20220516 MOTIVATED BY TRUTH IN LOVE
16 May, 2022, Monday, 5th Week of Easter
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: White.
First reading | Acts 14:5-18 © |
We have come with good news to turn you to the living God
Eventually with the connivance of the authorities a move was made by pagans as well as Jews to make attacks on the apostles and to stone them. When the apostles came to hear of this, they went off for safety to Lycaonia where, in the towns of Lystra and Derbe and in the surrounding country, they preached the Good News.
A man sat there who had never walked in his life, because his feet were crippled from birth; and as he listened to Paul preaching, he managed to catch his eye. Seeing that the man had the faith to be cured, Paul said in a loud voice, ‘Get to your feet – stand up’, and the cripple jumped up and began to walk.
When the crowd saw what Paul had done they shouted in the language of Lycaonia, ‘These people are gods who have come down to us disguised as men.’ They addressed Barnabas as Zeus, and since Paul was the principal speaker they called him Hermes. The priests of Zeus-outside-the-Gate, proposing that all the people should offer sacrifice with them, brought garlanded oxen to the gates. When the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard what was happening they tore their clothes, and rushed into the crowd, shouting, ‘Friends, what do you think you are doing? We are only human beings like you. We have come with good news to make you turn from these empty idols to the living God who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that these hold. In the past he allowed each nation to go its own way; but even then he did not leave you without evidence of himself in the good things he does for you: he sends you rain from heaven, he makes your crops grow when they should, he gives you food and makes you happy.’ Even this speech, however, was scarcely enough to stop the crowd offering them sacrifice.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 113B(115):1-4,15-16 © |
Not to us, Lord, but to your name give the glory.
or
Alleluia!
Not to us, Lord, not to us,
but to your name give the glory
for the sake of your love and your truth,
lest the heathen say: ‘Where is their God?’
Not to us, Lord, but to your name give the glory.
or
Alleluia!
But our God is in the heavens;
he does whatever he wills.
Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
Not to us, Lord, but to your name give the glory.
or
Alleluia!
May you be blessed by the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.
The heavens belong to the Lord
but the earth he has given to men.
Not to us, Lord, but to your name give the glory.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Christ has risen and shone upon us
whom he redeemed with his blood.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn14:26 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Holy Spirit will teach you everything
and remind you of all I have said to you.
Alleluia!
Gospel | John 14:21-26 © |
The Advocate, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘Anybody who receives my commandments and keeps them
will be one who loves me;
and anybody who loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I shall love him and show myself to him.’
Judas – this was not Judas Iscariot – said to him, ‘Lord, what is all this about? Do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?’ Jesus replied:
‘If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him and make our home with him.
Those who do not love me do not keep my words.
And my word is not my own:
it is the word of the one who sent me.
I have said these things to you while still with you;
but the Advocate, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you everything
and remind you of all I have said to you.’
MOTIVATED BY TRUTH IN LOVE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS 14:5-18; JOHN 14:21-26]
What is it that motivates us to do what we have to do or to obey a command? Do we act out of fear and falsehood or love and truth?
In the first reading, we read how the crowd, upon seeing the miracle that Paul worked, thought Paul and Barnabas were gods. Their immediate reaction was to render them worship. They wrongly thought that they were the gods Zeus and Hermes, also known as Mercury and Jupiter. According to the old legend, both these two gods visited the village but they were not welcomed. In their anger, they wiped out the whole city except for an old peasant couple who, although poor, welcomed them. They were afraid to make the same mistake again.
It is clear that they reacted out of fear and falsehood. It was not because they loved the gods but they were afraid that they would be punished. So they gave worship to them so as to protect themselves. Their fear of course was founded on falsehood. They were mistaken that Paul and Barnabas were gods. Secondly, they were also mistaken that the true God was so petty and vindictive. When they were assured by Paul and Barnabas that they were not gods, and incited by some Jews who arrived from Antioch and Iconium who “turned the people against the apostles”, “They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the town, thinking he was dead.”
As for the apostles, they were simply motivated by love and truth. In the first place, Paul healed the crippled man, not to show or prove anything, or to draw attention to himself but purely out of compassion and in response to his suffering. “Seeing that the man had the faith to be cured, Paul said in a loud voice, ‘Get to your feet – stand up’, and the cripple jumped up and began to walk.” So it was purely out of love that St Paul healed him in the name of the Lord.
Not only were they motivated by love, they were motivated by truth. This is clearly shown when they were worshipped as gods. Paul and Barnabas were in dismay; when they “heard what was happening they tore their clothes, and rushed into the crowd, shouting, ‘Friends, what do you think you are doing? We are only human beings like you.” They were not tempted by glory and honour. They could have continued to deceive them into believing that they were gods. Instead, they enlightened them that the gods they were worshipping were mere illusions. They could not do anything for them. They were simply empty idols. The true God is “the living God who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that these hold.” This God has been revealed in nature and in His divine providence. But nature is not God.
To worship idols is to place our trust in illusions, in nothingness. To place our trust in illusions is to live in false hope and not in reality. Only God is the true reality and the Ultimate Reality. That is why He is the living God. Indeed, the psalmist affirms this when he prayed, “Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to your name give the glory for the sake of your love and your truth, lest the heathen say: ‘Where is their God?’ But our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he wills. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. May you be blessed by the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. The heavens belong to the Lord but the earth he has given to men.” That is why the Devil is called the father of lies. He deceives us by lies and half-truths so that in fear we cling on to the illusions of the world. In fear of death, the worldly man clings to the passing things of this world instead on God.
How then can we be like the disciples, always motivated by love and truth?
To be motivated by truth, we must first love. How can we find the truth if not in and through love? This is what Jesus taught us in the gospel. Judas said to Him, “Lord, what is all this about? Do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” In other words, where is the truth to be found?
The fullness of truth is only revealed to those who have faith and love. Why? When there is love, we can see more than mere reason. With reason, we can only see things from our perspective. When we love, we look at the world not with our own eyes but with the eyes of our beloved. In other words, we see the world as he sees, not as we see. So when we love Jesus, we will see the world and God as He sees. If we want to find the fullness of truth, then we must see through the eyes of our beloved Lord, just as He saw the world through the eyes of His heavenly Father. This is what Jesus meant when He said, “If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home with him.” For Jesus to make His home with us is to say that His love and His truth live in us. When we love, we understand not just with our head but with our heart.
That is why those who have encountered God’s love in a personal way read the bible differently than before. Previously, they read without understanding and even if they did, it was more an intellectual insight. It does not strike the heart. But when one has fallen in love with Jesus, one reads the bible not as a historical account but the Word becomes alive and is spoken as if to the person. What is the cause of the change? It is because the reader now has a relationship with the Lord. He reads with faith, that is, with total openness and trust. Most of all, he reads with the eyes and heart of the Lord Himself. This enables him to understand and feel with the Lord. When we read with the heart of the person who writes to us, our understanding is much deeper and clearer.
But that is not all. When we love, we obey. Obedience is always the corollary of love. If we love but we do not obey then clearly our love is not real. To love is to serve the one whom we love and not ourselves. When we choose to serve ourselves, it is not love. So the true expression of love is obedience. That is why Jesus reminded us, “Those who do not love me do not keep my words. And my word is not my own: it is the word of the one who sent me.”
In living out a life of obedience in response to that love, truth becomes flesh. Truth is not a philosophy or an idea but an event. When we live out the commandments, the truth of what Jesus reveals to us becomes real and incarnated in our lives. Hence, Jesus assures us, “Anybody who receives my commandments and keeps them will be one who loves me; and anybody who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I shall love him and show myself to him.” Only in life is truth proven and becomes real.
Consequently, we can conclude that truth is love and love is truth. We come to know the truth only through and in love. This was the case of the crippled man. St Paul could read his eyes of faith and therefore he could heal him of his paralysis. His faith in Christ opened up his love; and in faith and love, he trusted totally in Christ. This trust was not merely an intellectual faith but a personal faith expressed in obedience to the Lord. And so when he was told to “‘Get to your feet – stand up’, and the cripple jumped up and began to walk.”
How can this love of God be in us so that we can come to know the fullness of truth? Jesus said, “I have said these things to you while still with you; but the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you.” Indeed, it is the Holy Spirit who is the love of God in person and the Spirit of Truth who will lead us to all truth.
Hence, from this week onwards, the liturgy will focus more and more on the Holy Spirit who will lead us to the fullness of truth. Jesus is the truth of God in person by His words and deeds. Although He has revealed to us the truth, many of us do not understand the meaning of the truths He has taught us. We need the Holy Spirit which is the heart of God, the love of God, to be poured into our hearts so that we can understand the words of Jesus and the deeper meaning of what He has taught us. Only through the Holy Spirit, the love of God dwelling in us, can we enter into the mind of Christ and the heart of the Father.
So let us in faith and love turn to the Holy Spirit more intensely these last weeks of Easter to reveal to us the truth which is given only to those who love and obey in faith what He has instructed us.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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