20200323
GOD
NEVER FAILS THOSE WHO HAVE FAITH
23 March, 2020, Monday, 4th
Week in Lent
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
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First reading
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Isaiah 65:17-21 ©
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Be glad and rejoice for ever at what I am creating
Thus says the
Lord: Now I create new heavens and a new earth, and the past will not be
remembered, and will come no more to men’s minds. Be glad and rejoice for ever
and ever for what I am creating, because I now create Jerusalem ‘Joy’ and her
people ‘Gladness.’ I shall rejoice over Jerusalem and exult in my people. No
more will the sound of weeping or the sound of cries be heard in her; in her,
no more will be found the infant living a few days only, or the old man not
living to the end of his days. To die at the age of a hundred will be dying
young; not to live to be a hundred will be the sign of a curse. They will build
houses and inhabit them, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm 29(30):2,4-6,11-13 ©
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I
will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me.
I
will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me
and
have not let my enemies rejoice over me.
O
Lord, you have raised my soul from the dead,
restored
me to life from those who sink into the grave.
I
will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me.
Sing
psalms to the Lord, you who love him,
give
thanks to his holy name.
His
anger lasts a moment; his favour all through life.
At
night there are tears, but joy comes with dawn.
I
will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me.
The
Lord listened and had pity.
The
Lord came to my help.
For
me you have changed my mourning into dancing:
O
Lord my God, I will thank you for ever.
I
will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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cf.Ps129:5,7
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Praise
and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
My
soul is waiting for the Lord,
I
count on his word,
because
with the Lord there is mercy
and
fullness of redemption.
Praise
and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
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Or:
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cf.Amos5:14
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Praise
and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
Seek
good and not evil so that you may live,
and
that the Lord God of hosts may really be with you.
Praise
and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
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Gospel
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John 4:43-54 ©
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Go home: your son will live
Jesus left
Samaria for Galilee. He himself had declared that there is no respect for a
prophet in his own country, but on his arrival the Galileans received him well,
having seen all that he had done at Jerusalem during the festival which they
too had attended.
He
went again to Cana in Galilee, where he had changed the water into wine. Now
there was a court official there whose son was ill at Capernaum and, hearing
that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judaea, he went and asked him to come
and cure his son as he was at the point of death. Jesus said, ‘So you will not
believe unless you see signs and portents!’ ‘Sir,’ answered the official ‘come
down before my child dies.’ ‘Go home,’ said Jesus ‘your son will live.’ The man
believed what Jesus had said and started on his way; and while he was still on
the journey back his servants met him with the news that his boy was alive. He
asked them when the boy had begun to recover. ‘The fever left him yesterday’
they said ‘at the seventh hour.’ The father realised that this was exactly the
time when Jesus had said, ‘Your son will live’; and he and all his household
believed.
This
was the second sign given by Jesus, on his return from Judaea to Galilee.
GOD NEVER FAILS
THOSE WHO HAVE FAITH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ISA
65:17-21; PS 30:2, 4-6, 11-13; JN 4:43-54 ]
When the Israelites in
exile began to lose hope in ever returning to Jerusalem, the Lord revived their
hope. He said, “Now I
create new heavens and a new earth, and the past will not be remembered, and
will come no more to men’s minds.” The Lord was not going to just restore
Israel to what it was. In fact, He would do more. He would bring
about something so new that it was unheard of. “No more will the sound of
weeping or the sound of cries be heard in her. They will build houses and
inhabit them, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.” Regardless, the Lord’s
assurance is that they would once again be glad and rejoice. Behold, “I
now create Jerusalem ‘Joy’ and her people ‘Gladness’.”
Most of all, their lives
would be prolonged. “In
her, no more will be found the infant living a few days only, or the old man
not living to the end of his days. To die at the age of a hundred will be
dying young; not to live to be a hundred will be the sign of a curse.”
God was going to extend their lives. Indeed, what people seek most is
life. Long life is symbolic of man’s thirst for fullness of
life. Death is always seen as a curse or a privation. People,
especially non-believers, fear death as it means the end of everything.
This promise of long
life was fulfilled in Christ who came not just to give us life but eternal
life. In the gospel,
Jesus gave new life to the Official’s son who was on the brink of death.
His power to heal the boy and prevent him from succumbing to death was but an
anticipation of His resurrection. He was raised from the dead and became
a life-giver to all who believed in Him. In the story of Lazarus, the
Lord said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in
me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes
in me will never die.” (Jn 11:25f)
Faith in Jesus makes it possible for us to have a share of the resurrected life
even in this life. With Christ, we will no longer be living just a
physical life but a life with Him and in Christ. Such life is always
meaningful because it is lived in love and faith. And even when we die,
we are assured we will live forever without the limitations of this earthly
life.
The question is whether
we have faith in Him.
The words of Jesus were addressed not so much to the Official as to the people
from Galilee who came to see Jesus perform a miracle. These people wanted
to see signs and wonders. But they were not ready to believe. Even
though they saw Jesus multiply the loaves for 5000 people, they would not
believe Him to be the Bread of Life. They rejected Jesus because He did
not fit into their mindset of what the Messiah would be like. (Jn 6:15, 53, 62).
King Herod from Galilee also wanted Jesus to perform a miracle to entertain
him, not so much because he had faith in Him. (cf Lk 23:6-9)
Herod was curious not because he was interested to find out the truth about
Jesus. So, too, there are many people who are not so much focused on
strengthening their faith in Christ but who simply want to see miracles and
spectacular happenings. When our faith rests on miracles alone, our faith
will remain weak. In fact, it is not even faith because faith means to
believe without seeing.
We are called to imitate
the faith of the Official. He
risked his position and status as a court official, travelling all the way from
Capernaum to Galilee, to ask for Jesus’ help to cure his son who was ill and at
the point of death. Using his faith to contrast with the weak faith of
the people, the Lord said, “So you will not believe unless you see signs and
portents!” The Official appealed to the Lord, “Sir, come down before my
child dies.” He wanted Jesus to go and heal his son. But the Lord
stretched and grew his faith by saying, “Go home, your son will live.”
And we are told that “the man believed what Jesus had said and started on
his way.” This is what faith is all about – to believe even without
seeing! He trusted in the Lord. He did not insist that Jesus
go down with him.
God is only pleased with
us when we believe in Him not because of proofs. If we surrender in
faith, then great miracles will happen. This was what happened to the Official’s
son. “While he was still on the journey back his servants met him with
the news that his boy was alive. He asked them when the boy had begun to
recover. ‘The fever left him yesterday’ they said ‘at the seventh
hour.’ The father realised that this was exactly the time when Jesus had
said, ‘Your son will live’.” The Lord healed his son the moment he
believed. This is the power and the reward of faith. “Now faith is
the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Heb 11:1)
Some of us might say,
“we believe, however our prayers were not answered”. Our faith is imperfect when we
think that God always answers our prayers exactly according to our
prayer. The author of Hebrews gives a long list of the faith of our
Fathers and ends by saying, “Yet all these, though they were commended for
their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided
something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect.”
(Heb
11:39f) This is the faith that we should be working towards, a faith
that God will make things happen and He will be faithful to us despite all odds
and appearances. Our faith is not just in the things of this world but the
fullness of life to come. Indeed, the Lord Himself assures us, “If you
then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more
will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Mt 7:11)
Does it mean therefore
that it is wrong to desire for miracles? Of course not! But it is the
prerogative of God to determine whether such miracles will give glory to God
and glorify us ultimately. Sometimes, God performs a miracle to open our
eyes to see His power and mercy. This was the case of the Official’s
family. “He and all his household believed” because they saw the
miracle. However, seeing the miracle itself does not mean that we
have faith in Jesus. The miracle is but a way for God to open our eyes
and minds, provided we are humble, docile and receptive to His love. It
helps us to be more receptive to God, and the Word of God in the
scriptures. It is true in daily life. We learn to have faith and
trust in someone not immediately but gradually through the repeated assurances
of love from the person. So, too, is our faith in God. Faith needs
to grow.
So even if we believe in
Christ because of a miracle, that faith is still weak. It must continue to grow and be
deepened. Or else, when trials set in and when we face difficulties, we
begin to doubt again. Many Catholics who have attended retreats and
encountered the love of God begin to believe and trust in Him because they have
seen the hand of God at work in their lives and in the lives of others.
But if they do not grow in faith, that is, through a deepening of their
relationship with the Lord, through prayer, meditation and contemplation, that
faith will not last. When the feelings of joy and wonder die down, and
when they go back to the routine of life, their faith will slacken.
Gradually, they will go back to the old way of life again. When that
happens, they lose the new life that is eternal which the Lord wanted to give
to them.
So we must therefore
never take for granted the grace of God, especially if we have significant
encounters of His love and mercy in our lives. As the Lord warns us, “Everyone
then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who
built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the
winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been
founded on rock.” (Mt 7:24f) Indeed, we can even tell the Lord, “‘Lord, Lord,
did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many
deeds of power in your name?” But the Lord would say, “I never knew you;
go away from me, you evildoers.” (Mt 7:22f)
So let us, whilst appreciating the signs of faith that the Lord has given to
us, go beyond the signs to the reality itself, that is, placing our faith in
the Lord. In this way, we live a life that never dies and even when
we die, we know that we live forever with Him.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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