.” And when pressed further, he said, “I baptise with water; but
there stands among you – unknown to you – the one who is coming
after me; and I am not fit to undo his sandal strap.” John the
Baptist was truly an authentic man because he knew himself, his identity as the
precursor. He was contented with his role as appointed by God. Not
only was he true to his identity and his role, he lived out the message he
proclaimed by a life of austerity, penance, mortification and simplicity in
line with his message of repentance.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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