20240530 CHOSEN FOR THE LORD
30 May 2024, Thursday, 8th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
1 Peter 2:2-5,9-12 © |
You are a royal priesthood, a people set apart
You are new born, and, like babies, you should be hungry for nothing but milk – the spiritual honesty which will help you to grow up to salvation – now that you have tasted the goodness of the Lord.
He is the living stone, rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him; set yourselves close to him so that you too, the holy priesthood that offers the spiritual sacrifices which Jesus Christ has made acceptable to God, may be living stones making a spiritual house. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a people set apart to sing the praises of God who called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people at all and now you are the People of God; once you were outside the mercy and now you have been given mercy.
I urge you, my dear people, while you are visitors and pilgrims to keep yourselves free from the selfish passions that attack the soul. Always behave honourably among pagans so that they can see your good works for themselves and, when the day of reckoning comes, give thanks to God for the things which now make them denounce you as criminals.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 99(100):2-5 © |
Come before the Lord, singing for joy.
Serve the Lord with gladness.
Come before him, singing for joy.
Come before the Lord, singing for joy.
Know that he, the Lord, is God.
He made us, we belong to him,
we are his people, the sheep of his flock.
Come before the Lord, singing for joy.
Go within his gates, giving thanks.
Enter his courts with songs of praise.
Give thanks to him and bless his name.
Come before the Lord, singing for joy.
Indeed, how good is the Lord,
eternal his merciful love.
He is faithful from age to age.
Come before the Lord, singing for joy.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Ps129:5 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
My soul is waiting for the Lord,
I count on his word.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn8:12 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the light of the world, says the Lord;
anyone who follows me will have the light of life.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 10:46-52 © |
Go; your faith has saved you
As Jesus left Jericho with his disciples and a large crowd, Bartimaeus (that is, the son of Timaeus), a blind beggar, was sitting at the side of the road. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout and to say, ‘Son of David, Jesus, have pity on me.’ And many of them scolded him and told him to keep quiet, but he only shouted all the louder, ‘Son of David, have pity on me.’ Jesus stopped and said, ‘Call him here.’ So they called the blind man. ‘Courage,’ they said ‘get up; he is calling you.’ So throwing off his cloak, he jumped up and went to Jesus. Then Jesus spoke, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ ‘Rabbuni,’ the blind man said to him ‘Master, let me see again.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has saved you.’ And immediately his sight returned and he followed him along the road.
CHOSEN FOR THE LORD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 PT 2:2-5. 9-12; PS 100:2-5; MK 10:46-52]
What is the most consoling assurance of God is that we are chosen. The Lord comes not just for the good and the powerful; He comes for everyone, including those who are on the margins, just like Bartimaeus in the gospel. He was physically blind, sitting by the side of the road, begging. No one thought of him as important enough to be given attention by the Lord. So “when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout and to say, ‘Son of David, Jesus, have pity on me.’ And many of them scolded him and told him to keep quiet.” Indeed, why in the midst of the crowd would Jesus give attention to someone who was a nobody?
Yet, Jesus stopped and said, “Call him here.” Indeed, even with the crowd, Jesus was not oblivious to what was happening around Him. He was not taken up by the crowd and forgot to pay attention to the individual, especially those who were marginalized. As far as Jesus was concerned, everyone is precious to God. So He said to the man, “‘What do you want me to do for you?” And the man said, “Master, let me see again.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has saved you.” This man had his sight restored because of his perseverance in faith. He was sincere and he did not allow the discouragement of others to drown his voice for help when “many of them scolded him and told him to keep quiet, but he only shouted all the louder.”
Indeed, this is what St Peter says of us as well: “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a people set apart to the praises of God who called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people at all and now you are the People of God; once you were outside the mercy and now you have been given mercy.” We are all blind in many ways, not necessarily physically, but spiritually blind like the crowd that followed Jesus. They could not see Jesus or recognize Him as the Son of David, the Messiah. It took a physically blind man to confess his faith in Him as the Son of David. Yet, the Lord in His mercy has called us to Him and given us the gift of faith to recognize Him as our Saviour and Lord. Before knowing Him, we were lost and walking in darkness like the Blind Man. But now the Lord has brought us out of darkness into His wonderful light. In choosing us, we become the praises of God to others.
But being chosen is just the first step. It is one thing to be “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation” and another thing to remain as one. We are told that after the blind man was healed, he followed Jesus along the road. He did not remain where he was, sitting by the roadside, begging for money. He followed Jesus all the way to Jerusalem, the place of His passion and glory. Once his eyes were opened, he did not remain uncommitted. This is what St Peter wrote, “You are new born, and, like babies, you should be hungry for nothing but milk – the spiritual honesty which will help you to grow up to salvation – now that you have tasted the goodness of the Lord.” He was like a new born baby hungering for the Word of God.
That should be the same for us as well. Unfortunately, although many of us are baptized, we are still unconverted. We are not excited that we have been chosen, or appreciate the fact that God has called us out of darkness into His wonderful light. We lack gratitude and conversion of heart. As such, we do not desire to grow in faith. Indeed, it is a clear sign that no real conversion has taken place when a newly baptized Catholic, or a young person having received the Sacrament of Confirmation, remains indifferent to his or her faith. If we have truly encountered the Lord, we would desire to taste Him. Hungering for the Word of God is a concrete sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit in us. For when the Lord opens our minds and hearts, the manifestation is one of desire to be in deeper intimacy with Him, and especially a greater sensitivity and love for the Word of God.
We must make Jesus the centre and the foundation of our lives so that we can truly become like Him. St Peter wrote, “He is the living stone, rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him; set yourselves close to him so that you too, the holy priesthood that offers the spiritual sacrifices which Jesus Christ has made acceptable to God, may be living stones making a spiritual house.” We are chosen to share in the priesthood of Christ. As priests, we are called to be bridges for humanity to come to Him. It is therefore necessary that we come close to Jesus so that we can be holy and offer ourselves as a living sacrifice for others. Indeed, holiness means nothing else but to be consecrated to the Lord; to be given to Him so that He could work in and through us. Holiness means that we will devote our entire life to Him.
But holiness is not just for our salvation but for the work of witnessing. The call to be a witness is not always easy. We will have to suffer, and that is part of the demands of the apostolate. St Peter wrote, “I urge you, my dear people, while you are visitors and pilgrims to keep yourselves free from the selfish passions that attack the soul. Always behave honourably among pagans so that they can see your good works for themselves and, when the day of reckoning comes, give thanks to God for the things which now make them denounce you as criminals.” We need to set good examples in the way we live our lives, otherwise we become counter-witnesses. We will be misunderstood, but we must remain firm in our faith even when we hear discouraging voices like Bartimaeus. We need to be confident in who we are and what we are called to be in life. Once we are consecrated to God, we will live like our Lord and be another Christ to others. When we are focused on our identity and our calling, we will naturally live out our faith with courage and with pride, without any show of hypocrisy.
Regardless, the best way to demonstrate that we have been chosen is when we are people of joy, always singing praises to the Lord as the psalmist invites us. “Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing for joy. Know that he, the Lord, is God. He made us, we belong to him, we are his people, the sheep of his flock. Go within his gates, giving thanks. Enter his courts with songs of praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name. Indeed, how good is the Lord, eternal his merciful love. He is faithful from age to age.” When we are a people of thanksgiving and joy, people will be attracted to our faith in Christ. There is no better way to attract people than to let them know the joy we have in us. The gospel, as Pope Francis reminds us, is a gospel of joy. And it should be announced with joy. Otherwise, we betray the joy of being called. It becomes an ideology rather than a transmission of life.
Truly, as the crowd told the blind man, “Courage, get up; he is calling you.” So, we too must take courage, especially when we face difficulties and trials in life. To say to someone, “have courage”, gives that person hope. We need to be positive in life. But this attitude of being positive is not merely a make belief but rooted in one’s faith in the Lord. We must never lose heart or make people lose hope in life, even when we feel so helpless in giving encouragement to them. With patience and perseverance, we will see the hand of God at work in our lives. But we can only say with confidence to one who is struggling, “take courage, He is calling you” only when we ourselves have experienced His transformation grace at work in our lives.
So let us learn from Bartimaeus. When the Lord called him, “throwing off his cloak, he jumped up and went to Jesus.” We, too, must throw off anything that hinders us from coming closer to the Lord. We must surrender our cloak, that is, our security blanket – the only thing we have, like Linus in the Peanuts series. When we surrender all, the Lord will reward us with a joy that cannot be explained. In giving ourselves totally to Him, He gives Himself and His joy to us. Let us not be like that rich man in the gospel who went away sad because he was a rich man and could not surrender his wealth to the poor and follow Jesus. But we who have left everything to follow Jesus will be given the rewards of eternal life.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment