20200407
NEVER
GIVE UP
07 April, 2020, Holy Tuesday
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
|
First reading
|
Isaiah 49:1-6 ©
|
I will make you the light of the nations so that my salvation may
reach to the ends of the earth
Islands,
listen to me,
pay
attention, remotest peoples.
The
Lord called me before I was born,
from
my mother’s womb he pronounced my name.
He
made my mouth a sharp sword,
and
hid me in the shadow of his hand.
He
made me into a sharpened arrow,
and
concealed me in his quiver.
He
said to me, ‘You are my servant (Israel)
in
whom I shall be glorified’;
while
I was thinking, ‘I have toiled in vain,
I
have exhausted myself for nothing’;
and
all the while my cause was with the Lord,
my
reward with my God.
I was
honoured in the eyes of the Lord,
my
God was my strength.
And
now the Lord has spoken,
he
who formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to
bring Jacob back to him,
to
gather Israel to him:
‘It
is not enough for you to be my servant,
to
restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back the survivors of Israel;
I
will make you the light of the nations
so
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.’
|
Responsorial
Psalm
|
|
Psalm 70(71):1-6,15,17 ©
|
My
lips will tell of your help.
In
you, O Lord, I take refuge;
let
me never be put to shame.
In
your justice rescue me, free me:
pay
heed to me and save me.
My
lips will tell of your help.
Be a
rock where I can take refuge,
a
mighty stronghold to save me;
for
you are my rock, my stronghold.
Free
me from the hand of the wicked.
My
lips will tell of your help.
It is
you, O Lord, who are my hope,
my
trust, O Lord, since my youth.
On
you I have leaned from my birth,
from
my mother’s womb you have been my help.
My
lips will tell of your help.
My
lips will tell of your justice
and
day by day of your help.
O
God, you have taught me from my youth
and
I proclaim your wonders still.
My
lips will tell of your help.
|
Gospel
Acclamation
|
Glory
and praise to you, O Christ!
Hail
to you, our King!
Obedient
to the Father, you were led to your crucifixion
as a
meek lamb is led to the slaughter.
Glory
and praise to you, O Christ!
|
Gospel
|
|
John 13:21-33,36-38 ©
|
'What you are going to do, do quickly'
While at supper
with his disciples, Jesus was troubled in spirit and declared, ‘I tell you most
solemnly, one of you will betray me.’ The disciples looked at one another,
wondering which he meant. The disciple Jesus loved was reclining next to Jesus;
Simon Peter signed to him and said, ‘Ask who it is he means’, so leaning back
on Jesus’ breast he said, ‘Who is it, Lord?’ ‘It is the one’ replied Jesus ‘to
whom I give the piece of bread that I shall dip in the dish.’ He dipped the
piece of bread and gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. At that instant,
after Judas had taken the bread, Satan entered him. Jesus then said, ‘What you
are going to do, do quickly.’ None of the others at table understood the reason
he said this. Since Judas had charge of the common fund, some of them thought
Jesus was telling him, ‘Buy what we need for the festival’, or telling him to
give something to the poor. As soon as Judas had taken the piece of bread he
went out. Night had fallen.
When
he had gone Jesus said:
‘Now
has the Son of Man been glorified,
and
in him God has been glorified.
If
God has been glorified in him,
God
will in turn glorify him in himself,
and
will glorify him very soon.
‘My
little children,
I
shall not be with you much longer.
You
will look for me,
And,
as I told the Jews,
where
I am going, you cannot come.’
Simon Peter said,
‘Lord, where are you going?’ Jesus replied, ‘Where I am going you cannot follow
me now; you will follow me later.’ Peter said to him, ‘Why can’t I follow you
now? I will lay down my life for you.’ ‘Lay down your life for me?’ answered
Jesus. ‘I tell you most solemnly, before the cock crows you will have disowned
me three times.’
NEVER GIVE UP
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ISAIAH
49:1-6; PS 71:1-6, 15, 17; JOHN
13:21-38 ]
How often have we felt
like giving up on people,
our colleagues, bosses, friends or even our loved ones because we feel that in
spite of having given our best and making tremendous sacrifices, they are
unappreciative and ungrateful? Indeed, many parents are heartbroken, especially
when their children turn out to be wayward, disobedient, rebellious and lacking
filial piety. Not only do we give up on them, but worse still, we give up
on ourselves. We think we have lived our life in vain. We are
failures. We fall into deep depression and isolate ourselves from people,
too ashamed to face the world.
This was the case of the
Suffering Servant and our Lord in today’s scripture readings. The Suffering Servant was sent to
his people, to call them to repentance. However, the people were
indifferent. Hence, he lamented, “I have toiled in vain, I have exhausted
myself for nothing.” Indeed, when we try so hard and the response we get
is so lackluster, we wonder why we should carry on. Jesus too must have
felt very sad when He thought of His disciples. In the gospel, we read,
“Jesus was troubled in spirit and declared, ‘I tell you most solemnly, one of
you will betray me’.” For three years the Lord lived, ate and slept with
His disciples. For three years He mentored them in the way of the
Lord. For three years He prepared them to be His co-labourers in the
vineyard of God. He was aware that His disciples would betray Him even as
He was taking His last meal with them.
His heart was certainly
heavy and unsettled.
Knowing that Peter and the rest would betray Him, He continued to love them to
the end. Knowing that they would betray Him, Jesus did not stop them from
exercising their freedom. Indeed, this is how the Lord loves us
all. He does not force us to return His love. He continues to give
us the freedom to respond in love. The love of God is truly
unconditional. This does not mean that God is not hurt. Indeed,
Jesus, like God, grieved at man’s rejection. In the story of Noah, we
read, “The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the
earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil
continually. And the Lord was sorry that he had made
humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.” (Gn 6:5f)
God was exasperated with Israel and cried, “O my people, what have I done to
you? In what have I wearied you? Answer me!” (Mic 6:3)
Even then, I think it is
difficult to accept betrayal from those who are weak. This was the case
of Peter and the rest, excluding Judas. Jesus never gave up on His apostles.
Even though He knew that they would betray Him, He still sat in fellowship at
meal with them. He sought to reach out to them. When told that one
of them would betray the Lord, Peter as usual impulsively declared, “I will lay
down my life for you.” However, Jesus knew him better. He retorted,
“Lay down your life for me? I tell you most solemnly, before the cock crows you
will have disowned me three times.” When the soldiers arrested Jesus, all
the apostles ran away in fear. Peter who loved the Lord stayed around to
see what was happening to his master, but when confronted he denied Him three
times. Jesus knew his heart. He knew that Peter was weak, not
because he wanted to disown Him but that he was a coward. Jesus looked at
Peter with eyes of sorrow. “Peter said, ‘Man, I do not know what you are
talking about!’ At that moment, while he was still speaking, the cock
crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the
word of the Lord, how he had said to him, ‘Before the cock crows today, you
will deny me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly.” (Lk
22:60-62) So, too, were the rest of the apostles.
Even in the case of
Judas, the Lord never gave up on him completely. Judas was different. He did not sin
out of weakness but out of malice. He betrayed the Lord by manipulating,
planning, conniving with the authorities. He was deliberate in having
Jesus arrested. It was a premeditated murder. The Lord tried to win
him over by His love. “He dipped the piece of bread and gave it to Judas
son of Simon Iscariot.” By this gesture, Jesus was giving Judas personal
attention. Even though he knew his heart was already bent on betraying
Him, Jesus extended His hand to give him a last chance. However, Judas
was already bought over. “At that instant, after Judas had taken the
bread, Satan entered him. Jesus then said, ‘What you are going to do, do
quickly’. As soon as Judas had taken the piece of bread he went out. Night had
fallen.”
The Lord never gave up
on Judas even after he betrayed Him. Unfortunately, the greatest tragedy
in life is not that our loved ones give up on us but we give up on
ourselves. Judas
could not forgive himself. When he saw how the Lord suffered innocently
and cruelly in the hands of the chief priests, he was not able to live with his
guilt. He committed suicide. Peter was different, he also failed
our Lord but he was repentant. His tears were tears of sorrow. St
Peter did not excuse himself. He did not even apologize but he simply
wept. His tears brought him cleansing. St Ambrose remarked,
“Therefore I do not blame Peter for having denied the Christ; I congratulate
him for having cried. Tears say the sin without trembling. Tears do not
ask for forgiveness but they obtain it. Good tears, that wash sin away!”
Why does the Lord love
us so unconditionally? Because the Lord wants to teach us that the best
way to win over our enemies and our betrayers is to love them. Only love can win over our enemies.
Jesus was putting into practice what He taught us at the Sermon on the
Mount. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor
and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for
those who persecute you.’ (Mt 5:43f)
His unconditional love moved Peter and Judas to grieve for their
sins. Both of them were feeling guilty for what they did to
Jesus. Judas, instead of turning back to Him, was so overwhelmed by his
sin and pride that he could not face the Lord. Peter, because of his
humility, was able to turn back to Him and allow the Lord to heal Him later,
after the resurrection, when the Lord gave another chance to Peter to override
his guilt of rejection by a three-fold profession of love. (Jn
21:15-17)
Once we are moved by His
love, we will never be the same again. We will be ready to die for Him. We will
be like the Suffering Servant, a light to the nations. When he was
assured by the Lord that He was with him in his suffering, he was ready to
fulfill his mission. “While I was thinking, ‘I have toiled in vain, I
have exhausted myself for nothing’; and all the while my cause was with the
Lord, my reward with my God. And now the Lord has spoken, he who formed me in
the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, to gather Israel to
him: ‘It is not enough for you to be my servant, to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back the survivors of Israel; I will make you the light of the
nations so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth’.”
This was the case of
Peter and Paul. When Peter was forgiven, he was now truly ready to die
for the Lord. This time the
Lord was confident of Peter. He said, “Very truly, I tell you, when you
were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished.
But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will
fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to
go.” 19 (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would
glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.” The Lord also told
Ananias to heal Saul’s eyes after he lost his vision, “Go, for he is an
instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and
before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he must
suffer for the sake of my name.” (Acts 9:15f)
We too must be patient and continue to love even the loveless, never giving up
hope on them, neither on ourselves because our cause is with the Lord. As
the Suffering Servant reminds us, He is our strength, our rock and our help!
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment