20200104
WHAT
DO YOU WANT?
04 January,
2020, Saturday, Week of Christmas Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
|
First reading
|
1 John 3:7-10 ©
|
No-one sins who has been begotten by God
My
children, do not let anyone lead you astray:
to
live a holy life
is to
be holy just as he is holy;
to
lead a sinful life is to belong to the devil,
since
the devil was a sinner from the beginning.
It
was to undo all that the devil has done
that
the Son of God appeared.
No
one who has been begotten by God sins;
because
God’s seed remains inside him,
he
cannot sin when he has been begotten by God.
In
this way we distinguish the children of God
from
the children of the devil:
anybody
not living a holy life
and
not loving his brother
is no
child of God’s.
|
Responsorial
Psalm
|
|
Psalm 97(98):1,7-9 ©
|
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.
Let
the sea and all within it, thunder;
the
world, and all its peoples.
Let
the rivers clap their hands
and
the hills ring out their joy
All
the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
at
the presence of the Lord: for he comes,
he
comes to rule the earth.
He
will rule the world with justice
and
the peoples with fairness.
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 1:35-42 ©
|
'We have found the Messiah'
As John stood
with two of his disciples, Jesus passed, and John stared hard at him and said,
‘Look, there is the lamb of God.’ Hearing this, the two disciples followed
Jesus. Jesus turned round, saw them following and said, ‘What do you want?’
They answered, ‘Rabbi,’ – which means Teacher – ‘where do you live?’
‘Come and see’ he replied; so they went and saw where he lived, and stayed with
him the rest of that day. It was about the tenth hour.
One
of these two who became followers of Jesus after hearing what John had said was
Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. Early next morning, Andrew met his brother
and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ – which means the Christ –
and he took Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked hard at him and said, ‘You are Simon
son of John; you are to be called Cephas’ – meaning Rock.
WHAT DO YOU
WANT?
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 John 3:7-10; Ps 98:1, 7-9; John 1:35-42]
What do you want? This was the question Jesus asked the two
disciples of John the Baptist who followed Him after their master indicated to
them that Jesus was the Lamb of God. Today, we too have chosen to follow
Jesus. We have been baptized. But what is the reason for us
becoming Catholics? What do we expect out of our faith in Christ?
What do we hope Jesus would do for us? What do we want of Jesus and from
Jesus? We can be sure that we do not follow Jesus for no reason.
There is always a motive in choosing our faith.
The truth is that we are
all seeking for something that can fulfill us in life. We are seeking for real happiness
and fullness of life. But what is happiness? For many of us, when
we come to Jesus, we ask from Him mainly assistance for material favours, such
as financial help, success in our career, prosperity, physical health and then
good relationships with their loved ones, at home and in our place of work and
society. Most of the time, the focus is about oneself, one’s needs
and one’s well-being. This is also perhaps our thinking as well when
helping the poor and the disadvantaged in society. We think that if we
can satisfy their basic needs in life, they will be satisfied and happy.
So our focus is just fundamentally that, to raise funds for our operations,
which is to provide them the material needs and services they need to get on in
life. We think that just by feeding their stomachs and giving them what
they need, they will be happy in life. This is not true.
Even if these needs were
fulfilled, in themselves alone, they cannot give us happiness.
There is something more. No
matter how much we can give to the poor, it will never be enough!
How can it ever be enough when even we who have plenty do not feel that we have
enough? Indeed, even the rich feel that they are poor because they desire
more. That is why we are always working so hard to make more money, to
grow our businesses and to get promoted. Look at our children. They
are well provided for and they have the best of this world. Yet our
affluent children do not seem to be happy at all compared with the children in
the third world where they have little, yet they seem so contented.
It is significant that
the disciples’ response to the Lord’s question, “What do you want?” was, “where
do you live?” They
were not seeking for things, for glory, for power, for wealth. They were
seeking for God, for a relationship. They were seeking for a person
rather than for the temporal things of this life that cannot last. And so
the Lord invited them to spend time with Him. “‘Come and see,’ he
replied; so, they went and saw where he lived, and stayed with him the rest of
that day. It was about the tenth hour.” It must have been a remarkable
and memorable day with the Lord, watching Him – how He lived, how He conducted
Himself, how He related with people. Through relating with the Lord and
observing Him, they came to conclude that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, the
Lamb of God.
When there is love and
genuine relationship, we will find contentment and happiness. It is the lack of human relationships that
makes life meaningless and empty. When life is all about work, making
money, pursuing one’s ambition, success, life is empty. Happiness in life
is all about meaningful relationships, intimacy and being of value to each
other in our own ways, regardless of the state we are in. This
explains why many do not find happiness in life simply because they are
absorbed in themselves, in their ambition, in their career, in their pleasures and
even in their loved ones. We must reach beyond ourselves, our family
circle to the world, especially those who are seeking for meaning, purpose or
material help in order to find real happiness. We are created for one
another. We are brothers and sisters in the Lord.
But we need more than
human relationship to find happiness. We also need to have a relationship
with God. Human development
must always be integral. We need to grow affectively, emotionally,
intellectually and spiritually. Indeed, whilst working for the Lord in
helping the poor and the needy, we must never forget that more than just
feeding them, helping them financially or raising their standard of living,
what is critical is to lead them to the Lord. Coming to know the Lord is
the key to contentment and true happiness. St Paul himself shared, “I
have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is
to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all
circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry,
of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through him who
strengthens me.” (Phil 4:12f)
Contentment comes not from being given all that we need, or all that we want
but when we are in relationship with God. It was St Paul’s personal
relationship with the Lord that made him feel secure in whichever situation he
was in. He was contented with whatever he was given.
In the final analysis,
what people need most is God. What is the basis of our contentment if not our faith
and love for God, and our solidarity with our brothers and sisters in suffering
and in poverty? So it is not true that material satisfaction is enough to
help them reclaim their identity but relationship with God and with their
fellowmen. When they find God, it takes them very little to be happy and
contented. When they lack God in their lives, even the world’s resources
cannot satisfy anyone.
Our task is to reveal
the face of God to those whom we serve and meet each day. Whilst we are in the midst of the
celebration of Christmas, we must allow God to take flesh in us just as God
took flesh in Jesus. We must not forget that in
reaching out and serving these people, the inter-personal dimension of our
service is as important as the help that is rendered. It is not just
feeding the poor or assisting those who are in special need but making them
feel loved, cared for, and recognize their dignity as God’s children. In
this way, those who see our love in action can see “the salvation of our
God.” It is the personal touch, our smile, our encouraging words, our
love, our kindness, our compassion and understanding that will help them to
feel that they are loved and recover their dignity as God’s children.
To celebrate the birth
of Christ is to celebrate His birth in our hearts, which makes us children of
God. This
is the context of the first letter of St John. “See what love the Father
has given us that we should be called children of God; and that is what we
are.” (1 Jn 3:1) To be
God’s children is ultimately our calling and this is the same motivation for us
to serve the needy because we are all God’s children. Unless we
love our brothers and sisters, we cannot claim that we know God. St John
wrote, “No one who has been begotten by God sins; because God’s seed remains
inside him, he cannot sin when he has been begotten by God. In this way we
distinguish the children of God from the children of the devil.” We
are called to be like Christ so that we can be worthy to be called God’s
children. “All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is
pure.” (1 Jn 3:3) St
John made it clear, “anybody not living a holy life and not loving his brother
is no child of God’s.” We are called to live a life of grace
expressed in our love for our brothers and sisters. This is what holiness
of life entails.
Hence, it is important
to remind ourselves that the disciples did not merely follow the Lord but lived
with Him, and shared in His life.
This is the difference between our baptized Catholics and the disciples.
We just want to be known as Jesus’ disciples but we are not keen to spend time
with Him, in prayer, in intimacy and in formation. We just want to work
and work, often not working so much for God but simply to kill time or to feel
good about ourselves. This is the greatest temptation for those involved
in humanitarian work because such work has no end. The demands are
many. Hardly do we allow ourselves to take off from our work, even church
work, not just secular work, to spend time with the Lord in prayer or in retreat.
“Come and See” is what the Lord is asking of us. We need to fall in love
with Jesus so that His Spirit living in us will give us the inner peace and joy
to reach out to others.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment