20210522 ENDURING HOPE IS SUSTAINED BY FAITH AND CHARITY
22 May, 2021, Saturday, 7th Week of Easter
First reading |
Acts 28:16-20,30-31 © |
In Rome, Paul proclaimed the kingdom of God without hindrance from anyone
On our arrival in Rome Paul was allowed to stay in lodgings of his own with the soldier who guarded him.
After three days he called together the leading Jews. When they had assembled, he said to them, ‘Brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans. They examined me and would have set me free, since they found me guilty of nothing involving the death penalty; but the Jews lodged an objection, and I was forced to appeal to Caesar, not that I had any accusation to make against my own nation. That is why I have asked to see you and talk to you, for it is on account of the hope of Israel that I wear this chain.’
Paul spent the whole of the two years in his own rented lodging. He welcomed all who came to visit him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ with complete freedom and without hindrance from anyone.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 10(11):4-5,7 © |
The upright shall see your face, O Lord.
or
Alleluia!
The Lord is in his holy temple,
the Lord, whose throne is in heaven.
His eyes look down on the world;
his gaze tests mortal men.
The upright shall see your face, O Lord.
or
Alleluia!
The Lord tests the just and the wicked;
the lover of violence he hates.
The Lord is just and loves justice;
the upright shall see his face.
The upright shall see your face, O Lord.
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: | cf.Jn16:7,13 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I will send you the Spirit of truth, says the Lord;
he will lead you to the complete truth.
Alleluia!
Gospel | John 21:20-25 © |
This disciple is the one who vouches for these things and we know that his testimony is true
Peter turned and saw the disciple Jesus loved following them – the one who had leaned on his breast at the supper and had said to him, ‘Lord, who is it that will betray you?’ Seeing him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘What about him, Lord?’ Jesus answered, ‘If I want him to stay behind till I come, what does it matter to you? You are to follow me.’ The rumour then went out among the brothers that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus had not said to Peter, ‘He will not die’, but, ‘If I want him to stay behind till I come.’
This disciple is the one who vouches for these things and has written them down, and we know that his testimony is true.
There were many other things that Jesus did; if all were written down, the world itself, I suppose, would not hold all the books that would have to be written.
ENDURING HOPE IS SUSTAINED BY FAITH AND CHARITY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Acts 28:16-20.30-31; Ps 11:4-5,7; John 21:20-25 ]
No one can live without hope. Even atheists have hope for a better life, at least in this world. It is the hope of a better future that we continue to work and labour for it. Couples who believe that their hope is in their partner will work hard to build the relationship even in the face of opposition and rejection. Parents, for the sake of the future of their children, work hard to support them all the way through to higher education. Indeed, when there is hope, we will persevere to the end. St Paul and the rest of the apostles also had their hope. But their hope was not just for this life but for eternal life. St Paul wrote, “If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.” (1 Cor 15:19f) St Paul wrote, “it is on account of the hope of Israel that I wear this chain.”
To speak of hope is to have a vision for the future. In life, we must have a broader and a more focused mission to arrive at our dream. St Paul and St Luke’s vision was that the gospel be spread to the whole world. The more focused vision was that the gospel must be brought to Rome, the center of the world. So when the Acts of the Apostles ended with Paul in Rome preaching the gospel, the prophecy of our Lord was fulfilled. Luke began in Acts with Jesus telling the apostles, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) Then in today’s first reading, we read that Paul arrived in Rome and “was allowed to stay in lodgings of his own with the soldier who guarded him. Paul spent the whole of the two years in his own rented lodging. He welcomed all who came to visit him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ with complete freedom and without hindrance from anyone.”
But what can sustain this hope of ours? It is faith. Without faith in Christ, there can be no real future because it is “Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” (1 Cor 1:30) Indeed, Paul demonstrated his indefatigable faith in Christ in his missionary journeys. Paul was certain that God’s promise to him would be fulfilled even though he met with so many obstacles along the way. In fact, on the way to Rome, there was a violent storm that caused their ship to strike a reef and it was grounded. St Paul told the men, “I urge you now to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For last night there stood by me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before the emperor; and indeed, God has granted safety to all those who are sailing with you.’ So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. But we will have to run aground on some island.” (Acts 27:22-26)
Faith means to rely on divine providence. The last chapters of Acts illustrate the providence of God. In mysterious ways and circumstances, Paul was eventually brought to Rome but not in the way he intended by going to Jerusalem and then to Rome. But it was not according to his plans. He had to face the Jews who wanted to kill him and eventually, he had to appeal to Rome to be tried instead because of the objection of the Jews against the governor for wanting to release him as both Festus and King Agrippa found him not guilty of any crime. (Acts 25) As St Paul wrote, “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:28)
But it is not faith alone that can sustain our hope; it is charity. It was St Paul’s love for his people that he continued to testify to the resurrection of Christ. He had said earlier on, “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh.” (Rom 9:2f) For the salvation of his people, he was willing to sacrifice his own salvation. That was why in all his missionary trips, he would first speak to the Jews and only when they were rejected, did he then offer the gospel to the Gentiles. “Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, ‘It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. Since you reject it and judge yourselves to be unworthy of eternal life, we are now turning to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, ‘I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, so that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.'” (Acts 13:46f) In spite of the rejection of the Jews, Paul continued to hope that the rejection would not be final and Israel would eventually be saved. (Rom 11:25-33)
Truly, when we love someone, we will continue to hope. Only when love is lacking will hope die. In a difficult relationship, if the couple truly love each other, the relationship will grow in maturity and grace. But the moment they stop loving each other, there is no longer any hope of reconciliation. Divorce takes place eventually when both hearts have died and love no longer exists because trust has been irretrievably broken down. That is why parental love, especially a mother’s love for her child is stronger than a woman’s love for her husband. For a child is her own flesh and blood. Regardless how abusive, irresponsible, callous and ungrateful that child is, the mother cannot stop loving her child. She never gives up hope on her child. Isn’t this the way God loves us? Didn’t the Lord say, “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.” (Isa 49:15f)
So with faith and charity, we can continue to persevere in our hope. We will continue to fight the battle till the end. We will never say die or give up our hope. At the end of his life, knowing that death awaited him, Paul wrote to Timothy, “As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” (2 Tim 4:6-8) We too must never give up our fight in the proclamation of the gospel today, even in the midst of opposition by hostile secularists. Even in the face of relativism, we must continue to proclaim the truth. When the world has no hope beyond this life, we must, like Paul, continue to proclaim the resurrection of Christ.
But we might be tempted to give up because we have so many constraints in the work of evangelization as society seeks to marginalize Christianity and religions from public space. We must do what Paul did, which was to do what he could. He never complained about the situation he was in. He would work and proclaim the gospel within the constraints he was in. When he was under house arrest in Rome, he opened his house to welcome all those who wished to know about his faith in Christ. It was also during his captivity that it was traditionally believed that he wrote the letters to the Philippians, Colossians, Philemon and perhaps also Ephesians as well. St Paul never allowed any constraints to prevent him from doing anything.
So too, whether it is the secular world or the limitations imposed by Covid-19, we must be resourceful and creative in proclaiming the gospel to the ends of the earth. We can do this only if we keep our hope alive, our vision of a new heaven and a new earth. We must follow the example of Peter and John in testifying to the Lord in God’s way. They were ready to follow Jesus. It did not matter how their lives would end but it was important that they followed Jesus to the end so that they could share in the fullness of life with Him.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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