20200517 EVANGELIZATION IS TO ANNOUNCE THE CHRIST IN US
17 May, 2020, Sunday, 6th Week in Easter
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: White.
First reading
|
Acts 8:5-8,14-17 ©
|
They laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit
Philip went to a Samaritan town and proclaimed the Christ to them. The people united in welcoming the message Philip preached, either because they had heard of the miracles he worked or because they saw them for themselves. There were, for example, unclean spirits that came shrieking out of many who were possessed, and several paralytics and cripples were cured. As a result there was great rejoicing in that town.
When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, and they went down there, and prayed for the Samaritans to receive the Holy Spirit, for as yet he had not come down on any of them: they had only been baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Responsorial Psalm
|
Psalm 65(66):1-7,16,20 ©
|
Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
Cry out with joy to God all the earth,
O sing to the glory of his name.
O render him glorious praise.
Say to God: ‘How tremendous your deeds!
Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
‘Before you all the earth shall bow;
shall sing to you, sing to your name!’
Come and see the works of God,
tremendous his deeds among men.
Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
He turned the sea into dry land,
they passed through the river dry-shod.
Let our joy then be in him;
he rules for ever by his might.
Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
Come and hear, all who fear God.
I will tell what he did for my soul:
Blessed be God who did not reject my prayer
nor withhold his love from me.
Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
Second reading
|
1 Peter 3:15-18 ©
|
In the body he was put to death, in the spirit he was raised to life
Reverence the Lord Christ in your hearts, and always have your answer ready for people who ask you the reason for the hope that you all have. But give it with courtesy and respect and with a clear conscience, so that those who slander you when you are living a good life in Christ may be proved wrong in the accusations that they bring. And if it is the will of God that you should suffer, it is better to suffer for doing right than for doing wrong.
Why, Christ himself, innocent though he was, had died once for sins, died for the guilty, to lead us to God. In the body he was put to death, in the spirit he was raised to life.
Gospel Acclamation
|
Jn14:23
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
Jesus said: ‘If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him.’
Alleluia!
Gospel
|
John 14:15-21 ©
|
I shall ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘If you love me you will keep my commandments.
I shall ask the Father,
and he will give you another Advocate
to be with you for ever,
that Spirit of truth
whom the world can never receive
since it neither sees nor knows him;
but you know him,
because he is with you, he is in you.
I will not leave you orphans;
I will come back to you.
In a short time the world will no longer see me;
but you will see me,
because I live and you will live.
On that day you will understand that I am in my Father
and you in me and I in you.
Anybody who receives my commandments and keeps them
will be one who loves me;
and anybody who loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I shall love him and show myself to him.’
EVANGELIZATION IS TO ANNOUNCE THE CHRIST IN US
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ACTS 8:5-8, 14-17; 1 PETER 3:15-18; JOHN 14:15-21 ]
The constant message during the season of Easter is to announce to the world that Jesus is risen and He is Lord and savior of the world. However, many of us are diffident to do so simply because we are afraid of being opposed and unable to defend our faith. This is particularly more so in our world today where people worship reason and technology. Many of us do not always have an answer ready for those who ask the reason for the hope we have. Indeed, we appear silly and incredulous to them. To save our pride, some would react in a hostile way arguing with them to prove themselves right. Quite often, the answers they give only confuse their enquirers further as many could not systematically explain their faith due to a lack of knowledge of the scriptures and the teachings of the Church. Often it creates more misunderstanding of our faith than a help to those who are sincerely searching for the truth.
Yet, the truth of evangelization is more than just explaining to people about our doctrines. Rather it is to testify to the Christ in us. Evangelization as St Peter said is to, “Reverence the Lord Christ in your hearts.” Explanation and defence of our doctrines have their place in evangelization but not at the beginning of the journey. Evangelization is not apologetics where we defend and expound our faith systematically. Rather, it is to testify that the Risen Christ lives in us. But what does it mean to let people know that Christ lives in us?
Firstly, by allowing the Risen Christ to work in our lives. His presence is felt when people see how the Lord works miracles in our lives. In the first reading, the Samaritans welcomed the message that Philip preached “because they had heard of the miracles he worked or because they saw them for themselves. There were, for example, unclean spirits that came shrieking out of many who were possessed, and several paralytics and cripples were cured. As a result, there was great rejoicing in that town.” The weakness is that many of our Catholics have hardly seen miracles at work in their lives or even heard of them. Often, they are ignorant of God’s work in them either because they think their achievements are due to their hard work or because they are not radical enough to wake them up to the power of divine intervention. Unless we have personally encountered the power, mercy and love of God in our lives, in situations when we felt totally hopeless and helpless, as in a failed relationship, a business that collapsed or suffering from an incurable or even terminal illness, we will not know He is real. But when we turn to the Lord and He surprises us by restoring our lives even though we thought it to be impossible, then we know that this God we worship is real and Jesus is alive. Without this encounter with the mighty power of our living God, our faith remains abstract and cerebral. It will not stand the test of time, especially the trials and storms of life.
Secondly, evangelization is simply to announce what Christ has done for us. We are called not to expound our faith with people so that we can reason with them into believing. Explanation of our faith is only understood by those who already believe. Those who believe do not need explanation. Those who do not believe, no amount of explanation can suffice. Theology is faith seeking understanding. It is faith before knowledge and understanding. Without faith, the mind remains closed because the heart is not touched. But when the heart is touched, they will be ready not just to listen but they will want to know more and understand more. This is why spiritual and theological talks only attract those who already believe in Christ, but for the ordinary nominal Catholic, he or she will not make time, or even if they do, they find it, and even the Mass, boring, because they have no personal relationship with the Lord.
How do we announce Christ if not by glorifying Him? We glorify Him by giving Him thanks and praise. This is what the psalmist is inviting us to do. He said, “Cry out with joy to God all the earth. Say to God: ‘How tremendous your deeds!’ Come and see the works of God, tremendous his deeds among men. I will tell what he did for my soul: Blessed be God who did not reject my prayer nor withhold his love from me.” Of course, we cannot praise God unless we have experienced His merciful love. But if we have such testimonies of God working wonders in our lives, big or small, we can inspire lives, be it a healing testimony, physical, emotional or spiritual, a turnaround in our business, a broken relationship or work. If many people no longer believe in God, it is because of secularization, when God is not only removed from common space but with it, no testimonies of how God is at work in our lives are shared. So those who are desperate have no one to turn to. They become angrier with God, with the world and with themselves, and end up committing suicide. This is where the Evil One wants to drive us to. This is why it is important for Catholics to share and tell others what God has done for them in their lives. They do not need to explain the doctrines to unbelievers at this stage of the evangelization process.
Secondly, we glorify Him by our lives of gentleness, respect, love and forgiveness. St Peter advised us that in explaining our faith, we must “Give it with courtesy and respect and with a clear conscience, so that those who slander you when you are living a good life in Christ may be proved wrong in the accusations that they bring.” In other words, it presupposes that we have a clear conscience rooted in our personal conviction of Christ and seen in living out our Christian life in charity and forgiveness. St Peter adds, “And if it is the will of God that you should suffer, it is better to suffer for doing right than for doing wrong.”
Indeed, the language of the Holy Spirit is the language of love. The best way to touch people’s hearts is not through intellectual arguments but love and forgiveness. When we are disciples of love, they will see Jesus in us, for the Lord promised us, “On that day you will understand that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you. Anybody who receives my commandments and keeps them will be one who loves me; and anybody who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I shall love him and show myself to him.’ This is why, as Christians we must show ourselves to be different from the world. We do not respond to hatred with hatred or evil with evil. We overcome evil with good. This is in imitation of Christ whom St Peter reminded us, “Christ himself, innocent though he was, had died once for sins, died for the guilty, to lead us to God.” So those who accuse us wrongly will eventually discover the truth about what is right and wrong. Only love can win over our enemies.
But how can we do this convincingly unless we have encountered the Holy Spirit in person? The truth is that for many of us, our faith is more a cerebral faith than a real personal encounter with the Lord. Unless we receive the Holy Spirit, our faith will remain an intellectual and doctrinal faith. This is why those in the New Ecclesial Movements, like the Charismatic Renewal, Neo-Catechumenate Way and Focolare are full of faith and dynamism. They all have had a personal encounter with the Lord and hence the radical commitment to the work of the New Evangelization. They have seen the power of God at work in their lives. They know in their hearts, not just their heads that Jesus is Lord. Without a personal encounter with the Lord, there can be no witnessing of the heart and conviction.
Indeed, we must be careful that we do not simply sacramentalize our people without first evangelizing them. But I am afraid that is what we are doing. We are more concerned about whether a catechumen or a young Catholic has received his sacraments, gone through the catechetical program, rather than whether he or she has encountered the Lord in the Holy Spirit in a personal way. As a result, many young Catholics leave after the sacrament of confirmation, a great irony for the Church, and sadness too! This is because they have only been sacramentalized but not evangelized. Unless they fall in love with Jesus, the sacraments are ineffective because they are not magic. Only those who receive the sacraments with faith can be transformed, otherwise it is just another empty ritual. They need to encounter Jesus in the Holy Spirit. But the truth is that for many, the Holy Spirit is just an abstract reality. At our baptism and confirmation, we receive it as a ritual.
This was what happened to the early Christians in Samaria. “When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, and they went down there, and prayed for the Samaritans to receive the Holy Spirit, for as yet he had not come down on any of them: they had only been baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.” So we need to renew the Holy Spirit in us which we received in baptism and in confirmation. We need to activate and become conscious of the Holy Spirit in our lives if we are to undertake the work of evangelization because evangelization ultimately is the work of the Holy Spirit and under the power of the Holy Spirit, not ours! This is why the Church will be preparing us for the Feast of Pentecost in the next two weeks. We need to get to know the Holy Spirit personally by praying for His coming in faith as we await for Pentecost.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment