20200402
REJOICING
WITH ABRAHAM IN HOPE AND FAITH
02 April, 2020, Thursday, 5th
Week in Lent
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
|
First reading
|
Genesis 17:3-9 ©
|
Abraham, the father of a multitude of nations
Abram bowed to
the ground and God said this to him, ‘Here now is my covenant with you: you
shall become the father of a multitude of nations. You shall no longer be
called Abram; your name shall be Abraham, for I make you father of a multitude
of nations. I will make you most fruitful. I will make you into nations, and
your issue shall be kings. I will establish my Covenant between myself and you,
and your descendants after you, generation after generation, a Covenant in
perpetuity, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. I will
give to you and to your descendants after you the land you are living in, the
whole land of Canaan, to own in perpetuity, and I will be your God.’
|
Responsorial
Psalm
|
|
Psalm 104(105):4-9 ©
|
The
Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
Consider
the Lord and his strength;
constantly
seek his face.
Remember
the wonders he has done,
his
miracles, the judgements he spoke.
The
Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
O
children of Abraham, his servant,
O
sons of the Jacob he chose.
He,
the Lord, is our God:
his
judgements prevail in all the earth.
The
Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
He
remembers his covenant for ever,
his
promise for a thousand generations,
the
covenant he made with Abraham,
the
oath he swore to Isaac.
The
Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
|
Gospel
Acclamation
|
cf.Jn6:63,68
|
Glory
and praise to you, O Christ!
Your
words are spirit, Lord, and they are life;
you
have the message of eternal life.
Glory
and praise to you, O Christ!
|
Or:
|
Ps94:8
|
Glory
and praise to you, O Christ!
Harden
not your hearts today,
but
listen to the voice of the Lord.
Glory
and praise to you, O Christ!
|
Gospel
|
John 8:51-59 ©
|
Your father Abraham saw my Day and was glad
Jesus said to the
Jews:
‘I
tell you most solemnly,
whoever
keeps my word
will
never see death.’
The Jews said,
‘Now we know for certain that you are possessed. Abraham is dead, and the
prophets are dead, and yet you say, “Whoever keeps my word will never know the
taste of death.” Are you greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? The
prophets are dead too. Who are you claiming to be?’ Jesus answered:
‘If I
were to seek my own glory
that
would be no glory at all;
my
glory is conferred by the Father,
by
the one of whom you say, “He is our God”
although
you do not know him.
But I
know him,
and
if I were to say: I do not know him,
I
should be a liar, as you are liars yourselves.
But I
do know him, and I faithfully keep his word.
Your
father Abraham rejoiced
to
think that he would see my Day;
he
saw it and was glad.’
The
Jews then said, ‘You are not fifty yet, and you have seen Abraham!’ Jesus
replied:
‘I
tell you most solemnly,
before
Abraham ever was,
I
Am.’
At this they
picked up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself and left the Temple.
REJOICING WITH
ABRAHAM IN HOPE AND FAITH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [GN 17:3-9; PS 105:4-9; JN 8:51-59 ]
We can imagine the joy
of Abraham in today’s scripture readings. In Genesis 11,
the Lord called Abraham to move out of his country to a distant land where God
would make him a great nation. He was then 75 years old. However,
after 11 years, the promise of an heir was still not apparent. He was
getting impatient because of his age. Then the Lord appeared to Abram in
a vision assuring him that an offspring from his house would be the heir.
(Gen
15:1-6) We read, “he believed the Lord; and
the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.” (Gn 15:6)
However, Abram in his impatience misunderstood how God would give him an heir
of his own. Under the encouragement of Sarah, he took in one of her
slaves to conceive a child for him. But that was not what the Lord
intended for Abram. So when Abraham was 99 years old and Sarah was 89
years, the Lord once again assured Abraham of His promise. This was what
we read in the first reading. This promise was fulfilled the following
year.
What is significant is
that Abraham never gave up hope in the promise of God that he would be the
Father of nations and that he would be given land and posterity. In truth, he never truly saw the
promise of God fulfilled in his lifetime. He saw the land and bought a
piece of ground, and he only had a child, Isaac. The promise of land,
nation and posterity were still not fulfilled. What sustained his
hope? It was his faith in God, regardless of whether it was realized in
his time or not. He believed that God would be faithful to His
covenant. The psalmist says, “Consider the Lord and his strength;
constantly seek his face. Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles,
the judgements he spoke. He remembers his covenant for ever, his promise
for a thousand generations, the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he
swore to Isaac.”
The letter of Hebrews
captures the faith of Abraham succinctly. “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to
set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out,
not knowing where he was going. By faith he stayed for a time in the land
he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and
Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked
forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old –
and Sarah herself was barren – because he considered him faithful who had
promised. Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants
were born, ‘as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of
sand by the seashore.'” (Heb 11:8-12)
Yet, the letter to the Hebrews made it clear, “All of these died in faith
without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted
them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the
earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are
seeking a homeland.” (Heb 11:13f)
In the gospel, Jesus
said these promises made to Abraham were now fulfilled in Him. “Your father Abraham rejoiced to think
that he would see my Day; he saw it and was glad.” Indeed, God’s promise of a
nation, a kingdom with many descendants, are realized in Jesus. Jesus came to
establish the kingdom of God. In and through Christ, we have become a
multitude of people in the kingdom of God. The book of revelation says,
“To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us
to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and
dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (Rev 1:6)
Not only did Jesus ensure that a nation would be formed but also posterity and
eternal life. In the mind of Abraham, he thought posterity would simply
mean that his life continued in his children’s children. However, God meant
something more for Abraham. God wanted to give Abraham eternal life and a
kingdom which lasts forever. This was why the Lord said, Abraham would
rejoice to see these promises realized in one of his descendants, Jesus Christ.
But this realization of
the promise of God for us is dependent on our faith in Him as the Son of
God. To have faith in Him, is to listen to His word and accept it
accordingly. Jesus
assured us, “I tell you most solemnly, whoever keeps my word will never see
death.” Those who believe in Jesus will never see death. This does not
mean that we will not die physically but it does mean that already on this
earth, we share in the fullness of life and then beyond this life, the resurrected
life in Christ. Anyone who listens to the Word of God, sharing in the
mind and heart of our Lord will live forever, whether dead or alive on this
earth. “We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to
ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to
the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.”
(Rom 14:7f)
However, His words can
be accepted without hesitation only because we believe that He is the Son of
the Father. Only Jesus knows
the Father and can reveal to us who the Father is. Jesus made it clear,
“If I were to seek my own glory that would be no glory at all; my glory is
conferred by the Father, by the one whom you say, ‘He is our God’ although you
do not know him. But I know him, and if I were to say: I do not know him, I
should be a liar, as you are liars yourselves. But I do know him, and I
faithfully keep his word.” Jesus claims intimacy with His Father.
Not only intimacy with His Father but He came to do what the Father
wanted. In everything the Lord did, it was done to glorify the Father and
in obedience to His will. It is God, however, who will glorify Him.
Of course, the listeners did not have the hindsight to know that the Father
will raise Him from the dead. We, too, in turn will share in His glory if
we are one with Him, here and hereafter.
So the question that is
asked of us is what the Jews were asking, “Who are you claiming to be?” In truth, they were not asking what Jesus
thought of Himself. Rather, what they were asking was, what was He trying
to tell them about Himself. This question is better rephrased as, “Who
are you making yourself out to be?” Was Jesus claiming to be eternal like
God since He said, “before Abraham ever was, I Am.” Not only was Jesus
saying that He pre-existed Abraham, He called Himself the I Am, a term that was
used for God alone. This was something scandalous and totally
unacceptable. Thus, the response was to pick up stones to throw at
Him as prescribed by the Law for those who commit the sin of blasphemy.
Faith in Jesus as the
Son of God is critical for someone who wants to be a believer of our
Lord. Jesus
is not just a miracle worker, a healer, a great teacher. He is nothing
less than divine, not simply human. He is one with the Father and one in
being. Only because Jesus is the Son of God, could He give us life and a
share of eternal life. For those who believe in Jesus as the Son of God,
then we are assured of the authenticity of His teachings, especially of eternal
life. Faith in Jesus assures us of life before death and fullness
of life even after death. Have we come to this conviction? Unless,
we arrive at this conviction, we are not ready for baptism at Easter.
Unless we arrive at this conviction, we cannot share the new life with Christ
at Easter.
Unfortunately, the Jews
were caught up in their own reasoning and rationalizing. They were not open to the message
and the works of Jesus. Instead of being receptive to how God was acting
in the world through Jesus, they were clinging to their set views, especially
the fact that they were descendants of Abraham. They presumed that just
because they were people of the Chosen race, they were saved. They did not
have faith and so they lived a joyless life, seeking to obey the laws and
always fearful of breaking the laws and risking the condemnation of God.
This is true of many who are not able to make the leap of faith in Jesus.
Some Catechumens are afraid to making a commitment to the Lord because like the
Jews, they still do not know Him. Even Catholics who have nominal
faith in the Lord do not surrender their entire life to Him or in living out
the gospel. We rationalize about Jesus as the world does, and our faith
in Him is shallow and skeptical. What is needed is to deepen our
relationship with Him, to come to know Him personally. Just as Jesus knew
His Father and kept His Word, so, too, unless we know Jesus, we cannot keep His
word. If we do so, life is ours!
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment