20220419 THE EYES OF FAITH: REASON AND LOVE
19 April, 2022, Easter Tuesday
First reading | Acts 2:36-41 © |
You must repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus
On the day of Pentecost, Peter spoke to the Jews: ‘The whole House of Israel can be certain that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.’
Hearing this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the apostles, ‘What must we do, brothers?’ ‘You must repent,’ Peter answered ‘and every one of you must be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise that was made is for you and your children, and for all those who are far away, for all those whom the Lord our God will call to himself.’ He spoke to them for a long time using many arguments, and he urged them, ‘Save yourselves from this perverse generation.’ They were convinced by his arguments, and they accepted what he said and were baptised. That very day about three thousand were added to their number.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 32(33):4-5,18-20,22 © |
The Lord fills the earth with his love.
or
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
The word of the Lord is faithful
and all his works to be trusted.
The Lord loves justice and right
and fills the earth with his love.
The Lord fills the earth with his love.
or
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord looks on those who revere him,
on those who hope in his love,
to rescue their souls from death,
to keep them alive in famine.
The Lord fills the earth with his love.
or
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Our soul is waiting for the Lord.
The Lord is our help and our shield.
May your love be upon us, O Lord,
as we place all our hope in you.
The Lord fills the earth with his love.
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 | John 20:11-18 © |
'I have seen the Lord and he has spoken to me'
Mary stayed outside near the tomb, weeping. Then, still weeping, she stooped to look inside, and saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head, the other at the feet. They said, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ ‘They have taken my Lord away’ she replied ‘and I don’t know where they have put him.’ As she said this she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not recognise him. Jesus said, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and remove him.’ Jesus said, ‘Mary!’ She knew him then and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbuni!’ – which means Master. Jesus said to her, ‘Do not cling to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go and find the brothers, and tell them: I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ So Mary of Magdala went and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had said these things to her.
THE EYES OF FAITH: REASON AND LOVE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS 2:36-41; JN 20:11-18 ]
How can we come to find faith in the resurrection of the Lord? Is faith in the Risen Lord a matter of reason or of love? This is the crux of today’s scripture readings.
In the first reading, we read of how the 3000 who heard St Peter’s sermon came to faith. Following from yesterday’s first reading, St Peter argued from scripture the life of Jesus, and from their own experience why Jesus was the Messiah and the Resurrected Lord. He cited from the prophecy of King David that the body of the Messiah would not see any corruption; and Jesus Himself on earth was commended by God because through Christ, signs, miracles and portents were performed by the Lord. Finally, they themselves experienced the Risen Lord in their lives and hearts with the fulfilment of the promise of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit when they received the gift of tongues. Hence, his conclusion was that “The whole House of Israel can be certain that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.”
The immediate response of his listeners was from the heart. “They were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the apostles, ‘What must we do, brothers?'” We see that the preaching of St Peter opened the hearts of many to receive the Lord. Through the convicted preaching of St Peter, many were ready to accept his testimony and believe in the Risen Lord. This is one way to come to faith, namely, the conviction of the heart.
Some apparently still could not take the leap of faith. They needed the conviction of the mind. For these others, further intellectual discourse was needed. St Luke wrote, “He spoke to them for a long time using many arguments, and he urged them, ‘Save yourselves from this perverse generation.’ They were convinced by his arguments, and they accepted what he said and were baptised. That very day about three thousand were added to their number.” For this particular group of intellectuals, they needed to be convicted in their heads before their hearts could respond in faith. There are some for whom inspired and convicted preaching cannot bring to faith. They need to see the credibility of their belief before their heart can respond in faith.
Faith is never against reason. It is true that one can come to faith through reason. But reason will take a long time to come to faith. Reason is nevertheless important to faith, otherwise faith can be superstitious and incredulous. Reason purifies our faith and ensures that our faith is a reasonable act of trust. In other words, reason gives credibility to faith. But reason is not proof because faith at the end of the day is a matter of trust. This trust however must be a reasonable trust based on signs rather than evidence. Faith should be acted upon based on the signs given.
This was the case of St Peter in the gospel who did not come to believe through evidence. On Easter morning, when it was still dark, Mary of Magdala went to the tomb and found the stone of the tomb rolled away. She ran back immediately to report to Peter and John, since Peter was the recognized leader of the Twelve. Upon the news, they rushed to the tomb. Though he saw what John saw, namely, the linen cloths on the ground, and also the cloth that had been over his head rolled up in a place by itself, he was simply amazed but did not come to faith. Indeed, the evangelist remarked, “Till this moment they had failed to understand the teaching of scripture, that he must rise from the dead.” So evidence alone cannot bring a person to faith in the Risen Lord. Something else is needed.
It is the eyes of love. This is by far the most effective and fastest way of coming to faith. We have seen it in the case of St John the disciple whom Jesus loved. The gospel made it clear that unlike St Peter, “the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in; he saw and he believed.”
So too in today’s story of Mary Magdalene. It was her devoted and complete love for our Lord that gave her the privilege of being the first to see the Risen Lord. Her deep love for Jesus could be seen by the way she acted. Firstly, we are told that she went to the grave early in the morning when it was still dark. So it would have been before 6 a.m. She could not go earlier on because it was Sabbath and Jews were not allowed to walk more a kilometre. Acts 1:12 says, “Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath day’s journey.” We can understand her immense love and gratitude to our Lord. She was forgiven her many sins. She was accepted by Christ when all others condemned and ostracized her. In Christ, she found true love and acceptance for what she was. Such unconditional love and forgiveness from Christ changed her to a totally different person. She regained her dignity and identity.
Yet, this love for the Lord alone is not sufficient to come to faith in the Risen Lord. Love must be purified of selfishness before love can see the Risen Lord. Her love for the Lord initially was a selfish and egoistic love. She loved the Lord for herself and not for the Lord’s sake. This explains why she could not recognize the Lord, thinking that He was a gardener when the Lord asked her, “Why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” She was too absorbed in her pain to see the Lord.
How true it is, when in a bereavement, many of us cannot see beyond our loss. We cannot rejoice with the person who has completed his journey on earth and has returned to his homeland, which is to be with God forever and so find complete rest and happiness. Instead of being happy for that person, we cannot let go for his sake. Such self-centred love will prevent us from seeing the greater good and joy that comes from letting go. This was what prevented Mary from seeing the Lord as well.
Why is that so? Because we are looking at the past and not the present or the future! Our eyes are on yesterday rather than on the present. We tend to live in nostalgic times. We want to live in the past and preserve the past. But life is a living reality. Life is a process. Time is a process. To live we must move on. We cannot continue to dwell in our past. This was the case of Mary Magdalene. She could not recognize the Lord because her eyes were fixed on the empty tomb. She was not looking at the Lord who was behind her. She only thought of the body that was crucified and now missing. Her eyes were fixed on what she had lost and not what the future could hold for her. Truly, when we keep dwelling on the past, especially bad memories, we hold back the future that awaits us.
However, when the Lord called her name, she turned around and saw the Lord. It is significant that this turning around enabled her to see the Lord. We are called to turn around, that is, away from our past, away from focusing on ourselves and our needs, pains, loneliness and loss. We are called to look forward to the Risen Lord, to the great and unpredictable and amazing future that is unfolding for us. But we need to have faith to move on in life and start living afresh.
This need to move ahead is underscored by Jesus instructing Mary, “Do not cling to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father.” In other words, we must not cling to the Jesus of Nazareth but from now on cling to the Risen Lord. The Crucified One has Risen. We must let go of the Jesus of Nazareth and allow Him to return to the Heavenly Father where after His glorification, He will return to us in His Risen body and Spirit. We are called to let go of our losses and our past and our bereavements in all its forms. We must get out of ourselves, and instead of looking inward, look outward to the new life that is ahead of us. We must not be looking at our tomb but look upward to the sky, where Jesus ascended.
Indeed, the answer to faith in the Risen Lord and to new life is love. When there is love, nothing is impossible. Just consider the response of Mary when she said,” Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and remove him.” Did she ever think that she alone could remove the body? The truth is that when we love, we do not consider the cost, or the how. Love gives us that energy to do things for people without fear or calculation. If there is a will, there is a way. When we love, we can sacrifice everything for the person we love. Indeed, when we love the Lord, we will find the strength to love Him and to follow Him. When we love the Risen Lord, we too will find the capacity to move on and start reaching out to others in love with the love that we have received from Him. Only love gives us the capacity to always begin life anew. Anyone who is capable of loving beyond oneself has fullness of life.
So how can we love the Lord? We need to know Him. We need to hear Him calling us by name as He called out to Mary. Only in prayer and in contemplation can we hear the Lord calling us by name. As the psalmist says, “The Lord looks on those who revere him, on those who hope in his love, to rescue their souls from death, to keep them alive in famine.” When we hear the voice of the Lord calling us, then we know that the Risen Lord has come to meet us. With that strength and His love, we will go out as Jesus said, “go and find the brothers, and tell them: I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” So let us go out and tell the whole world that the Lord is Risen and we are risen in Him. Alleluia!
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment