20211220 PUTTING OUR TRUST IN THE LORD
20 December, 2021, Monday, 4th Week of Advent
First reading | Isaiah 7:10-14 © |
The maiden is with child
The Lord spoke to Ahaz and said, ‘Ask the Lord your God for a sign for yourself coming either from the depths of Sheol or from the heights above.’ ‘No,’ Ahaz answered ‘I will not put the Lord to the test.’
Then Isaiah said:
‘Listen now, House of David:
are you not satisfied with trying the patience of men
without trying the patience of my God, too?
The Lord himself, therefore,
will give you a sign.
It is this: the maiden is with child
and will soon give birth to a son
whom she will call Immanuel,
a name which means “God-is-with-us.”’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 23(24):1-6 © |
Let the Lord enter! He is the king of glory.
The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness,
the world and all its peoples.
It is he who set it on the seas;
on the waters he made it firm.
Let the Lord enter! He is the king of glory.
Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord?
Who shall stand in his holy place?
The man with clean hands and pure heart,
who desires not worthless things.
Let the Lord enter! He is the king of glory.
He shall receive blessings from the Lord
and reward from the God who saves him.
Such are the men who seek him,
seek the face of the God of Jacob.
Let the Lord enter! He is the king of glory.
Gospel Acclamation |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Emmanuel,
our king and lawgiver,
come and save us,
Lord our God.
Alleluia!
Or: |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Key of David, who open the gates of the eternal kingdom,
come to liberate from prison
the captive who lives in darkness.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 1:26-38 © |
'I am the handmaid of the Lord'
The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.
PUTTING OUR TRUST IN THE LORD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ISAIAH 7:10-14; LUKE 1:26-38]
The context of today’s first reading from the Prophet Isaiah, was the fear of King Ahaz when he heard that King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah of Samaria were about to come together to mount an attack on Jerusalem. The Lord sent the Prophet Isaiah to assure him that this would not take place. “Take heed, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smouldering stumps of firebrands, because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah.” (Isa 7:4) The Lord said, “it shall not stand, and it shall not come to pass.” (Isa 7:7f)
The advice of our Lord was, “If you do not stand firm in faith, you shall not stand at all.” (Isa 7:9) King Ahaz was asked to trust in the Lord and stand firm in faith by the Lord’s promise and not seek to find his own ways through alliance with Assyria to fend off the attack of the kings of Aram and Israel. If only King Ahaz believed in the Lord, then Judah would not have suffered any harm because as history has it, Israel and Syria were eventually conquered by the Assyrians. But by forging alliance with Assyria, King Ahaz not only weakened the nation but also brought in foreign religions into the country and compromised the faith.
Unfortunately, the truth was that the King had a weak faith in the God of Israel. He refused to listen to Isaiah and he had made up his mind to pay tribute to Assyria and secure her protection thereby opening up the country to a greater political danger. God was kind and patient with King Ahaz and was still faithful to him as his Lord. The Lord spoke to Ahaz and said, “Ask the Lord your God for a sign for yourself coming either from the depths of Sheol or from the heights above.” God was willing to give him a sign to strengthen his faith.
But the king was a great pretender. “No,” Ahaz answered, “I will not put the Lord to the test.” He behaved as if he was a true Israelite who would not put the Lord to the test, unlike his forefathers during the time in the desert when they put the Lord to the test by complaining that there was no water. (Ex 17:7) He alluded to the command of Moses when he said, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.” (Dt 6:16) But this was not because he had a strong faith in the Lord. Rather, it was because he had made up his mind on what he would do. He was afraid that the sign would only confirm the prophecy of Isaiah and he would then have to obey. So he preferred not to know the truth.
And that is what most of us do when we cannot accept the will of God. We try to avoid listening to the voice of God. We do not wish to pray or read the Word of God. We do not want to consult those we know would have the authoritative answer. Instead, we choose to listen to ourselves. We choose to listen to those whom we think will give us a favourable answer. We choose and select those people who would say what we like to hear and not the truth. In other words, we do not want any signs because knowing the truth and not doing the will of God would only cause us more guilt. It is a case of where ignorance is bliss, better not be wise.
But God all the same gave him the sign whether he wanted to accept it or not. “Listen now, House of David: are you not satisfied with trying the patience of men without trying the patience of my God, too? The Lord himself, therefore, will give you a sign. It is this: the maiden is with child and will soon give birth to a son whom she will call Emmanuel, a name which means ‘God-is-with-us’.” Even with this sign, he was not ready to go along with Isaiah. King Ahaz showed himself to be arrogant, rebellious and un-cooperative. He was a man without faith and a man who had no trust in God and his prophet. We too must ask ourselves whether we have become so proud as well that we no longer listen to God and the messengers He sends to warn us, to guide us to walk the right path. We must be cognizant of these signs.
In contrast we have Mary in the gospel who was docile to the will of God. She was receptive to the angel’s message. That did not mean she did not struggle to understand the will of God for her. She had to be discerning as well. It does not mean that obedience to God’s will is blind obedience without clarifying and discerning what His will entails. Hence, when the angel appeared to her and said, “Peace be with you! The Lord is with you and has greatly blessed you!”, she was “deeply troubled by the angel’s message, and she wondered what his words meant.” She knew that when God sent His angel, it must be concerning something important and would not just be a frivolous visit. The angel said, “You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High God. The Lord God will make him a king, as his ancestor David was, and he will be king of the descendants of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end!”
But God understands our fears and anxieties, especially when we are called to undertake a grave responsibility. Most of us feel that we are never good enough to be able to accomplish the task or appointment given to us. This is why many of us decline appointments to office because we feel that we might not be able to cope with the demands and expectations. In the case of Mary, the announcement too would have weighed heavily on her as a teenager, hence the angel assured her by saying, “Don’t be afraid, Mary; God has been gracious to you.” So too, God will normally send us His angels through our friends and colleagues to give us the encouragement to undertake the appointments entrusted to us. We are never without the assurance of God. Indeed, when we look at our lives, all those times when we faced struggles and wanted to give up, God always sent angels to support us and assure us of His grace and strength.
Being docile to the Lord does not mean that we cannot seek clarification. Discernment requires us to ask questions so that we are clear that this is what the Lord wills for us. It is one thing to be sceptical of God’s will and power at work in our lives, and another to consider how He would be at work in us. In the case of Zechariah, he lacked faith in the Lord. When the angel told him that his wife Sarah would bear a child, his response was, “How will I know that this is so? For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years.” (LK 1:18) It was one of disbelief. The angel replied, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. But now, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will become mute, unable to speak, until the day these things occur.” (Lk 1:19f)
In contrast, Mary’s response was, “I am a virgin. How, then, can this be?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and God’s power will rest upon you. For this reason, the holy child will be called the Son of God. Remember your relative Elizabeth. It is said that she cannot have children, but she herself is now six months pregnant, even though she is very old. For there is nothing that God cannot do.” Mary was seeking to understand how the Lord would make it possible because she had the intention to remain celibate, as Catholic scholars suggest. But once assured that it would be by the power of God just as in the case of Elizabeth, Mary was quick to answer, “I am the Lord’s servant, may it happen to me as you have said.” (LK 1:38)
Let us too, whilst waiting for the coming of the Saviour, be receptive to His presence in our midst. Let us discern how the Lord continues to speak to us through the signs of the time, through events and the people that we encounter each day. But more importantly, we must never discount the fact that God speaks and reveals to us not just through the ordinary events of our lives, but we cannot dismiss His power to work miracles in our lives if we trust Him and surrender ourselves to Him. Through His grace and divine assistance, we can do much more than we can ever imagine, as St Paul wrote, “Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Eph 3:20)
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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