20240830 ENCOUNTERING THE KERYGMA PRECEDES OBEDIENCE IN FAITH
30 August 2024, Friday, 21st Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
1 Corinthians 1:17-25 |
We preach a crucified Christ, the power and wisdom of God
Christ did not send me to baptise, but to preach the Good News, and not to preach that in the terms of philosophy in which the crucifixion of Christ cannot be expressed. The language of the cross may be illogical to those who are not on the way to salvation, but those of us who are on the way see it as God’s power to save. As scripture says: I shall destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing all the learning of the learned. Where are the philosophers now? Where are the scribes? Where are any of our thinkers today? Do you see now how God has shown up the foolishness of human wisdom? If it was God’s wisdom that human wisdom should not know God, it was because God wanted to save those who have faith through the foolishness of the message that we preach. And so, while the Jews demand miracles and the Greeks look for wisdom, here are we preaching a crucified Christ; to the Jews an obstacle that they cannot get over, to the pagans madness, but to those who have been called, whether they are Jews or Greeks, a Christ who is the power and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 32(33):1-2,4-5,10-11 |
The Lord fills the earth with his love.
Ring out your joy to the Lord, O you just;
for praise is fitting for loyal hearts.
Give thanks to the Lord upon the harp,
with a ten-stringed lute sing him songs.
The Lord fills the earth with his love.
For the word of the Lord is faithful
and all his works to be trusted.
The Lord loves justice and right
and fills the earth with his love.
The Lord fills the earth with his love.
He frustrates the designs of the nations,
he defeats the plans of the peoples.
His own designs shall stand for ever,
the plans of his heart from age to age.
The Lord fills the earth with his love.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Ps129:5 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
My soul is waiting for the Lord,
I count on his word.
Alleluia!
Or: | Lk21:36 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Stay awake, praying at all times
for the strength to stand with confidence
before the Son of Man.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Matthew 25:1-13 |
The wise and foolish virgins
Jesus told this parable to his disciples: ‘The kingdom of heaven will be like this: Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were sensible: the foolish ones did take their lamps, but they brought no oil, whereas the sensible ones took flasks of oil as well as their lamps. The bridegroom was late, and they all grew drowsy and fell asleep. But at midnight there was a cry, “The bridegroom is here! Go out and meet him.” At this, all those bridesmaids woke up and trimmed their lamps, and the foolish ones said to the sensible ones, “Give us some of your oil: our lamps are going out.” But they replied, “There may not be enough for us and for you; you had better go to those who sell it and buy some for yourselves.” They had gone off to buy it when the bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding hall and the door was closed. The other bridesmaids arrived later. “Lord, Lord,” they said “open the door for us.” But he replied, “I tell you solemnly, I do not know you.” So stay awake, because you do not know either the day or the hour.’
ENCOUNTERING THE KERYGMA PRECEDES OBEDIENCE IN FAITH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 Cor 1:17-25; Psalm 33:1-2,4-5,10-11; Mt 25:1-13]
The fundamental conversion experience of St Paul is his encounter with the Crucified Christ. He was on the way to Damascus when the Lord appeared to Him and said, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4) We are not too clear what vision he saw, as it was beyond description. In his letter to the Corinthians, he wrote, “I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven – whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows. And I know that such a person – whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows – was caught up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat.” (2 Cor 12:2-4)
The more he meditated on the mercy of God in Christ crucified, the more he came to appreciate the wisdom of God. He made it clear the gospel which he came to proclaim was not “in the terms of philosophy in which the crucifixion of Christ cannot be expressed. The language of the cross may be illogical to those who are not on the way to salvation, but those of us who are on the way see it as God’s power to save.” The conviction of God’s wisdom revealed in the Crucified Christ was his constant testimony. In his letter to the Galatians, he wrote, “the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal 2:20) And in his letter to the Philippians, he wrote, “I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” (Phil 3:8,10,11)
But how can the death of Christ save us? It is illogical to think that Christ’s passion and death can save the world. The wisdom of the world thinks that power and knowledge will triumph. “And so, while the Jews demanded miracles and the Greeks look for wisdom, here are we preaching a crucified Christ; to the Jews an obstacle that they cannot get over, to the pagans, madness, but to those who have been called, whether they are Jews or Greeks, a Christ who is the power and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.” This is the greatest miracle and wisdom in human history. No one in his logical thinking would ever think that God would save us through the death of His Son. This is madness and contradicts reason.
However, God knows better than us. His ways are beyond human imagination or reasoning. “As scripture says: I shall destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing all the learning of the learned. Where are the philosophers now? Where are the scribes? Where are any of our thinkers today? Do you see now how God has shown up the foolishness of human wisdom?” God reveals His love and mercy for us in the death of His Son on the cross. He reveals His power by raising Him from the dead. This economy of salvation is incomparable to all other religions. Other religions teach us about virtues and how to live a life of love, compassion and unity but no religion ever claimed that their founder was put to a cruel death and rose again. If we, Christians, make this profession of faith in Christ crucified it is because of the testimonies of the early Christians. And those who surrender in faith to this proclamation, have experience the crucified and risen Lord in their own lives.
Consequently, the gospel cannot be proclaimed in terms of philosophy. We cannot bring a person to Christ through intellectual arguments alone. The way to accept Christ ultimately lies in faith. And faith is a response to divine revelation in Christ and through the scriptures. If there is any logic in Christian faith, it is an internal logic of its own, in the sense that from the scriptures, one can show in an intelligible way that faith in Christ is in accordance with the revealed Word of God throughout the centuries; and that Christ is the fulfilment of the Old Testament. In this sense, Christian Faith is considered reasonable but not reasoned.
Indeed, in the New Testament, both in the gospel and in the letters, faith is underscored. Jesus demanded that His disciples have faith in Him. Those who have faith in Him open themselves to the power of God at work in them. Faith is a pre-requisite for healing – whether it is the healing of the lepers, the blind man, the Centurion’s servant, the Synagogue official’s daughter, the woman with haemorrhage, or the Canaanite Syrophoenician woman. When He went back to His hometown, the evangelist noted, “he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief.” (Mt 13:58)
This emphasis on faith in Jesus is a theme in John’s gospel. The gospel concluded with the unbelief of Thomas. Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” (Jn 20:27-29) Then John concluded his gospel by summing up the purpose of his writing. “Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.” (Jn 20″30f)
St Paul in his letter to the Romans emphasised the importance of being justified by faith in Christ. Like John, he began his letter by outlining his purpose, which is a call to obedience of faith. “The gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name.” (Rom 1:3-5) The heart of his letter was his doctrine of justification by faith. “Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith.” (Rom 3:23f) Like John the evangelist, he also concluded with an appeal for obedience of faith to the gospel. “Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.” (Rom 16:25-27)
Consequently, we can appreciate why St Paul said, “Christ did not send me to baptise, but to preach the Good News.” Although St Paul baptized as well, his focus was on preaching the Kerygma, the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord. Baptism is secondary to the proclamation. It is a consequence of faith in the Kerygma. This is why, evangelization must always precede the celebration of the sacraments. There is a real danger today that these two dimensions of faith are separated or we forget the primacy of the Kerygma. Faith in the gospel is evoked through the proclamation of the Kerygma. Without an experience of the Kerygma, there can be no true celebration of the sacraments because the sacraments are means by which we enter into the Kerygma.
So we must avoid the tendency to sacramentalize our young people without their first having encountered the Kerygma. Unless they have received the Good News, the sacraments do not make sense. So it is important that the Kerygma be preached before they are sacramentalized. Once sacramentalized, catechesis continues so that they can deepen their understanding of the sacraments that they received. In other words, they must be evangelized before being sacramentalized. Indeed, following today’s parable of the bridesmaid, we must always be prepared to receive our Lord. Such preparation requires a personal commitment. One cannot borrow the oil of faith from another. This was the mistake of the five foolish bridesmaids. It was not that they overslept, but they did not bring enough oil with them. So too, we need to encounter the Lord deeply so that we can welcome Him in the celebration of the sacraments. Encountering the Lord makes it possible for us to render obedience in faith.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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