20220418 BELIEF IN THE RESURRECTION IS A SUBSTANTIATED FAITH
18 April, 2022, Easter Monday
First reading | Acts 2:14,22-33 © |
God raised this man Jesus to life, and all of us are witnesses to this
On the day of Pentecost Peter stood up with the Eleven and addressed the crowd in a loud voice: ‘Men of Israel, listen to what I am going to say: Jesus the Nazarene was a man commended to you by God by the miracles and portents and signs that God worked through him when he was among you, as you all know. This man, who was put into your power by the deliberate intention and foreknowledge of God, you took and had crucified by men outside the Law. You killed him, but God raised him to life, freeing him from the pangs of Hades; for it was impossible for him to be held in its power since, as David says of him:
I saw the Lord before me always,
for with him at my right hand nothing can shake me.
So my heart was glad
and my tongue cried out with joy;
my body, too, will rest in the hope
that you will not abandon my soul to Hades
nor allow your holy one to experience corruption.
You have made known the way of life to me,
you will fill me with gladness through your presence.
‘Brothers, no one can deny that the patriarch David himself is dead and buried: his tomb is still with us. But since he was a prophet, and knew that God had sworn him an oath to make one of his descendants succeed him on the throne, what he foresaw and spoke about was the resurrection of the Christ: he is the one who was not abandoned to Hades, and whose body did not experience corruption. God raised this man Jesus to life, and all of us are witnesses to that. Now raised to the heights by God’s right hand, he has received from the Father the Holy Spirit, who was promised, and what you see and hear is the outpouring of that Spirit.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 15(16):1-2,5,7-11 © |
Preserve me, Lord, I take refuge in you.
or
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Preserve me, God, I take refuge in you.
I say to the Lord: ‘You are my God.
O Lord, it is you who are my portion and cup;
it is you yourself who are my prize.’
Preserve me, Lord, I take refuge in you.
or
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel,
who even at night directs my heart.
I keep the Lord ever in my sight:
since he is at my right hand, I shall stand firm.
Preserve me, Lord, I take refuge in you.
or
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
And so my heart rejoices, my soul is glad;
even my body shall rest in safety.
For you will not leave my soul among the dead,
nor let your beloved know decay.
Preserve me, Lord, I take refuge in you.
or
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
You will show me the path of life,
the fullness of joy in your presence,
at your right hand happiness for ever.
Preserve me, Lord, I take refuge in you.
or
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Sequence |
Victimae Paschali Laudes
Christians, to the Paschal Victim
offer sacrifice and praise.
The sheep are ransomed by the Lamb;
and Christ, the undefiled,
hath sinners to his Father reconciled.
Death with life contended:
combat strangely ended!
Life’s own Champion, slain,
yet lives to reign.
Tell us, Mary:
say what thou didst see
upon the way.
The tomb the Living did enclose;
I saw Christ’s glory as he rose!
The angels there attesting;
shroud with grave-clothes resting.
Christ, my hope, has risen:
he goes before you into Galilee.
That Christ is truly risen
from the dead we know.
Victorious king, thy mercy show!
Gospel Acclamation | Ps117:24 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
This day was made by the Lord:
we rejoice and are glad.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Matthew 28:8-15 © |
Tell my brothers that they must leave for Galilee: they will see me there
Filled with awe and great joy the women came quickly away from the tomb and ran to tell the disciples.
And there, coming to meet them, was Jesus. ‘Greetings’ he said. And the women came up to him and, falling down before him, clasped his feet. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers that they must leave for Galilee; they will see me there.’
While they were on their way, some of the guard went off into the city to tell the chief priests all that had happened. These held a meeting with the elders and, after some discussion, handed a considerable sum of money to the soldiers with these instructions, ‘This is what you must say, “His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.” And should the governor come to hear of this, we undertake to put things right with him ourselves and to see that you do not get into trouble.’ The soldiers took the money and carried out their instructions, and to this day that is the story among the Jews.
BELIEF IN THE RESURRECTION IS A SUBSTANTIATED FAITH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACT 2:14, 22-33; MT 28:8-15]
Have you seen the Risen Lord? How do you know He is alive? What proofs have you got? These will be the questions that non-believers will confront us. What is our answer to our faith in the resurrection of our Lord?
Right from the outset, we must state that the Risen Lord is only encountered by those who have faith. The gospel story shows us the varied responses to the empty tomb. The women who went to the Tomb were met by the angel who rolled the stone away. They were told that the Lord had risen. Their response was one of “awe and great joy.” Immediately, they ran to tell the disciples. Because of their faith, the Lord Jesus appeared to them along the way to confirm their faith by showing Himself to them. “‘Greetings’ he said. And the women came up to him and, falling down before him, clasped his feet.” So the holy fear of the women was rewarded with seeing what they believed.
Conversely, the soldiers who discovered the empty tomb reacted with fear. They were afraid of being reprimanded for not being able to explain the missing body of Jesus. They were fearful of losing their jobs or even their lives. The Jewish leaders too reacted with fear of the loss of their credibility and status. So instead of investigating the truth of the matter, they were defensive of their interests. They quickly fabricated a story of how the body was stolen when the soldiers were sleeping. So those who do not have faith and are afraid of the truth will seek to rationalize and justify their position of not wanting to belief.
Faith in the Risen Lord requires at the least a minimum desire to be open to the truth and the basic desire to believe. For this reason, the women could see the Risen Lord. They were receptive to the truth. They were ready to believe. On the other hand, the mind of the soldiers and the Jewish leaders were totally closed. Even if the Lord were to appear to them, they would not believe. It is not true that seeing is believing because seeing requires us to make the conclusion. This is true of St Thomas even. It requires faith to connect what we see with the truth of what we believe. We can see the body of the Risen Lord but we can interpret the facts differently as well.
But Christian faith is not just based on a simple belief in Christ’s resurrection. This is the required disposition. This belief needs to be substantiated by proofs from the scripture.
Hence, St Peter appealed to the inspired text of the Torah to show that faith in the resurrection of Christ is in continuity with the faith of the Old Testament. He cited the text when King David as a prophet spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah. “I saw the Lord before me always, for with him at my right hand nothing can shake me. So my heart was glad and my tongue cried out with joy; my body, too, will rest in the hope that you will not abandon my soul to the Hades nor allow your holy one to experience corruption. You have made known the way of life to me, you will fill me with gladness through your presence.”
Secondly, it was also a common fact to the listeners that Jesus was a good man, a miracle worker and a man of compassion. St Peter said, “Men of Israel, listen to what I am going to say: Jesus the Nazarene was a man commended to you by God by the miracles and portents and signs that God worked through him when he was among you, as you all know.” The life and work of Jesus vouched for His death and resurrection. Only a man filled with the Spirit could do what Jesus did. His works were confirmed by the Father in raising Him.
Thirdly, St Peter gave the concrete sign of the Pentecostal experience when the disciples were filled with the Spirit of Jesus and spoke in tongues that could be understood by all the different nationalities in their own language. This is the fulfilment of the promise made by Jesus before His death when He told the disciples that after He had gone, the Father would send them the Holy Spirit in His name. And true enough, “Now raised to the heights by God’s hand, he has received from the Father the Holy Spirit, who was promised, and what you see and hear is the outpouring of that Spirit.”
Fourthly, the existential proof given by St Peter and the apostles were their transformation of life. The disciples who were cowardly hiding in the Upper Room, fearful of the Jews, were suddenly transformed into bold witnesses and charismatic preachers of the Good News of our Risen Lord. Fear was gone. Indeed, the Risen Lord removed all fear from their hearts. On the day of the resurrection, the first words of the Risen Lord to His disciples were, “Peace be with you!” To the women who met Him on the way to Galilee, Jesus said the same thing, “‘Do not be afraid.” Such transformation of their lives is a concrete proof of the reality of the Risen Lord at work in their hearts. Thus, we must conclude that the testimony of the apostles is true. “God raised this man Jesus to life, and all of us are witness to that.”
In the final analysis, if we believe in the Risen Lord, it is because of the Father’s endorsement of all that Jesus said and did. By raising up the Lord from the dead, the Father showed His approval of the life, passion, and death of our Lord. So our certain faith in the resurrection is based on the Father’s testimony of His Son, as spoken through the scriptures and in the life of Jesus, His death and resurrection. As St Peter said, “This man, who was put into your power by the deliberate intention and foreknowledge of God, you took and had crucified by men outside the Law. You killed him, but God raised him to life, freeing him from the pangs of Hades; for it was impossible for him to be held in its power.” Everything happens within the divine plan of God. The death of Jesus was all within the providence of God. God, as St Peter said, knew what would happen. But He allowed it to happen so that a greater glory and revelation could be given to us.
So there is nothing to prevent us from being like the women and the disciples from announcing the Good News to the whole world that Christ is Risen. We have the scripture proofs and the existential proof in our lives through faith in Him. As the Lord tells us, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers that they must leave for Galilee; they will see me there.” We should not be afraid that others will ridicule us or will not believe in us. All we need is to have faith in the Risen Lord. The Lord is in control of the events in our lives. He is the Lord of life and the Lord of death. Nothing happens by chance.
Indeed, if we are fearful, we only have to pray with the psalmist, “Preserve me, God, I take refuge in you. I say to the Lord: ‘You are my God. O Lord, it is you who are my portion and cup. It is you yourself who are my prize. And my heart rejoices, my soul is glad; even my body shall rest in safety. For you will not leave my soul among the dead, nor let your beloved know decay.” So with great joy and conviction, let us announce to the world that the Lord is Risen and because He is risen, we know that no matter what happens to us, we can rely on Him and stand firm in Him. We pray, “I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel who even at night directs my heart. I keep the Lord ever in my sight since he is at my right hand, I shall stand firm.”
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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