20220328 ARE WE SINCERE IN WELCOMING JESUS THE LIFE-GIVER?
28 March, 2022, Monday, 4th Week of Lent
First reading | Isaiah 65:17-21 © |
Be glad and rejoice for ever at what I am creating
Thus says the Lord: Now I create new heavens and a new earth, and the past will not be remembered, and will come no more to men’s minds. Be glad and rejoice for ever and ever for what I am creating, because I now create Jerusalem ‘Joy’ and her people ‘Gladness.’ I shall rejoice over Jerusalem and exult in my people. No more will the sound of weeping or the sound of cries be heard in her; in her, no more will be found the infant living a few days only, or the old man not living to the end of his days. To die at the age of a hundred will be dying young; not to live to be a hundred will be the sign of a curse. They will build houses and inhabit them, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 29(30):2,4-6,11-13 © |
I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me.
I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me
and have not let my enemies rejoice over me.
O Lord, you have raised my soul from the dead,
restored me to life from those who sink into the grave.
I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me.
Sing psalms to the Lord, you who love him,
give thanks to his holy name.
His anger lasts a moment; his favour all through life.
At night there are tears, but joy comes with dawn.
I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me.
The Lord listened and had pity.
The Lord came to my help.
For me you have changed my mourning into dancing:
O Lord my God, I will thank you for ever.
I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Ps129:5,7 |
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
My soul is waiting for the Lord,
I count on his word,
because with the Lord there is mercy
and fullness of redemption.
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
Or: | cf.Amos5:14 |
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
Seek good and not evil so that you may live,
and that the Lord God of hosts may really be with you.
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
Gospel | John 4:43-54 © |
Go home: your son will live
Jesus left Samaria for Galilee. He himself had declared that there is no respect for a prophet in his own country, but on his arrival the Galileans received him well, having seen all that he had done at Jerusalem during the festival which they too had attended.
He went again to Cana in Galilee, where he had changed the water into wine. Now there was a court official there whose son was ill at Capernaum and, hearing that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judaea, he went and asked him to come and cure his son as he was at the point of death. Jesus said, ‘So you will not believe unless you see signs and portents!’ ‘Sir,’ answered the official ‘come down before my child dies.’ ‘Go home,’ said Jesus ‘your son will live.’ The man believed what Jesus had said and started on his way; and while he was still on the journey back his servants met him with the news that his boy was alive. He asked them when the boy had begun to recover. ‘The fever left him yesterday’ they said ‘at the seventh hour.’ The father realised that this was exactly the time when Jesus had said, ‘Your son will live’; and he and all his household believed.
This was the second sign given by Jesus, on his return from Judaea to Galilee.
ARE WE SINCERE IN WELCOMING JESUS THE LIFE-GIVER?
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ISA 65:17-21; JN 4:43-54]
Yesterday, we celebrated the 4th Sunday of Lent, which is also called Laetare Sunday, the Sunday of Joy. This also marks the end of the first part of the Lenten Season. The mood of Sunday’s liturgy was one of joy because the Lord invites us to rejoice as the prodigal son who was once dead had now come back to life, lost and has been found. This spirit of joy overflows into today’s liturgy when the first reading from the prophet Isaiah speaks of a new heaven and a new earth. “Now I create new heavens and a new earth, and the past will not be remembered, and will come no more to men’s minds. Be glad and rejoice for ever and ever for what I am creating, because I now create Jerusalem ‘Joy’ and her people ‘Gladness’. I shall rejoice over Jerusalem and exult in my people.” There will no more be “weeping or the sound of cries be heard in her.” Most of all, there will be fullness of life for everyone, young and old. “In her, no more will be found the infant living a few days only, or the old man not living to the end of his days. To die at the age of a hundred will be dying young; not to live to be a hundred will be the sign of a curse. They will build houses and inhabit them, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.”
This promise of new life and fullness of life is seen in Christ as the fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah. Indeed, we can feel the joy of the Court Official when his son who was at the brink of death was restored to health and life by the Lord, the giver of life. No greater joy could a parent have than to have his child saved from death or ill health. So we can imagine the joy of this father when his son was returned to him, alive.
And so as we enter into the second part of Lent, there is a radical change in focus. The first part of Lent was rather heavy going because we were learning how to prepare our disposition to welcome the Lord through prayer, fasting and almsgiving. From today onwards, all the gospel texts are taken from St John’s gospel, which is focused on finding faith in the Lord, and they will take us right through the Easter season. This shift in emphasis is important because the objective of Lent is to meet Jesus who is the Resurrection and the Life so that we can be given new life. The spiritual exercises are not performed for the sake of themselves. They are not some disciplines we impose on ourselves so that we can boast of our achievements. Rather, the spiritual exercises are meant to lead us to Christ by preparing us to welcome Him into our lives.
This is how the gospel begins today when the evangelist speaks of how Jesus was welcomed by unexpected people. We read that “Jesus left Samaria for Galilee.” Earlier on, He was surprisingly welcomed by the Samaritans. We read how He healed the Samaritan woman of her shame and gave her new life by revealing to her who she was and where she could find the living water. As a result, many from that town also came to believe in Him. He was not only received by the Samaritans but also by His own people in Galilee when He returned from Jerusalem. This was astonishing because “He himself had declared that there is no respect for a prophet in his own country, but on his arrival the Galileans received him well, having seen all that he had done at Jerusalem during the festival which they too had attended.”
The gist of today’s teaching is that our lives, like that of the Samaritans’, can be changed only when we welcome Jesus into our lives. Most people would only accept Jesus into their lives if they see Him and know Him personally. That was what the people said to the Samaritan woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Saviour of the world.” (Jn 4:42) Indeed, for most of us to come to faith in Jesus, there is no other way except through a personal experience of His love and presence. Only a personal encounter with the Lord can give us the conviction and faith to believe in Him. This is understandable. Christianity is always a personal encounter with the Lord.
But today, we are called to go further in faith. We are called to place our faith in Him even before He works miracles in our life. In other words, John is saying that the way to encounter the Lord is through faith before anything happens. Hence, after the encounter with the Samaritan woman, we read about Jesus healing the son of a royal official. He is held up for us by Jesus as an example of faith in Him without seeing His powers. In this case, the court official who was a gentile demonstrated a deep faith in Jesus, taking Him on the assurance of His word to return home and his son would recover from his illness. He believed and we read that it was that hour when Jesus told him that the son recovered.
So what can we learn from the Court Official about faith and welcoming the Lord into our life. Firstly, we need humility to come to the Lord. Although he was a person of high standing in the royal court of Herod, yet he would stoop so low as to come to the son of a carpenter for help. He was not afraid of what his fellow court officials and friends would think of him. Without humility, the Lord would not be able to enter into our lives. We read how he begged the Lord “to come and cure his son as he was at the point of death.” From Capernaum to Cana in Galilee is about 32 km away. So he would have travelled at length just to seek help from Jesus. That was his faith. He did not stop or keep away from the Lord because of his status. Today, many people do not want to accept Christ publicly because of their status and they are afraid that if they accept Christ, they might be rejected by the world or lose their position in society. For the sake of their status and security, they delay in coming to the Lord. How many of us are willing to lose our position in society, our status in the world and our privileges by accepting Jesus? Only those who have faith in Jesus and desperate for Him will be willing to take the risks. Alas, not many are willing to take risks for Jesus. He is just only an adjunct to their priorities in life.
Secondly, he was a man of perseverance. He was not discouraged easily. The Lord tested his humility and perseverance. He replied, “So you will not believe unless you see signs and portents!” He did not become angry with the remark of Jesus. He swallowed his pride and persisted in asking the Lord to come and heal his son. On the contrary, he continued to beg the Lord to come down to Capernaum to heal his son. Are we as desperate as the court official to come to Jesus? For the love of his son, the court official was willing to take any insult and withstand any opposition to come to Jesus. What about us? How many of us would not come to Church or attend a program or a retreat over some slights from fellow Catholics? We are too proud to search for Jesus. We give up too easily because in truth, we are not desperate to find Jesus. We give up when the search is difficult, or when the answer from God takes too long, or when we are disillusioned by people around us, especially fellow Catholics or priests who have hurt us. If we want Jesus badly, why do we bother about those who do not inspire us in faith and love or do not live up to their faith? It is Jesus whom we need and who can heal us.
Thirdly, he believed when the Lord said to him, “Go home, your son will live.” He did not hesitate or doubt Jesus. He went home with nothing except the assurance of Jesus. This was the faith of the man. He was confident that Jesus would heal his son. How many of us would profess the same faith as the man? How many of us would accept based on the promise of Jesus? We doubt until we see with our eyes. We won’t believe until we have proof. This gentile, a non-Jew, trusted in the promise of Jesus. As Jesus said elsewhere, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you receive it, and you will.” (Mk 11:22-24)
Finally, we read that the whole household came to believe. Faith generates faith. When we have faith, we help others to find faith. Indeed, if Jesus did not heal the man’s son by going down with him to the house, it was because Jesus wanted to teach us all and the people during His time to have faith and confidence in God, and to not always demand to see first before we believe. So if Jesus had tested the court official it was His intention to let him inspire us all who are supposedly faith-believers to surrender in faith to Him. He is for us all a model of the faith that is necessary for us to find life in Christ. In this way, all of us can share the joy of the psalmist who prays, “I will praise you, Lord. You have rescued me and have not let my enemies rejoice over me. O Lord, you have raised my soul from the dead, restored me to life from those who sink into the grave. The Lord listened and had pity. The Lord came to my help. For me you have changed my mourning into dancing: O Lord my God, I will thank you for ever.”
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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