20240202 CONSECRATING OUR PEOPLE
02 February 2024, Friday, The Presentation of the Lord
First reading | Malachi 3:1-4 © |
The Lord you are seeking will suddenly enter his Temple
The Lord God says this: Look, I am going to send my messenger to prepare a way before me. And the Lord you are seeking will suddenly enter his Temple; and the angel of the covenant whom you are longing for, yes, he is coming, says the Lord of Hosts. Who will be able to resist the day of his coming? Who will remain standing when he appears? For he is like the refiner’s fire and the fullers’ alkali. He will take his seat as refiner and purifier; he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and then they will make the offering to the Lord as it should be made. The offering of Judah and Jerusalem will then be welcomed by the Lord as in former days, as in the years of old.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 23(24):7-10 © |
Who is the king of glory? He, the Lord, he is the king of glory.
O gates, lift high your heads;
grow higher, ancient doors.
Let him enter, the king of glory!
Who is the king of glory? He, the Lord, he is the king of glory.
Who is the king of glory?
The Lord, the mighty, the valiant,
the Lord, the valiant in war.
Who is the king of glory? He, the Lord, he is the king of glory.
O gates, lift high your heads;
grow higher, ancient doors.
Let him enter, the king of glory!
Who is the king of glory? He, the Lord, he is the king of glory.
Who is he, the king of glory?
He, the Lord of armies,
he is the king of glory.
Who is the king of glory? He, the Lord, he is the king of glory.
When a Feast of the Lord falls on a weekday, there is no reading after the Psalm and before the Gospel.
Gospel Acclamation | Lk2:32 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The light to enlighten the Gentiles
and give glory to Israel, your people.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 2:22-40 © |
My eyes have seen your salvation
When the day came for them to be purified as laid down by the Law of Moses, the parents of Jesus took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, – observing what stands written in the Law of the Lord: Every first-born male must be consecrated to the Lord – and also to offer in sacrifice, in accordance with what is said in the Law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.
Now in Jerusalem there was a man named Simeon. He was an upright and devout man; he looked forward to Israel’s comforting and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had set eyes on the Christ of the Lord. Prompted by the Spirit he came to the Temple and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the Law required, he took him into his arms and blessed God; and he said:
‘Now, Master, you can let your servant go in peace,
just as you promised;
because my eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared for all the nations to see,
a light to enlighten the pagans
and the glory of your people Israel.’
As the child’s father and mother stood there wondering at the things that were being said about him, Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘You see this child: he is destined for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected – and a sword will pierce your own soul too – so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare.’
There was a prophetess also, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was well on in years. Her days of girlhood over, she had been married for seven years before becoming a widow. She was now eighty-four years old and never left the Temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer. She came by just at that moment and began to praise God; and she spoke of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.
When they had done everything the Law of the Lord required, they went back to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. Meanwhile the child grew to maturity, and he was filled with wisdom; and God’s favour was with him.
CONSECRATING OUR PEOPLE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [MALACHI 3:1-4; HEBREWS 2:14-18; LUKE 2:22-40]
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, which concludes the celebration of Christmas as the celebration of Light. But it is also a day dedicated to religious to renew their vows to the Lord, remembering that day when they entered into Consecrated Life, a life that is lived wholly for God and for His people. When we decide to give ourselves to the Lord in religious or priestly life, most of us simply want to devote ourselves to God by spending time in prayer, recollection, meditation, reading the Word of God, joining in community prayers and worship. The other aspect of being consecrated to religious life is of course to avail ourselves to be at the humble service of the people of God. According to our charisms, we chose that particular religious congregation or order so that we can live out the charisms that the Lord had given to us.
However, there is one thing that those who join religious life often overlook. It is the community aspect of growing in love for God together, supporting each other in our spiritual life, and living out our faith in fraternal love and service, not just for the People of God but first and foremost, within our religious community. There are some who join a particular religious order because they are attracted to their prayer life and also the services they offer to the People of God. Yet, they fail to realize that what holds both their prayer life and service together is the support of the community. It is in the community that they would be purified in love and service; and in their Spiritual life.
Yet, we all know that community living can be quite daunting, simply because we are all of diverse character, temperament, talents, virtues, understanding, and level of spiritual growth. When we gather a group of people together who are all unique in their own ways, with their cultural and religious upbringing, including the habit that they were formed in their family, community and society, there is bound to be a very broad spectrum in how they see life, relationships and service. Such distinctive gifts or character can be a bane or a boon to the community, depending on how we manage the life of the community. Yet, they are very necessary for authentic purification in truth, in love, and for the formation of the individual.
Indeed, as brothers and sisters, we are called to purify ourselves so that we can be truly consecrated to the Lord in name and in action. This is what the first reading from the prophet Malachi is asking of us. The prophet says, “Who will remain standing when he appears? For he is like the refiner’s fire and the fullers’ alkali. He will take his seat as refiner and purifier; he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and then they will make the offering to the Lord as it should be made. The offering of Judah and Jerusalem will then be welcomed by the Lord as in former days, as in the years of old.” Being in Consecrated Life and even in the priesthood does not mean that we have arrived. In fact, we are always arriving, and sometimes going further away from what we sought originally. We need to ask ourselves whether we are more purified in the way we commit ourselves to the Lord and His people, including our community. Have we purified our motives in service, and have we become more authentic in our relationships with our fellow religious brothers and sisters and when we minister to those whom we serve?
This is where as a Synodal Church, we need to implement the Synodal way of walking with our brothers and sisters in our community. In truth, this synodal way of living our faith is not entirely new to the religious communities. Perhaps, in the olden days, the emphasis on religious life was poverty, obedience and chastity, understood in a very narrow way as being materially poor, avoiding sexual sins and most of all, to obey whatever your superior tells you to do, without question. However, over time, these three evangelical counsels are widely interpreted. Poverty, although without excluding a life of material simplicity, includes a poverty of the Spirit; that openness and docility to the will of God and to the Spirit speaking to us through our community and the larger community. Chastity, of course, is more than living a celibate life or a chaste life, but to welcome everyone into our lives without excluding or being selective of some members. Chastity means to have a heart of openness to everyone whom we see, meet, live or work with or serve, as our brothers and sisters. Finally, obedience is not just saying Yes to the decisions of our superiors, which again is not excluded, but seeking the will of God together with our superior and our community, listening to the Holy Spirit together, to find God’s concrete will for us at a particular point of time, especially when it comes to assuming an office or an apostolate.
Indeed, to celebrate the Incarnation of our Lord means that the Lord wants to identify Himself with us in our lives. He took the journey, so to speak, from on high, and came down to earth to share our destiny and our life. He emptied Himself of His divinity to assume our humanity, taking upon Himself all our struggles, anxieties, pain, sickness, temptations, and suffering the injustice of men. He knew what it was to be persecuted, to be betrayed, to be displaced from His homeland, to be misunderstood, used and taken for granted. He bore all these patiently and selflessly, without retaliation, but with a spirit of empathy and forgiveness. By taking upon our humanity, He showed us how as human beings we too can overcome evil and death so that we can live a life of authentic freedom. This is what the letter of Hebrews is saying. “Since all the children share the same blood and flesh, Christ too shared equally in it, so that by his death he could take away all the power of the devil, who had power over death, and set free all those who had been held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death.”
Above all, to help our brothers and sisters in the path to freedom and holiness, we must be identified with them. This is what journeying is all about, as it frees us from being judgmental and helps us to be compassionate. Unless we feel with them in their struggles, we cannot empathize with them. Again, the letter to the Hebrews says, “For it was not the angels that he took to himself; he took to himself descent from Abraham. It was essential that he should in this way become completely like his brothers so that he could be a compassionate and trustworthy high priest of God’s religion, able to atone for human sins.” Better still, when we have gone through the way before, we would be able to feel with them more than others. As the letter to the Hebrews say, “That is, because he has himself been through temptation he is able to help others who are tempted.”
Indeed, we need to support our brothers and sisters as they journey in life, especially our religious brothers and sisters. Today, religious life has undergone tremendous changes. In many ways, you all have started the synodal process even before the Universal Church asked the entire Church to walk this synodal journey with everyone. You need to make this synodal process a culture in your community life. This would be the way to strengthen your community and bring each other closer together. In turn, the same synodal process must be cascaded to the organizations or ministries that are under your care. In this way, you will truly incarnate Christ in your midst and you will know that you are not travelling alone but you have the community walking with you, working with you and growing with you.
If you do that, then, you too would be able to share the hope with Simeon when he was comforted by the Holy Spirit that “he would not see death until he had set eyes on the Christ of the Lord.” Indeed, in Christ, he saw the Lord and hence blessed God, “Now, Master, you can let your servant go in peace, just as you promised; because my eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared for all the nations to see, a light to enlighten the pagans and the glory of your people Israel.” May we, too, be a light to enlighten the world as we walk together in faith, in love and in hope as consecrated religious men and women in the world.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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