20200420
PROCLAIMING
THE GOSPEL WITH BOLDNESS AND ENTHUSIASM
20 April, 2020, Monday, 2nd
Week of Easter
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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Acts 4:23-31 ©
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They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to proclaim
the word of God boldly
As soon as Peter
and John were released they went to the community and told them everything the
chief priests and elders had said to them. When they heard it they lifted up
their voice to God all together. ‘Master,’ they prayed ‘it is you who made
heaven and earth and sea, and everything in them; you it is who said through
the Holy Spirit and speaking through our ancestor David, your servant:
Why
this arrogance among the nations,
these
futile plots among the peoples?
Kings
on earth setting out to war,
princes
making an alliance,
against
the Lord and against his Anointed.
‘This is what has
come true: in this very city Herod and Pontius Pilate made an alliance with the
pagan nations and the peoples of Israel, against your holy servant Jesus whom
you anointed, but only to bring about the very thing that you in your strength
and your wisdom had predetermined should happen. And now, Lord, take note of
their threats and help your servants to proclaim your message with all
boldness, by stretching out your hand to heal and to work miracles and marvels
through the name of your holy servant Jesus.’ As they prayed, the house where
they were assembled rocked; they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began
to proclaim the word of God boldly.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm 2:1-9 ©
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Blessed
are they who put their trust in God.
or
Alleluia!
Why
this tumult among nations,
among
peoples this useless murmuring?
They
arise, the kings of the earth,
princes
plot against the Lord and his Anointed.
‘Come,
let us break their fetters,
come,
let us cast off their yoke.’
Blessed
are they who put their trust in God.
or
Alleluia!
He
who sits in the heavens laughs;
the
Lord is laughing them to scorn.
Then
he will speak in his anger,
his
rage will strike them with terror.
‘It
is I who have set up my king
on
Zion, my holy mountain.’
Blessed
are they who put their trust in God.
or
Alleluia!
I
will announce the decree of the Lord:
The
Lord said to me: ‘You are my Son.
It
is I who have begotten you this day.
Ask
and I shall bequeath you the nations,
put
the ends of the earth in your possession.
With
a rod of iron you will break them,
shatter
them like a potter’s jar.’
Blessed
are they who put their trust in God.
or
Alleluia!
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Col3:1
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Alleluia,
alleluia!
Since
you have been brought back to true life with Christ,
you
must look for the things that are in heaven, where Christ is,
sitting
at God’s right hand.
Alleluia!
|
Gospel
|
John 3:1-8 ©
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Unless a man is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God
There was one of
the Pharisees called Nicodemus, a leading Jew, who came to Jesus by night and
said, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who comes from God; for no one
could perform the signs that you do unless God were with him.’ Jesus answered:
‘I
tell you most solemnly,
unless
a man is born from above,
he
cannot see the kingdom of God.’
Nicodemus said,
‘How can a grown man be born? Can he go back into his mother’s womb and be born
again?’ Jesus replied:
‘I
tell you most solemnly,
unless
a man is born through water and the Spirit,
he
cannot enter the kingdom of God:
what
is born of the flesh is flesh;
what
is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Do
not be surprised when I say:
You
must be born from above.
The
wind blows wherever it pleases;
you
hear its sound,
but
you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.
That
is how it is with all who are born of the Spirit.’
PROCLAIMING THE
GOSPEL WITH BOLDNESS AND ENTHUSIASM
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ACTS
4:23-31; JOHN 3:1-8]
Whenever I officiate at
a Confirmation service, I would wonder how many of the candidates are truly
ready for the Sacrament.
Confirmation is supposed to be a ratification of their faith in Christ and
their readiness to be witnesses of Christ in the world. Before the
anointing of the Holy Spirit and chrism, the candidates are asked to renew
their baptismal promises. However, the response from the candidates is
usually a faint “I do” after each question. There is no enthusiasm, no
conviction, no passion but just a tepid and soft “yes”.
This is also the case of
us Catholics. In this secular world, we are intimidated in our
faith. The secular world is allowed to spread and teach untruths,
illusions and immorality.
However, when we speak about Jesus or about the truths of the gospel, they will
attack us mercilessly. They will use the most nasty and destructive
words to silence and ridicule us. If they cannot disprove the truth of
what we teach, they will discredit the teachers of the faith by exposing their
hypocritical life. The focus is directed against the individuals and not
the objective truth of what is proclaimed. Hence, many Christians and
Catholics fight shy of witnessing to Jesus for fear of being seen as
irrelevant, conservative and not in touch with the world, or being exposed as
hypocrites.
When we read today’s
first reading, we cannot help but be inspired by the enthusiastic, fearless and
passionate response of the early Christians in witnessing for
Christ. Peter
and John were just released from prison after a long interrogation by the
Sanhedrin. They went back to the community “and told them
everything the chief priests and elders had said to them. When they heard it
they lifted up their voice to God all together.” In the face of external
threats, they were not cowed. Instead, they prayed in unison as one
community to God, first worshipping and acknowledging His power and sovereignty
over all of creation. “‘Master,’ they prayed ‘it is you who made heaven and
earth and sea, and everything in them.”
Then, they turned to the
scripture to find direction and they were inspired to know that such
persecutions were expected as it was already foretold in the psalms. “You it is who said through the Holy
Spirit and speaking through our ancestor David, your servant: Why this
arrogance among the nations, these futile plots among the peoples? Kings on
earth setting out to war, princes making an alliance, against the Lord and
against his Anointed.” (cf Ps 2:1f)
Then applying to their situation they concluded, “This is what has come true:
in this very city Herod and Pontius Pilate made an alliance with the pagan
nations and the peoples of Israel, against your holy servant Jesus whom you
anointed.”
More importantly,
finding strength in the wisdom and power of God, they recalled that the
oppositions of the enemies only served “to bring about the very thing that you
in your strength and your wisdom had predetermined should happen.” The spread of the gospel will triumph over
the enemies of Christ. Because Christ was raised from the dead after
being crucified by the rulers of the world, it shows that the world has no
power over Him. Jesus told Pilate, “You would have no power over me
unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over
to you is guilty of a greater sin.” (Jn 19:11)
The apparent victory of the Evil one is only temporary because Christ has won
victory over sin and death. The psalmist says, “He who sits in the
heavens laughs; the Lord is laughing them to scorn. Then he will speak in his
anger, his rage will strike them with terror. ‘It is I who have set up my king
on Zion, my holy mountain.'”
Notice how they prayed
to the Lord when they were persecuted. They
did not ask for protection from suffering or ask God to remove their
enemies. Rather, they asked for the grace to “help your servants
to proclaim your message with all boldness, by stretching out your hand to heal
and to work miracles and marvels through the name of your holy servant
Jesus.” They asked that they be allowed to continue to proclaim the
gospel with greater boldness to speak and testify to Jesus. In addition,
that their preaching be accompanied with healing, miracles and
marvels. They did not ask God to remove their problems but to give
them the solution, wisdom and power to win over their enemies, to heal them and
to continue to testify to Jesus fearlessly. Such a sincere and
anointed prayer was answered with the power from on high. “As they
prayed, the house where they were assembled rocked; they were all filled with
the Holy Spirit and began to proclaim the word of God boldly.” Although
the whole house was shaken by their passionate worship and fervent prayer to
God, they were not shaken. On the contrary, they were emboldened to
spread the gospel even more. Filled with the Holy Spirit, they proclaimed
the Word of God with boldness.
Why then do we behave as
cowards when it comes to standing up for Jesus and the Gospel? We are
like Nicodemus who came to Jesus by night. He was afraid of being seen with the Lord, lest
his fellow rabbis castigate him as a traitor and for being misled.
Although deep in his heart, like many of our Catholics, he wanted to know God
and to find Him. He called Jesus, “Rabbi” and acknowledged Him as “a
teacher who comes from God; for no one could perform the signs that you do
unless God were with him.” We too hide our faith from others. We
only practice it on Sundays but we dare not allow the world and our business
associates to know that we are Christians.
The entry into the
kingdom is not by nationality or ethnic criteria, as Nicodemus thought. The Jews thought that they were
members of the Kingdom of God simply because they were the Chosen People.
This is the same fallacy of us Catholics as well. Just because we are
baptized, we think that the kingdom of God is ours already. The truth is
that we cannot enter the kingdom of God except when we personally embrace
it. This is what the Lord said to Nicodemus, “I tell you most solemnly,
unless a man is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” In other
words, the Jews could not qualify to be in the kingdom by birth alone, but they
needed to be born of the Spirit.
How can one be born into
the kingdom of God? “Jesus
replied: ‘I tell you most solemnly, unless a man is born through water and the
Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God: what is born of the flesh
is flesh; what is born of the Spirit is spirit.” The sacrament of baptism is
the means for someone to be born again. A candidate who is baptized
normally adopts a new name to signify that he or she is born again. Through the
sacrament of baptism, when water is poured over the candidate or through
immersion, the Holy Spirit descends on them.
Of course, the sacrament
of baptism presumes that the candidates have faith and are not just going
through the motions of being baptized.
This is why there is such a great danger in the way we celebrate the
sacraments. We only ritualize and sacramentalize our Catholics, but they
are not evangelized. In other words, they did not receive the Good News
and they did not encounter the Lord personally. This explains why we are
so weak when it comes to being witnesses of our Lord and lacking the
evangelical and missionary zeal to announce Jesus and the gospel to our
friends. We lack conviction and courage.
Indeed, the key to
witnessing to the Lord with boldness, to be able to speak freely about Jesus
and with courage and confidence, is in our having received the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, and just
relying on our own intelligence, knowledge and efforts alone, we will lose
courage and conviction in the face of challenges. We need the Holy Spirit
to work in us. “The wind blows wherever it pleases; you hear its sound,
but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. That is how it is
with all who are born of the Spirit.’
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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