20240423 INCLUSIVE EVANGELIZATION REQUIRES INCULTURATION
23 April 2024, Tuesday, 4th Week of Eastertide
First reading | Acts 11:19-26 © |
They started preaching to the Greeks, proclaiming the Lord Jesus
Those who had escaped during the persecution that happened because of Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, but they usually proclaimed the message only to Jews. Some of them, however, who came from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch where they started preaching to the Greeks, proclaiming the Good News of the Lord Jesus to them as well. The Lord helped them, and a great number believed and were converted to the Lord.
The church in Jerusalem heard about this and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. There he could see for himself that God had given grace, and this pleased him, and he urged them all to remain faithful to the Lord with heartfelt devotion; for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and with faith. And a large number of people were won over to the Lord.
Barnabas then left for Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him he brought him to Antioch. As things turned out they were to live together in that church a whole year, instructing a large number of people. It was at Antioch that the disciples were first called ‘Christians.’
Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 86(87) © |
O praise the Lord, all you nations!
or
Alleluia!
On the holy mountain is his city
cherished by the Lord.
The Lord prefers the gates of Zion
to all Jacob’s dwellings.
Of you are told glorious things,
O city of God!
O praise the Lord, all you nations!
or
Alleluia!
‘Babylon and Egypt I will count
among those who know me;
Philistia, Tyre, Ethiopia,
these will be her children
and Zion shall be called “Mother”
for all shall be her children.’
O praise the Lord, all you nations!
or
Alleluia!
It is he, the Lord Most High,
who gives each his place.
In his register of peoples he writes:
‘These are her children,’
and while they dance they will sing:
‘In you all find their home.’
O praise the Lord, all you nations!
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation | 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 | John 10:22-30 © |
The Father and I are one
It was the time when the feast of Dedication was being celebrated in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the Temple walking up and down in the Portico of Solomon. The Jews gathered round him and said, ‘How much longer are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.’ Jesus replied:
‘I have told you, but you do not believe.
The works I do in my Father’s name are my witness;
but you do not believe,
because you are no sheep of mine.
The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice;
I know them and they follow me.
I give them eternal life;
they will never be lost
and no one will ever steal them from me.
The Father who gave them to me is greater than anyone,
and no one can steal from the Father.
The Father and I are one.’
INCLUSIVE EVANGELIZATION REQUIRES INCULTURATION
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS 11:19-26; PS 87:1-7; JN 10:22-30]
Jesus, as the Good Shepherd, comes for all, not just the Jews. He made this clear when He said, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” (Jn 10:14-16) These words are a confirmation of the earlier teaching of Jesus when He said, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16)
As a consequence, we can see how the divine plan of God unfolded after Pentecost. The primitive Church initially looked like it would be annihilated even before it could begin the mission of spreading the gospel to all nations, to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8) With the persecution of the Christians, the resultant martyrdom of Stephen and the intensified persecutions conducted by Saul, one would have thought that the Christians would be cowed into silence and extinction. On the contrary, the blood of the martyrs became the seed of the new Church. Christianity during the time of Philip was forced to move out of Jerusalem to Samaria and the gospel was preached to the Samaritans who were half-Jews and despised by the Jews in Judea. Today, we read that they went beyond Samaria and “travelled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch.”
Until now, as Luke mentioned, “they usually proclaimed the message only to the Jews. Some of them who came from Cyprus and Cyrene, however, went to Antioch where they started preaching to the Greeks, proclaiming the Good News of the Lord Jesus to them as well.” This was the beginning of inclusive evangelization. Initially, the gospel was addressed to the Jews because Christianity was understood as the fulfilment of Judaism. But as they preached the gospel beyond Palestine to the Greek cities, the Jews that had settled in Antioch, a colony of about 70,000 out of a population of 500,000 or more, spoke Greek. Many of them had settled down in these Greek cities, doing business as it was a flourishing centre of trade between the East and the West. So the disciples had to use Greek to speak about Christ as the fulfilment of Judaism.
Hence, the first requirement of the proclamation of the gospel to peoples beyond our shores is to use the vernacular language of the people. Indeed, the gospel, if it were to be addressed to the whole world, requires us to know the languages of the people. This was why the missionaries who came to the Far East and Africa or Latin America had to master the local languages to be able to transmit the gospel. The Catholic Church took quite long to realize this, especially in the celebration of the Eucharist and the sacraments. We were insisting on the use of Latin as a common language of worship until Vatican II made the bold change of using the vernacular language for worship. Unless we are ready to adapt to the local language of the people, we will not be effective in our missionary endeavours. Being inclusive means to welcome people who speak different languages and to respect their cultures.
Secondly, in the proclamation of the gospel, there is also a need for inculturation; which means transforming the meaning of the signs that a culture uses. In truth, this is not something new because the Lord had reinterpreted the signs that were used by the Jews to symbolize Himself, especially in John’s gospel. Already at the wedding in Cana, Jesus gave a new meaning to the six jars of water for the Jewish rites of purification by transforming them into wine, which anticipates the Wedding Feast in heaven. Six was an imperfect number simply because Jesus is the One who would perfect the wedding on earth and make it a sign of the heavenly wedding when the Church is wedded to Christ who is the bridegroom. And this is significantly brought out by Mary’s request for Jesus’ intervention, and His reply then was, “My hour has not yet come” (Jn 2:4) because it would be made possible only at His death and resurrection, His hour of glorification. So, too, Jesus in His meeting with the Samaritan Woman, identified Himself as the Living Water. In the discourse on the Eucharist, He identified Himself as the Manna, the Bread of life from heaven. At the cleansing of the Temple, and in today’s gospel, which is in the context of the annual Festival of Dedication of the Temple, Jesus identified His body as the New Temple of God and this is where His abode is. This is Jesus’ implicit claim to be God who returned to the Re-dedicated Temple after it was desecrated by King Antiochus. Again, it was at the Feast of Tabernacles, the festival of light and water, that Jesus declared Himself as the Light of the Word and the Living Water, giving believers the Holy Spirit. Most of all, Jesus made Himself the Passover and also the Passover Lamb that was sacrificed as that atonement for our salvation. This is summed up in today’s gospel when Jesus declared, “The Father and I are one!”
Hence, the early Church had to also consider how to inculturate the Christian Faith where the signs and message were deeply rooted in Judaism, although given a new dimension by Christ to those who were non-Jews, that is, to the Gentiles. For the Gentiles, they had little knowledge of the Jewish scriptures and traditions. Consequently, unlike when the early apostles preached to the Jews and even the Greek-speaking Jews outside Palestine, they could show the link between the Old Testament and the New Testament, and how Jesus is the fulfilment of the promises made by the prophets, it was more difficult to make a case with the Gentiles. Consequently, for the Gentiles, they began by “proclaiming the Good News of the Lord Jesus to them as well.” So the emphasis was on Jesus, the Son of God, the one who was put to death and raised to life. The truth of what they said was established by their testimonies of seeing the Risen Lord, the miracles that they worked in His name, and the transformation of their lives.
In other words, the earliest proclamation of the gospel was the kerygma. And it brought about great conversion even though those who did not know the background of the Jesus story, namely, the Old Testament. We read how the Lord worked through them. “The Lord helped them, and a great number believed and were converted to the Lord. The church in Jerusalem heard about this and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. There he could see for himself that God had given grace, and this pleased him, and he urged them all to remain faithful to the Lord with heartfelt devotion; for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and with faith. And a large number of people were won over to the Lord.” Indeed, this is still how the gospel is proclaimed today. We must begin with the Kerygma, that is, witnessing to the power of the Risen Lord in our lives through our testimonies of His love, mercy and transformation. At the beginning of evangelization, only the Kerygma needs to be proclaimed.
All that is required is faith, in order to experience the transforming effects of the Risen Lord. In today’s gospel, Jesus told the Jewish leaders, “I have told you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name are my witness; but you do not believe, because you are no sheep of mine.” In contrast, those who listen with faith are His sheep, for He said, “The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life; they will never be lost and no one will ever steal them from me. The Father who gave them to me is greater than anyone, and no one can steal from the Father.” So, inclusive evangelization begins with the proclamation of the Risen Lord, the kerygma.
Only then, after conversion, do we begin the whole process of catechesis, which is to study and appreciate the faith more and more. Then a lifelong discipleship begins with formation and faith-sharing. This was what Barnabas did with Saul. “Barnabas then left for Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him he brought him to Antioch. As things turned out they were to live together in that church a whole year, instructing a large number of people. It was at Antioch that the disciples were first called ‘Christians’.” This is why catechesis is an ongoing process. Learning and deepening our faith in Christ require the study of scriptures, history, doctrines, being devoted to prayers and a supportive faith community.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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