20210106 FEAR OF BELIEVING IS OVERCOME BY LOVE
06 January, 2021, Wednesday After Epiphany
1 Jn 4:11-18
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No man has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his own Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we know and believe the love God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 In this is love perfected with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and he who fears is not perfected in love.
Mark 6:45-52
45 Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Beth-saida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. 47 And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. 48 And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out; 50 for they all saw him, and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; have no fear.” 51 And he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, 52 for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.
FEAR OF BELIEVING IS OVERCOME BY LOVE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 JN 4:11-18; MK 6:45-52 ]
Epiphany celebrates the manifestation of God in man, in Christ Jesus. This is done in a threefold event, the Visit of the Magi when Christ was manifested as the Saviour of the world, the baptism of our Lord when He was revealed as the Son of God; and the Wedding at Cana in Galilee when His glory was anticipated in the changing of the water into wine. In all these three events, the glory of His divine majesty was revealed. Hence, St John says, “If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him, and he in God.
But it does not mean that all can see God in Jesus. People today want empirical proof that Jesus is God or even that God exists. But the truth is that no matter what evidence we can offer, no amount of proofs can convince one who has a closed mind. This was the case of the disciples of our Lord. “They were utterly and completely dumbfounded, because they had not seen what the miracle of the loaves meant; their minds were closed.” In the gospel of Mark before this incident of Jesus walking on the water, Jesus had exorcised an unclean spirit, healed a paralytic and a leper; a man with withered hand, and all those who were brought to Him for healing. Lastly, He multiplied the loaves to feed the Five Thousand and calmed the storm, yet the disciples still could not recognize who their master was.
So what is required is faith. Only faith will enable us to see the divine in the man Jesus. When the three Magi reached the place where the Messiah was born, they only found the baby Jesus. There was no majesty in Him. They only saw a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes in a manger. What a sight! Were they disappointed? Were they scandalized and shocked? On the contrary, they saw the goodness of God and His humility, that He would make Himself so small to be one of us so that no one would be fearful of approaching Him. He came as a vulnerable baby to let us know that He shares in our vulnerability. As a consequence, they bowed down and worshiped Him as God. So, too, because of Mary’s faith in Jesus, the miracle was performed in anticipation of the hour of His glory. As St John wrote, “We ourselves saw and we testify that the Father sent his Son as saviour of the world.” But this statement can only be made with the eyes of faith.
But why is faith so difficult? It is because of fear. When we are fearful, our minds and hearts are closed. This was the case of King Herod. He was fearful of Jesus, the New Born King whom he thought would usurp his throne, not realizing that Jesus came to help him to be a great King and to make his throne more secure. The religious leaders too were apprehensive of Jesus, not only because He was thought to be abandoning the laws of Moses but also taking away their privileges and positions in society, when the Lord was just helping them to be true religious leaders, so that they could lead people to God. The disciples too were in dire straits today. They were in fear of being overcome by the waves and then they were frightened out of their wits when they thought they saw the ghost of Jesus coming after them. They must have thought that their end was coming.
In the same way, many believers and non-believers today are skeptical about God and our priests because of the scandals in the Church. Having been hurt and betrayed by the Church, especially her leaders, clerical, religious or lay, they have lost the little faith they had in God. Everything now seems hypocritical because God and religion are no longer real. Indeed, because we believers are often counter- witnesses by our words and examples, many who have come to church are disillusioned. Some have been hurt and feel unwelcomed by the church and by her members due to the way they were treated by the wardens and communion ministers and priests. Some feel discriminated, and some have been told off harshly by priests. They feel misunderstood and hurt by our lack of compassion.
Those who are hurt in love find it difficult to trust again. This is often the case. When we are hurt by those whom we love, especially the Church and her leaders, we find it difficult to believe in God anymore. Because our lay people want to believe that Church leaders are identified with Christ, that they speak and act on His behalf, their failure in love has caused the people to be distrustful of the Church. Indeed, this is true in all human relationships. When husband and wife are not faithful to each other, once trust is broken, it is extremely difficult to repair and heal a betrayed relationship. One is just too afraid to trust and love again.
So what is the way to heal the fear that prevents us from having faith in God or in our fellowmen? Fear of trusting can only be overcome by the assurance of love. St John wrote, “In love there can be no fear, but fear is driven out by perfect love: because to fear is to expect punishment, and anyone who is afraid still is imperfect in love.” Fear simply means that we are afraid to love. So the only way to heal fear of trusting is to begin loving. Truly, when people come to us wounded, hurt, disappointed, betrayed and angry, all they want from us is a word of assurance that we are concerned, that we feel with them and for them, and that we will put things right. And if they often go to the authorities, it is their hope that those in charge will be compassionate and be just in restoring trust and confidence. Thus, when authorities sweep scandals under the carpet, as was the case of the Church over the pedophile cases, the Church, especially her leaders, lost credibility in the eyes of the world and her own members.
But in the case of Jesus, He was quite quick to assure the disciples that He was with them. When they felt alone struggling at the sea, Jesus came towards them. “When they saw him walking on the lake they thought it was a ghost and cried out, for they had all seen him and were terrified. But he at once spoke to them, and said, ‘Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.'” Jesus came by to assure them that He was always with them even when they thought they were battling against the storms of life alone. So too, the Lord wants us to know that He is with us in our daily life struggles.
How does He do that? What was His secret in feeling with His disciples and those who are struggling in life? It was His intimacy with the Father. We read that “after saying good-bye to them he went off into the hills to pray. When evening came, the boat was far out on the lake, and he was alone on the land.” He was deep in prayer with His Father in the hills. Yet, although He was in union with His Father, this time with His Father did not take Him away from His disciples. On the contrary, He was even more present to them when He was at prayer. We read, “He could see they were worn out with rowing, for the wind was against them; and about the fourth watch of the night he came towards them, walking on the lake.”
Similarly too, if we want to feel compassion for our wounded brothers and sisters, we need to be like the Lord, to make time for prayer and contemplation. Only a heart that is in union with God’s heart can feel with the hearts of His people. This is what St John wrote, “My dear people, since God has loved us so much, we too should love one another. No one has ever seen God; but as long as we love one another God will live in us and his love will be complete in us. We can know that we are living in him and he is living in us because he lets us share his Spirit.” The capacity to love and to heal the fears of our hurting brothers and sisters rests on our ability to identify with them through prayer. Our intimacy with God will lead us to intimacy with them. Only in prayer, do we find God in man and see God in man.
By reaching out to those who are hurting, we alleviate their fears and they will learn to trust again. They will say, “We ourselves have known and put our faith in God’s love towards ourselves. God is love and anyone who lives in love lives in God, and God lives in him. Love will come to its perfection in us when we can face the day of Judgement without fear.” Through our love for them, they see God’s love in us, and we in turn in reaching out to them, see God present in them, in their suffering. As much as we reveal God’s love to them, they reveal God’s love to us by their gratitude and when they are healed.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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