20200427 DEFENSE OF THE FAITH
eadings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: White.
First reading
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Acts 6:8-15 ©
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They could not get the better of Stephen because the Spirit prompted what he said
Stephen was filled with grace and power and began to work miracles and great signs among the people. But then certain people came forward to debate with Stephen, some from Cyrene and Alexandria who were members of the synagogue called the Synagogue of Freedmen, and others from Cilicia and Asia. They found they could not get the better of him because of his wisdom, and because it was the Spirit that prompted what he said. So they procured some men to say, ‘We heard him using blasphemous language against Moses and against God.’ Having in this way turned the people against him as well as the elders and scribes, they took Stephen by surprise, and arrested him and brought him before the Sanhedrin. There they put up false witnesses to say, ‘This man is always making speeches against this Holy Place and the Law. We have heard him say that Jesus the Nazarene is going to destroy this Place and alter the traditions that Moses handed down to us.’ The members of the Sanhedrin all looked intently at Stephen, and his face appeared to them like the face of an angel.
Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 118(119):23-24,26-27,29-30 ©
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They are happy whose life is blameless.
or
Alleluia!
Though princes sit plotting against me
I ponder on your statutes.
Your will is my delight;
your statutes are my counsellors.
They are happy whose life is blameless.
or
Alleluia!
I declared my ways and you answered;
teach me your statutes.
Make me grasp the way of your precepts
and I will muse on your wonders.
They are happy whose life is blameless.
or
Alleluia!
Keep me from the way of error
and teach me your law.
I have chosen the way of truth
with your decrees before me.
They are happy whose life is blameless.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation
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Jn20:29
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Alleluia, alleluia!
‘You believe, Thomas, because you can see me.
Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.
Alleluia!
Or:
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Mt4:4
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Alleluia!
Gospel
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John 6:22-29 ©
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Do not work for food that cannot last, but for food that endures to eternal life
After Jesus had fed the five thousand, his disciples saw him walking on the water. Next day, the crowd that had stayed on the other side saw that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not got into the boat with his disciples, but that the disciples had set off by themselves. Other boats, however, had put in from Tiberias, near the place where the bread had been eaten. When the people saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into those boats and crossed to Capernaum to look for Jesus. When they found him on the other side, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’
Jesus answered:
‘I tell you most solemnly,
you are not looking for me because you have seen the signs
but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat.
Do not work for food that cannot last,
but work for food that endures to eternal life,
the kind of food the Son of Man is offering you,
for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.’
Then they said to him, ‘What must we do if we are to do the works that God wants?’ Jesus gave them this answer, ‘This is working for God: you must believe in the one he has sent.’
DEFENSE OF THE FAITH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS 6:8-15; Ps 119:23-24, 26-27, 29-30; Jn 6:22-29 ]
What does it take to defend our faith? Like the early Church, we are constantly being attacked for our faith. At one time, it was common for the Catholic Church to be attacked by other religions for her beliefs, such as her doctrines on purgatory, the use of sacraments and our devotion to Mary. But in current times, the opposition is primarily from the secular world who oppose the moral values of the gospel, particularly, the Catholic teaching on the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman, the importance of a holistic family, the culture of life and authentic culture of faithful and self-sacrificing love.
The Catholic Church used to be the moral spokesman for the world. When the Pope spoke, the world listened, including political leaders, even if they do not agree or do not formulate policies that are morally sound and for the good of the future of humanity. This is because world leaders fear the loss of their political position if they go against the popular tide of the people. So many world leaders seek to do not what is right but what is popular, whatever is the general consensus, not what is the truth. But because of scandals within the Church, we have lost our moral position in society, especially when the hierarchy has failed in their responsibility to protect the innocent and the young from sexual abuse. This failure in transparency and accountability to our people and the world at large has caused the Church to lose credibility, so much so people have become very skeptical of the Church, especially her religious authorities. What we often see in the news today are all the scandals committed and very little of the good works that we do. What, then, are the conditions for us to be defenders of our faith?
Firstly, we must live a blameless life. It is said that those who live in glass houses should not throw stones. If our lives lack integrity, then even when we speak the truth at times, no one will believe us. There is always the doubt. More than ever, even our Catholics are challenging the authorities’ accountability in finance, governance and teaching. In the responsorial psalm, we said, “They are happy whose life is blameless.” What does it mean to live a blameless life? It means primarily to live in truth and honesty. This requires us to walk the way of the Law. This is what the psalmist prayed, “Your will is my delight; your statutes are my counsellors. I declared my ways and you answered; teach me your statutes. Make me grasp the way of your precepts and I will muse on your wonders. Keep me from the way of error and teach me your law. I have chosen the way of truth with your decrees before me.”
St Paul advised leaders of the Church not to become obstacles of faith to others. “We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see – we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.” (2 Cor 6:3-10) Very often, it is the scandalous lives of Church leaders and our Catholics that make the gospel lack credibility for non-believers. They see us living a double life. They see us doing one thing and preaching another thing. It is the lack of consistency that makes people question the truth of what we believe in. Indeed, what is urgent at this point of time is for the Church to put her own house in order before we can be moral leaders in the world.
St Stephen is a model for living a blameless life. God was with Him. He “was filled with grace and power and began to work miracles and great signs among the people.” Because of his sincerity in doing the will of God, the Lord made use of him powerfully for the proclamation of the Kingdom both in word and deed. He was also granted the wisdom to refute the arguments of those who were opposed to the gospel. He was able to offer a defense of his faith. He must have been a good apologist of the early Church. “They found they could not get the better of him because of his wisdom, and because it was the Spirit that prompted what he said.”
But he defended the faith not just with brilliant arguments and words. More importantly, he defended the faith with his life. Indeed, it was his integrity and honesty that eventually won over Saul who was responsible for Stephen being stoned to death. It was his calm demeanor before the Sanhedrin. He spoke with utter conviction and fearlessly. He was not afraid to speak the truth plainly without mincing his words. He only wanted to be true to what he believed and to speak for the good of others, including the religious leaders. He had no intention of creating trouble of any sort but simply the desire to lead all to the truth as he had received it. So it was his blameless life that won over many of his enemies.
This was not true of the Jews. Instead of staying objective in discerning the claims of Stephen, they plotted with others to destroy him when they could not demolish his arguments. “They found they could not get the better of him because of his wisdom. So they procured some men to say, ‘we heard him using blasphemous language against Moses and against God.’ They put up false witnesses to say to the Sanhedrin so that they became defensive after hearing that, ‘This man is always making speeches against this Holy Place and the Law. We have heard him say that Jesus the Nazarene is going to destroy this Place and alter the traditions that Moses handed down to us.'” Once again, such dirty tactics and unjust accusations were but a fulfillment of the scriptures, as the psalmist says, “Though the princes sit plotting against me I ponder on your statutes.”
For us too, whether we will stand up for Jesus and remain true to our faith depends on why we come to Jesus. For many of us, we do not come to Jesus to love Him or to serve Him but for ourselves. We come to look for Jesus to get something from Him, like the Jews in the gospel. They pretended to look for Jesus after seeing Him multiply the loaves for the five thousand. In fact, they thought that Jesus would liberate them from the Romans and so they wanted to make Him king. Jesus knew their ulterior motives and exposed them accordingly. “I tell you most solemnly, you are not looking for me because you have seen the signs but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat.” How true, many of us profess our faith in Christ only because Jesus has helped us to be rich, successful, famous and powerful. We want Jesus to do our will and fulfill our vain desires, not because we love the Lord. The moment we get what we want, we forget about Jesus and become arrogant, thinking that we arrived at where we are by our ingenuity and hard work. We forget that without God’s help, we would not be where we are today.
Hence, the Lord wants us to seek the real thing, which is Himself. The real bread is not the loaves that He multiplied but Him who is the bread of life. “Do not work for food that cannot last, but work for food that endures to eternal life, the kind of food the Son of Man is offering you, for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.” Jesus is the only one who can fulfill us in life. He is the only One we should seek and give our lives to. How can we find this bread of life? “They said to him, ‘What must we do if we are to do the works that God wants?’ Jesus gave them this answer, ‘This is working for God: you must believe in the one he has sent.'” Faith in Jesus as the Son of God and the Bread of Life is the key to finding the fullness of life. Commitment to Jesus by having faith in Him is what it takes to live a blameless life, a life of integrity, a life that gives credible witnessing to our faith in Him. Whether we can be like St Stephen in defending our faith is dependent on whether we have faith in Jesus as much as he did, to the extent of imitating Him in life and in death.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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