20220528 INTELLECTUAL KNOWLEDGE OF FAITH IS A DEFICIENT FAITH
28 May, 2022, Saturday, 6th Week of Easter
First reading | Acts 18:23-28 © |
Apollos demonstrated from the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ
Paul came down to Antioch, where he spent a short time before continuing his journey through the Galatian country and then through Phrygia, encouraging all the followers.
An Alexandrian Jew named Apollos now arrived in Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, with a sound knowledge of the scriptures, and yet, though he had been given instruction in the Way of the Lord and preached with great spiritual earnestness and was accurate in all the details he taught about Jesus, he had only experienced the baptism of John. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him speak boldly in the synagogue, they took an interest in him and gave him further instruction about the Way.
When Apollos thought of crossing over to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote asking the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived there he was able by God’s grace to help the believers considerably by the energetic way he refuted the Jews in public and demonstrated from the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 46(47):2-3,8-10 © |
God is king of all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
All peoples, clap your hands,
cry to God with shouts of joy!
For the Lord, the Most High, we must fear,
great king over all the earth.
God is king of all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
God is king of all the earth,
sing praise with all your skill.
God is king over the nations;
God reigns on his holy throne.
God is king of all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
The princes of the people are assembled
with the people of Abraham’s God.
The rulers of the earth belong to God,
to God who reigns over all.
God is king of all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation | Jn14:16 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I shall ask the Father,
and he will give you another Advocate
to be with you for ever.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn16:28 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I came from the Father
and have come into the world,
and now I leave the world
to go to the Father.
Alleluia!
Gospel | John 16:23-28 © |
The Father loves you for loving me and believing that I came from God
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘I tell you most solemnly,
anything you ask for from the Father he will grant in my name.
Until now you have not asked for anything in my name.
Ask and you will receive, and so your joy will be complete.
I have been telling you all this in metaphors,
the hour is coming when I shall no longer speak to you in metaphors;
but tell you about the Father in plain words.
When that day comes you will ask in my name;
and I do not say that I shall pray to the Father for you,
because the Father himself loves you for loving me
and believing that I came from God.
I came from the Father and have come into the world
and now I leave the world to go to the Father.’
INTELLECTUAL KNOWLEDGE OF FAITH IS A DEFICIENT FAITH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS 18:23-28; PS 47:2-3,8-10; JN 16:23-28]
In the first reading, we read of an Alexandrian Jew named Apollos. He was a great scholar and an eloquent teacher. “He was an eloquent man, with a sound knowledge of the scriptures, and yet, though he had been given instruction in the Way of the Lord and preached with great earnestness and was accurate in all the details he taught about Jesus, he had only experienced the baptism of John.” He must have been an erudite man. But there was one thing he was lacking. Although he knew about the Way of the Lord, most probably the Old Testament and how Jesus was the Messiah, he had never encountered the Risen Lord. It was all based on study and research. He only experienced the baptism of John which was a baptism of repentance.
There are many Catholics who are like Apollos, who know Jesus intellectually but lack a personal experience of Him. Some are well steeped in the knowledge of their faith because they read much and even attend scripture and theological courses. Some are equally eloquent in teaching and expounding the faith to others. They can write beautiful books on theology and scripture. Of course, some have inadequate knowledge of scripture and theology. Nevertheless, they are very passionate in the social mission of the Church. They are inspired by the Lord and want to assist the poor and the marginalized.
But those who have mere intellectual knowledge of the Lord or the lack of it, will find their spiritual life rather weak and shallow. Their conviction of Christ and the gospel comes from the head but not from the heart. These people who are involved in the ministry often depend on their own strength and efforts. They work hard in the ministry and in giving themselves to others. In the process, they suffer burn-out because of the demands of the ministry. When they face challenges in their ministry, which often have to do with relationships, misunderstandings and their ego wanting to be right and be recognized, they create enemies. They are angry and bitter with their fellow collaborators and even those whom they serve because they feel that they are unreasonable.
So, when “Priscilla and Aquila heard him speak boldly in the synagogue, they took an interest in him and gave him further instruction about the Way.” Until then, Apollos only knew Jesus through study. But now he was led to know Jesus personally. Most likely he was baptized in the Holy Spirit, which led him to a personal encounter with the Lord. In St Paul’s understanding, baptism means a conscious reception of Christ and being filled with His Holy Spirit. Until one knows Jesus in the Holy Spirit, that knowledge of Jesus remains external and cerebral. Only when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit and come to know Jesus personally in our mind and heart, can we then preach with inner conviction and with power because it will be the Lord speaking in and through His Holy Spirit.
Without this infilling of the Holy Spirit we will not be able to know Jesus personally and speak with utter conviction like the disciples. That was why in the following chapter, we read how St Paul discovered that the Christians in Ephesus did not even know about the Holy Spirit. (cf Acts 19:1-7) The apostles were effective witnesses because as St John wrote, “We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life – this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us – we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.” (1 Jn 1:1-3) We know Jesus personally through the Spirit.
This is what the Lord was anticipating His disciples. He said to them, “I have told you this in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures but I will tell you clearly about the Father.” The disciples were not able to understand fully what Jesus was saying as He was speaking about His resurrection and ascension. Jesus’ teaching about His Father and His identity were confusing to the disciples. They did not know what Jesus was really saying because His language was cryptic. So, like many of us who have not yet encountered the Risen Lord in the power of the Holy Spirit, when people speak to us about their religious experience and how they encountered the Risen Christ, those without a similar experience would just hear in amazement but without being able to grasp what they are saying. Of course, those who are arrogant will dismiss such recounting of their Christ-experience as emotionalism.
However, after the death of our Lord, upon encountering the resurrection, they came to understand the depth of what Jesus was saying about Himself and His Father. The death of Jesus revealed to them the Father’s unconditional mercy and forgiveness for our sins. The resurrection of our Lord revealed to them the power of God over sin, hatred and death. The ascension of our Lord revealed that Jesus is one with the Father from all eternity and that He was sent by the Father. This is what Jesus said, “I came from the Father and have come into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” The origin and identity of our Lord was revealed only at His death and resurrection.
Knowing that He is the revealer of the Father and the Revealed, Jesus said to His disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.” Jesus being our only mediator, means that it is only in and through Jesus that we can come to know the face and the heart of our Father. In His life, passion, resurrection and His teaching, Jesus who was one with the Father showed us His life and His love. That being the case, we must now put on the mind of Christ and His heart of love for His Father and humanity so that we too will come to be in fellowship with Him as Jesus was.
This explains why the Lord said, “On that day you will ask in my name, and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you. For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God.” To ask in the name of Jesus means to come through Jesus so that we can come to the Father. Jesus does not simply pray for us but He prays in us and with us. If we are united to Jesus in heart and mind, the Father who loves the Son will also love us because He is in us and we are in Him. Most of all, the Father who loves the Son who always seeks to do the Father’s will necessarily loves us as well because we too in the Son seek to obey the Father’s will. Within this context, we can be certain that our prayers would be heard.
For this reason, we must be like St Paul, Priscilla and Aquila in continuing to encourage those who are disciples to deepen their faith and their personal experience of God. We read how “Paul came down to Antioch where he spent a short time before continuing his journey through the Galatian country and then through Phrygia, encouraging all the followers.” The weakness of our Church is that we baptize many people but we do not follow up with them after their baptism to ensure that they are further incorporated into Christ and His Church. We leave them alone to swim in their infant faith. This accounts for why many drop out of the faith after some time when they meet challenges and trials in their lives. If not, they become complacent and live a nominal faith, just merely going to Church on Sundays and fulfilling the basic obligations of a Catholic. Their faith is hardly alive but lukewarm and will gradually die out.
Not so in the case of Apollos, for we read that “when Apollos thought of crossing over to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote asking the disciples to welcome him.” Not only did they help Apollos to be more inserted into the body of Christ but they encouraged him in his ministry and were happy to ask others to welcome him. He felt loved and supported in his faith, unlike many of our Catholics, especially the newly baptized. Many of them feel very alone in their faith and do not know how to grow and deepen their faith. With the support of the Church and his personal encounter with the Lord and his studies about the faith, “he was able by God’s grace to help the believers considerably by the energetic way he refuted the Jews in public and demonstrated from the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.” We too must render support to our fellow Catholics in their faith. Together we need to grow and deepen our faith in Christ through intimacy, prayer and study as individuals and as the Body of Christ. In this way, our witnessing will be powerful and effective.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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