20241127 YOUR ENDURANCE WILL WIN YOU YOUR LIVES
First reading |
Apocalypse 15:1-4 |
The victors sang the hymn of Moses and of the Lamb
What I, John, saw in heaven was a great and wonderful sign: seven angels were bringing the seven plagues that are the last of all, because they exhaust the anger of God. I seemed to see a glass lake suffused with fire, and standing by the lake of glass, those who had fought against the beast and won, and against his statue and the number which is his name. They all had harps from God, and they were singing the hymn of Moses, the servant of God, and of the Lamb:
‘How great and wonderful are all your works,
Lord God Almighty;
just and true are all your ways,
King of nations.
Who would not revere and praise your name, O Lord?
You alone are holy,
and all the pagans will come and adore you
for the many acts of justice you have shown.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 97(98):1-3,7-9 |
How great and wonderful are all your works, Lord God almighty.
Sing a new song to the Lord
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.
How great and wonderful are all your works, Lord God almighty.
The Lord has made known his salvation;
has shown his justice to the nations.
He has remembered his truth and love
for the house of Israel.
How great and wonderful are all your works, Lord God almighty.
Let the sea and all within it, thunder;
the world, and all its peoples.
Let the rivers clap their hands
and the hills ring out their joy
at the presence of the Lord.
How great and wonderful are all your works, Lord God almighty.
For the Lord comes,
he comes to rule the earth.
He will rule the world with justice
and the peoples with fairness.
How great and wonderful are all your works, Lord God almighty.
Gospel Acclamation | Lk21:36 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Stay awake, praying at all times
for the strength to stand with confidence
before the Son of Man.
Alleluia!
Or: | Rv2:10 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Even if you have to die, says the Lord,
keep faithful, and I will give you
the crown of life.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 21:12-19 |
Your endurance will win you your lives
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Men will seize you and persecute you; they will hand you over to the synagogues and to imprisonment, and bring you before kings and governors because of my name – and that will be your opportunity to bear witness. Keep this carefully in mind: you are not to prepare your defence, because I myself shall give you an eloquence and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relations and friends; and some of you will be put to death. You will be hated by all men on account of my name, but not a hair of your head will be lost. Your endurance will win you your lives.’
27 November 2024, Wednesday, 34th Week in Ordinary Time
YOUR ENDURANCE WILL WIN YOU YOUR LIVES
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ REV 15:1-4; LUKE 21:12-19]
In the days of the early Church, and right through the Middle Ages, when Christian missionaries left the shores of Europe to go to the Far East, Africa and America, they assumed that to be a Christian meant to face persecution and opposition. Indeed, we read in the Acts of the Apostles, the letters of St Paul and the pastoral epistles, including the Book of Revelation, how the early Christians, the apostles and missionaries were persecuted and marginalized. It was not easy to practise the faith and not be misunderstood. In fact, in the early Church, the Christians were accused of cannibalism because they “ate the body and drank the blood of Christ.” They were a threat to the both the Jewish and Gentiles cultures. The Jews considered the Jewish Christians as deviants of the Jewish faith and the Greeks considered the Christians as unsettling the status quo of a sexually permissive and pagan society, affecting their businesses as well. They were a threat to the pagan culture.
But today, we have swung to the other end of the pendulum. We want to be nice Christians, accommodating everyone in the world. We seek to be inclusive, which in itself is certainly not wrong, but unfortunately at the expense of compromising our faith. We try to water down the teachings of Christ. The gospel is not preached as it was. Today, we twist and turn the gospel, reducing it to anything other than the gospel, which is about Jesus, the Saviour of the world. We dilute His teachings and make compromises with regard to sexual morality, marriage and even faith in Him. In order to make ourselves attractive to everyone, we condone everything in this world, every kind of lifestyles, even when they are obviously against the teaching of the scriptures. We try to make excuses in the name of inculturation, the change of context, and reinterpreting the scriptures to fit the ways of the world. The Word of God is not read in such a way that we are challenged to change to suit what God is asking of us. Rather, it is read in such a way that the Word of God is made to approve what we selfishly seek to do and want.
In truth, we do not want to be unpopular. We want to be with the rest of the world. We do not want to stand out. We do not want to be persecuted. We want to be accepted like everyone else. We do not want to suffer for our faith. We do not mind being Christians. But Christianity has been reduced to a club house where there is fun and joy, doing things together, supporting each other, helping the poor, but we should not speak about morality or about our faith in Christ lest people get offended. We should just do good like everyone else, live and let live. We must accept that people are different, and we have no right to claim to have the truth because everything is relative. We just have to respect the views of others and not say things that challenge the status quo of society.
This is the way of the Evil One. We remember how at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, the Devil tried to tempt Jesus to take the easy path. He told Jesus to use His power to change stones into bread, assuring Him that it was justifiable since He was hungry. He tried to make Jesus deny His identity as the Son of God by asking Him to test His Father by jumping down from the pinnacle of the Temple. He wanted Jesus to take the easy way out by doing spectacular things to win converts to His kingdom through dramatic actions. Finally, when all else failed, the Devil asked Jesus to worship him and He would be given all the powers, glory and wealth of the world. But Jesus did not believe in short-cuts, in an easy victory or in the ways of the world through power, domination and wealth.
Indeed, Jesus did not expect us Christians to follow that way. Right from the start, He knew that we would be persecuted as He was persecuted. He told His apostles, “Men will seize you and persecute you; they will hand you over to the synagogues and to imprisonment, and bring you before kings and governors because of my name – and that will be your opportunity to bear witness.” As it were, Peter and Paul were thrown into prison by the Jews. Paul had to stand before King Agrippa and the governor Felix to defend the faith. They were persecuted for standing up for the gospel and for our Lord. St John was exiled to an island. But instead of being afraid or to succumb to the external threats, they used the occasion to testify even more boldly to the Lord. What was said of them is also true of the Church in the first four centuries when Christians were persecuted. Many were tortured to death and suffered martyrdom. Stephen was the first martyr. We have great examples like St Lawrence and St Polycarp in the second century. Throughout the centuries, we witnessed the martyrdom of missionaries in Japan, Korea, Cambodia and in many countries. They all suffered for the name of Christ and their fidelity to the gospel. In truth, they did not have to suffer if only they denied Christ publicly. But their fidelity to Christ was uncompromising.
Not only did the early Christians face persecution from without, but also from within. Jesus said, “You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relations and friends; and some of you will be put to death. You will be hated by all men on account of my name.” Even their own relatives and family members rejected them because of their faith in Christ. Many of our forefathers, especially those from the East and Far East, because of their deep cultural ties with the religions of their fore-fathers, were ostracized and driven out of the family house because of their conversion. Family ties were cut off because they chose Christ. And they were willing even to pay the price of being cut off from their parents and siblings for the sake of their faith. Such was the price of being baptized into Christ. But alas, not today unfortunately. Today, even our young people would choose to get married not simply to one without faith in Christ but even to one who is vehemently opposed to the faith. Between their future spouse and Christ, they would choose their spouse. Many after marriage eventually stopped going to church because they are not allowed to practise their faith.
What is the difference between them and us today? I think our faith is not personally grounded in our Lord. We have not fallen in love with Him as much as they did. We have not taken Christ seriously in our lives. Our faith is not a personal faith but merely an intellectual faith. We become Christians to live a good life, to find some comfort in our difficulties, so that we can live a comfortable life. We also desire to be successful like those in the world. We want to earn as much as those in the world. It is about ourselves and our comfort, our pleasure and our security. It is not about Christ and the gospel and the salvation of the world. We want to save ourselves here and now, and perhaps for some, also in the next world. But it is not a faith that is lived for Christ and the gospel.
This is why, we need to recover our faith in Christ like the early Church. We need to read the lives of the early Christians and martyrs. They truly believed in Christ and the promise of eternal life. They had perfect confidence that Christ would save them, if not from death in this life, at least from eternal death. The Lord promised them, “Keep this carefully in mind: you are not to prepare your defence, because I myself shall give you an eloquence and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to resist or contradict.” God will be with us in our struggles to be faithful to the gospel, provided we surrender our lives to Him in faith. Truly, as the Lord assures us, we will be victorious, as we read in today’s first reading. The early Christians fought against the beast and won the battle. “They all had harps from God, and they were singing the hymn of Moses, the servant of God, and of the Lamb: ‘How great and wonderful are all your works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are all your ways, King of nations. Who would not revere and praise your name, O Lord? You alone are holy, and all the pagans will come and adore you for the many acts of justice you have shown.'” This, too, is the constant refrain of the early Church as we pray in the responsorial psalm. “How great and wonderful are all your works, Lord God almighty. Sing a new song to the Lord for he has worked wonders. His right hand and his holy arm have brought salvation. He has remembered his truth and love for the house of Israel.” So let strengthen our faith in Christ and His love.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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