20240105 THE SYNODAL WAY OF FORMING OUR PEOPLE FOR LIFE AND LOVE
05 January 2024, Friday
First reading | 1 John 3:11-21 © |
Our love is to be something real and active
This is the message
as you heard it from the beginning:
that we are to love one another;
not to be like Cain, who belonged to the Evil One
and cut his brother’s throat;
cut his brother’s throat simply for this reason,
that his own life was evil and his brother lived a good life.
You must not be surprised, brothers, when the world hates you;
we have passed out of death and into life,
and of this we can be sure
because we love our brothers.
If you refuse to love, you must remain dead;
to hate your brother is to be a murderer,
and murderers, as you know, do not have eternal life in them.
This has taught us love –
that he gave up his life for us;
and we, too, ought to give up our lives for our brothers.
If a man who was rich enough in this world’s goods
saw that one of his brothers was in need,
but closed his heart to him,
how could the love of God be living in him?
My children,
our love is not to be just words or mere talk,
but something real and active;
only by this can we be certain
that we are children of the truth
and be able to quieten our conscience in his presence,
whatever accusations it may raise against us,
because God is greater than our conscience and he knows everything.
My dear people,
if we cannot be condemned by our own conscience,
we need not be afraid in God’s presence.
Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 99(100) © |
Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Serve the Lord with gladness.
Come before him, singing for joy.
Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Know that he, the Lord, is God.
He made us, we belong to him,
we are his people, the sheep of his flock.
Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Go within his gates, giving thanks.
Enter his courts with songs of praise.
Give thanks to him and bless his name.
Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Indeed, how good is the Lord,
eternal his merciful love.
He is faithful from age to age.
Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Gospel Acclamation | Heb1:1-2 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
At various times in the past
and in various different ways,
God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets;
but in our own time, the last days,
he has spoken to us through his Son.
Alleluia!
Or: |
Alleluia, alleluia!
A hallowed day has dawned upon us.
Come, you nations, worship the Lord,
for today a great light has shone down upon the earth.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn1:14,12 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.
To all who received him he gave power to become children of God.
Alleluia!
Gospel | John 1:43-51 © |
You will see heaven laid open, and the Son of Man
After Jesus had decided to leave for Galilee, he met Philip and said, ‘Follow me.’ Philip came from the same town, Bethsaida, as Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, the one about whom the prophets wrote: he is Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.’ ‘From Nazareth?’ said Nathanael ‘Can anything good come from that place?’ ‘Come and see’ replied Philip. When Jesus saw Nathanael coming he said of him, ‘There is an Israelite who deserves the name, incapable of deceit.’ ‘How do you know me?’ said Nathanael. ‘Before Philip came to call you,’ said Jesus ‘I saw you under the fig tree.’ Nathanael answered, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel.’ Jesus replied, ‘You believe that just because I said: I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.’ And then he added ‘I tell you most solemnly, you will see heaven laid open and, above the Son of Man, the angels of God ascending and descending.’
THE SYNODAL WAY OF FORMING OUR PEOPLE FOR LIFE AND LOVE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 JOHN 3:11-21; PS 100:1-5; JOHN 1:43-51]
Three years ago, Pope Francis initiated the call for the Church to be synodal. What it means is that the Pope wants all of us, regardless of our rank, hierarchy or position in the Church or in the world, to walk together as one People of God, journeying with each other in faith. As baptized Christians, by virtue of our oneness in the Body of Christ, we are called to accompany each other in faith. Indeed, supporting each other and coming together to share our experiences, struggles, joys and sorrows, and learning from each other as to how the Spirit is at work in our lives will motivate us in our mission to bring Christ to the world.
In today’s gospel, we have the example of what it means to begin a synodal journey with our brothers and sisters. Jesus shows us the way to journey with those under our care so that formation is not just a one-way instruction, the classical approach where the teacher instructs the disciples. He has all the answers and the disciples were just to listen, to believe and to put into practice what they have learnt. This was the way the Scribes and the Pharisees taught the people during the time of Jesus. They were the ones who dictate the dos and don’ts of how the people should live their lives.
We know that whilst the law is good and beautiful, it is not something that we all can fulfil perfectly because of human weakness. As a consequence, it leads to hypocrisy, something which the Lord would condemn in the religious leaders. They themselves were unable to do what they taught their disciples. He said, “For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.” (Mt 23:14f)
The novelty of our Lord is that by assuming our humanity, Jesus walks with us. He wants to travel the journey with us as He did with His disciples. He did not organize a seminar, a lecture or instruction classes to “educate” or to inform the people. Rather, when the disciples of John the Baptist saw Him, the Lord said to them, “Come and see.” It is fitting that they too did not ask Him, “what do you teach” but “where do you live.” In today’s gospel, we see how the apostles learnt from Jesus in bringing others to know Him. When “Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, the one about whom the Prophets wrote: he is Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth.’ ‘From Nazareth?’ said Nathanael. ‘Can anything good come from that place?’ ‘Come and see,’ replied Philip.”
Indeed, knowledge is not so much from listening, books and study alone. It is through a living and loving relationship, sharing the life, the joys and sorrows and experiences of others. This will help us to feel with each other, be open and receptive to one another, and docile to learn from each other. When we hear others sharing their own struggles and happiness, their vision of life, their encounters with God, we begin to open our eyes and hearts to the person and how God is working in the lives of our people, beyond the narrow confines of our minds. God works beyond the boundaries and laws made by us.
It is relationship that counts at the end of the day. Whether a person is ready to learn, to absorb and to be formed, is dependent on whether he or she has confidence and trust in the other person. It is how the teacher approaches his disciples that draws a person out of his or her shell. There are some of us who are sceptical about life because of a wounded history. We learnt to distrust people, especially those in authority. We are suspicious and we are not docile or ready to learn. This explains why some of us teachers can prepare our lessons well, teach eloquently, and yet fail to win our students over.
Jesus today shows us the art of drawing a person out of his prison before he could become a disciple. Jesus knew that no discipleship can begin unless He breaks down the walls that prevent the person from being docile and receptive. Jesus began by making Nathaniel feel that he was a unique person and not just one among others. So when Jesus saw Nathanael coming He said of him, “There is an Israelite who deserves the name, incapable of deceit.” This was such a great compliment indeed. This took Nathaniel by surprise. “How do you know me?” said Nathanael. Jesus’ compliment was sincere. He was not flattering him because Jesus saw through the heart of Nathaniel. He affirmed Nathaniel by telling him that he was a true Israelite, honest and true in contrast to Jacob, who is also called Israel in the Old Testament, cheated his brother Esau of his birthright. Nathaniel was a sincere man and if he were sceptical about new teachers, it was because he wanted to seek the truth. He was not contented simply to be just another ordinary Israelite like the religious leaders of his day. So, too, we cannot be contented just to be a Catholic by name or a mere verbal profession of faith but also by our very life, living out what we believe in.
Jesus also affirmed another important quality of Nathaniel. He said, “Before Philip came to call you, I saw you under the fig tree.” Jesus knew that Nathaniel was a man who was searching for the ultimate in life. To sit under the fig tree is a symbol of a holy man in contemplation and in prayer. Nathaniel was not contented just to live a moral or virtuous life. In itself this cannot bring true happiness, although it may provide one with a clear conscience. But more importantly, he wanted to discover what can truly bring him fulfilment in life, and who can lead him to that fulfilment. Nathaniel, in other words, was seeking for God. He was seeking for the Messiah. He knew that his thirst will only be quenched, and his life complete, when he finds God.
Indeed, for us, we are called to offer our people a good life, not just in terms of material prosperity, advancement in science and technology, nor help them to be good social and moral beings. All these are important of course. Catholic education seeks to help our students to search for the ultimate purpose in life, which is to find God, to know their final destiny, and to know what they must do now in order to arrive at this final fulfilment. We are not just contented to provide them a good life on earth. Even if we could do that, they will remain unfulfilled. Anyone who has all the basic needs of life, and even beyond, cannot find happiness because we are not merely sensual animals, we have a spirit and a soul. We seek the spiritual. We seek to live eternally. We seek love and we want this love and relationship to last forever.
This is the goal of education and point of discipleship. This is why the letter of St John is read during the Christmas and Epiphany seasons. St John urges the Christians to love. We can be very intelligent and very successful in life, but if we do not love our fellowmen and give our lives for them, we can never find life. The world is like Cain, ever ready to cut their brothers’ throat simply because their life is evil. Look at the insane wars being fought in the world today. We all want to live at the expense of the lives of others. We cannot live and let live together. We see our fellowmen as a threat to our happiness. We kill them without feeling sorry for them. People have become so evil that they can only feel their own pain, their own needs, their own loved ones, but not feel for others, strangers and enemies. Every one of us has the same aspiration in life: love, peace, security and prosperity. There are no special classes of people in this world. The lives of the rich and powerful are no more important than the lives of the poor. In the eyes of God all of us are equal before Him.
Let us once again take to heart the words of St John, “This has taught us to love – that he gave up his life of us: and we, too, ought to give up our lives for our brothers. If a man who was rich enough in this world’s goods saw that one of his brothers was in need, but closed his heart to him, how could the love of God be living in him? My children, our love is not to be just words or mere talk, but something real and active; only by this can we be certain that we are children of the truth.” May we learn to love and open our hearts to others and become authentic people. Let us learn to love like Jesus who taught us how to love by reaching out to people in a personal way, walking before them as a leader, and by their side as a brother, and behind, watching and safeguarding them from being led astray.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment