20240428 MISTAKEN IDENTITY
29 April 2024, Monday, 5th Week of Eastertide
First reading | Acts 9:26-31 © |
Barnabas explained how the Lord had appeared to Saul on his journey
When Saul got to Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him: they could not believe he was really a disciple. Barnabas, however, took charge of him, introduced him to the apostles, and explained how the Lord had appeared to Saul and spoken to him on his journey, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. Saul now started to go round with them in Jerusalem, preaching fearlessly in the name of the Lord. But after he had spoken to the Hellenists, and argued with them, they became determined to kill him. When the brothers knew, they took him to Caesarea, and sent him off from there to Tarsus.
The churches throughout Judaea, Galilee and Samaria were now left in peace, building themselves up, living in the fear of the Lord, and filled with the consolation of the Holy Spirit.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 21(22):26-28,30-32 © |
You, Lord, are my praise in the great assembly.
or
Alleluia!
My vows I will pay before those who fear him.
The poor shall eat and shall have their fill.
They shall praise the Lord, those who seek him.
May their hearts live for ever and ever!
You, Lord, are my praise in the great assembly.
or
Alleluia!
All the earth shall remember and return to the Lord,
all families of the nations worship before him;
They shall worship him, all the mighty of the earth;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust.
You, Lord, are my praise in the great assembly.
or
Alleluia!
And my soul shall live for him, my children serve him.
They shall tell of the Lord to generations yet to come,
declare his faithfulness to peoples yet unborn:
‘These things the Lord has done.’
You, Lord, are my praise in the great assembly.
or
Alleluia!
Second reading | 1 John 3:18-24 © |
The commandment of faith and love
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,
and whatever we ask him,
we shall receive,
because we keep his commandments
and live the kind of life that he wants.
His commandments are these:
that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ
and that we love one another
as he told us to.
Whoever keeps his commandments
lives in God and God lives in him.
We know that he lives in us
by the Spirit that he has given us.
Gospel Acclamation | Jn15:4,5 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Make your home in me, as I make mine in you.
Whoever remains in me bears fruit in plenty.
Alleluia!
Gospel | John 15:1-8 © |
I am the vine, you are the branches
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘I am the true vine,
and my Father is the vinedresser.
Every branch in me that bears no fruit
he cuts away,
and every branch that does bear fruit
he prunes to make it bear even more.
You are pruned already,
by means of the word that I have spoken to you.
Make your home in me, as I make mine in you.
As a branch cannot bear fruit all by itself,
but must remain part of the vine,
neither can you unless you remain in me.
I am the vine,
you are the branches.
Whoever remains in me, with me in him,
bears fruit in plenty;
for cut off from me you can do nothing.
Anyone who does not remain in me
is like a branch that has been thrown away – he withers;
these branches are collected and thrown on the fire,
and they are burnt.
If you remain in me
and my words remain in you,
you may ask what you will
and you shall get it.
It is to the glory of my Father that you should bear much fruit,
and then you will be my disciples.’
MISTAKEN IDENTITY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS 14:5-18; JOHN 14:21-26]
In the first reading we read of the healing of the crippled man from birth by Paul. Almost instantly, “when the crowd saw what Paul had done they shouted in the language of Lycaonia, ‘These people are gods who have come down to us disguised as men.’ They addressed Barnabas as Zeus, and since Paul was the principal speaker they called him Hermes.” Such was the spontaneous perception of the people. What Paul did was truly a miracle. And so, in their naivety and perhaps also some fear, thinking that the gods had come to visit them, they quickly paid homage to Paul and Barnabas.
Of course, it was a case of mistaken identity. Paul and Barnabas immediately took steps to correct the wrong impression. “They tore their clothes, and rushed into the crowd, shouting, ‘Friends, what do you think you are doing?” They could have taken advantage of the popular reception, but they did not. On the contrary, they insisted that they were anything other than ordinary beings like them. They did not attribute the healing miracle to themselves or to their own powers. Such was the consciousness of their true identity. Like the psalmist, they would have said, “Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to your name give the glory for the sake of your love and your truth, lest the heathen say: ‘Where is their God?'”
Indeed, Paul and Barnabas were people who knew themselves and their limitations. They could have led them on and made use of their newfound popularity and status. But they had no intention to cheat or impress or pretend to be what they were not. How many of us would attribute our success and all we have to God without claiming any credit for ourselves? Secretly, many of us think it is due to our hard work. In fact, there are some faith healers who seek to draw people to themselves rather than to God; making money out of their gift of healing.
We must be careful of the sin of idolatry which still exists today in different forms. Idolatry is to give glory to ourselves. We are the first idol that we worship in a world of relativism and agnosticism. In ancient days, people ascribed powers to statues and created things. Even though they were made by human hands, homage was given to such idols. That was why St Paul said, “we have come with good news to make you turn from these empty idols to the living God who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that these hold.” But today, the focus is more on the worship of man. Humanism and New Age philosophies elevate man to the ultimate reference point in life. They believe that they are endowed with intellect to know all things and are thus capable of reaching the stars without God. The New Age people confuse themselves into thinking that they are gods because of their inner energy and spiritual powers to do things beyond what science could explain.
Regardless, anyone who believes only in himself and no other powers higher than himself is worshiping idols. This can manifest itself in a crass form in materialism and worldly glory. There are some who place material things, money, pleasure and glory as the most important things in life. They give their whole life to acquiring these things at the expense of their spiritual life, affective needs and particularly, their relationships with their spouse, parents, children and family. Of course, worshipping our spouse, children and loved ones is also another form of idolatry, making them as the centre of our lives, as if they are gods! When they are taken away from us, we will be totally devastated as they are our all. We cannot place our total trust and give ourselves entirely to man and created things because they are not the ultimate. As creatures like us, we are totally dependent on God and we are just pilgrims along the way, finite and limited in many ways.
How can we overcome the temptation to idolatry? We must remember that God is the creator of heaven and earth. This is what the psalmist says, “But our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he wills. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. May you be blessed by the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. The heavens belong to the Lord but the earth he has given to men.” Rendering homage to God is the beginning of Wisdom. “All wisdom comes from the Lord and is with him for ever.” (Sirach 1:1) This is the first and fundamental principle.
Having established that God is the creator and source of life, we can therefore state that all other things manifest His presence and power. This is what St Paul said, “In the past he allowed each nation to go its own way; but even then he did not leave you without evidence of himself in the good things he does for you: he sends you rain from heaven, he makes your crops grow when they should, he gives you food and makes you happy.” But we must not fall into the other extreme of pantheism that identifies created things with God Himself. All created things are likened to the paintings of the artist. They are related but distinct. So, created things do manifest the glory and the love of God. We are called to use them well for His greater glory and to share His love with others. So, no matter how much man can do in this world, no matter how much science and technology have advanced, without God giving men the intellect and the wisdom and knowledge, this would not be possible. Even then, man does not create out of nothing but makes use of what came from nothing into a new thing. Only God creates; we recreate.
But God recreates us in the Holy Spirit when He comes to dwell in us. In this sense, we become God’s sons and daughters. In the gospel, Jesus says, “If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home with him.” It is with the coming of the Holy Spirit that we become conscious of our sonship in Christ. With the Holy Spirit, we share in the Trinitarian life of God. Again, it must be made clear that unlike pantheists or new age spirituality, we do not become gods as such, but we participate in the life of God. There is a clear distinction between God and us, and yet we are related to God. In a certain sense, we are called to radiate God. We are all instruments of God’s love and mercy.
But this is possible only when we allow the Holy Spirit to dwell in us. It is the Holy Spirit that gives us our true identity for He leads us to Jesus. “I have said these things to you while 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 I have said to you.” But the Holy Spirit is only given to those who are obedient. Jesus will only appear after His death to those who love Him, not those who have no faith in Him. In the same vein, not all saw the Lord after the resurrection but only those who have faith. It was faith that healed the crippled man through St Paul. “Seeing that the man had the faith to be cured, Paul said in a loud voice, ‘Get to your feet – stand up’, and the cripple jumped up and began to walk.”
Those who love Jesus will be able to see more and understand more. This was the response of Jesus to the question of Judas, “‘Lord, what is all this about? Do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?’ Jesus replied: ‘If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home with him.” God can only reveal Himself to those who love Him. Fellowship with God is dependent on our love for Him. This love is expressed in obedience. The more we love God, the more we obey Him. “Those who do not love me do not keep my words. And my word is not my own: it is the word of the one who sent me.” In obeying His commandments, we come to understand the truth that He wants to reveal to us. By coming to Jesus, we come to be aware of our identity as sons and daughters of God and that Jesus is our brother. “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you.” In this way, we walk with the Lord and share His life more intimately. With love, there is always a corresponding growth in faith in Him.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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