20240427 DESIRE TO SEE GOD
27 April 2024, Saturday, 4th Week of Eastertide
First reading | Acts 13:44-52 © |
Since you have rejected the word of God, we must turn to the pagans
The next sabbath almost the whole town assembled to hear the word of God. When they saw the crowds, the Jews, prompted by jealousy, used blasphemies and contradicted everything Paul said. Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly. ‘We had to proclaim the word of God to you first, but since you have rejected it, since you do not think yourselves worthy of eternal life, we must turn to the pagans. For this is what the Lord commanded us to do when he said:
I have made you a light for the nations,
so that my salvation may reach the ends of the earth.’
It made the pagans very happy to hear this and they thanked the Lord for his message; all who were destined for eternal life became believers. Thus the word of the Lord spread through the whole countryside.
But the Jews worked upon some of the devout women of the upper classes and the leading men of the city and persuaded them to turn against Paul and Barnabas and expel them from their territory. So they shook the dust from their feet in defiance and went off to Iconium; but the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 97(98):1-4 © |
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
or
Alleluia!
Sing a new song to the Lord
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
or
Alleluia!
The Lord has made known his salvation;
has shown his justice to the nations.
He has remembered his truth and love
for the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
or
Alleluia!
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
ring out your joy.
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation | Rm6:9 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Christ, having been raised from the dead, will never die again.
Death has no power over him any more.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn8:31-32 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
If you make my word your home
you will indeed be my disciples,
and you will learn the truth, says the Lord.
Alleluia!
Gospel | John 14:7-14 © |
To have seen me is to have seen the father
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘If you know me, you know my Father too.
From this moment you know him and have seen him.’
Philip said, ‘Lord, let us see the Father and then we shall be satisfied.’
‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip,’ said Jesus to him, ‘and you still do not know me?
‘To have seen me is to have seen the Father,
so how can you say, “Let us see the Father”?
Do you not believe
that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
The words I say to you I do not speak as from myself:
it is the Father, living in me, who is doing this work.
You must believe me when I say
that I am in the Father and the Father is in me;
believe it on the evidence of this work, if for no other reason.
I tell you most solemnly,
whoever believes in me
will perform the same works as I do myself,
he will perform even greater works,
because I am going to the Father.
Whatever you ask for in my name I will do,
so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If you ask for anything in my name,
I will do it.’
DESIRE TO SEE GOD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS 13:44-52; PS 98:1-4; JN 14:7-14]
Philip said to Jesus, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” This is what every man is seeking deep within, even if he does not acknowledge the reality of God or believe in Him. But every man is seeking for truth and life. Only God is truth and all truths rest in Him. Only God is fullness of life. Outside God, there is no absolute truth or life but partial participation in His truth and love. This was what Jesus meant when He told Thomas, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (Jn 14:6)
But how can we see the Father if not in Jesus because the Father is pure Spirit? When Philip asked Jesus for the grace to see the Father, he was asking for what all the prophets of old, such as Isaiah and Moses sought. “Moses said, ‘Show me your glory, I pray.’ And he said, ‘I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you the name, ‘The Lord’; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,’ he said, ‘you cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live.'” (Ex 33:18-20)
Indeed, Jesus wants us to have more than just an encounter with God in Spirit. He wants us to encounter His Father in His very being. This is the purpose of the incarnation. His identity with the Father was the basis for us to encounter God in person, His life, words and deeds. Jesus said to Philip, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The father who dwells in me is doing his works.” Jesus does not just represent the Father but He is the presence of the Father although He is not the Father.
The works of Jesus verify His identity with the Father. He told Philip, “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves.” Jesus’ whole life expresses the Father’s love and mercy for humanity. But what is the greatest works which is the word for “miracle” in John’s gospel? In John’s gospel, there are recorded seven signs or works of Jesus. The culminating sign or the greatest of Jesus’ works was His passion, death and resurrection. In His passion and death, Jesus revealed to us the depth of God’s mercy and love and forgiveness of our sins. In His resurrection, He was raised to life and in turn bestowed life on us in the Holy Spirit.
What is needed for us is to believe. It is not enough to see physically with our eyes the miracles that Jesus performed, or to know intellectually through study and knowledge that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life; we must believe. The incarnation is meant to show forth the glory of God in Jesus. Many people see the miracles of God at work in the lives of others and yet are without faith. They assign them to coincidence, luck, or some causes that science perhaps will answer in the future. But faith is required; otherwise, like the Jews, we will not see Jesus’ real identity as the Son of God. Knowledge through understanding and study is also important for us to come to know Jesus. But such insights might get us nowhere. Very often, because of pride and selfish interests, we are blinded to the truth. Polemics has its limitations because faith in God cannot be reasoned and proven. This was what happened when Paul was preaching in Antioch. “The whole town of Antioch assembled to hear the word of God. When they saw the crowds, the Jews, prompted by jealousy, used blasphemies and contradicted everything Paul said.”
Faith in Jesus is the required response to seeing the Father in Him. But how does one know He has faith in Christ? It must be seen in works. These works do not just refer to the miraculous works that the apostles did through the signs and wonders that they performed in the name of Jesus. These are included, but they are works of love and mercy. Anyone who believes in Jesus is in union with Him in mind and heart and therefore expresses his life in the same way Jesus did. Good works do bring about our salvation, but they remain the effects of the grace of God given to us in Christ Jesus. As St Paul says, “the only thing that counts is faith working through love.” (Gal 5:6) And St James wrote, “So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.” (Jms 2:17f)
These works therefore must be accomplished not apart from Jesus but with Him and through Him. “Amen, amen I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask for in my name I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask for anything in my name, I will do it.” In returning to the Father, the Lord comes to us in a new way in the Holy Spirit. By dwelling in us in the Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus continues to work through the apostles and the Church. That is why it is necessary that those who do the work of Jesus must ask in prayer so that the Father might be glorified in Christ. Only those prayers that are asked in the mind of Jesus, with the same heart and intention, would be answered. To ask everything in His name is more than merely uttering His name, but allowing Jesus to act in and through us, in union with Him.
When someone believes in Jesus, shares in His mind and heart, lives His life of love and service, such a person encounters God within himself, in others and in the works he does. This is what happens to those who believe in Jesus. They no longer live for themselves but for others. They no longer work for themselves but for the glory of God and for their fellowmen. By allowing God to work in and through them, they experience God’s mighty power and love. Indeed, those who give themselves to Jesus and put no obstacles to Him working in their lives, receive much joy and fulfilment. Like John the Baptist, we also say, “He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. For this reason my joy has been fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.” (Jn 3:29f)
Today, we who have seen God must go and proclaim the salvation of God in our lives so that our faith remains alive. This is what the psalmist is asking of us. “Sing a new song to the Lord for he has worked wonders. His right hand and his holy arm have brought salvation. The Lord has made known his salvation; has shown his justice to the nations. He has remembered his truth and love for the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Shout to the Lord, all the earth, ring out your joy.” Like the Christians, we, too, are called to be a light for the nations, so that His salvation may reach the ends of the earth. With St Paul we are to proclaim the Word of God boldly.
Even when we are rejected by some because of pride, jealousy or vested interests, we need to proclaim the Word to those who want to hear them. Like St Paul we should not be discouraged. He had seen the Lord and He knew that Christ is the Way to fullness of truth and life. He is the revealer of the Father. The truth is that the message of eternal life is given to all. Blessed are those who receive it as the pagans did. “It made the pagans very happy to hear this and they thanked the Lord for his message; all who were destined for eternal life became believers. Thus the word of the Lord spread through the whole countryside.” So long as we are one in the Lord, we will never be discouraged by failure and rejection. But like the apostles, we know our conscience is clear that we have done what we should and are filled with the joy of the Spirit. “So they shook the dust from their feet in defiance and went off to Iconium; but the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.”
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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