20210204 HEAVENLY JERUSALEM
04 February, 2021, Thursday, 4th Week, Ordinary Time
First reading |
Hebrews 12:18-19,21-24 © |
You have come to Mount Zion and the city of the living God
What you have come to is nothing known to the senses: not a blazing fire, or a gloom turning to total darkness, or a storm; or trumpeting thunder or the great voice speaking which made everyone that heard it beg that no more should be said to them. The whole scene was so terrible that Moses said: I am afraid, and was trembling with fright. But what you have come to is Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem where the millions of angels have gathered for the festival, with the whole Church in which everyone is a ‘first-born son’ and a citizen of heaven. You have come to God himself, the supreme Judge, and been placed with spirits of the saints who have been made perfect; and to Jesus, the mediator who brings a new covenant and a blood for purification which pleads more insistently than Abel’s.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 47(48):2-4,9-11 © |
O God, we ponder your love within your temple.
The Lord is great and worthy to be praised
in the city of our God.
His holy mountain rises in beauty,
the joy of all the earth.
O God, we ponder your love within your temple.
Mount Zion, true pole of the earth,
the Great King’s city!
God, in the midst of its citadels,
has shown himself its stronghold.
O God, we ponder your love within your temple.
As we have heard, so we have seen
in the city of our God,
in the city of the Lord of hosts
which God upholds for ever.
O God, we ponder your love within your temple.
O God, we ponder your love
within your temple.
Your praise, O God, like your name
reaches the ends of the earth.
With justice your right hand is filled.
O God, we ponder your love within your temple.
Gospel Acclamation | Jn15:15 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I call you friends, says the Lord,
because I have made known to you
everything I have learnt from my Father.
Alleluia!
Or: | Mk1:15 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The kingdom of God is close at hand:
repent and believe the Good News.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 6:7-13 © |
'Take nothing with you'
Jesus made a tour round the villages, teaching. Then he summoned the Twelve and began to send them out in pairs giving them authority over the unclean spirits. And he instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a staff – no bread, no haversack, no coppers for their purses. They were to wear sandals but, he added, ‘Do not take a spare tunic.’ And he said to them, ‘If you enter a house anywhere, stay there until you leave the district. And if any place does not welcome you and people refuse to listen to you, as you walk away shake off the dust from under your feet as a sign to them.’ So they set off to preach repentance; and they cast out many devils, and anointed many sick people with oil and cured them.
HEAVENLY JERUSALEM
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [HEB 12:18-19, 21-24; PS 47:2-4,9-11; MARK 6:7-13 ]
Humanity has lost sight of its ultimate destiny and goal in life simply because of the loss of faith in God. We are plunged into despair and hopelessness because we only care about this life and what we do and how we live here. We do not have a vision beyond this earth, which means that all that we do will not last beyond our life. Whatever achievements, sacrifices and good works we have done are all left behind. Whether we are good or evil, whether we live for ourselves or for others, all of us suffer the same outcome. There is no justice on earth and life is unfair. So we leave this world bitter, resentful and miserable.
The letter of Hebrews presents to us the glorious end to which we will come if we accept Jesus as our “mediator who brings a new covenant and a blood for purification which pleads more insistently than Abel’s.” Indeed, this New Covenant that Jesus brings is much greater than that of the old covenant that God established with Moses and the Israelites. The Old Covenant was but a preparation for the new and eternal covenant. In the Old Covenant, when the law was given at Mount Sinai, God’s presence was met with terror and fear. It came like “a blazing fire, or a gloom turning to total darkness, or a storm; or trumpeting thunder or the great voice speaking which made everyone that heard it beg that no more should be said to them.” (cf Ex 19:12-19) Anyone who stepped on the mountain or even touch it would die. The people were even afraid to hear the voice of God themselves and hence Moses had to go and bring God’s message to them. (Dt 5:23-27; 9:19) God was unapproachable because of His majesty, and seeing Him would mean death. The author remarked, “The whole scene was so terrible that Moses said: I am afraid, and was trembling with fright.”
In contrast, in the New Covenant, the distance between God and man is bridged by Christ who is the God-man. In Jesus, through the forgiveness of our sins brought upon by His blood shed on the cross for us, we are now able to approach God with a clear conscience. Unlike the blood of Abel which demanded justice and revenge, the blood of Jesus purifies us so that we can approach God with confidence, knowing that He has forgiven us in spite of our sinfulness. We will stand before God as our judge who forgives us. “You have come to God himself, the supreme Judge.” But we will not stand with fear before the judgement of God because we have Jesus as our advocate with the Father who “is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 Jn 2:2)
Indeed, how great would be our joy to come to “Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.” Unlike in the Old Covenant, where the law was given at Mount Sinai, we are now able to meet God in the heavenly Jerusalem. This city of the living God is eternal and there will be no more suffering. “Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.” (Rev 21:4) There we will not only meet God face to face but we will also be reunited with our brothers and sisters. The heavenly Jerusalem is “where the millions of angels have gathered for the festival, with the whole Church in which everyone is a ‘first-born son’ and a citizen of heaven.” We will be welcomed by the angels and all of us will be a first-born son in Christ sharing in his inheritance and faithful citizens of heaven.
We will be “placed with spirits of the saints who have been made perfect”, which commentators interpret to be the spirits of those who died before Christ came and those of Christian martyrs and missionaries. This is also an affirmation of the Church’s constant teaching of the immortality of the soul, the doctrine of the intermediate state, that after death, before the resurrection at the end of time, we will immediately go to heaven, hell or purgatory. This is why we pray to the saints in heaven and for the souls in purgatory. The truth is that some of them have already reached heaven even though not resurrected just like the Good Thief, for the Lord said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Lk 23:43) This thought of our loved ones already in the company of the saints and angels in heaven should give us much consolation when we lose our loved ones. Indeed, their presence in heaven already is underscored by the author using the present perfect tense, “what you have come to”, meaning that some of them have arrived and are there waiting for us to join them. This doctrine of the intermediate state is further substantiated by the dogma of the Assumption of our Blessed Mother who is already glorified in heaven, probably with Elijah and Enoch, whom we are told went straight to heaven without dying. (cf Gn :24; 2 Kg 2:12)
Indeed, if this is our hope, then what must we do? St John puts it succinctly, “All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.” (1 Jn 3:3) Hence, the call for repentance. This is the pre-requisite. The apostles were sent out “to preach repentance; and they cast out many devils, and anointed many sick people with oil and cured them.” The message of repentance is paramount. Negatively, repentance is to turn away, to turn around from sin, selfishness and idolatry. Positively, repentance is to turn to Christ who shows us the way to live the life of God, the life of truth and love. If we are to meet God face to face, then we need to be spotless before Him. But how can this be possible because we are sinners?
To be worthy for admittance to the heavenly Jerusalem, we must therefore be totally dependent on Christ because as the letter of Hebrews say, “He is our mediator.” This is what the Lord told His apostles whom He sent out “in pairs giving them authority over the unclean spirits. And he instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a staff – no bread, no haversack, no coppers for their purses. They were to wear sandals but, he added, ‘Do not take a spare tunic.'” This means that Christ must always be the center of our life. In other words, they must be totally dependent on Christ for the mission. They were sent out, which means that they were commissioned by our Lord and authority was delegated to them to preach only what the Lord had spoken to them. This is why preachers and missionaries must not be proclaiming their own philosophy or ideas and ideology but to proclaim only what the Lord has taught us and spoken to us. We are not to preach ourselves but to preach Christ, as St Paul said. (cf 2 Cor 4:5) In all that we do and say, we must always ask ourselves: is this what Christ would do, is this how He would think, is this how He would act? We must live and breathe in Him like St Paul who said, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal 2:19f)
This is why we need, according to our state of life, to practise the evangelical counsels of poverty, obedience and chastity. When Jesus told His disciples to carry only the staff, it is because He wanted to remind them that the work of shepherding requires total dependence on Him. Hence, they should depend on divine providence and not allow the things of this earth to make them greedy and insecure. Obedience to the Lord is paramount for Him to work in and through us. And charity and inclusive love is lived out as seen in Jesus sending the apostles out in two, working in pairs, which require giving, receiving and collaboration.
But this does not mean that whilst preparing to enter the new Heavenly Jerusalem, we must disdain the things of this world. God continues to show us His love and mercy through the ordinary things of this life. Hence, they were instructed to cast out the devils and anoint the sick with oil to cure them. Until we arrive in heaven, the Church needs sacramentals like the earthly liturgy, the celebration of the Eucharist and the sacraments, and sacramentals like oil, water, incense, salt, medals and statues to give us the assurance of His presence. Of course, the power does not lie in the things themselves but Jesus only. Nevertheless, He understands that we are not yet pure spirits but with a body. Through such tangible things of this world, He continues to act through His ministers to bring His healing grace, His forgiveness, His presence and His love to us all. Let us therefore avail ourselves to His grace.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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