20200525 REALITY CHECK
25 May, 2020, Monday, 7th Week of Easter
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: White.
First reading
|
Acts 19:1-8 ©
|
The moment Paul laid hands on them the Holy Spirit came down on them
While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul made his way overland as far as Ephesus, where he found a number of disciples. When he asked, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?’ they answered, ‘No, we were never even told there was such a thing as a Holy Spirit.’ ‘Then how were you baptised?’ he asked. ‘With John’s baptism’ they replied. ‘John’s baptism’ said Paul ‘was a baptism of repentance; but he insisted that the people should believe in the one who was to come after him – in other words, Jesus.’ When they heard this, they were baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus, and the moment Paul had laid hands on them the Holy Spirit came down on them, and they began to speak with tongues and to prophesy. There were about twelve of these men.
He began by going to the synagogue, where he spoke out boldly and argued persuasively about the kingdom of God. He did this for three months.
Responsorial Psalm
|
Psalm 67(68):2-7 ©
|
Kingdoms of the earth, sing to God.
or
Alleluia!
Let God arise, let his foes be scattered.
Let those who hate him flee before him.
As smoke is blown away so will they be blown away;
like wax that melts before the fire,
so the wicked shall perish at the presence of God.
Kingdoms of the earth, sing to God.
or
Alleluia!
But the just shall rejoice at the presence of God,
they shall exult and dance for joy.
O sing to the Lord, make music to his name;
rejoice in the Lord, exult at his presence.
Kingdoms of the earth, sing to God.
or
Alleluia!
Father of the orphan, defender of the widow,
such is God in his holy place.
God gives the lonely a home to live in;
he leads the prisoners forth into freedom.
Kingdoms of the earth, sing to God.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation
|
Jn16:28
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
I came from the Father
and have come into the world,
and now I leave the world
to go to the Father.
Alleluia!
Or:
|
Col3:1
|
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 16:29-33 ©
|
Be brave, for I have conquered the world
His disciples said to Jesus, ‘Now you are speaking plainly and not using metaphors! Now we see that you know everything, and do not have to wait for questions to be put into words; because of this we believe that you came from God.’ Jesus answered them:
‘Do you believe at last?
Listen; the time will come – in fact it has come already –
when you will be scattered,
each going his own way and leaving me alone.
And yet I am not alone,
because the Father is with me.
I have told you all this
so that you may find peace in me.
In the world you will have trouble,
but be brave: I have conquered the world.’
REALITY CHECK
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ACTS 19:1-8; PS 68:2-7; JOHN 16:29-33 ]
The disciples of Jesus confidently said to our Lord that they believed that Jesus came from God. This was because Jesus anticipated their questions even before they asked, revealing His divinity because it was presumed that only those who were from God had the gift of foreknowledge. So they said, “Now you are speaking plainly and not using metaphors! Now we see that you know everything, and do not have to wait for questions to be put into words; because of this we believe that you came from God.”
But Jesus was not impressed by their remarks. He was realistic about them. Jesus answered them, “Do you believe at last? Listen; the time will come – in fact it has come already – when you will be scattered, each going his own way and leaving me alone.” Not that Jesus doubted their love and confidence in Him but they lacked self-awareness of their ignorance. This was not the first time that the disciples had claimed they knew Jesus when in fact they did not. St Peter said to Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Mt 16:16) Almost immediately, when Jesus announced His imminent passion, he rebuked the Lord saying, “God forbid, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” (Mt 16:22) He did not grasp the meaning of His passion. And it is true for the rest of the apostles as well. They were oblivious to Jesus’ passion for immediately after the third prophecy of His passion, they were more worried about who would be seated on His right and left hand when the kingdom came. (Mt 20:17-28) St Peter also professed his fidelity to the Lord like the rest of the apostles. Jesus said, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the cock will not crow till you have denied me three times.” (Jn 13:38)
Indeed, the disciples were still ignorant of the passion ahead of our Lord. Jesus knew them better. He would be abandoned by them. He knew that they were sincere disciples but they over-estimated themselves. They were very confident of themselves. In truth, they were cowards and in the face of suffering, they would run away. Their loyalty to the Lord had yet to be tested. They would face persecution. He told them, “In the world you will have trouble.” They would be tested again and again. We read about the persecutions of the early Christians in the Acts of the Apostles after Jesus’ death and resurrection.
It is true for us all as well. Many of us are overly confident of our faith. We think that we are faithful to our Lord. We think that just because we know the bible well and are involved in Church programs and activities, we are very good Catholics. If we are thinking how good we are, the Lord too is also asking us this question, “Do you really believe at last?” The truth is that we know where we stand only when we are tested. How many Catholics would really stand up for Jesus? How many of us would defend our faith when others attack us for our values and beliefs? Most of the time, Catholics are silent when the Church is under siege. Few would dare to risk their reputation, their security, their privacy and popularity to stand up for what the Church teaches. Like the disciples, we too would run away when our faith is challenged. So we too must take the reality check ourselves.
Nevertheless, the Lord assures us that He would not leave us alone even if we abandoned Him. He assured them, “And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. I have told you all this so that you may find peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but be brave: I have conquered the world.” The Father was always with Jesus in His passion and death on the cross. He raised Jesus from the dead. Sin and death were conquered by His death and resurrection. So the Lord wants to assure us that He is in control. He has overcome the world. So we can be brave even in the face of death.
Why is it that our faith is not strong enough to withstand the challenges to our faith even though we think we have faith in Jesus? Perhaps, we are just like those nominal Christians in Ephesus who were baptized with the baptism of John. As St Paul made it clear to them, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance; but he insisted that the people should believe in the one who was to come after him – in other words, Jesus.” For many Catholics, faith is reducible to living a moral life. So long as we have not done wrong, and if we have done some good, we will get to heaven. We need not bother about what others do or don’t do. Everyone must answer for himself or herself. It is a very individualistic form of faith. As long as one does no evil, he is saved.
But Christian faith is fundamentally a relationship with Jesus. It is a personal encounter with the Lord. It is not a moral philosophy of life. So repentance from sins is not a sufficient motive to stand up for Jesus. It is only when we believe in Jesus and He is very important to us that we would stand up for Him. Indeed, some might fight for an ideology but even then people change ideology when they see themselves losing out. But for a person, we will fight with our lives because we love. We do not change relationships as often as we change an ideology. Relationships engage the entire person, mind and heart whereas ideology engages only the head. That is why it is hard to break from a relationship. It takes many months and even years before we can break from a relationship that has turned sour or became difficult. Emotional ties are stronger than intellectual ties.
So that was why St Paul told the so-called Christians at Ephesus that they must be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. This required that they know who Jesus was. Until they were instructed on how Jesus was the Messiah, as implicitly recognized by John the Baptist, and how in His death and resurrection Jesus was proclaimed Lord and Savior, they could not be considered real Christians. That is why in Christian baptism, faith in Jesus is presumed. Unfortunately, many Catholics have been baptized with little knowledge of Jesus and with a superficial faith. They are more interested in receiving the sacrament than having a real relationship with Jesus. How many of our Catechumens take their RCIA seriously, not just in acquiring knowledge about the Catholic Faith, the Sacraments and the Bible but in developing a personal relationship with the Lord? The RCIA is only nine months, but some miss the lessons and most of all, hardly make time to pray on their own or with their sponsors and fellow Catechumens. The RCIA process is a failure if at the end of the process catechumens have not developed a personal relationship with the Lord.
Consequently, it is important that catechumens have a real encounter with the Holy Spirit because only He can lead us to Jesus, to know Him intimately and to understand what we read in scripture. Baptism in the name of Jesus of course includes the reception of the Holy Spirit. But there will be other moments in one’s Christian life when we need to exhibit the signs of having the Holy Spirit in our lives. Perhaps, when St Paul went to Ephesus, he saw that something was amiss; something was absent in the lives of those believers. They lacked the enthusiasm, passion and zeal of those Christians who had a real personal contact with Jesus in the Holy Spirit. Hence, after baptizing them in the name of Jesus, “the moment Paul had laid hands on them the Holy Spirit came down on them, and they began to speak in tongues and to prophesy. There were about twelve of these men.” These men had a similar Pentecostal experience just as the apostles had at the beginning of the Church.
To recover our zeal for the Lord and our courage to stand up for Jesus, we need to deepen our relationship with the Lord by welcoming the Holy Spirit into our lives, and relating with Him consciously as we do with the Father and the Son. So long as the Holy Spirit is a stranger in our faith and personal life, just a doctrine, we will not be transformed in our life, nor will our faith be alive in the Spirit. This explains why all those in the Renewal Movement who have encountered the Risen Lord in the Spirit are ready to give up their lives and their careers to give witness and glory to the Lord. Welcome the Holy Spirit!
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment