20220421 IGNORANCE
21 April, 2022, Easter Thursday
First reading | Acts 3:11-26 © |
You killed the prince of life: God, however, raised him from the dead
Everyone came running towards Peter and John in great excitement, to the Portico of Solomon, as it is called, where the man was still clinging to Peter and John. When Peter saw the people he addressed them, ‘Why are you so surprised at this? Why are you staring at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or holiness? You are Israelites, and it is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, who has glorified his servant Jesus, the same Jesus you handed over and then disowned in the presence of Pilate after Pilate had decided to release him. It was you who accused the Holy One, the Just One, you who demanded the reprieve of a murderer while you killed the prince of life. God, however, raised him from the dead, and to that fact we are the witnesses; and it is the name of Jesus which, through our faith in it, has brought back the strength of this man whom you see here and who is well known to you. It is faith in that name that has restored this man to health, as you can all see.
‘Now I know, brothers, that neither you nor your leaders had any idea what you were really doing; this was the way God carried out what he had foretold, when he said through all his prophets that his Christ would suffer. Now you must repent and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, and so that the Lord may send the time of comfort. Then he will send you the Christ he has predestined, that is Jesus, whom heaven must keep till the universal restoration comes which God proclaimed, speaking through his holy prophets. Moses, for example, said: The Lord God will raise up a prophet like myself for you, from among your own brothers; you must listen to whatever he tells you. The man who does not listen to that prophet is to be cut off from the people. In fact, all the prophets that have ever spoken, from Samuel onwards, have predicted these days.
‘You are the heirs of the prophets, the heirs of the covenant God made with our ancestors when he told Abraham: in your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed. It was for you in the first place that God raised up his servant and sent him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.’
Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 8:2,5-9 © |
How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!
or
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
How great is your name, O Lord our God,
through all the earth!
What is man that you should keep him in mind,
mortal man that you care for him?
How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!
or
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Yet you have made him little less than a god;
with glory and honour you crowned him,
gave him power over the works of your hand,
put all things under his feet.
How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!
or
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
All of them, sheep and cattle,
yes, even the savage beasts,
birds of the air, and fish
that make their way through the waters.
How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!
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 | Luke 24:35-48 © |
It is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead
The disciples told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognised Jesus at the breaking of bread.
They were still talking about all this when Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you!’ In a state of alarm and fright, they thought they were seeing a ghost. But he said, ‘Why are you so agitated, and why are these doubts rising in your hearts? Look at my hands and feet; yes, it is I indeed. Touch me and see for yourselves; a ghost has no flesh and bones as you can see I have.’ And as he said this he showed them his hands and feet. Their joy was so great that they still could not believe it, and they stood there dumbfounded; so he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ And they offered him a piece of grilled fish, which he took and ate before their eyes.
Then he told them, ‘This is what I meant when I said, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets and in the Psalms has to be fulfilled.’ He then opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘So you see how it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that, in his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to this.’
IGNORANCE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS 3:11-26; PS 8:2,5-9; LK 24:35-48]
There are many people who cannot accept Christ as their Saviour and Lord. There are many Protestants who think that Catholics are idol and Mary worshippers destined to be lost and go to hell. There are many in the world who cannot accept the gospel teaching on the sacredness of life in all its dimensions from conception to death. Many find the teaching on marriage, especially on its indissolubility, difficult even if they could accept that as the ideal. In the face of so much opposition against the Church and her teachings, for which we often ridiculed, criticized, marginalized and even persecuted, our response must be like Jesus who too on the cross prayed to the Father for His enemies, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” (Lk 23:34)
Ignorance is the cause of most sins. Of course, there are different degrees of ignorance and different levels of culpability as well. Some are simply ignorant of the truth or they could have been conditioned into believing that Christ was just another teacher but certainly not God. In the time of Jesus, He was perceived as a misguided martyr by the soldiers and a heretic of the Jewish Faith by the religious leaders. For the soldiers who put Jesus to death, it was just but another job to be done. For the crowd, they were just blind sheep, carried away by popular opinion. For Pilate who ordered the crucifixion of Jesus, he was certainly not ignorant of the possible identity of Jesus, or at least he was clear of his innocence, but he was pressured into doing what was popular so that he could protect his status quo. As for the religious leaders, they were obstinately ignorant because they refused to accept Jesus in order to protect their status quo. They were not interested to find out the truth of what Jesus taught and said. As for the disciples of our Lord, they were sincerely ignorant of the divine plan of God for their master. In their shock at the scandal of His death, they found it difficult to believe that He was Risen. All these different levels of ignorance and the accompanying guilt are highlighted in today’s scripture readings.
Hence, the scripture readings seek to reveal to us the divine plan of God which was unknown to the people. Once again, St Peter took the occasion of a miracle, in this instance, the healing of the Crippled Man to help the people to focus on the meaning of the miraclerather than on the sensational aspect of it as what some healers would do. This explains why in the Catholic Church, we do not make much of healing miracles and apparitions or visions, simply because the Church does want to make a spectacle out of them, just to satisfy people’s desire for spectacular and sensational experiences. Like Peter, it is more important to direct our people away from the healer and the one healed to the true Healer, that is our Lord Jesus Christ. St Peter deflect the power of the miracle from himself to our Lord. “Everyone came running towards Peter and John in great excitement, to the Portico of Solomon, as it is called, where the man was still clinging to them. When Peter saw the people he addressed them, ‘Why are you so surprised at this? Why are you staring at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or holiness?'”
Instead, St Peter told the people that the One who saved and healed was none other than “the same Jesus you handed over and then disowned in the presence of Pilate, after Pilate had decided to release him. It was you who accused the Holy One, the Just One, you who demanded the reprieve of a murderer while you killed the prince of life.” St Peter underscored the fact that Jesus was in continuity with the divine plan God had promised to the Israelites. He said, “You are Israelites, and it is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, who has glorified his servant Jesus.” It is the same God of their forefathers who glorified Jesus who was called His servant, in fulfilment of the Suffering Servant of Isaiah. More than that, Jesus was given the honorific titles of the highest category for Peter called Him, the Holy One, the Just One and the prince of life. “God, however, raised him from the dead, and to that fact we are the witnesses.”
Consequently, for Peter, “it is the name of Jesus which, through our faith in it, has brought back the strength of this man whom you see here and who is well known to you. It is faith in that name that has restored this man to health, as you can all see.” What does the name signify if not the power and vitality of the person? This is why the name of Jesus is emphasized. To know the name of the person and to use that name implies calling the person to act. As in the Lord’s Prayer, we pray that His name be kept holy, that is honoured, so that His kingdom may come and His will be done. Conversely, we read in Ezekiel, because the people dishonoured the name of the Lord, God’s glory left the Temple in a cherubim. (Ezek 10)
Yet, the saving grace, as St Peter said to them, was that they were ignorant. “Now I know, brothers, that neither you nor your leaders had any idea what you were really doing, this was the way God carried out what he had foretold, when he said through all his prophets that Christ would suffer.” However, St Peter was not excusing them from their sins because there are different degrees of culpability even when one acted in ignorance. They were either blinded or emotionally and psychologically blocked from seeing the truth about Jesus and the need to protect their selfish interests. Nevertheless, they could still put things right.
Regardless of whatever reasons we have for rejecting the Lord, repentance is required. After such a long speech to awaken their conscience, St Peter said, “Now you must repent and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, and so that the Lord may send the time of comfort. Then he will send you the Christ he has predestined, that is Jesus, whom heaven must keep till the universal restoration comes which God proclaimed, speaking through his holy prophets.” To repent and accept Jesus is fully in accordance with the scriptures for Jesus is the one that Moses himself commanded the people to heed him. Citing the book of Deuteronomy, St Peter said, “The Lord God will raise up a prophet like myself for you, from among your own brothers; you must listen to whatever he tells you. The man who does not listen to that prophet is to be cut off from the people. In fact, all the prophets that have ever spoken, from Samuel onwards, have predicted these days.” (cf Dt 18:15-19)
Indeed, accepting Jesus as their saviour and Lord would make them realize the promise made to them by God to their ancestors. “You are the heirs of the prophets, the heirs of the covenant God made with our ancestors when he told Abraham: in your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed. It was for you in the first place that God raised up his servant and sent him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.” It is significant that St Peter made use of the words, “raise up” as used by Moses of the prophet that God was sending them. This is but an allusion to the resurrection of our Lord.
The resurrection of our Lord was confirmed by the disciples at Emmaus who narrated the event to the rest of the apostles. And once again the Lord “stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you!’ In a state of alarm and fright, they thought they were seeing a ghost. But he said, ‘Why are you so agitated, and why are these doubts rising in your hearts? Look at my hands and feet; yes, it is I indeed. Touch me and see for yourselves; a ghost has no flesh and bones as you can see I have.'” In eating the piece of grilled fish, it shows Jesus is truly resurrected and we are also once again reminded that it is in the Eucharist that we meet the Lord because the fish in Greek is but acrostic of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour.
And in the Eucharist, we come to understand and appreciate the salvific plan of God in Christ. Jesus said to them, “This is what I meant when I said, while I was still with you, that everything written about me, in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets and in the Psalms, has to be fulfilled.’ He then opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘So you see how it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that, in his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to this.” Jesus as the Lord explained to them the meaning of the scriptures, so too in the Eucharist, at the Liturgy of the Word, the presider seeks to explain the scriptures in a way that helps the congregation to strengthen their faith in the Lord through understanding and most of all, and in receiving the message and our Lord in the Eucharist, they find salvation and life. Most of all, we become His witnesses too.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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