20201125 WAVERING HOPE
25 November, 2020, Wednesday, 34th Week, Ordinary Time
WAVERING HOPE
20201125 WAVERING HOPE
25 November, 2020, Wednesday, 34th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: Green.
First reading |
Apocalypse 15:1-4 © |
The victors sang the hymn of Moses and of the Lamb
What I, John, saw in heaven was a great and wonderful sign: seven angels were bringing the seven plagues that are the last of all, because they exhaust the anger of God. I seemed to see a glass lake suffused with fire, and standing by the lake of glass, those who had fought against the beast and won, and against his statue and the number which is his name. They all had harps from God, and they were singing the hymn of Moses, the servant of God, and of the Lamb:
‘How great and wonderful are all your works,
Lord God Almighty;
just and true are all your ways,
King of nations.
Who would not revere and praise your name, O Lord?
You alone are holy,
and all the pagans will come and adore you
for the many acts of justice you have shown.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 97(98):1-3,7-9 © |
How great and wonderful are all your works, Lord God almighty.
Sing a new song to the Lord
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.
How great and wonderful are all your works, Lord God almighty.
The Lord has made known his salvation;
has shown his justice to the nations.
He has remembered his truth and love
for the house of Israel.
How great and wonderful are all your works, Lord God almighty.
Let the sea and all within it, thunder;
the world, and all its peoples.
Let the rivers clap their hands
and the hills ring out their joy
at the presence of the Lord.
How great and wonderful are all your works, Lord God almighty.
For the Lord comes,
he comes to rule the earth.
He will rule the world with justice
and the peoples with fairness.
How great and wonderful are all your works, Lord God almighty.
Gospel Acclamation | Lk21:36 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Stay awake, praying at all times
for the strength to stand with confidence
before the Son of Man.
Alleluia!
Or: | Rv2:10 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Even if you have to die, says the Lord,
keep faithful, and I will give you
the crown of life.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 21:12-19 © |
Your endurance will win you your lives
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Men will seize you and persecute you; they will hand you over to the synagogues and to imprisonment, and bring you before kings and governors because of my name – and that will be your opportunity to bear witness. Keep this carefully in mind: you are not to prepare your defence, because I myself shall give you an eloquence and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relations and friends; and some of you will be put to death. You will be hated by all men on account of my name, but not a hair of your head will be lost. Your endurance will win you your lives.’
WAVERING HOPE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [REV 15:1-4; LUKE 21:12-19 ]
As we are in the last week of the liturgical year, the focus of the scripture readings is on persecution, suffering and final victory. When we review the history of the early Church through to the 18th century, the Church then was ever ready to go through suffering, persecution and rejection for the sake of the proclamation of the gospel. On Monday, we read how the 144,000 who have been redeemed by Christ, remained undefiled by impurity and kept themselves blameless, living a life of integrity. (cf Rev 14:4f) Indeed, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Rev 7:14)
They fulfilled the prophecy of our Lord when He warned His disciples of what was ahead of them. “Men will seize you and persecute you; they will hand you over to the synagogues and to imprisonment, and bring you before kings and governors because of my name – and that will be your opportunity to bear witness.” This is elaborated by the same evangelist in the Acts of the Apostles. Throughout this book, we read of how the early apostles and disciples were persecuted for proclaiming the name of the Lord. Beginning from Acts 4, the rest of the books narrate the challenges and the oppositions the apostles had to face. They were brought before the Sanhedrin, and St Paul was even brought before the governor and king, to defend their faith in Jesus. Again, true to the prophecy of our Lord, the Holy Spirit assisted them in their defence. “Keep this carefully in mind: you are not to prepare your defence, because I myself shall give you an eloquence and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to resist or contradict.” (cf Acts 4:8-12; 7:54; 26:24-32) And indeed, James, Stephen and Paul were put to death. “You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relations and friends; and some of you will be put to death.
On the other hand, the promise of victory was also real. “You will be hated by all men on account of my name, but not a hair of your head will be lost. Your endurance will win you your lives.” In today’s first reading, we read how the redeemed “who had fought against the beast and won, and against his statue and the number which is his name” stood at the “glass lake suffused with fire”, a sign of God’s wrath and anger, they sang the “hymn of Moses, the servant of God, and of the Lamb: ‘How great and wonderful are all your works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are all your ways, King of nations. Who would not revere and praise your name, O Lord? You alone are holy, and all the pagans will come and adore you for the many acts of justice you have shown.'” By so doing, they were renewing the song Moses and the people sang after being delivered from the army of the Egyptians. (cf Ex 15:1-19) A new song was composed to celebrate Christ’s, the New Moses, delivery of the Christians from the hands of their enemies. The verses of this hymn were taken from the psalms of the Old Testament but now sung with reference to Christ who won victory for the Christians.
Yet, when we ask ourselves today, where do our Catholics stand with regard to their faith, or the Church? How many of us would be able to endure the persecutions in our times when we stand up for our faith? In truth, few would have the courage to stand up for their faith in the world today. In the face of opposition and persecutions, the majority of us would either remain silent or succumb to their demands. Not many of us would have the conviction to stand up for our Christian values for fear of ridicule, rejection, unpopularity, discrimination and the risk of losing our career or compromising our businesses. Even among priests and religious, many of us do not mind serving the People of God through preaching and teaching and ministering. Such things only require effort, but few would likely be ready and willing to sacrifice their lives completely under persecution or threats for the name of Christ.
This is so unlike the early apostles and early missionaries in the 15th century when they brought the Christian Faith to the shores of Africa and Asia. Many foreign missionaries left their homeland and went on missionary expeditions to unknown lands, not knowing the language and the culture. They were brave to leave the comfort of their own country to live among peoples who were often hostile to the Christian Faith, which was perceived as a Western religion. We know that many died from shipwreck, diseases, hunger, and most of all, persecution and torture. Yet these missionaries were ever ready to die for Christ. In fact, like the early disciples of our Lord they saw it as an honour to be a martyr for Christ so that they can win souls for the Lord. They were brave men and women who gave up literally everything for Christ and the gospel.
Why, then, have we lost not just the missionary zeal but the courage to be martyrs, that is, witnesses for Christ in a hostile environment? Because of our timidity, the secular world has taken advantage of our passivity. Today, we are silenced by the world to speak out, not just about our faith but on the values of the gospel. Perhaps we come from a different generation. We come from an affluent society where live is generally quite comfortable. We have good accommodation, good food, security, comfort and even luxuries and annual holiday entitlements. We are not used to living a difficult life. Can you imagine yourself incarcerated in a dark, smelly, damp dungeon underground, which were the prisons of yesteryear? Compared to those days, our prisons today are almost like 3-star accommodation. We have become soft and so used to having a good life that we find it difficult to live a simple lifestyle. Even our priests, religious and seminarians can hardly be said to be living in spartan conditions!
Today, the function of the priesthood has been reduced to merely one of serving our people and attending to their pastoral needs. Our charitable organizations too have been reduced to offering humanitarian aid to relieve the poor of their suffering. The emphasis is on caring and living for today. It is about attending to immediate needs, be it emotional, psychological, physical or medical. For the modern generation, we are more concerned about living our life well, free from suffering, anxiety and pain. Most of us are not particularly concerned about the next life or eternity. We are so absorbed in this world, and even though this world is not always free from troubles and woes, we are quite happy so long as our needs are fulfilled, having proper accommodation, food, health and some luxuries in life.
Perhaps, because of the influence of secularism, we are content, like the rest of the world, to make the most out of this life. So long as we do not have to suffer much, why bother so much about the future life. Just live one day at a time and live life to the fullest. Who are those who yearn for the future life? Those who are very poor, those who are very sick, those who have been deeply wounded in relationships and failed in life. Only people such as these, who find no meaning on this earth think of the next life. They may even be accused of hoping for a pie in the sky, since their life is miserable here on earth. In the ancient days, life was really tough and difficult, so the hope for eternal life with God was strong and fervent.
Nowadays, the hope for life after death, if at all, is only thought of at our death bed. This is perhaps the real reason why we no longer live in the hope for the fullness of life. As a consequence, we do not see the need to stand up for our faith or our values. The loss of hope for eternal life, the neglect of such a reality has caused us all to only live for the present. As for the future, it is just a faint hope that we will somehow get to heaven, so long as we do not commit big sins; but for many in the world, everything ends in death, so there is nothing to worry beyond this life. Do you live in the present for the future, or just the present?
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment