Scripture Reflection and Prayer : Journeying together: 2024

Sunday, 24 November 2024

PROCLAIMING CHARITY IN TRUTH WITH CHARITY

20241124 PROCLAIMING CHARITY IN TRUTH WITH CHARITY

First reading

Daniel 7:13-14

I saw, coming on the clouds of heaven, one like a son of man

I gazed into the visions of the night.

And I saw, coming on the clouds of heaven,

one like a son of man.

He came to the one of great age

and was led into his presence.

On him was conferred sovereignty,

glory and kingship,

and men of all peoples, nations and languages became his servants.

His sovereignty is an eternal sovereignty

which shall never pass away,

nor will his empire ever be destroyed.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 92(93):1-2,5

The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed.

The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed;

the Lord has robed himself with might,

he has girded himself with power.

The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed.

The world you made firm, not to be moved;

your throne has stood firm from of old.

From all eternity, O Lord, you are.

The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed.

Truly your decrees are to be trusted.

Holiness is fitting to your house,

O Lord, until the end of time.

The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed.

Second reading

Apocalypse 1:5-8

Jesus Christ has made us a line of kings and priests

Grace and peace to you from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the First-Born from the dead, the Ruler of the kings of the earth. He loves us and has washed away our sins with his blood, and made us a line of kings, priests to serve his God and Father; to him, then, be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen. It is he who is coming on the clouds; everyone will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the races of the earth will mourn over him. This is the truth. Amen. ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega’ says the Lord God, who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.

Gospel Acclamation

Mk11:10

Alleluia, alleluia!

Blessings on him who comes in the name of the Lord!

Blessings on the coming kingdom of our father David!

Alleluia!

Gospel

John 18:33-37

Yes, I am a king

‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ Pilate asked. Jesus replied, ‘Do you ask this of your own accord, or have others spoken to you about me?’ Pilate answered, ‘Am I a Jew? It is your own people and the chief priests who have handed you over to me: what have you done?’ Jesus replied, ‘Mine is not a kingdom of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my men would have fought to prevent my being surrendered to the Jews. But my kingdom is not of this kind.’ ‘So you are a king then?’ said Pilate. ‘It is you who say it’ answered Jesus. ‘Yes, I am a king. I was born for this, I came into the world for this: to bear witness to the truth; and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice.’

24 November 2024, Sunday, Christ the King

PROCLAIMING CHARITY IN TRUTH WITH CHARITY

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ Dan 7:13-14; Ps 93:1-2,5; Rev 1:5-8; John 18:33-37]

We all know that love is the meaning of life. We are all created for love, namely love of God, of our neighbour and ourselves. Jesus taught us the greatest commandment, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mk 12:30f) Indeed, the heart of God is love. Again, we read in the first letter of John’s gospel, “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.” (1 Jn 4:7-9)

However, this word “love” is very much abused in the world today because everyone is invoking the name of love in whatever they do. In the name of love of oneself, or even of the unborn baby, we abort the child because the parents are not ready for that child, and they do not want the child to suffer in the world. In the name of love, we promote euthanasia, because we have compassion not just for those suffering but so that the caregivers can be set free from the burden of loving and caring for them. In the name of love, we promote IVF so that we can have a child at all costs, even at the expense of the many human embryos we destroy in the process. In the name of love, we promote same-sex marriage and adoption of babies by same-sex couples. In the name of love, countless wars are fought each day with thousands of lives lost. In the name of love, we allow people to consume drugs that destroy their mental and bodily well-being. And the list goes on and on. All in the name of love.

This is why charity needs truth, otherwise charity is grossly misconstrued and devoid of meaning. Charity must be rooted in the light of truth. Charity cannot be detached from ethics and morality. Only in truth, can charity be authentic in its practice. Without truth, charity is reduced to mere sentimentality and subjective emotions. It is an empty word and interpreted arbitrarily to suit the selfishness of the individual, resulting in abuse and distortion. It falls prey to relativistic opinions to the point where charity is actually selfishness and there is no truth in love.

It is within this context that we are called to reflect on this critical and necessary relationship between love and truth. Charity needs to be confirmed by the light of truth and guided by truth. Only when charity is founded on truth, can it bring true love, unity and communion among men and women. No one desires a love that is merely a pretence. We seek true and lasting love. Indeed, love without truth would be just nice sentiments which can change, depending on one’s feelings and moods. One cannot build any real relationship or real sharing of oneself when a relationship is founded on lies and untruth. However, this truth must also be proclaimed in love if it were to be accepted and embraced. St Paul in his letter to the Ephesians wrote, “But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.” (Eph 4:15f)

On the Feast of Christ the King, the scripture readings invite us to look at our Lord who is truth and love in person to understand how love must be founded on truth and how truth in love must be proclaimed. When the Lord was brought before Pilate, He was supposed to be on trial, but it was Pilate and the Jewish leaders and the people that were really on trial. Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus replied, “Do you ask this of your own accord, or have others spoken to you about me?” Indeed, Pilate as the governor was not interested in rendering justice to Jesus. Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? It is your own people and the chief priests who have handed you over to me: what have you done?” He was taking up the case because of pressure from the Jewish leaders and the people. He knew they had no case against Jesus. He was not truthful to himself. So the Lord challenged him further to examine the truth about himself. Jesus replied, ‘Mine is not a kingdom of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my men would have fought to prevent my being surrendered to the Jews. But my kingdom is not of this kind.’ ‘So you are a king then?’ said Pilate. ‘It is you who say it’ answered Jesus. ‘Yes, I am a king. I was born for this, I came into the world for this: to bear witness to the truth; and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice.’

The question to us all as well, is where do we stand on the side of truth? Where do we stand with regard to our commitment to truth? For us, Christians, Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Jesus who is the Son of God by His very life, being, words and deeds demonstrates to us what charity in truth is all about. The teachings of our Lord reveal to us the truth about life, love, compassion and forgiveness. It is about integrity to the commandments of the Lord, but at the same time, truth must truly promote love. It is about self-sacrifice, simplicity, sharing, caring, forgiving, and welcoming. Do we truly believe in the Word of God, and the teaching of Christ? Or do we make compromises and distort the Word of God to suit our personal and selfish preferences? If it were the case, then we are no better than Pilate who tried to avoid taking a stand on the side of truth to protect his personal interests, his popularity, his position and his power.

If truth is meant to protect charity, then truth must be proclaimed with charity. The Lord shows us the way of innocent suffering. Some of us when speaking the truth, do it without charity, so much so that the truth is not heard. If truth is meant to protect charity, then truth must be proclaimed with charity. Jesus always spoke with truth and with charity. He was patient and non-judgmental towards sinners, whether it was the woman caught in adultery or the tax-collectors. When the Jewish officials evicted Him from the synagogue, He did not resist but brought the gospel to the crowd, preaching at the hillside, on the boat and in deserted land. Jesus in the face of His enemies did not seek revenge or violence. He even instructed Peter to put back his sword when He was arrested at the garden of Gethsemane. The Lord did not resist arrest, and allowed His enemies the upper hand. Even when challenged by the onlookers and the Jewish leaders to come down from the cross to prove His claims, Jesus was silent. When He was scourged and put to death, He willingly submitted to the cross.

By so doing, Christ not only proclaimed the truth but did it with charity. Although He was the King as He revealed Himself to be, He did not reign with a sceptre in His hand or on a throne, but with a reed and the cross. He did not conquer us by power and might, or threats and coercion, but He sought to win over our hearts and minds by His gentleness, mercy, compassion and love. In Him, Love and Truth meet, especially at His passion on the cross. Christ teaches us what is true love and what sacrifices it entails in such love. True love springs from justice and mercy. By His death on the cross, Jesus defeated the world of sin, hatred and selfishness through love. Indeed, as the book of Revelation declares, “Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, the First-born from the dead, the Ruler of the kings of the earth. He loves us and has washed away our sins with his blood, and made us a line of kings, priests to serve his God and Father; to him, then, be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.”

Today, when we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King, we must enthrone Jesus in our hearts so that we allow the truth and love of Christ to reign in our lives. We can be sure that if our lives are founded on Him, we will reign with Him. “On him was conferred sovereignty, glory and kingship, and men of all peoples, nations and languages became his servants. His sovereignty is an eternal sovereignty which shall never pass away, nor will his empire ever be destroyed.” We must allow His love to penetrate every area of our life. Jesus must be the king of our hearts. We must allow Jesus full control over lives. We must submit to His kingdom values and His Word. Finally, let us follow Him by living our life in humble service and in truth. In this way, we establish Christ’s kingdom in all of creation.

WITNESSES TO THE RESURRECTION

20241123 WITNESSES TO THE RESURRECTION

First reading

Apocalypse 11:4-12

The prophets will die who have been a plague to the world

I, John, heard a voice saying: ‘These, my two witnesses, are the two olive trees and the two lamps that stand before the Lord of the world. Fire can come from their mouths and consume their enemies if anyone tries to harm them; and if anybody does try to harm them he will certainly be killed in this way. They are able to lock up the sky so that it does not rain as long as they are prophesying; they are able to turn water into blood and strike the whole world with any plague as often as they like. When they have completed their witnessing, the beast that comes out of the Abyss is going to make war on them and overcome them and kill them. Their corpses will lie in the main street of the Great City known by the symbolic names Sodom and Egypt, in which their Lord was crucified. Men out of every people, race, language and nation will stare at their corpses, for three-and-a-half days, not letting them be buried, and the people of the world will be glad about it and celebrate the event by giving presents to each other, because these two prophets have been a plague to the people of the world.’

After the three-and-a-half days, God breathed life into them and they stood up, and everybody who saw it happen was terrified; then they heard a loud voice from heaven say to them, ‘Come up here’, and while their enemies were watching, they went up to heaven in a cloud.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 143(144):1-2,9-10

Blessed be the Lord, my rock.

Blessed be the Lord, my rock,

who trains my arms for battle,

who prepares my hands for war.

Blessed be the Lord, my rock.

He is my love, my fortress;

he is my stronghold, my saviour

my shield, my place of refuge.

He brings peoples under my rule.

Blessed be the Lord, my rock.

To you, O God, will I sing a new song;

I will play on the ten-stringed lute

to you who give kings their victory,

who set David your servant free.

Blessed be the Lord, my rock.

Gospel Acclamation

cf.Lk8:15

Alleluia, alleluia!

Blessed are those who,

with a noble and generous heart,

take the word of God to themselves

and yield a harvest through their perseverance.

Alleluia!

Or:

cf.2Tim1:10

Alleluia, alleluia!

Our Saviour Jesus Christ abolished death

and he has proclaimed life through the Good News.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Luke 20:27-40

In God all men are alive

Some Sadducees – those who say that there is no resurrection – approached Jesus and they put this question to him, ‘Master, we have it from Moses in writing, that if a man’s married brother dies childless, the man must marry the widow to raise up children for his brother. Well then, there were seven brothers. The first, having married a wife, died childless. The second and then the third married the widow. And the same with all seven, they died leaving no children. Finally the woman herself died. Now, at the resurrection, to which of them will she be wife since she had been married to all seven?’

Jesus replied, ‘The children of this world take wives and husbands, but those who are judged worthy of a place in the other world and in the resurrection from the dead do not marry because they can no longer die, for they are the same as the angels, and being children of the resurrection they are sons of God. And Moses himself implies that the dead rise again, in the passage about the bush where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is God, not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all men are in fact alive.’

Some scribes then spoke up. ‘Well put, Master’ they said – because they would not dare to ask him any more questions.

23 November 2024, Saturday, 33rd Week in Ordinary Time

WITNESSES TO THE RESURRECTION

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [REV 11:4-12; LUKE 20:27-40 ]

The answer to the riddles of suffering and death is in the resurrection. This is why the resurrection of our Lord is the most important doctrine of the Church. Christianity stands or falls with faith in the resurrection. If Christ were not raised, then all the teachings of Christ would be placed in doubt. Most of all, as St Paul wrote, “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ – whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.” (1 Cor 15:13-15)

Indeed, faith in the resurrection only became clearer in Christ. It was a doctrine that grew in the later part of the Old Testament although it was alluded in the book of Job and the prophet Ezekiel. Some scholars suggest that the two witnesses mentioned in today’s first reading could be an allusion to Enoch and Elijah as both were taken up to heaven at the end of their earthly life. It became more widespread during the inter-testamental period when we read that prayers were offered for the purification of the souls of those Maccabean martyrs. By the time of Christ, the resurrection of the dead was already a doctrine accepted by the Pharisees and the Scribes, but not the Sadducees who only accepted the first five books of the Old Testament, the Torah.

It is within this context that the Lord underscored the truth of the resurrection of the dead when the Sadducees sought to discredit those who believed in it. Using their very example which they cited to put up a ludicrous case of the resurrection, Jesus made it clear that a resurrected life is different from a resuscitated life. The Lord said, “The children of this world take wives and husbands, but those who are judged worthy of a place in the other world and in the resurrection from the dead do not marry because they can no longer die, for they are the same as the angels, and being children of the resurrection, they are sons of God.” So the resurrection is a transfigured life. There is no death and so there is no question of procreation. Life is inclusive, and there is no question of marriage.

Citing from their own scriptures, the Lord took His argument from scripture where in the Book of Exodus, “Moses himself implies that the dead rise again, in the passage about the bush where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is God, not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all men are in fact alive.” God could only be the God of our forefathers provided they were still alive. Of course, the real case for the resurrection of the dead is not simply faith in this doctrine but the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Faith in the resurrection of the dead is not the basis for faith in the resurrection of Christ. Rather it is Christ’s resurrection from the dead that substantiates that belief in the resurrection of the dead is true.

Consequently, the early Christians found encouragement from the resurrection of Christ for their martyrdom on account of their faith. Earlier on, John was asked to eat the scroll which was sweet in his mouth but turned sour in his stomach. He was then told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.” (Jn 10:9-11) John then heard a voice saying: “These, my two witnesses, are the two olive trees and the two lamps that stand before the Lord of the world. Fire can come from their mouths and consume their enemies if anyone tries to harm them; and if anybody does try to harm them he will certainly be killed in this way.” Two witnesses were necessary to verify the truth. These two witnesses could be an allusion to Elijah who brought fire to the holocaust and stopped rain from falling in Israel, or Moses who sent the plagues to Egypt. Eventually they would be transfigured as we saw them again in the Transfiguration scene.

Indeed, it is the resurrection that conquers our fear of death. It is death that man fears most in life. Not only is man tormented by pain and by the advancing deterioration of his body, but even more so by a dread of perpetual extinction. He rightly follows the intuition of his heart when he abhors and repudiates the utter ruin and total disappearance of his own person. He rebels against death because he bears in himself an eternal seed which cannot be reduced to sheer matter. All the endeavors of technology, though useful in the extreme, cannot calm his anxiety; for prolongation of biological life is unable to satisfy that desire for higher life which is inescapably lodged in his breast.” (Gaudium et Spes, No 18)

In the light of what we have said, it means that we, too, are called to be witnesses of the resurrection. Like the two witnesses, we all have a prophetic calling as well. In a world where evil men seek to destroy life through war, abortion, euthanasia and violence, we are called to protect life in all its stages. Like the early Church, we will face persecution from the Antichrist. This is why the Church, more than any other religions, are persecuted by the world. They find the gospel a nuisance to their desire for complete freedom to do anything they want. Today, the world wants absolute freedom and to exercise their personal rights even at the expense of the common good. The world prefers to live in deception rather than hear the unpleasant truth. Those who boldly challenge them would have to suffer the same fate as the two witnesses in the Book of Revelation. The beast in the book of revelation represents the ungodly world as a whole.

However, it is the martyrdom of Christians, hence, they are called “witnesses”, that the Church confirms the truth of her message about Jesus with signs and by suffering. By their martyrdom, they overcame the evil of the world. Christian witness and suffering go together, and they precede the end of the world. We read, “when they have completed their witnessing, the beast that comes out of the Abyss is going to make war on them and overcome them and kill them. Their corpses will lie in the main street of the Great City known by the symbolic names Sodom and Egypt, in which their Lord was crucified. Men out of every people, race, language and nation will stare at their corpses, for three-and-a-half days, not letting them be buried, and the people of the world will be glad about it and celebrate the event by giving presents to each other, because these two prophets have been a plague to the people of the world.” This is an allusion to the crucifixion of our Lord when the world stared at His cross.

More and more, the Church would have to confront the powers of the world. But the book of Revelation tells us not to fear. That the beast overpowers or conquers the saints is merely temporal and from a human perspective. In God’s eyes, the suffering and death of martyrs would bring about a restoration of the world. We are given an assurance in the passion and death of our Lord. The victory of the world over the prophets of God would be temporary. So we read, “After the three-and-a-half days, God breathed life into them and they stood up, and everybody who saw it happen was terrified; then they heard a loud voice from heaven say to them, ‘Come up here’, and while their enemies were watching, they went up to heaven in a cloud.” Like Christ, they too would be raised from the dead and enter into the heavenly kingdom of God our Father. So let us remember that the setback is temporary.

Indeed, in our struggles against the evil of this world, as St Paul reminds us, we must “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. Put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication.” (Eph 6:10-18) In the words of the psalmist, we must pray, “Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my arms for battle, who prepares my hands for war. He is my love, my fortress; he is my stronghold, my savior my shield, my place of refuge. He brings peoples under my rule. To you, O God, will I sing a new song; I will play on the ten-stringed lute to you who give kings their victory, who set David your servant free.” So with faith, we march on!

Thursday, 21 November 2024

SAVOURING THE WORD OF GOD

20241122 SAVOURING THE WORD OF GOD

First reading

Apocalypse 10:8-11

I was told to swallow the scroll, and to prophesy

I, John, heard the voice I had heard from heaven speaking to me again. ‘Go,’ it said ‘and take that open scroll out of the hand of the angel standing on sea and land.’ I went to the angel and asked him to give me the small scroll, and he said, ‘Take it and eat it; it will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey.’ So I took it out of the angel’s hand, and swallowed it; it was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach turned sour. Then I was told, ‘You are to prophesy again, this time about many different nations and countries and languages and emperors.’

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 118(119):14,24,72,103,111,131

Your promise is sweet to my taste, O Lord.

I rejoiced to do your will

as though all riches were mine.

Your will is my delight;

your statutes are my counsellors.

Your promise is sweet to my taste, O Lord.

The law from your mouth means more to me

than silver and gold.

Your promise is sweeter to my taste

than honey in the mouth.

Your promise is sweet to my taste, O Lord.

Your will is my heritage for ever,

the joy of my heart.

I open my mouth and I sigh

as I yearn for your commands.

Your promise is sweet to my taste, O Lord.

Gospel Acclamation

cf.2Tim1:10

Alleluia, alleluia!

Our Saviour Jesus Christ abolished death

and he has proclaimed life through the Good News.

Alleluia!

Or:

Jn10:27

Alleluia, alleluia!

The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice,

says the Lord,

I know them and they follow me.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Luke 19:45-48

You have turned God's house into a robbers' den

Jesus went into the Temple and began driving out those who were selling. ‘According to scripture,’ he said ‘my house will be a house of prayer. But you have turned it into a robbers’ den.’

He taught in the Temple every day. The chief priests and the scribes, with the support of the leading citizens, tried to do away with him, but they did not see how they could carry this out because the people as a whole hung on his words.

22 November 2024, Friday, 33rd Week in Ordinary Time

SAVOURING THE WORD OF GOD

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ REV 10:8-11; LUKE 19:45-48]

In the responsorial psalm, the psalmist prays, “The law from your mouth means more to me than silver and gold. Your promise is sweeter to my taste than honey in the mouth.” Is this the way we approach the Word of God? Do we look forward with joy to read the Word of God? Those who love to read the Word of God are those who have fallen in love with God. This is a pre-requisite for us to cherish the Word of God. Unless we have had a deep encounter with God, the Word of God is merely human words to us. It is not much different from reading any other book, whether for inspiration or for knowledge. But for those of us who have encountered God and believe in Him, we take the Word of God seriously because we believe in faith, that the Bible is God’s Word addressed to us through His prophets, His apostles and evangelists.

But how do we encounter the presence of God deeply today if not through His Spirit? It is the Holy Spirit, the love of God in person who dwells in us that leads us to read the scriptures with the mind and heart of God. This is what the Lord promised us before His death, “I have said these things to you while I am 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 that I have said to you.” (Jn 14:25f) He also said, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” (Jn 16:12f)

Indeed, those who have had an awakening of the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives, whether through prayer, worship, or a special encounter with the Lord in the Spirit, will read the scripture in a new light and with a new mind and a new heart. Falling in love with the Word of God is the most tangible sign of one who knows the Lord. If one claims that he or she has had an experience of God but it does not lead them to a deep love and thirst for the Word of God, that religious experience is more of an emotional experience than real. This is because when our relationship with God is personal and affective, we would desire to hear every word of His. This was the case of the people during the time of our Lord as we read in today’s gospel, “the people as a whole hung on his words.”

Indeed, all the prophets and apostles of God have a deep love for the Word of God. In today’s first reading, St John heard the voice from heaven instructing him to take “that open scroll out of the hand of the angel standing on sea and land.” The angel told him to take and eat the scroll. This, too, was the case of the prophet Ezekiel. The Spirit said to him, “hear what I say to you; do not be rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you. I looked, and a hand was stretched out to me, and a written scroll was in it. He spread it before me; it had writing on the front and on the back, and written on it were words of lamentation and mourning and woe.” (Ez 2:8-10)

Why is it so necessary for us to eat the Word of God? In the gospel, Jesus who constantly cited the scripture texts to ward off the temptations of the Evil One in the desert, told him, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Mt 4:4) Only by reading the Word of God, can we find strength and direction in life. The psalmist declares, “I rejoiced to do your will as though all riches were mine. Your will is my delight; your statutes are my counsellors. The law from your mouth means more to me than silver and gold.” In St Paul’s letter to Timothy, he reminded them, “you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim 3:16f)

Indeed, we read the Word of God not just for ourselves but also to help us to do the work of God. Only those who have read His Word can be inspired to speak His Word to others. The Spirit told the prophet Ezekiel, “eat what is offered to you; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” (Ez 3:1) The Spirit similarly instructed St John after he ate the scroll, “”You are to prophesy again, this time about many different nations and countries and languages and emperors.” To teach and proclaim the Word of God is not simply a matter of using nice words, or to speak profound theological words to others. For even in theology, we have theologians who use their intellectual knowledge to twist and turn the Word of God to suit their arguments. In the final analysis, whatever teaching that we receive, we must measure them against the Word of God. That is why, good and sound theologians are those who are not just intellectually gifted but rather those who do theology on their knees. Good theologians are those who pray deeply, have a deep personal relationship with the Lord and read the Word of God with faith and humility; and who do not distort the truth of the Word of God to suit the lifestyle of the world.

This is what the scriptures tell us. When we read the Word of God in all sincerity, we will be challenged by the Word of God. If we read the Word of God, and we feel smug about ourselves, then we can be sure we are reading it wrongly. Reading God’s word does not make us complacent and will also expose our weakness and lack of sincerity and love. This is what the angel meant when he warned St John saying, “Take it and eat it; it will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will taste sweet as honey.” True enough, St John vouched, “So I took it out of the angel’s hand, and swallowed it; it was as sweet as honey in my mouth but when I had eaten it my stomach turned sour.” So, too, in the case of Ezekiel. The Spirit told the prophet, “eat this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it. Then I ate it; and in my mouth it was as sweet as honey.” (Ez 3:3)

Indeed, to read the Word of God is to savour the truth that God comes to reveal to us. Truth is sweet because it liberates our mind and sets us free from fear and ignorance. The Lord told the Samaritan, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (Jn 4:21-24) To love requires us to love in truth. Loving God or someone is more than just having nice sentimental feelings for a person. It means acting in truth, both in words and action. It is about living with integrity, honesty, charity and compassion.

Of course, for those who reject the truth, the Word of God would taste sour to them. When we seek to proclaim the truth to them, they would react against the Word of God. Evil and worldly people do not want to hear the truth. They will find all ways and means to suppress the truth. This is why the world does not like Christians, because we proclaim the truth about life and love, about peace and justice, forgiveness and charity, acting in accordance with natural law either with respect to marriage or gender. The world rejects the prophets of God.

In today’s gospel, Jesus was at the Temple, driving out the merchants who were selling and making exorbitant profits from the poor. The Lord said, “According to scripture, my house will be a house of prayer. But you have turned it into a robbers’ den.” Indeed, Jesus as the Word of God, sought to purify the Temple of God and restore it to be the place where God dwells. He is of course the new Temple of God. By rejecting Christ, the Jews were rejecting the Temple of God. For this reason, the religious leaders, by seeking to kill the Lord, would bring the Temple to an end and make possible a new Temple of God. Jesus, who was put to death, signified the end of the Temple worship, and by His resurrection, was made the new Temple of God. We who accept Jesus as the Word of God and submit to Him, will become the new Temple of God. Indeed, every time when Christians gather to celebrate the Eucharist, Jesus is present in our midst. By listening to the Word of God and receiving Him in the Eucharist, Jesus lives in us, His body, as our Head.

Wednesday, 20 November 2024

OFFERING OURSELVES TO GOD AND FOR HIS CHURCH

20241121 OFFERING OURSELVES TO GOD AND FOR HIS CHURCH

First reading

Zechariah 2:14-17

'I am coming', says the Lord

Sing, rejoice,

daughter of Zion;

for I am coming

to dwell in the middle of you

– it is the Lord who speaks.

Many nations will join the Lord,

on that day;

they will become his people.

But he will remain among you,

and you will know that the Lord of Hosts has sent me to you.

But the Lord will hold Judah

as his portion in the Holy Land,

and again make Jerusalem his very own.

Let all mankind be silent before the Lord!

For he is awaking and is coming from his holy dwelling.

Responsorial Psalm

Luke 1:46-55