20210901 COMING TO FAITH
01 September, 2021, Wednesday, 22nd Week, Ordinary Time
First reading |
Colossians 1:1-8 © |
The message of the truth has reached you and is spreading all over the world
From Paul, appointed by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy to the saints in Colossae, our faithful brothers in Christ: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.
We have never failed to remember you in our prayers and to give thanks for you to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ever since we heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you show towards all the saints because of the hope which is stored up for you in heaven. It is only recently that you heard of this, when it was announced in the message of the truth. The Good News which has reached you is spreading all over the world and producing the same results as it has among you ever since the day when you heard about God’s grace and understood what this really is. Epaphras, who taught you, is one of our closest fellow workers and a faithful deputy for us as Christ’s servant, and it was he who told us all about your love in the Spirit.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 51(52):10-11 © |
I trust in the goodness of God for ever and ever.
I am like a growing olive tree
in the house of God.
I trust in the goodness of God
for ever and ever.
I trust in the goodness of God for ever and ever.
I will thank you for evermore;
for this is your doing.
I will proclaim that your name is good,
in the presence of your friends.
I trust in the goodness of God for ever and ever.
Gospel Acclamation | 1P1:25 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The word of the Lord remains for ever:
What is this word?
It is the Good News that has been brought to you.
Alleluia!
Or: | Lk4:17 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord has sent me to bring the good news to the poor,
to proclaim liberty to captives.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 4:38-44 © |
He would not allow them to speak because they knew he was the Christ
Leaving the synagogue, Jesus went to Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever and they asked him to do something for her. Leaning over her he rebuked the fever and it left her. And she immediately got up and began to wait on them.
At sunset all those who had friends suffering from diseases of one kind or another brought them to him, and laying his hands on each he cured them. Devils too came out of many people, howling, ‘You are the Son of God.’ But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Christ.
When daylight came he left the house and made his way to a lonely place. The crowds went to look for him, and when they had caught up with him they wanted to prevent him leaving them, but he answered, ‘I must proclaim the Good News of the kingdom of God to the other towns too, because that is what I was sent to do.’ And he continued his preaching in the synagogues of Judaea.
COMING TO FAITH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ Col 1:1-8; Ps 52:10-11; Lk 4:38-44]
How does a person come to faith? Does faith precede love and hope? Most of us would think that faith comes first. This is of course not wrong. It is faith that inspires love and gives us hope. We have many examples in the bible where faith is a pre-requisite. Abraham responded to God’s call in faith to go to Canaan when God promised him that He would give him land, posterity and a nation. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect.” (11:1-2; 39-40) Indeed, without faith, Christ would not perform miracles. In His hometown, “He could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief.” (MK 6:5f)
This is why the preaching of the gospel is necessary to inspire faith. In his letter to the Romans, he wrote, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.” (Rom 10:13-15,17) Praising the Thessalonians for their docility to the proclamation of the gospel, he said, “We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God’s word, which is also at work in you believers.” (1 Th 2:13)
However, not all come to faith because they hear the gospel. Some come to faith through love. This is because of pride, or they have been hurt and wounded in life, especially by Christians or their loved ones. They are angry with God and are sceptical of the Christian faith. They need healing and closure. In truth, many are turned off by Christians because some of us do not reflect the gospel of love. Our lives contradict our faith in Christ. Others have suffered so much in life that they gave up hope in God, in humanity and in themselves. They live in hopelessness, self-pity and anger. For such people, the way to reach out to them is not through words but through action. It is our charity and love that would win them over.
Indeed, this was how the early Christians won people over to the faith, by their love for one another and by their love for the poor, the marginalized, and even their enemies. We read in the early Church, “Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:43-47) Saul was inspired when he remembered how St Stephen forgave his enemies when he was stoned to death. (Acts 7:58-60)
Conversely, a proof that we have authentic faith in Christ is charity, without which there is no real faith. This was what the Thessalonians manifested. St Paul commended them saying, “We have never failed to remember you in our prayers and to give thanks for you to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ever since we heard about your faith in Christ and the love that you show towards all the saints.” St James warned the Christians, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.” (Jms 2:14, 17) St John also wrote, “How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? Let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.” (1 Jn 3:17f) Indeed, because they love each other and beyond their community, the Thessalonians produced concrete results. “The Good News which has reached you is spreading all over the world and producing the same results as it has among you ever since the day when you heard about God’s grace and understood what this really is.”
Then again, some come to faith because of the hope of a better life. Those who are suffering because of poverty, injustices and sickness begin to ask themselves the meaning and purpose of life. We can have faith in God and love in this world but as St Paul wrote, “If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” (1 Cor 15:19) The world, precisely, has fallen into despair because they have no hope beyond this world. They only work and live for this world. Pleasures and enjoyment in life cannot fulfil us. Wealth and power do not stay with us forever. In the face of illness and death, or meaninglessness when we have everything we want, we begin to ask what is our future beyond this life. This is why faith in Christ’s resurrection is the basis of Christian Hope. Christian hope is a substantiated hope. St Paul said, “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain.” (1 Cor 15:13f) It is this hope of the fullness of life beyond death that causes us to have faith in Christ, who by His death and resurrection gives us a foretaste of the life that is to come, which we already share in this life when we live a life of love and charity. Truly, many come to have faith in Christ just like the Centurion, the Synagogue Official or the woman with haemorrhage when they were in desperation.
Having established that faith could arrive through the proclamation of the gospel received in faith, or through the encounter of God’s love through our fellowmen, or through our hope for a better life, we must be clear that these three theological virtues of faith, hope and charity are independent of each other, yet are intrinsically linked. Whether we begin with faith or hope or charity, it will lead to the other two theological virtues. We cannot have true faith without love; or love without hope; or hope without faith and love. So in the work of evangelization, we must reckon that people would come to faith in God in various ways, through preaching in faith, through the sharing of the gospel, through good works and works of mercy, or through the search for meaning and purpose beyond this life.
Jesus in the gospel brings all these three virtues together. Jesus did not just worship the Father, but after worship and prayer, He expressed His faith in His Father through works of mercy and healing. His faith and prayer life were not dichotomized from His love for the people. Indeed, upon leaving the synagogue after delivering the Word of God, tired as He was, He went to Simon’s house to heal his mother-in-law. Then, “at sunset all those who had friends suffering from diseases of one kind or another brought them to him, and laying hands on each he cured them. Devils too came out of many people.” But His life was not all work and ministry, He ensured there was a balance between spending time with His Father and with the people. So we read, “when daylight came he left the house and made his way to a lonely place.” His capacity to love the people came from His intimacy with His Father. He drew strength and inspiration from the Father in His ministry. He was no workaholic or activist.
But above all, Jesus was clear of His mission, the Hope that He was called to give to the people was beyond His own people and beyond this life. That was why He would not be constrained by simply focusing on the present needs and forgetting the greater future for humanity, which is the establishment of the Kingdom of God. When “the crowds went to look for him, and when they had caught up with him they wanted to prevent him leaving them, but he answered, ‘I must proclaim the Good News of the kingdom of God to the other towns too, because that is what I was sent to do.'” Faith, hope and charity work together.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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