20210419 SIGNS CANNOT REPLACE FAITH
19 April, 2021, Monday, 3rd Week of Easter
First reading | Acts 6:8-15 © |
They could not get the better of Stephen because the Spirit prompted what he said
Stephen was filled with grace and power and began to work miracles and great signs among the people. But then certain people came forward to debate with Stephen, some from Cyrene and Alexandria who were members of the synagogue called the Synagogue of Freedmen, and others from Cilicia and Asia. They found they could not get the better of him because of his wisdom, and because it was the Spirit that prompted what he said. So they procured some men to say, ‘We heard him using blasphemous language against Moses and against God.’ Having in this way turned the people against him as well as the elders and scribes, they took Stephen by surprise, and arrested him and brought him before the Sanhedrin. There they put up false witnesses to say, ‘This man is always making speeches against this Holy Place and the Law. We have heard him say that Jesus the Nazarene is going to destroy this Place and alter the traditions that Moses handed down to us.’ The members of the Sanhedrin all looked intently at Stephen, and his face appeared to them like the face of an angel.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 118(119):23-24,26-27,29-30 © |
They are happy whose life is blameless.
or
Alleluia!
Though princes sit plotting against me
I ponder on your statutes.
Your will is my delight;
your statutes are my counsellors.
They are happy whose life is blameless.
or
Alleluia!
I declared my ways and you answered;
teach me your statutes.
Make me grasp the way of your precepts
and I will muse on your wonders.
They are happy whose life is blameless.
or
Alleluia!
Keep me from the way of error
and teach me your law.
I have chosen the way of truth
with your decrees before me.
They are happy whose life is blameless.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation | Jn20:29 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
‘You believe, Thomas, because you can see me.
Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.
Alleluia!
Or: | Mt4:4 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Alleluia!
Gospel | John 6:22-29 © |
Do not work for food that cannot last, but for food that endures to eternal life
After Jesus had fed the five thousand, his disciples saw him walking on the water. Next day, the crowd that had stayed on the other side saw that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not got into the boat with his disciples, but that the disciples had set off by themselves. Other boats, however, had put in from Tiberias, near the place where the bread had been eaten. When the people saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into those boats and crossed to Capernaum to look for Jesus. When they found him on the other side, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’
Jesus answered:
‘I tell you most solemnly,
you are not looking for me because you have seen the signs
but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat.
Do not work for food that cannot last,
but work for food that endures to eternal life,
the kind of food the Son of Man is offering you,
for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.’
Then they said to him, ‘What must we do if we are to do the works that God wants?’ Jesus gave them this answer, ‘This is working for God: you must believe in the one he has sent.’
SIGNS CANNOT REPLACE FAITH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ACTS 6:8-15; Ps 119:23-24,26-27,29-30; JOHn 6:22-29]
How often do those who are without faith in God or have weak faith in Christ lament that their faith is weak because they have not seen the works of God in their lives! We read of how privileged the disciples were, walking with Jesus, hearing Him and seeing Him perform miracles of healings, exorcisms, and demonstrating His power over nature. Most of all, we envy them for having seen the Risen Lord personally. And even if they did not walk with Jesus and see Him performing the miracles personally, they could see Stephen and the rest of the apostles working miracles and great signs among the people. Since we did not have such privileges, we can excuse ourselves for lacking faith in Christ.
Yet, the truth is that signs remain only as signs. They are not proof and cannot be proven. That is why they are called signs. They point to another reality hidden in the signs. But one needs wisdom and faith to understand the reality the signs purport to represent. This explains why Sacraments are called signs. They are outward signs of an invisible reality, the mystery of grace that is celebrated. This is why the Lord said to the people, “Do not work for food that cannot last, but work for food that endures to eternal life, the kind of food the Son of Man is offering you, for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.” This is the greater reality that Jesus wants to offer us. He has come not just to meet our material and physical needs. He has come not just to heal our bodies. He comes to offer us eternal life which is relationship with the Father. Only in God can we find fulness of life, and quench our thirst like the Samaritan woman.
However, without faith, one cannot perceive the signs. Without faith, we cannot go beyond the material signs offered to us. When the Jews said to Jesus, “What must we do if we are to do the works that God wants?” Jesus gave them this answer, “This is working for God: you must believe in the one he has sent.” Faith in Jesus is the pre-requisite if we were to believe in the signs that He had given to us. Without faith in Jesus, all the signs that He did would only fall on deaf ears, blind eyes and hardened hearts. This was the case as Stephen confronted his persecutors saying to them, “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are forever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do.” (Acts 7:51)
What prevents people from seeing the signs? The first reason is that most people are ignorant and they look only for material satisfaction. Most ordinary people are more worried about whether they have enough to feed themselves and their family, whether they can foot the medical bills of their loved ones, whether they can find a job to sustain their family and a place to stay. For poor and ordinary people, they need to satisfy their physical and material wants before they can even consider their emotional, affective and, least of all, their aesthetic and spiritual needs. Indeed, the order of needs have to be followed, physical, emotional and then spiritual. Survival is the basic instinct of every person, then need for love and relationship. Only then, does man look for God to satisfy his spiritual hunger.
This explains why the people were following Jesus, not because they were looking for God but for food, healing and liberation. They were certainly drawn to Jesus when they saw Him multiplying food for the 5000, healing the sick, delivering those who were possessed by evil spirits. They thought He would be the Messiah, the Messianic King that Israel was looking forward to. Indeed, earlier on, the evangelist noted, “When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, ‘This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.’ When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.” (Jn 6:14f)
This was the same case as Stephen. He “was filled with grace and power and began to work miracles and great signs among the people.” Instead of believing in his message about Jesus, the resurrected Lord, the Jews who were members of the synagogue came to debate with him. The signs did not provoke faith but only doubts. Instead of examining the authenticity of the signs, they were seeking to demolish his teaching about Christ. Isn’t this what the secularists are doing when it comes to faith? The world is not looking at the signs of how God is working in the lives of many believers who are willing to give up their life, their wealth, their luxury to spread the Word of God, to help the poor and disadvantaged and to protect humanity and the world.
They just want to challenge our faith beliefs, tear down our moral values, discredit us by highlighting some scandals that weak believers have committed. They are totally not open to faith because unless we can prove to them, they will not believe. St Luke says, when “they found they could not get the better of him because of his wisdom, and because it was the Spirit that prompted what he said, they procured some men to say, ‘we heard him using blasphemous language against Moses and against God.'” Again opponents of our faith will twist and turn what we say, often taking it out of context, to ridicule us, to put us in a bad light so that no one would believe us.
Distortions, miscommunication and slanders today are even worse than the early Church because the modern means of communication reach far and wide, and often innocent minds are contaminated by what they read, see and hear. Those with power, money, influence are able to manipulate and pay people to propagate their ideology to change the culture of the world to that of a secular, materialistic, individualistic, egoistic and promiscuous society. This was what the early persecutors of the Church did. They managed to get the people and the religious leaders to direct their attack on Stephen and the Christians based on manipulation, false witnessing and distortion of facts.
What were these distorted accusations against Stephen and Christ? They put up “false witnesses to say, ‘This man is always making speeches against this Holy Place and the Law. We have heard him say that Jesus the Nazarene is going to destroy this Place and alter the traditions that Moses handed down to us.'” It is true that Jesus spoke about the destruction of the Temple but He was referring to Himself as the Temple of God. The prophecy regarding destruction of the Temple was true but it would be the work of the Romans because of the rebellion of the Jews. Again, Jesus was not going against the traditions of Moses. As the Lord said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” (Mt 5:17) Jesus had come to perfect the law by recovering the spirit of the Law which is summarized in these two commandments, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mk 12:30f)
So how can we prove faith? How can we prove to someone that we love him or her? There is no way except through signs and tokens of love, encouragement, assistance and appreciation. But signs are ambiguous. Maybe the person is trying to win us over. Maybe he has ulterior motives. He could be trying to win our support for his organization, business, or personal interests. So it is with faith. Trust is presumed in any relationship. Without trust, we cannot believe in what the person says and promises. Faith in God is required before we can have a relationship with Him. So long as we are skeptical of giving ourselves to God, there can be no real relationship of intimacy, trust and love. Stephen had complete faith in Jesus and he surrendered his life to the Lord in the same way our Lord was tried by the Sanhedrin, in a mocked trial, then condemned to death. However, the greatest sign that Stephen shared in common with Jesus was the way he died, forgiving his enemies, praying for their forgiveness. Forgiveness is the greatest sign of a Christian. Hence, his face appeared to the Sanhedrin like the face of an angel.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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