20200424 DISCERNING THE DIVINE ORIGIN OF A MOVEMENT OR ORGANIZATION
24 April, 2020, Friday, 2nd Week of Easter
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: White.
First reading
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Acts 5:34-42 ©
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They were glad to have had the honour of suffering humiliation for the sake of the name
One member of the Sanhedrin, a Pharisee called Gamaliel, who was a doctor of the Law and respected by the whole people, stood up and asked to have the apostles taken outside for a time. Then he addressed the Sanhedrin, ‘Men of Israel, be careful how you deal with these people. There was Theudas who became notorious not so long ago. He claimed to be someone important, and he even collected about four hundred followers; but when he was killed, all his followers scattered and that was the end of them. And then there was Judas the Galilean, at the time of the census, who attracted crowds of supporters; but he got killed too, and all his followers dispersed. What I suggest, therefore, is that you leave these men alone and let them go. If this enterprise, this movement of theirs, is of human origin it will break up of its own accord; but if it does in fact come from God you will not only be unable to destroy them, but you might find yourselves fighting against God.’
His advice was accepted; and they had the apostles called in, gave orders for them to be flogged, warned them not to speak in the name of Jesus and released them. And so they left the presence of the Sanhedrin glad to have had the honour of suffering humiliation for the sake of the name.
They preached every day both in the Temple and in private houses, and their proclamation of the Good News of Christ Jesus was never interrupted.
Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 26(27):1,4,13-14 ©
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There is one thing I ask of the Lord, to live in the house of the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
The Lord is my light and my help;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
before whom shall I shrink?
There is one thing I ask of the Lord, to live in the house of the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
There is one thing I ask of the Lord,
for this I long,
to live in the house of the Lord,
all the days of my life,
to savour the sweetness of the Lord,
to behold his temple.
There is one thing I ask of the Lord, to live in the house of the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness
in the land of the living.
Hope in him, hold firm and take heart.
Hope in the Lord!
There is one thing I ask of the Lord, to live in the house of the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation
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Alleluia, alleluia!
We know that Christ is truly risen from the dead:
have mercy on us, triumphant King.
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 6:1-15 ©
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The feeding of the five thousand
Jesus went off to the other side of the Sea of Galilee – or of Tiberias – and a large crowd followed him, impressed by the signs he gave by curing the sick. Jesus climbed the hillside, and sat down there with his disciples. It was shortly before the Jewish feast of Passover.
Looking up, Jesus saw the crowds approaching and said to Philip, ‘Where can we buy some bread for these people to eat?’ He only said this to test Philip; he himself knew exactly what he was going to do. Philip answered, ‘Two hundred denarii would only buy enough to give them a small piece each.’ One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said, ‘There is a small boy here with five barley loaves and two fish; but what is that between so many?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Make the people sit down.’ There was plenty of grass there, and as many as five thousand men sat down. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and gave them out to all who were sitting ready; he then did the same with the fish, giving out as much as was wanted. When they had eaten enough he said to the disciples, ‘Pick up the pieces left over, so that nothing gets wasted.’ So they picked them up, and filled twelve hampers with scraps left over from the meal of five barley loaves. The people, seeing this sign that he had given, said, ‘This really is the prophet who is to come into the world.’ Jesus, who could see they were about to come and take him by force and make him king, escaped back to the hills by himself.
DISCERNING THE DIVINE ORIGIN OF A MOVEMENT OR ORGANIZATION
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ACTS 5:34-42; PS 27:1, 4, 13-14; JOHN 6:1-15]
If we put ourselves in the shoes of the Jewish leaders, we can perhaps understand why they reacted the way they did. Not all reacted negatively because they were jealous of the popularity of the preaching of the apostles. Some were seriously ignorant and concerned about this Jesus movement that was growing with the preaching of the apostles and the claim that the man whom they crucified was now risen and working the miracles through the apostles. If the movement got out of hand, the Romans would step in and take control of the administration. Of course, Judaism already had more than 2000 years of tradition before the coming of Christ. When someone attempts to change the traditions and beliefs of Judaism, we can expect a strong reaction, not just from the religious authorities but the community as well. So we should not be surprised that the new Jesus movement was regarded with suspicion. Surely, the religious authorities felt threatened by this new movement and feared that it would disrupt the peace of the community and invite the political and military intervention of the Romans.
Any organization or religion, including the Catholic Church, would be very concerned too, when a schism takes place, especially when someone teaches a different doctrine. As custodians of our faith, it is only right that we defend our faith and doctrines from misinterpretation as it could otherwise lead to division in the community. The reality is that there are so many religions today and many founders claiming to speak in the name of God and even proclaiming themselves to be the true prophet and the Messiah. So how do we know whether they are of divine origin or human origin? The scripture readings of today provide us some guiding principles to make this discernment.
The most important principle comes from one of the level-headed Pharisees, “Gamaliel, who was a doctor of the Law and respected by the whole people.” His advice was that they should “leave these men alone and let them go. If this enterprise, this movement of theirs, is of human origin it will break up of its own accord; but if it does in fact come from God you will not only be unable to destroy them, but you might find yourselves fighting against God.” In his view, therefore, if something can endure, most likely, it has some divine origin, otherwise, if it were a human endeavor, it will not last.
In a way, there is much truth in what he said. It is significant that political empires have come and gone, unlike religions. Because political institutions are of human origin, they never last for long. No matter how powerful an empire or organization one might be, it will fall like the rest before them. It is a matter of time. In contrast, religions continue to thrive for ages. The world’s oldest religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Catholicism and Islam continue to have many strong devotees and believers. Most of these religions are at least 1500 years old and more. If we use the principle of Gamaliel, such religions certainly have sparks of divine rays in them. This is what the Church in Nostra Aetate also declares, “The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men.” (Nostra Aetate, 2) Man in their desire to find God certainly would have been inspired to find Him in the means available to them.
The second principle that Gamaliel employed is the continuity of a religion after the death of the founder. If the organization or movement dies with the founder, then clearly it cannot be from God. Gamaliel gave the examples of Theudas and Judas. “There was Theudas who became notorious not so long ago. He claimed to be someone important, and he even collected about four hundred followers; but when he was killed, all his followers scattered and that was the end of them. And then there was Judas the Galilean, at the time of the census, who attracted crowds of supporters; but he got killed too, and all his followers dispersed.” However, in the case of Jesus, after His crucifixion and death, instead of dispersing, His disciples came back with renewed confidence, courage and conviction. As mentioned earlier, “when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized them as companions of Jesus.” (Acts 4:13) If they were merely a human movement, normally, when the leader dies, the cause also dies. But in the case of Jesus, the cause lives on. But not only the cause, but the proclamation that He lives on!
Thirdly, we must examine the truth of the religions by the lives of the faith adherents. By subscribing to a particular religion, do the disciples live a life of charity, compassion and generosity? Are they living a meaningful life, a life that is expended in service and love? This was the way the Lord in the gospel demonstrated His divine origin, not just by His words but by His life. He showed concern for the people who followed Him. He not only healed them of their sicknesses, delivered them from the oppression of the Evil One but also fed them to the fullest and with leftovers to be distributed to others. He taught His disciples to do the same, to serve the people and to take care of their needs, for this is what leadership entails. It is not about sending them to take care of themselves but that as leaders, we must seek to attend to their needs, using whatever resources God has blessed us with. This is why, a very important principle to determine whether a religion comes from God is whether their believers promote the common good of all, fraternity among peoples, compassion for the poor, forgiveness for those who hurt us and uphold the values of justice, integrity and honesty. A religion that does not uphold the culture of life and the authenticity of love of others before self cannot be a true religion.
Fourthly, another principle that can be derived from the first reading is whether the followers of a religion are ready to die for their faith and not just suffer for their beliefs, and to suffer joyfully and courageously. Indeed, when “they left the presence of the Sanhedrin” they were “glad to have had the honour of suffering humiliation for the sake of the name.” A true believer must be ready to die and suffer for their beliefs. If the apostles no longer feared death and suffering, it was because Jesus showed them the way by suffering innocently and unjustly Himself and through death, conquered death forever, revealing to us that our true life is with God and sharing in His resurrected life. Only because they had encountered the Lord risen from the dead could they find such courage to continue to preach the gospel undeterred by the prohibitions of the Sanhedrin because they did not feel they were doing anything wrong. They were simply testifying to what they had seen and heard.
Having recognized that other religions could also have a divine origin and teach truths in various degrees, the Church continues to proclaim that Christ is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), “in whom men may find the fullness of religious life, in whom God has reconciled all things to Himself.” (NA, 2) This claim of Christians might seem to be triumphalist. Yet, this cannot be helped because only Christianity confesses their founder not just to be a man but the Son of God, as seen and demonstrated by His passion, death, and resurrection. “Besides, as the Church has always held and continues to hold now, Christ underwent His passion and death freely, because of the sins of men and out of infinite love, in order that all may reach salvation. It is, therefore, the burden of the Church’s preaching to proclaim the cross of Christ as the sign of God’s all-embracing love and as the fountain from which every grace flows.” (NA, 4) This was the preaching of the apostles as well when they declared, “that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:10-12) This proclamation of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God is not denying the goodness of other religions or putting down the truths that these religions teach. On the contrary, in the final analysis, faith in Christ is a gift. This proclamation of Christ as the Saviour cannot be imposed or forced upon others. It is a gift that is offered and reception is dependent on those who hear the message. There is no coercion or proselytization but an offer of the Good News about Jesus Christ who comes to lead us to the fullness of life.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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