20211212 REJOICE, IGNITE AND SHINE
12 December, 2021, Sunday, 3rd Week of Advent
First reading |
Zephaniah 3:14-18 © |
The Lord, the king of Israel, is in your midst
Shout for joy, daughter of Zion,
Israel, shout aloud!
Rejoice, exult with all your heart,
daughter of Jerusalem!
The Lord has repealed your sentence;
he has driven your enemies away.
The Lord, the king of Israel, is in your midst;
you have no more evil to fear.
When that day comes, word will come to Jerusalem:
Zion, have no fear,
do not let your hands fall limp.
The Lord your God is in your midst,
a victorious warrior.
He will exult with joy over you,
he will renew you by his love;
he will dance with shouts of joy for you
as on a day of festival.
Responsorial Psalm | Isaiah 12 © |
The rejoicing of a redeemed people
Sing and shout for joy for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
Truly, God is my salvation,
I trust, I shall not fear.
For the Lord is my strength, my song,
he became my saviour.
With joy you will draw water
from the wells of salvation.
Sing and shout for joy for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
Give thanks to the Lord, give praise to his name!
Make his mighty deeds known to the peoples!
Declare the greatness of his name.
Sing and shout for joy for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
Sing a psalm to the Lord
for he has done glorious deeds;
make them known to all the earth!
People of Zion, sing and shout for joy,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
Sing and shout for joy for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
Second reading |
Philippians 4:4-7 © |
The Lord is very near
I want you to be happy, always happy in the Lord; I repeat, what I want is your happiness. Let your tolerance be evident to everyone: the Lord is very near.
There is no need to worry; but if there is anything you need, pray for it, asking God for it with prayer and thanksgiving, and that peace of God, which is so much greater than we can understand, will guard your hearts and your thoughts, in Christ Jesus.
Gospel Acclamation | Is61:1(Lk4:18) |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The spirit of the Lord has been given to me.
He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 3:10-18 © |
'Someone is coming who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire'
When all the people asked John, ‘What must we do?’ he answered, ‘If anyone has two tunics he must share with the man who has none, and the one with something to eat must do the same.’ There were tax collectors too who came for baptism, and these said to him, ‘Master, what must we do?’ He said to them, ‘Exact no more than your rate.’ Some soldiers asked him in their turn, ‘What about us? What must we do?’ He said to them, ‘No intimidation! No extortion! Be content with your pay!’
A feeling of expectancy had grown among the people, who were beginning to think that John might be the Christ, so John declared before them all, ‘I baptise you with water, but someone is coming, someone who is more powerful than I am, and I am not fit to undo the strap of his sandals; he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fan is in his hand to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his barn; but the chaff he will burn in a fire that will never go out.’ As well as this, there were many other things he said to exhort the people and to announce the Good News to them.
REJOICE, IGNITE AND SHINE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ZEPH 3:14-18; ISA 12; PHIL 4:4-7; LK 3:10-18]
Today, we celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the founding of the Catholic Church in Singapore. Our theme is Ignite and Shine. Clearly, before we can shine, we must be ignited with the joy of faith, love, hope and confidence. We do not proselytize by coercion but by the attraction of the Good News. Indeed, there is no question of changing lives when we are sad, depressed or hopeless. As the Holy Father reminds us, evangelists and missionaries must not appear as if they have just returned from a funeral service. Pessimism and negativism rob us of our joy. Without joy, there is no Good News to proclaim. Good news can only be proclaimed when we have encountered the joy of God. The timing of this celebration coincides providentially with the Third Sunday of Advent which is celebrated as Gaudete Sunday, the day of rejoicing. Indeed, today is a day of double rejoicing because we are celebrating our 200th Anniversary and also because we are already experiencing the joy of the Lord in our midst as we await the celebration of the Birthday of our Lord in two weeks’ time.
Maybe some of us are asking, what is there to rejoice? There are so many challenges facing the Church, family, society, ecology and peace in the world. We are still suffering from the impact of the pandemic. This was the same question the Israelites were asking. They were in exile, having lost their land, kingdom and temple. There was moral and spiritual degeneration in the country. Yet, in such a gloomy outlook, the prophet Zephaniah cried out, “Shout for joy, daughter of Zion, Israel, shout aloud! Rejoice, exult with all your heart!” Even St Paul who was writing to the Philippians from prison, under chains and waiting for his trial in Rome and martyrdom, urged the people, “I want you to be happy, always happy in the Lord.”
What is the basis of joy? Namely this: God is with us. He is the Emmanuel, that we celebrate at Christmas. God has never left us. Zephaniah said, “The Lord has repealed your sentence; he has driven your enemies away. The Lord, the king of Israel, is in your midst; you have no more evil to fear. He will exult with joy over you, he will renew you by his love.” So too, St Paul urged the Philippians, “the Lord is very near.” Our happiness lies in the Lord, knowing that He is with us in our struggles. We are not alone but He is the One who will show us the way. With God in our midst, we do not have to fear the future. Most of all, He will renew us in His love. How do we know this? Where is the evidence?
Firstly, from the past. St Paul urges us to adopt an attitude of thanksgiving in our hearts, for the faith that was given to us by our forefathers in the last 200 years. We think of the many missionaries who sacrificed their lives, leaving their homeland to bring not just the faith to us, but accompanying faith, they brought education, medicine and material aid to our poor forefathers. Indeed, without the foreign missionaries who served our people regardless of race, language, culture and religion, providing us strong moral, spiritual and academic education, our peoples would not have grown to be what we are today.
Secondly, for the present. We are called to give thanks for what the Lord is doing through our Church. In spite of a downward trend in many countries where people are losing faith in God, the recent Census shows that we have grown in strength over the last five years. Our 32 churches were filled to the brim every weekend before Covid-19. We have 59 Catholic schools and Pre-schools providing holistic and integral education to our young, molding them to be good leaders for tomorrow. We have four nursing homes and two hospitals serving the aged and the sick. We have about 47 charitable organizations under two umbrella bodies, Caritas and CHARIS serving within and engaging in humanitarian works overseas regardless of race, language, religion and nationality. Our people have been very generous in contributing to the poor and needy.
Internally, over the last eight years, we have grown by leaps and bounds. With regard to our archdiocesan offices, some new ones were added and some expanded, such as the Office for Young People, engaging especially those who are in college, universities and working adults. Our Family Life Commission with 11 affiliates have been reconstituted and now serve young couples, those engaged or married, divorced and in bereavement. The Archdiocesan Commission for Catholic Schools (ACCS) have been very active, especially with the establishment of the Council of Principals in Catholic Schools. They have been collaborating with each other. Then we have just established the Catholic Preschool Education (SG) Ltd (CPES) to revamp our preschools in our parishes so that with greater synergy and centralization we can enjoy economies of scale and efficiency. We have also strengthened our ArchCommunications Office to include Digital media, Catholic Radio and Catholic News. Our Finance office has been upgraded and now includes an audit office to ensure proper transparency and accountability of funds in our archdiocese. We have established a Catholic Theological Institute for the theological formation of our people. Then we have Catholic Foundation to raise funds for the operations of the archdiocese. We must not forget the Office for the New Evangelization which forms our Catholics to be missionary disciples. There are still many more new organizations, such as the Catholic Leadership Centre, Catholic Architects Guild, and the list keeps growing. Indeed, our Church is alive! Our lay Catholics are alive! Our organizations are alive. They are filled with the Holy Spirit.
We too must thank God for our country and its leaders. We have produced good leaders for society, government, corporate world and charitable organizations. We have formed them with strong ethical, moral and spiritual values to lead our community. We have much to rejoice indeed, for the contributions we have made to society, country and world. We have a strong, stable, efficient, responsible government that is committed to the growth of Singapore not just in prosperity but in ensuring there is peace, harmony, law, order and justice for all, regardless of race, language or religion. Most of all, even though our government is secular, it is certainly not hostile to religions but respectful and encouraging of religions, maintaining neutrality to all, and seeing us as partners in the development of the social, moral and spiritual values of our people. Last but not least, it is also through the help of the government that religions here in Singapore are respectful and supportive of each other. We have strong inter-religious harmony in Singapore, something painstakingly built over many generations.
Yet, as the scripture reminds us, our job is not done. There is still much to do to build Church and society so that our people can live in peace, harmony and with prosperity. Hence, today, ignited by our love for God and for people, we too must continue to shine by promoting justice and compassion in our society. The Jews came to John the Baptist and said, “What must we do?” He said, “If anyone has two tunics he must share with the man who has none, and the one with something to eat must do the same.” Indeed, we must be watchful that there is not too great a disparity between the haves and the have-nots. We need to promote a community that is gracious, generous and caring of each other, especially towards those from the lower-wage population, the aged and those on the fringes of society. The wealth of the nation, and of the world, belongs to all and not just a few exceedingly rich people. Everyone plays a part in the progress of the nation. Secondly, the tax collectors asked John, “‘Master, what must we do?’ He said to them, ‘Exact no more than your rate.'” Those with authority must never abuse their power to serve themselves but for the common good of the people. Integrity and honesty, especially in our leaders, are critical for the progress of Church and society. We need to pray and form more leaders with integrity and a heart of compassion to serve the people, whether political, corporate, civil or religious.
We cannot achieve all these without first ensuring that our people are growing in faith. We need to be more proactive in forming our people in their faith and spiritual life. Without this foundation, building a gracious, compassionate and giving society would be just dependent on human strength alone. Without a strong faith in God who gives us His love and life in Christ Jesus, we would not be able to find the strength and motivation to give ourselves to others without counting the cost. Let us continue to shine by being the light of the world and the salt of the earth. Let us shine with joy and hope. Let us leave behind a legacy so that when our future generations celebrate the 250th anniversary, they could look back and thank God as well. But as St Paul reminds us, we must do all this in the context of prayer and thanksgiving so that “the peace of God, which is so much greater than we can understand, will guard your hearts and your thoughts, in Christ Jesus.”
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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