20220427 SALVATION IS THE WORK OF GOD
27 April, 2022, Wednesday, 2nd Week of Easter
First reading | Acts 5:17-26 © |
The men you imprisoned are in the Temple, preaching to the people
The high priest intervened with all his supporters from the party of the Sadducees. Prompted by jealousy, they arrested the apostles and had them put in the common gaol.
But at night the angel of the Lord opened the prison gates and said as he led them out, ‘Go and stand in the Temple, and tell the people all about this new Life.’ They did as they were told; they went into the Temple at dawn and began to preach.
When the high priest arrived, he and his supporters convened the Sanhedrin – this was the full Senate of Israel – and sent to the gaol for them to be brought. But when the officials arrived at the prison they found they were not inside, so they went back and reported, ‘We found the gaol securely locked and the warders on duty at the gates, but when we unlocked the door we found no one inside.’ When the captain of the Temple and the chief priests heard this news they wondered what this could mean. Then a man arrived with fresh news. ‘At this very moment’ he said, ‘the men you imprisoned are in the Temple. They are standing there preaching to the people.’ The captain went with his men and fetched them. They were afraid to use force in case the people stoned them.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 33(34):2-9 © |
This poor man called and the Lord heard him.
or
Alleluia!
I will bless the Lord at all times,
his praise always on my lips;
in the Lord my soul shall make its boast.
The humble shall hear and be glad.
This poor man called and the Lord heard him.
or
Alleluia!
Glorify the Lord with me.
Together let us praise his name.
I sought the Lord and he answered me;
from all my terrors he set me free.
This poor man called and the Lord heard him.
or
Alleluia!
Look towards him and be radiant;
let your faces not be abashed.
This poor man called, the Lord heard him
and rescued him from all his distress.
This poor man called and the Lord heard him.
or
Alleluia!
The angel of the Lord is encamped
around those who revere him, to rescue them.
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
He is happy who seeks refuge in him.
This poor man called and the Lord heard him.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Christ has risen and shone upon us
whom he redeemed with his blood.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn3:16 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son:
everyone who believes in him has eternal life.
Alleluia!
Gospel | John 3:16-21 © |
God sent his Son into the world so that through him the world might be saved
Jesus said to Nicodemus:
‘God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost
but may have eternal life.
For God sent his Son into the world
not to condemn the world,
but so that through him the world might be saved.
No one who believes in him will be condemned;
but whoever refuses to believe is condemned already,
because he has refused to believe in the name of God’s only Son.
On these grounds is sentence pronounced:
that though the light has come into the world
men have shown they prefer darkness to the light
because their deeds were evil.
And indeed, everybody who does wrong
hates the light and avoids it,
for fear his actions should be exposed;
but the man who lives by the truth comes out into the light,
so that it may be plainly seen that what he does is done in God.’
SALVATION IS THE WORK OF GOD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS 5:17-26; PS 34:2-9; JOHN 3:16-21]
There are many attempts to silence the gospel in the world today because of an aggressive secularism. The world, specifically the Christian world, is revolting against the Christian message which has become a nuisance to the liberal values that the Western world hold dearly, especially the freedom of the individual to exercise his or her rights even at the expense of the larger good of the community. Ironically, the Christian gospel was the champion of the freedom of the individual when many societies lived under tyrannical and dictatorial rulers, and when the individual had no freedom to exercise their rights in many areas of their lives. Many were threatened with execution and torture if they rebelled against societal norms or the institutions.
Today, the irony is that these same countries are rebelling against the hand that fed them. The Church has become the enemy of freedom. Of course, the freedom that the world is fighting for is the freedom that St Paul wrote about in his letter to the Galatians. “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Gal 5:19-22) For this reason, today, Christ is not only rejected but the gospel as well. The world wants to silence the gospel simply because the gospel is the enemy of secularism, individualism and materialism.
But there is no way to silence the gospel except to silence its proclamation. This was why in the early Church, the religious authorities’ objection was not so much that Peter and John healed the crippled man but that they healed in Jesus’ name. “They could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say.” (Acts 4:14) “Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it. But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.” (Acts 4:17) So it was not about the good work that they did but because they proclaimed the name of Jesus. Isn’t this how the world also expects us to conduct ourselves? They are happy that the Church is doing good works, helping the poor, reaching out to the marginalized, so long as we do not preach the gospel.
Today’s first reading gave another reason why the religious leaders sought to suppress the apostles. “The high priest intervened with all his supporters from the party of the Sadducees. Prompted by jealousy, they arrested the apostles and had them put in the common gaol.” Insecurity and jealousy are the other reasons why often there is competition among religions, and sadly especially among Christian denominations. This can even happen among Church organizations within the same church and the same Christian community.
The good news is that human beings may want to thwart the proclamation of the gospel but God’s power is greater than what human beings can do. When the apostles were arrested and put in jail, “at night the angel of the Lord opened the prison gates and said as he led them out, ‘Go and stand in the Temple, and tell the people all about this new Life.’ They did as they were told; they went into the Temple at dawn and began to preach.” When the chief priest and the Sanhedrin asked for them to be brought, the officials found they were not inside the jail. They reported, “We found the gaol securely locked and the warders on duty at the gates, but when we unlocked the door we found no one inside.” When the captain of the Temple and the chief priests heard this news, they wondered what this could mean.
The meaning is clear, that the work of the apostles is the work of God, not the work of man. And if it is the work of God, we cannot stop it. Indeed, later it was a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law and honoured by all the people, who advised the Sanhedrin, saying, “Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” (Acts 5:38f) As the psalmist said, “The angel of the Lord is encamped around those who revere him, to rescue them.”
In the gospel, Jesus proclaimed the same truth about the salvation of humanity. Firstly, He made it clear that the Good News of salvation is for all. But salvation is not the work of man but primarily the work of God. God sent His only Son to save us. He told Nicodemus, “God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but may have eternal life. For God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world, but so that through him the world might be saved.” It is God’s desire to save the world, which includes not just the Jews but the Gentiles. God desires all of us to have eternal life. And to this end, God showed His love without reservation in giving up His only Son, reminding us of how Abraham was tested to sacrifice Isaac his only son but was stopped by the angel of the Lord. However, in God’s case, His only Son was put to death by evil men.
Consequently, we are left with the choice of either accepting that salvation is God’s work or the work of man. Jesus said to Nicodemus, “No one who believes in him will be condemned; but whoever refuses to believe is condemned already, because he has refused to believe in the name of God’s only Son.” Having faith in Jesus is the way to salvation simply because only God can save us from our sins. However, the religious leaders sought to think that salvation was theirs when they were obedient to the laws or when they offered the Temple sacrifices. To them, salvation was more the work of man than the work of God.
Of course, faith in Jesus is more than simply believing in Him; it means accepting all that He has taught us. It means living out the gospel life, all that the Lord has instructed us about forgiveness, poverty of spirit, obedience to God’s will, generosity, integrity of life, sincerity in observance of the laws, love of God and neighbour, and most of all, humble service to others especially the poor, the suffering and the marginalized. Jesus is the light of the world and we are all asked to walk the way He walked. We must carry our cross and follow after Him, to Calvary, before we can arrive at our Promised Land. But many of us find it difficult to accept the truths of what the Lord has taught us.
This is why we must ask ourselves, if we reject the gospel and if we reject Christ, is it because the values of the gospel contradict our preferences and hinder us from fulfilling our desires? Indeed, as the Lord remarked, “On these grounds is sentence pronounced: that though the light has come into the world men have shown they prefer darkness to the light because their deeds were evil. And indeed, everybody who does wrong hates the light and avoids it, for fear his actions should be exposed; but the man who lives by the truth comes out into the light, so that it may be plainly seen that what he does is done in God.” Without Christ, we live in darkness but when we open our lives to God’s judgment, we come to know the truth about ourselves and see ourselves clearly before the Lord, our selfishness, hypocrisy, pride and dishonesty.
But with Christ, faith in Him gives us a new moral power to do good. In Him, we find life to the fullest. In Him, we no longer condemn ourselves to a life of misery and hopelessness. Indeed, we must therefore, welcome or unwelcome, “Go and stand in the Temple, and tell the people all about this new Life.” We must proclaim this New Life in Christ to all men so that the world might be saved. We carry this mission out in humility and as an act of service to humanity, not in a superior or triumphalist manner.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment