20240510 JOY IN WITNESSING AND COURAGE IN SUFFERING
10 May 2024, Friday, 6th Week of Eastertide
First reading | Acts 18:9-18 © |
'I have many people on my side in this city'
At Corinth one night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision, ‘Do not be afraid to speak out, nor allow yourself to be silenced: I am with you. I have so many people on my side in this city that no one will even attempt to hurt you.’ So Paul stayed there preaching the word of God among them for eighteen months.
But, while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a concerted attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal. ‘We accuse this man’ they said ‘of persuading people to worship God in a way that breaks the Law.’ Before Paul could open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, ‘Listen, you Jews. If this were a misdemeanour or a crime, I would not hesitate to attend to you; but if it is only quibbles about words and names, and about your own Law, then you must deal with it yourselves – I have no intention of making legal decisions about things like that.’ Then he sent them out of the court, and at once they all turned on Sosthenes, the synagogue president, and beat him in front of the court house. Gallio refused to take any notice at all.
After staying on for some time, Paul took leave of the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had his hair cut off, because of a vow he had made.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 46(47):2-7 © |
God is king of all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
All peoples, clap your hands,
cry to God with shouts of joy!
For the Lord, the Most High, we must fear,
great king over all the earth.
God is king of all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
He subdues peoples under us
and nations under our feet.
Our inheritance, our glory, is from him,
given to Jacob out of love.
God is king of all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
God goes up with shouts of joy;
the Lord goes up with trumpet blast.
Sing praise for God, sing praise,
sing praise to our king, sing praise.
God is king of all the earth.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation | Jn14:26 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Holy Spirit will teach you everything
and remind you of all I have said to you.
Alleluia!
Or: | cf.Lk24:46,26 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
It was ordained that the Christ should suffer
and rise from the dead,
and so enter into his glory.
Alleluia!
Gospel | John 16:20-23 © |
Your hearts will be full of joy that no-one will take from you
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘I tell you most solemnly,
you will be weeping and wailing
while the world will rejoice;
you will be sorrowful,
but your sorrow will turn to joy.
A woman in childbirth suffers,
because her time has come;
but when she has given birth to the child she forgets the suffering
in her joy that a man has been born into the world.
So it is with you: you are sad now,
but I shall see you again, and your hearts will be full of joy,
and that joy no one shall take from you.
When that day comes,
you will not ask me any questions.’
JOY IN WITNESSING AND COURAGE IN SUFFERING
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS 18:9-18; PS 47:2-7; JN 16:20-23]
Yesterday, we celebrated the Solemnity of the Ascension of our Lord. This feast prepares us for the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost so that we can proclaim the Gospel to all nations. Yet, we all know that whilst many of us are willing to serve in Church or in works of charity, or even in community and public service, not many of us have the courage to speak about Jesus or to proclaim the truth of the Gospel to others.
The apostles in the Gospel too were fearful when they heard their master was leaving them. Jesus told them, “A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me.” Some of His disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying to us, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” (John 16:16f).
They were certainly afraid to be left to deal with the future alone. In the same vein, even though Paul was a bold preacher of the Gospel, it did not mean he was immune to fear or pain. Apparently, when he thought of the opposition at Corinth, it frightened him. So, too, for us all. No one is without fear when it comes to dealing with those who oppose us when we seek to speak the truth and proclaim Christ. The cancel culture intimidates us, especially in social media when we say things that the world does not like to hear.
In such situations, we all need assurance from the Lord that He will be with us. This was true in the case of Paul. “At Corinth one night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision, ‘Do not be afraid to speak out, nor allow yourself to be silenced: I am with you. I have so many people on my side in this city that no one will even attempt to hurt you.'” This was a gentle rebuke to Paul. But then He assured him, as He did with all His prophets and His chosen ones, saying, “Do not be afraid. I will be with you!”.
When we have God’s assurance, we can trust Him and not be afraid of our enemies. He gave Paul a strong mandate to continue to boldly proclaim the Gospel. The Lord protected him, and he found strength in Him. We are called to trust in the sovereign promises of the Lord. God further reminded Paul that He had ultimate control over the city. God will know how to write straight in crooked lines. He will know how to deal with those who seek to intimidate him. God is in charge.
God showed His power in unimaginable ways by sending Gallio, proconsul of Achaia, to defend Paul before the Jews who made a concerted attack on him. Gallio dismissed their charge and sent them out of the court. We see this proven in the life of the apostles. God was faithful to His promise to the apostles that He would not leave them alone. He would send them the Spirit of truth to expose the lies and falsehoods of the world. “And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned” (John 16:8-11).
The Holy Spirit will reveal to them the fulness of truth and lead them to glorify Him. “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason, I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:12-15).
But such promise of His presence does not mean that we will not suffer. On the contrary, the Lord prepares us to face the realities of life. We must first go through sorrow before we can experience joy. Jesus presented to His apostles the figurative image of birth pangs followed by joy in the arrival of a child. “I tell you most solemnly, you will be weeping and wailing while the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful but your sorrow will turn to joy. A woman in childbirth suffers, because her time has come; but when she has given birth to the child she forgets the suffering in her joy that a man has been born into the world.”
This analogy has always been employed by the prophets in the Old Testament to describe the painful experiences of Israel awaiting redemption. Isaiah used this image in the suffering of Israel and the promise of hope when the dead will once again live (Isaiah 26:17-19; cf 66:7-9). But Micah, Hosea, and Jeremiah also used the image as an indication of Israel’s suffering for its disobedience and the hope of deliverance (Micah 4:9-10; Hosea 13:13; Jeremiah 13:21).
But Jesus used it to speak about His imminent passion and resurrection. He said, “So it is with you: you are sad now, but I shall see you again.” When that time came, they would no longer need to seek any clarifications because the resurrection would explain everything about what He had said and done. The resurrection would vindicate Jesus and reveal His true identity.
Most of all, with His resurrection, the joy of the disciples would be primarily founded on their restored relationship with Him. However, this relationship would not be exactly the same as when He was on earth. In fact, it would be even more intense, intimate, and real than when they were physically with Jesus. He, the Spirit, would now be with them in their hearts.
Because He was with them, they were no longer are orphans. On the contrary, they were now friends. They no longer doubted Jesus, even if they could not understand everything He taught them. The disciples would have had questions about the future, just as we do now, but we know that even if these are not fully answered, we can trust that He is with us.
Indeed, we are called to remain firm in our suffering. Joy will be revealed to us in a time of sorrow. Those who oppose God and us may appear to be joyful while His disciples weep and lament. But when the time comes, their joy would be forever, whereas their enemies would suffer pain and annihilation for rejecting the Gospel. Indeed, for us Christians, death, which is our ultimate fear, will give way to new life in Christ, because in His resurrection, He conquered death and won salvation for us all.
This joy is resistant to the opposition of the world. The joy of knowing the truth will liberate His disciples. The joy of knowing their destiny helps them to overcome the fear of death. The joy of intimacy with the Lord and His Father gives us strength in times of trial. Jesus did not simply conquer betrayal, injustice, and death. He destroyed death – the ultimate weapon of the world, the robber of joy. His resurrection assures us that we will live forever, and even death would be temporary.
To remain in this joy, we need to be united with the Lord in prayer. The Lord continued, “On that day you will ask nothing of me. Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete” (John 16:23f).
Prayer is more than asking Jesus for favours. Prayer is about intimacy with Him. Prayer is about listening and obedience. Through His resurrection and the bestowing of the Holy Spirit, we will never experience separation from the Lord again. We are permanently with the Lord because His Holy Spirit lives in us. He will give us the joy to press forward in our mission for Him and our service to His people. We will do all these, not by our own strength, but through Him who can work and do all things in us. The work that Jesus shares with His friends is rooted in prayer, intimacy, love, and obedience.
Consequently, it is important to remind ourselves that discipleship is a lifelong process. We read that Paul “stayed at Corinth preaching the word of God among them for eighteen months.” It was necessary for Paul to form the Christians in faith so that they would be strong to face the challenges ahead of them. When Christians come together to share their faith, they build each other up in the faith. The real weakness among our Catholics is that they stop forming themselves in faith the moment they finish their catechism classes. They fail to realise that they need to grow in understanding of the faith both formally – by attending formation courses – and informally, by sharing the Word of God with their brothers and sisters.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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