20200430 CONSOLING THE ANXIOUS AND THE HOPELESS
30 April, 2021, Friday, 4th Week of Easter
First reading | Acts 13:26-33 © |
God has fulfilled his promise by raising Jesus from the dead
Paul stood up in the synagogue at Antioch in Pisidia, held up a hand for silence and began to speak:
‘My brothers, sons of Abraham’s race, and all you who fear God, this message of salvation is meant for you. What the people of Jerusalem and their rulers did, though they did not realise it, was in fact to fulfil the prophecies read on every sabbath. Though they found nothing to justify his death, they condemned him and asked Pilate to have him executed. When they had carried out everything that scripture foretells about him they took him down from the tree and buried him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he appeared to those who had accompanied him from Galilee to Jerusalem: and it is these same companions of his who are now his witnesses before our people.
‘We have come here to tell you the Good News. It was to our ancestors that God made the promise but it is to us, their children, that he has fulfilled it, by raising Jesus from the dead. As scripture says in the second psalm: You are my son: today I have become your father.’
Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 2:6-11 © |
You are my Son. It is I who have begotten you this day.
or
Alleluia!
‘It is I who have set up my king
on Zion, my holy mountain.’
I will announce the decree of the Lord:
The Lord said to me: ‘You are my Son.
It is I who have begotten you this day.
You are my Son. It is I who have begotten you this day.
or
Alleluia!
‘Ask and I shall bequeath you the nations,
put the ends of the earth in your possession.
With a rod of iron you will break them,
shatter them like a potter’s jar.’
You are my Son. It is I who have begotten you this day.
or
Alleluia!
Now, O kings, understand,
take warning, rulers of the earth;
serve the Lord with awe
and trembling, pay him your homage.
You are my Son. It is I who have begotten you this day.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation | 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!
Or: | Jn14:6 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, says the Lord;
No one can come to the Father except through me.
Alleluia!
Gospel | John 14:1-6 © |
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘Do not let your hearts be troubled.
Trust in God still, and trust in me.
There are many rooms in my Father’s house;
if there were not, I should have told you.
I am going now to prepare a place for you,
and after I have gone and prepared you a place,
I shall return to take you with me;
so that where I am
you may be too.
You know the way to the place where I am going.’
Thomas said, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’ Jesus said:
‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.
No one can come to the Father except through me.’
CONSOLING THE ANXIOUS AND THE HOPELESS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Acts 13:26-33; Ps 2:6-11; Jn 14:1-6 ]
In today’s gospel, Jesus said to the disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” We can certainly empathize with the disciples. Just earlier on, Jesus told His disciples that one of them would betray Him and even Peter would deny Him. Who would not be troubled if we know that we would be the one to betray our master or someone we love? It was unthinkable. But the sadness of the disciples came from the very fact that they knew Jesus was departing from them. They had been with Him for three years, journeying, living with Him and learning from Him. Their attachment had strengthened day by day over the years. What would they do without Jesus? What about their hopes and dreams?
Indeed, this is how we would feel as well when someone we love is leaving us. The closer we are to this person, the greater the distress. We cannot imagine how our life could continue without this person who has been supporting us all the while and in whom we find our hope, support and joy. For that reason, many of us are unable to overcome our grief when our loved one is taken away from us. All departures are painful. But at least we can find consolation if our loved one is going to a better place. Even though it is painful to let go of the one we love, knowing that the person is going to a better place and a better life, and not be lost, or gone forever, or going to be abandoned or suffer, will give us consolation, and our love for that person will transcend our own emotional needs for him or her. Only then can we let go.
That was what Jesus did after warning His disciples that He would be going away. Firstly, He consoled them by assuring them of a definite future. He said, “there are many rooms in my Father’s house; if there were not, I should have told you. I am going now to prepare a place for you.” Indeed, His going away would only be temporary. He was going ahead of them for their own good. He was not leaving them. On the contrary, “after I have gone and prepared you a place, I shall return to take you with me; so that where I am you may be too.” This is such a consoling assurance to know that their separation from the Lord would only be for a while. More importantly, He had gone to prepare a place for them. If we hold such thoughts as well, especially when our loved ones have gone away or even returned to their heavenly home, then we do not have to feel so devastated, knowing that they have gone back to their true home in heaven. We can feel consoled.
Secondly, He assured them that He would still be with them in a new way. What is this place which the Lord was taking them which we call “heaven”? Heaven is to be in the company of our Lord. It is to share in His life and love. This is what the Lord meant when He said, “there are many rooms in my Father’s house.” This room is the heart of the Father. He welcomes all of us and embraces us all as His children. If we are receptive to His love, we too will share His joy and company. To be in heaven simply means that we live in the Lord and for the Lord. This is what St Paul wrote, “If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.” (Rom 14:8)
Thirdly, He assured them of His continued presence before the Second Coming. When Jesus says that He would return, it means primarily that He would return on the last day, which would be His Second Coming at the end of time. When He comes, He will bring us all to His Father’s house. But in the meantime, He will come again in the Holy Spirit. “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.” (Jn 14:18f) In His resurrection, He continues to be present with His disciples, especially through the sacraments. The Holy Spirit will help us to feel the presence of Christ when we read the Word of God and when we receive the sacraments, especially the Eucharist and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.” (Jn 14:23f)
Finally, not only did the Lord console them about the future and His ongoing presence in their midst, but He also showed them the way. He told the disciples, “You know the way to the place where I am going. I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” This scripture verse is often interpreted to mean that those who do not know Jesus would be condemned to hell. In today’s climate of religious pluralism, it would be seen as rather exclusive. Yet, the truth remains that for Christians, Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s plan for salvation. St Paul in the first reading had sought to explain how Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise to the Patriarch. Consequently, as St Peter declared earlier on to the Sanhedrin, “let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. This Jesus is ‘the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.’ There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:10-12)
To say that Jesus is the Way to the Father does not exclude those who do not know Him. The bible is clear that Jesus as the Son of the Father reveals to us who the Father is. St John wrote, “No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.” (Jn 1:18) For those who do not know Jesus through no fault of their own, they still can travel by the path of their conscience. (Lumen Gentium, 16) In following their conscience, they indirectly follow the Truth, which is found in Christ. Yet, because they are searching for God, their search might not always be right. Just like the religious leaders during the time of Jesus, they were ignorant of who the Lord was. “What the people of Jerusalem and their rulers did, though they did not realise it, was in fact to fulfil the prophecies read on every sabbath. Though they found nothing to justify his death, they condemned him and asked Pilate to have him executed.” However, “God raised him from the dead, and for many days he appeared to those who had accompanied him from Galilee to Jerusalem: and it is these same companions of his who are now his witnesses before our people.” Faith in Jesus as the Son of God and unique Savior rests on His resurrection.
This explains why Vatican II speaks of other religions as having the rays of truth. Christian Faith believes in divine revelation. Only Jesus who is the Son of the Father can reveal the Heart of His Father to us. “She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men. Indeed, she proclaims, and ever must proclaim Christ ‘the way, the truth, and the life’ (John 14:6), in whom men may find the fullness of religious life, in whom God has reconciled all things to Himself.” (Nostra Aetate, 2)
In the final analysis, faith is required for us to overcome our fear of death and separation from our loved ones or any form of anxiety in this life. This is why the Lord urges us, “Trust in God still, and trust in me.” Only faith in Jesus and His promises to us can give us confidence in our journey. This is the same blessing and good news that Paul assured the Jews. “We have come here to tell you the Good News. It was to our ancestors that God made the promise but it is to us, their children, that he has fulfilled it, by raising Jesus from the dead.” We too who are His children will find confidence, hope and strength to overcome all our problems and challenges because we know that God is with us in Jesus.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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