20220404 CHRIST AS THE LIGHT OF HUMANITY
04 April, 2022, Monday, 5th Week of Lent
First reading |
Daniel 13:1-9,15-17,19-30,33-62 © |
Susannah and the elders
In Babylon there lived a man named Joakim. He had married Susanna daughter of Hilkiah, a woman of great beauty; and she was God-fearing, because her parents were worthy people and had instructed their daughter in the Law of Moses. Joakim was a very rich man, and had a garden attached to his house; the Jews would often visit him since he was held in greater respect than any other man. Two elderly men had been selected from the people that year to act as judges. Of such the Lord said, ‘Wickedness has come to Babylon through the elders and judges posing as guides to the people.’ These men were often at Joakim’s house, and all who were engaged in litigation used to come to them. At midday, when everyone had gone, Susanna used to take a walk in her husband’s garden. The two elders, who used to watch her every day as she came in to take her walk, gradually began to desire her. They threw reason aside, making no effort to turn their eyes to heaven, and forgetting its demands of virtue. So they waited for a favourable moment; and one day Susanna came as usual, accompanied only by two young maidservants. The day was hot and she wanted to bathe in the garden. There was no one about except the two elders, spying on her from their hiding place. She said to the servants, ‘Bring me some oil and balsam and shut the garden door while I bathe.’
Hardly were the servants gone than the two elders were there after her. ‘Look,’ they said ‘the garden door is shut, no one can see us. We want to have you, so give in and let us! Refuse, and we will both give evidence that a young man was with you and that was why you sent your maids away.’ Susanna sighed. ‘I am trapped,’ she said ‘whatever I do. If I agree, that means my death; if I resist, I cannot get away from you. But I prefer to fall innocent into your power than to sin in the eyes of the Lord.’ Then she cried out as loud as she could. The two elders began shouting too, putting the blame on her, and one of them ran to open the garden door. The household, hearing the shouting in the garden, rushed out by the side entrance to see what was happening; once the elders had told their story the servants were thoroughly taken aback, since nothing of this sort had ever been said of Susanna.
Next day a meeting was held at the house of her husband Joakim. The two elders arrived, in their vindictiveness determined to have her put to death. They addressed the company: ‘Summon Susanna daughter of Hilkiah and wife of Joakim.’ She was sent for, and came accompanied by her parents, her children and all her relations. All her own people were weeping, and so were all the others who saw her. The two elders stood up, with all the people round them, and laid their hands on the woman’s head. Tearfully she turned her eyes to heaven, her heart confident in God. The elders then spoke. ‘While we were walking by ourselves in the garden, this woman arrived with two servants. She shut the garden door and then dismissed the servants. A young man who had been hiding went over to her and they lay down together. From the end of the garden where we were, we saw this crime taking place and hurried towards them. Though we saw them together we were unable to catch the man: he was too strong for us; he opened the door and took to his heels. We did, however, catch this woman and ask her who the young man was. She refused to tell us. That is our evidence.’
Since they were elders of the people, and judges, the assembly took their word: Susanna was condemned to death. She cried out as loud as she could, ‘Eternal God, you know all secrets and everything before it happens; you know that they have given false evidence against me. And now have I to die, innocent as I am of everything their malice has invented against me?’
The Lord heard her cry and, as she was being led away to die, he roused the holy spirit residing in a young boy named Daniel who began to shout, ‘I am innocent of this woman’s death!’ At which all the people turned to him and asked, ‘What do you mean by these words?’ Standing in the middle of the crowd he replied, ‘Are you so stupid, sons of Israel, as to condemn a daughter of Israel unheard, and without troubling to find out the truth? Go back to the scene of the trial: these men have given false evidence against her.’
All the people hurried back, and the elders said to Daniel, ‘Come and sit with us and tell us what you mean, since God has given you the gifts that elders have.’ Daniel said, ‘Keep the men well apart from each other for I want to question them.’ When the men had been separated, Daniel had one of them brought to him. ‘You have grown old in wickedness,’ he said ‘and now the sins of your earlier days have overtaken you, you with your unjust judgements, your condemnation of the innocent, your acquittal of guilty men, when the Lord has said, “You must not put the innocent and the just to death.” Now then, since you saw her so clearly, tell me what tree you saw them lying under?’ He replied, ‘Under a mastic tree.’ Daniel said, ‘True enough! Your lie recoils on your own head: the angel of God has already received your sentence from him and will slash you in half.’ He dismissed the man, ordered the other to be brought and said to him, ‘Spawn of Canaan, not of Judah, beauty has seduced you, lust has led your heart astray! This is how you have been behaving with the daughters of Israel and they were too frightened to resist; but here is a daughter of Judah who could not stomach your wickedness! Now then, tell me what tree you surprised them under?’ He replied, ‘Under a holm oak.’ Daniel said, ‘True enough! Your lie recoils on your own head: the angel of God is waiting, with a sword to drive home and split you, and destroy the pair of you.’
Then the whole assembly shouted, blessing God, the saviour of those who trust in him. And they turned on the two elders whom Daniel had convicted of false evidence out of their own mouths. As prescribed in the Law of Moses, they sentenced them to the same punishment as they had intended to inflict on their neighbour. They put them to death; the life of an innocent woman was spared that day.
Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 22(23) © |
If I should walk in the valley of darkness, no evil would I fear.
The Lord is my shepherd;
there is nothing I shall want.
Fresh and green are the pastures
where he gives me repose.
Near restful waters he leads me,
to revive my drooping spirit.
If I should walk in the valley of darkness, no evil would I fear.
He guides me along the right path;
he is true to his name.
If I should walk in the valley of darkness
no evil would I fear.
You are there with your crook and your staff;
with these you give me comfort.
If I should walk in the valley of darkness, no evil would I fear.
You have prepared a banquet for me
in the sight of my foes.
My head you have anointed with oil;
my cup is overflowing.
If I should walk in the valley of darkness, no evil would I fear.
Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me
all the days of my life.
In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell
for ever and ever.
If I should walk in the valley of darkness, no evil would I fear.
Gospel Acclamation | 2Co6:2 |
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
Now is the favourable time:
this is the day of salvation.
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
Or: | Ezk33:11 |
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
I take pleasure, not in the death of a wicked man
– it is the Lord who speaks –
but in the turning back of a wicked man
who changes his ways to win life.
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
Gospel | John 8:12-20 © |
'I am the light of the world'
Jesus said to the Pharisees:
‘I am the light of the world;
anyone who follows me will not be walking in the dark;
he will have the light of life.’
At this the Pharisees said to him, ‘You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid.’
Jesus replied:
‘It is true that I am testifying on my own behalf,
but my testimony is still valid,
because I know
where I came from and where I am going;
but you do not know
where I come from or where I am going.
You judge by human standards;
I judge no one,
but if I judge, my judgement will be sound,
because I am not alone:
the one who sent me is with me;
and in your Law it is written
that the testimony of two witnesses is valid.
I may be testifying on my own behalf,
but the Father who sent me is my witness too.’
They asked him, ‘Where is your Father?’ Jesus answered:
‘You do not know me,
nor do you know my Father;
if you did know me,
you would know my Father as well.’
He spoke these words in the Treasury, while teaching in the Temple. No one arrested him, because his time had not yet come.
CHRIST AS THE LIGHT OF HUMANITY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Dn 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62; Ps 23:1-6; Jn 8:12-20]
The fifth week of Lent is traditionally known as Passion Week. Before Vatican II, the crosses and statues in church were veiled to indicate Passion Time. Today, it is optional. That this mood is still the background for this week is indicated by the fact that the rubrics permit us to use the hymns of Passiontide for Lauds and Vespers; and the preface for Mass is taken from the Passion of the Lord. This means that the liturgy wants us to focus on the passion of our Lord. All the gospel texts remind us of the increasing hostility against Jesus from this week onwards leading up to Good Friday.
But what is the reason for the growing enmity of the religious leaders against Jesus? Firstly, it is a question of the identity of Jesus. The Jews were ignorant of Jesus’ identity, simply because they did not know the Father since the Father and Him are one. Jesus told them, “You do not know me, nor do you know my Father; if you did know me, you would know my Father as well.” This too is the most crucial question in Christianity. Who is Jesus? Where did He come from? What is His relationship with the Father? Is He a man or is He God? The identity of Jesus determines our relationship with Him and our understanding of life. For the Elects preparing for baptism and even for all of us, this question is urgent, since the answer we give to this question has implications on our commitment to the Lord.
To the extent that we know who Jesus is and what He is for us, we give ourselves totally to Him. If our answer is unclear then we will not take the words of Jesus seriously, nor will we believe that He is with the Church, protecting her from errors. It is for this reason that the Church has been preparing the Catechumens all this while to come to know Jesus personally and deeply so that they could make a decisive commitment to the Lord when they are baptized this coming Easter. For us who are already baptized, we too are asked to evaluate whether we truly believe in Jesus and know Him because often we pay lip service to our faith in Christ. This is seen when our lives contradict the faith we profess. When we do not live the life of Christ accordingly, we too have become like the religious leaders in today’s scripture readings, betraying the Lord by our sinful life.
So what prevents us from seeing Jesus clearly and coming to faith in Him? Clearly, it is because of sin. In the bible, adultery is always a symbol of sin because every sin is a sin of infidelity to God. The story of Susanna brings out the wickedness of sin. The lust of the wicked judges blinded them to what is truth. Sadly, instead of using their position and power invested on them to render justice to the poor and the weak, they abused their authority; and used their influence and position to satisfy their lustful desires. When they could not get what they wanted, they became vindictive and falsely plotted together to accuse Susanna, the innocent and God-fearing wife of Joakim, of committing adultery. They framed a false charge against her, knowing that because they were judges, their testimony would immediately be accepted without question. So too, the religious leaders during the time of Jesus were not ready to accept Jesus simply because He was a threat to them. They saw Jesus as a threat to their status quo and their position in society. Filled with jealousy and resentment like the lustful judges, they sought to have Jesus killed to safeguard their interests.
In today’s gospel, Jesus proclaims Himself as the light of the world. He comes to enlighten us all in the darkness of our sins. Like the prophet Daniel, Jesus has come to reveal to us the darkness of our souls and the blindness of our eyes to the truth about ourselves. This theme of Jesus as the Light is anticipated at the very beginning of chapter 8 of the story of the adulterous woman, when St John indicated that it was at daybreak that the adulterous woman who committed sin in the dark came to find Jesus in the light, since He is the light, the truth and then the life.
That today’s assertion is made during the Feast of the Tabernacles, which is also a celebration of Light, also implies that Jesus was identifying Himself with God. For the Jews, the Temple was lighted up in commemoration of the Exodus experience when God appeared in the form of the Pillar of Fire which led their forefathers through the wilderness in the desert. So the Jews knew what Jesus was implying when He said, “I am the light of the world” since the very word, “I am” is the name of Yahweh and only God is the Light of humanity. However, because Jesus is the “I am”, He could say so confidently that “anyone who follows me will not be walking in the dark; He will have the light of life.” Only because He is God, He could show us the fullness of life and truth. If we believe in Jesus, it is only because He is the Word of God and therefore the light of the world. If He is the light, then following Him is the way to overcome the darkness of our minds and the evil in our hearts.
How are we so sure that Christ is the Light of the world? The basis for His claim is His own personal testimony and that of the Father. Jesus said, “My testimony is still valid, because I know where I came from and where I am going.” In His life and in His works, and in the scriptures, His identity with the Father is manifested. The works of Jesus are indications that He is acting on behalf of His Father. The works of Jesus refer also to the great works of God at creation and at the Exodus. But most of all, it is His resurrection that His divine identity is vindicated. Otherwise the passion that He would undergo would be meaningless and tragic. That the Father would raise a criminal from the dead means that the Father was endorsing all that Jesus said and did. This other theme of the resurrection is anticipated in Year A of last Sunday’s liturgy when the gospel gives us a preview of the all-important sign in John’s gospel, namely, that of the raising of Lazarus, foreshadowing His own resurrection.
Hence, if Jesus is the resurrection and the life, the challenge to all of us is to follow Him. Will we be like the blind man in the following chapter of John’s gospel who was healed by Jesus and who recognized Jesus’ identity, or respond like the blind Pharisees who refused to admit that Jesus is the Light of the world?
If we have come to that recognition, then as the Light, Jesus will show us where we came from and where we are going. Besides revealing our true origin and destiny in life, Jesus as the light will reveal to us our sinfulness, where every sin is rooted in infidelity, symbolized by adultery. Once we are clear about our identity and destiny, we will be called to walk with Him in the light even when we face trials and difficulties. Like Jesus, we can remain firm, standing for the truth. Even when we walk in the valley of darkness, we know that Jesus our Good Shepherd and Light will light up our path. We can trust that Jesus will show us the way to be true to the light and remain confident in the face of our opponents.
Today, we have the example of Susanna. She was exemplary in faith. It was her total faith in God whom she believed would justify her, that she could remain firm to the commandments and not feel discouraged when misunderstood or wrongly found guilty. Of course, in her case, the prophet Daniel set her free. In the case of Jesus, He had to go to the ultimate test of surrendering in faith to the Father when He was condemned unjustly and crucified for a crime that He did not commit. But because of His surrender to the Father, He was raised to new life and made Lord and God.
As we journey with Jesus during Passion Week, let us walk with Him, so that we might “have the light of life”. It is in our fidelity to God and to the commandments that we will find true freedom and peace, for the truth sets us free. The question that remains at the end of the day is whether we will be faithful to the truth and walk in truth and love, or will we allow our selfishness and pride to hinder us from walking in the light. Consequently, we need to spend time contemplating on the love of Jesus and our Father during Passion Week. We need to come to know Him more and more. Only when we know the Father’s love, can we come to understand the heart and mind of Jesus as well, for He comes to reveal to us the love of His Father for us.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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