20211206 THE SECULAR HIGHWAY OR SACRED HIGHWAY
06 December, 2021, Monday, 2nd Week of Advent
First reading | Isaiah 35:1-10 © |
The return of the redeemed through the desert
Let the wilderness and the dry-lands exult,
let the wasteland rejoice and bloom,
let it bring forth flowers like the jonquil,
let it rejoice and sing for joy.
The glory of Lebanon is bestowed on it,
the splendour of Carmel and Sharon;
they shall see the glory of the Lord,
the splendour of our God.
Strengthen all weary hands,
steady all trembling knees
and say to all faint hearts,
‘Courage! Do not be afraid.
‘Look, your God is coming,
vengeance is coming,
the retribution of God;
he is coming to save you.’
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
the ears of the deaf unsealed,
then the lame shall leap like a deer
and the tongues of the dumb sing for joy;
for water gushes in the desert,
streams in the wasteland,
the scorched earth becomes a lake,
the parched land springs of water.
The lairs where the jackals used to live
become thickets of reed and papyrus...
And through it will run a highway undefiled
which shall be called the Sacred Way;
the unclean may not travel by it,
nor fools stray along it.
No lion will be there
nor any fierce beast roam about it,
but the redeemed will walk there,
for those the Lord has ransomed shall return.
They will come to Zion shouting for joy,
everlasting joy on their faces;
joy and gladness will go with them
and sorrow and lament be ended.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 84(85):9-14 © |
Look, our God is coming to save us.
I will hear what the Lord God has to say,
a voice that speaks of peace,
peace for his people.
His help is near for those who fear him
and his glory will dwell in our land.
Look, our God is coming to save us.
Mercy and faithfulness have met;
justice and peace have embraced.
Faithfulness shall spring from the earth
and justice look down from heaven.
Look, our God is coming to save us.
The Lord will make us prosper
and our earth shall yield its fruit.
Justice shall march before him
and peace shall follow his steps.
Look, our God is coming to save us.
Gospel Acclamation | Lk3:4,6 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Prepare a way for the Lord,
make his paths straight,
and all mankind shall see the salvation of God.
Alleluia!
Or: |
Alleluia, alleluia!
See, the king, the Lord of the world, will come.
He will free us from the yoke of our bondage.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 5:17-26 © |
'Your sins are forgiven you: get up and walk'
Jesus was teaching one day, and among the audience there were Pharisees and doctors of the Law who had come from every village in Galilee, from Judaea and from Jerusalem. And the Power of the Lord was behind his works of healing. Then some men appeared, carrying on a bed a paralysed man whom they were trying to bring in and lay down in front of him. But as the crowd made it impossible to find a way of getting him in, they went up on to the flat roof and lowered him and his stretcher down through the tiles into the middle of the gathering, in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith he said, ‘My friend, your sins are forgiven you.’ The scribes and the Pharisees began to think this over. ‘Who is this man talking blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ But Jesus, aware of their thoughts, made them this reply, ‘What are these thoughts you have in your hearts? Which of these is easier: to say, “Your sins are forgiven you” or to say, “Get up and walk”? But to prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,’ – he said to the paralysed man – ‘I order you: get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home.’ And immediately before their very eyes he got up, picked up what he had been lying on and went home praising God.
They were all astounded and praised God, and were filled with awe, saying, ‘We have seen strange things today.’
THE SECULAR HIGHWAY OR SACRED HIGHWAY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Isa 35:1-10; Ps 85:9-14; Lk 5:17-26]
Many of us are just like the Israelites, living in the wilderness and in the wasteland. They were in exile and their homeland was in ruins. Our hands are weary, our hearts are faint and we have lost hope in life. We feel like a dry stream or a parched lake. We feel like giving up what we are doing. Things seem hopeless. Indeed, we are paralyzed by discouragement and most of all by our sins. This was the case of the paralyzed man in today’s gospel. He was paralyzed by his past and most of all his sins. He was bed-ridden and unable to do anything. We feel so helpless like him.
What caused us to fall into this sad state in life? This is because we have chosen the secular way, the worldly way, the wrong way. We have removed God’s presence from our lives, His laws and His truth. We have made ourselves our own judge of what is right and wrong. The worldly way leads to perdition because it ultimately leads to self-destruction as it does not offer real life on earth and real motivation to do good as there is no hope beyond this world. Of course, out of humanitarian compassion, some might help the poor because they feel with them. But there are so many poor in the world. Even if we were to give all our resources we can only help a few people. For those who choose to live for themselves, indulge in a life of pleasure, satisfying their passions, boosting their ego, they too will also destroy themselves because whatever pleasures they have would be unsatisfying and whatever recognition they get from the world is always passing. There is no security in wealth, power and status.
At the end of the day, we would be left high and dry when we arrive at the height of worldly success as the rich, the powerful and the famous come to realize. King Solomon reflecting on his life as a prosperous, successful and powerful king ended by saying, “So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem; also my wisdom remained with me. Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them; I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and again, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.” (Eccl 2:9-11) Indeed, if only we knew the frustrations, loneliness, emptiness of those whom we envy, those whom the world thinks are happiest. Often it is the ordinary person who are happiest in life. They are not rich or poor. They are contented with what they have, share with their friends and reach out to the poor and the needy.
This is why the prophet invites us to take the Sacred Highway that the Lord has opened up for us. God will “run a highway undefiled which shall be called the Sacred Way; the unclean may not travel by it, nor fools stray along it. No lion will be there nor any fierce beast roam about it, but the redeemed will walk there, for those the Lord has ransomed shall return. They will come to Zion shouting for joy, everlasting joy on their faces; joy and gladness will go with them and sorrow and lament be ended.” It is on this Sacred Highway that we will find joy. Contrary to what the world thinks, we must reaffirm that to live a life of holiness is to live a life of joy because it is to live life to the fullest; maximizing ourselves, expanding our potentials and resources, contributing to humanity, giving hope and encouragement to the weary and disheartened, and celebrating life and love with everyone. Such a life is the life of those who are wise whilst fools choose the secular and worldly way to death. As Solomon tells us, “For to the one who pleases him God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy; but to the sinner he gives the work of gathering and heaping, only to give to one who pleases God.” (Eccl 2:26)
This Sacred Highway for us is none other than Jesus who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. (Jn 14:6) The old Sacred Highway was when Moses led the people out of Egypt to the Promised Land. But the people abandoned the Highway, the Covenant that God established with Israel. Jesus the New Moses is leading us to the eternal Jerusalem. He is the New Covenant. Hence, in today’s gospel, Jesus came as the Son of God reconciling us with His Father and with ourselves. He exercised His authority to restore us to wholeness and the power to forgive sins. To those who doubted His divine authority, He said, “What are these thoughts you have in your hearts? Which of these is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you’ or to say ‘Get up and walk’? But to prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’, – he said to the paralysed man – ‘I order you: get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home.'”
Indeed, Jesus fulfils the promises God made to Israel when He said, “‘Courage! Do not be afraid. ‘Look, your God is coming, vengeance is coming, the retribution of God; he is coming to save you.’ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf unsealed, then the lame shall leap like a deer and the tongues of the dumb sing for joy; for water gushes in the desert, streams in the wasteland, the scorched earth becomes a lake, the parched land springs of water. The lairs where the jackals used to live become thickets of reed and papyrus.” The responsorial psalm echoes this theme, “Look, our God is coming to save us. Mercy and faithfulness have met; justice and peace have embraced. Faithfulness shall spring from the earth and justice look down from heaven. The Lord will make us prosper and our earth shall yield its fruit. Justice shall march before him and peace shall follow his steps.” Jesus came to heal us, restore us, reconcile us and, most of all, bring us lasting peace, joy and fullness of life.
How then do we get on to this Sacred Highway? We need to have faith. In the gospel, some men carried “on a bed a paralysed man whom they were trying to bring in and lay down in front of him. But as the crowd made it impossible to find a way of getting him in, they went up on the flat roof and lowered him and his stretcher down through the tiles into the middle of the gathering, in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, he said, ‘My friend, your sins are forgiven you.'” Indeed, it was the faith of the men who carried the paralyzed man to the Lord and possibly also the faith of the paralyzed man himself that allowed Jesus to heal him. Without faith, the paralyzed man would not be willing to obey Jesus’ command to get up, and pick up his stretcher and go home. We are saved by grace and God’s mercy but faith is the necessary disposition to receive this grace.
For those of us who lack faith, we need the encouragement of our fellow brothers and sisters. How blessed are those who have God-fearing and exemplary parents, guardians, teachers and siblings to inspire them in their faith! If many of our young people have lost their faith it is because often the people closest to them lack faith and love for the Lord. The truth is that we need each other to grow and sustain our faith. We cannot journey alone. We need to encounter God’s love concretely in our lives. Faith ultimately is seen in love, in caring and being supportive. For this reason, if you have good friends of faith, we will be able to grow in our spiritual life.
So today, if we find ourselves numb to God, deaf to the Word of God when we read or listen, remain uninspired, fight with so many people in our lives, compete with others, or try to outdo and destroy our competitors, we must turn to the Lord and be reconciled. We must take the first step to walk on the Sacred Highway by going for the sacrament of reconciliation. We need to be healed spiritually and emotionally so that we can once again see the light of Christ and His love. Once that is done, we must be determined to take the Sacred Highway, so that, like the returned exiles, we “will come to Zion shouting for joy, everlasting joy on their faces; joy and gladness will go with them and sorrow and lament be ended.” We must get up, take up our bed and assume responsibility in life, relying on the wisdom of God and not on our strength.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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