20200501 FAITH ENLIGHTENS, TRUST BELIEVES
01 May, 2020, Friday, 3rd Week of Easter
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: White.
First reading
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Acts 9:1-20 ©
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This man is my chosen instrument to bring my name before the pagans
Saul was still breathing threats to slaughter the Lord’s disciples. He had gone to the high priest and asked for letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, that would authorise him to arrest and take to Jerusalem any followers of the Way, men or women, that he could find.
Suddenly, while he was travelling to Damascus and just before he reached the city, there came a light from heaven all round him. He fell to the ground, and then he heard a voice saying, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ he asked, and the voice answered, ‘I am Jesus, and you are persecuting me. Get up now and go into the city, and you will be told what you have to do.’ The men travelling with Saul stood there speechless, for though they heard the voice they could see no one. Saul got up from the ground, but even with his eyes wide open he could see nothing at all, and they had to lead him into Damascus by the hand. For three days he was without his sight, and took neither food nor drink.
A disciple called Ananias who lived in Damascus had a vision in which he heard the Lord say to him, ‘Ananias!’ When he replied, ‘Here I am, Lord’, the Lord said, ‘You must go to Straight Street and ask the house of Judas for someone called Saul, who comes from Tarsus. At this moment he is praying, having had a vision of a man called Ananias coming in and laying hands on him to give him back his sight.’
When he heard that, Ananias said, ‘Lord, several people have told me about this man and all the harm he has been doing to your saints in Jerusalem. He has only come here because he holds a warrant from the chief priests to arrest everybody who invokes your name.’ The Lord replied, ‘You must go all the same, because this man is my chosen instrument to bring my name before pagans and pagan kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he himself must suffer for my name.’ Then Ananias went. He entered the house, and at once laid his hands on Saul and said, ‘Brother Saul, I have been sent by the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on your way here so that you may recover your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ Immediately it was as though scales fell away from Saul’s eyes and he could see again. So he was baptised there and then, and after taking some food he regained his strength.
He began preaching in the synagogues, ‘Jesus is the Son of God.’
Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 116(117) ©
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Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News.
or
Alleluia!
O praise the Lord, all you nations,
acclaim him all you peoples!
Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News.
or
Alleluia!
Strong is his love for us;
he is faithful for ever.
Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation
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cf.Lk24:46,26
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Alleluia, alleluia!
It was ordained that the Christ should suffer
and rise from the dead,
and so enter into his glory.
Alleluia!
Or:
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Jn6:56
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Alleluia, alleluia!
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood
lives in me, and I live in him,
says the Lord.
Alleluia!
Gospel
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John 6:52-59 ©
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My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink
The Jews started arguing with one another: ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ they said. Jesus replied:
‘I tell you most solemnly,
if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,
you will not have life in you.
Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood
has eternal life,
and I shall raise him up on the last day.
For my flesh is real food
and my blood is real drink.
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood
lives in me
and I live in him.
As I, who am sent by the living Father,
myself draw life from the Father,
so whoever eats me will draw life from me.
This is the bread come down from heaven;
not like the bread our ancestors ate:
they are dead,
but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.’
He taught this doctrine at Capernaum, in the synagogue.
FAITH ENLIGHTENS, TRUST BELIEVES
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ Acts 9:1-20; Ps 117:1-2; John 6:52-59 ]
In the gospel, Jesus proclaimed Himself as the Bread of Life that came down from heaven; more than just the manna given by Moses in the desert, as those who ate the manna died eventually. In the case of Jesus, those who receive Him will never die. “This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” (Jn 6:50f) The Jews were scandalized because it sounded like cannibalism, hence they asked, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Should we be surprised at their reaction?
Indeed, the world also finds it absurd for us Catholics to believe that bread and wine are transformed into His body and blood at every Eucharistic celebration. How can Catholics believe in this doctrine? Of course, faith in the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into His body and blood is not to be understood in a physicalistic manner, that is, the earthly flesh and blood of Jesus. Rather, it is His transfigured human body, soul and divinity, His entire person that is present. We must be careful of such banal understanding; otherwise people might think we are cannibals. Indeed, some Catholics conclude that because they do not drink from the cup, they only receive His body but not His blood, which means they receive half of Jesus!
Receiving the Eucharist is to receive the Lord in His entirety into our lives. This is what the Lord clarified, “For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in him.” Christ, who is present in both bread and wine when consumed by the recipient, lives in him. This is the means by which we can be in union with Him after His death. The Lord knew the importance of His disciples continuing to draw life from Him through the Word and the Sacrament of the Eucharist. “As I, who am sent by the living Father, myself draw life from the Father, so whoever eats me will draw life from me. This is the bread come down from heaven; not like the bread our ancestors ate: they are dead, but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.”
How can this be possible? Precisely, faith is required. Without faith in Jesus as the Risen Lord, we cannot have faith in the real presence of our Lord in the Eucharist. At the end of the Eucharistic discourse, “many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve, ‘Do you also wish to go away?’ Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.'” (Jn 6:66-69) Without this confession of faith in Jesus as the Son of God, faith in the Eucharist would not be possible.
Faith in the Eucharist presupposes that we believe in the resurrection of our Lord, His incarnation and His divinity. Only because He is Lord, He could walk over the waters, calm the storm, multiply the loaves for 5000, raise the dead, cure the blind, heal the lame, and rise from the dead. The miracles that Jesus performed are signs for faith. So if non-believers think we are silly and superstitious to believe that the bread and wine are transformed to His body and blood, the person of Jesus, it is fully understandable because they have not arrived at faith in Jesus as the Son of the Living God. As we sing in the beautiful hymn, “Down in Adoration” composed by the great theologian, St Thomas, we say, “Faith for all defects supplying, where the feeble senses fail!” Faith is required to have access to the real presence of the Eucharist. Without faith in Jesus as the Son of the living God, there is no basis for faith in the incarnation and the sacraments.
Indeed, faith is dependent on one’s relationship with the Lord. In today’s first reading, Saul saw the Christians as heretics who betrayed the Law of Moses. “He had gone to the high priest and asked for letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, that would authorise him to arrest and take to Jerusalem any followers of the Way, men or women, that he could find.” However, on the way to Damascus, a strong light from heaven enlightened him as he fell to the ground. He heard a voice from heaven saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” He asked, “who are you, Lord?” The voice answered, “I am Jesus, and you are persecuting me.” It was this encounter with the Risen Christ that changed the entire life of Saul. From then on, nothing could shake him from his faith in the Lord. This is why, no amount of intellectual knowledge about Jesus and God can make us loyal and faithful Christians. How loyal we are to Jesus depends on how much we know Him personally to be able to commit ourselves to Him. Faith is dependent on trust, and trust is grounded in the depth of one’s relationship with the person.
Faith transcends reason. We see this clearly too in the initial response of Ananias when the Lord instructed him to pray over Saul to help him regain his sight. His immediate response was, “Lord, several people have told me about this man and all the harm he has been doing to your saints in Jerusalem. He has only come here because he holds a warrant from the chief priests to arrest everybody who invokes your name.” Reason warned Ananias not to go because it might cause the loss of more lives of Christians as Saul was known to be a zealous persecutor of those in the Way.
However, Ananias was a discerning person. He did not use reason alone, he was attentive to the voice of God. He had a deep relationship with God. He heard the Lord assuring him, “You must go all the same, because this man is my chosen instrument to bring my name before pagans and pagan kings and before the people of Israel.” He could not understand why He chose Saul, a persecutor of the faith. This is where faith comes in. Faith chooses to trust in God’s wisdom and plans. God said, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isa 55:8f)
Our lack of perception is because we judge externally, but God sees the heart. In the mind of Christians, Saul was a persecutor of the faith. Using his physical eyesight and intellect, he was spiritually blind. He was brought up in the Jewish tradition and he loved his faith with all his heart. He was a devoted rabbi, “as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.” (Phil 3:5f) Although misguided, he was a sincere man, true to his beliefs. This is equally true for many critics of the Catholic Faith as well, especially those who are hostile towards us. It could be because they are so convinced that we are wrong in our beliefs and that we are going against the scriptures.
What it takes is for God to enlighten the minds of such people, touch their hearts with His love, and they will change from enemies and persecutors to champions and defenders of our faith. We notice this pattern in our converts. Most converts make better Catholics. Cradle Catholics never bother to find out about their faith since they inherited it. They do not ask questions because the faith has been part of their culture and tradition. It is only in crises that they begin to challenge their beliefs and practices. By then it is too late as they would have been influenced by some other religions or simply by the secular world. Whereas, those who are converted as adults would have spent time searching for the Lord. And like Saul who had a radical conversion experience, struck blind by the powerful light from heaven, and then healed by the Lord through the ministering of Ananias, we too, when we encounter the Lord radically, will make great witnesses for the Lord. Great saints were normally great sinners once. Radical conversion makes radical converts for Christ. Superficial conversion will only give us weak and half-hearted Catholics. In the final analysis, faith and trust are dependent on how radical our personal encounter with the Risen Lord is.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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