20241207 ACTIVELY WAITING IN HOPE
First reading |
Isaiah 30:19-21,23-26 |
The Lord God will be gracious to you and hear your cry
Thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:
People of Zion, you will live in Jerusalem and weep no more. He will be gracious to you when he hears your cry; when he hears he will answer. When the Lord has given you the bread of suffering and the water of distress, he who is your teacher will hide no longer, and you will see your teacher with your own eyes. Whether you turn to right or left, your ears will hear these words behind you, ‘This is the way, follow it.’ He will send rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the bread that the ground provides will be rich and nourishing. Your cattle will graze, that day, in wide pastures. Oxen and donkeys that till the ground will eat a salted fodder, winnowed with shovel and fork. On every lofty mountain, on every high hill there will be streams and watercourses, on the day of the great slaughter when the strongholds fall. Then moonlight will be bright as sunlight and sunlight itself be seven times brighter – like the light of seven days in one – on the day the Lord dresses the wound of his people and heals the bruises his blows have left.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 146(147):1-6 |
Happy are all who hope in the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
Praise the Lord for he is good;
sing to our God for he is loving:
to him our praise is due.
The Lord builds up Jerusalem
and brings back Israel’s exiles.
Happy are all who hope in the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
He heals the broken-hearted,
he binds up all their wounds.
He fixes the number of the stars;
he calls each one by its name.
Happy are all who hope in the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
Our Lord is great and almighty;
his wisdom can never be measured.
The Lord raises the lowly;
he humbles the wicked to the dust.
Happy are all who hope in the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation | Is55:6 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Seek the Lord while he is still to be found,
call to him while he is still near.
Alleluia!
Or: | Is33:22 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord is our judge, the Lord our lawgiver,
the Lord our king and saviour.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
Matthew 9:35-10:1,5,6-8 |
The harvest is rich but the labourers are few
Jesus made a tour through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness.
And when he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.’
He summoned his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits with power to cast them out and to cure all kinds of diseases and sickness. These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them as follows: ‘Go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. And as you go, proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand. Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils. You received without charge, give without charge.’
07 December 2024, Saturday, 1st Week in Advent
ACTIVELY WAITING IN HOPE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [IS 30:19-21,23-26; PS 147:1-6; MT 9:35-10:1,5, 6-8]
In the first reading, Prophet Isaiah gave the people hope in God’s redemption for Israel, saying, “He will send rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the bread that the ground provides will be rich and nourishing. Your cattle will graze, that day, in wide pastures. Oxen and donkeys that till the ground will eat a salted fodder, winnowed with shovel and fork. On the day the Lord dresses the wound of his people and heals the bruises his blows have left.” Clearly, God wants to save His people. He wants to bless them with prosperity and protect them from their enemies. The Lord wants to heal them.
This, too, is our hope. All of us live in hope for a better life, a better future for ourselves and our children. We wish for peace in our family, where we are united and care for each other. We seek good health, financial security, independence and a meaningful career, or something where we can put our talents to use. Alas, this is not always the case because we know that relationships are fragile, marriages often end in disagreement, infidelity and divorce. Children are not easy to raise, and often parents lack influence over their values and choices in life because they are easily influenced by social media and their peers. Indeed, we find ourselves incomplete and not at peace.
The gospel today assures us, as does the Prophet Isaiah, that God is a compassionate God. In Christ, we see God as the Good Shepherd who cares for us all. “Jesus made a tour through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness.” Jesus gives hope to His people through teaching, proclaiming the Good News and healing every kind of disease. He knows that many of us have lost our direction in life. We are misled by the world and false prophets who claim to give us peace. In our confusion, cumbered with mental, emotional, psychological and spiritual illnesses, where can we find hope and healing if not from the Lord? Indeed, the Lord has come to heal us all and He wants to restore us to wholeness.
But His grace and mercy depends on our response. The truth is that God’s mercy, forgiveness and grace is always given to us. But we want to rely on ourselves. The world thinks that they can save themselves without God. We have reached the height of pride and arrogance when so-called intelligent and worldly people think they have the power and technology to bring about peace and prosperity to the world through scientific advancement, trade and power. However, more than ever, the world is suffering from injustices. Sometimes science and technology are used in ways that destroy the individual and society. The Lord, however, is patient. He allows us to go our ways until we come to the end of the road and recognize our folly and repent.
Indeed, like the Israelites, the Lord is waiting for us to repent and to cry out to Him. “Thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: People of Zion, you will live in Jerusalem and weep no more. He will be gracious to you when he hears your cry; when he hears he will answer.” Indeed, Isaiah foresaw that this would happen. God told Isaiah earlier on that his ministry would only bring blindness, deafness and hard-heartedness to the people. “Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand.’ Make the mind of this people dull, and stop their ears, and shut their eyes, so that they may not look with their eyes and listen with their ears, and comprehend with their minds, and turn and be healed.” (Isa 6:9f)
But a time would come when Israel would be devastated by her enemies. Then they would cry out to God. And then as the prophet assured them, the Lord will hear their cries. Indeed, quite often, we think that God does not care for us. In truth, He does care, but He does not answer our selfish petitions because we will only hurt ourselves even more. God wants to give us what is truly good for our salvation and happiness. This is why, often, He allows us to go through suffering in order to wake us up from our illusions. Until, we are driven to hopelessness and despair, then we know that we are not in charge of our lives anymore. Indeed, “when the Lord has given you the bread of suffering and the water of distress, he who is your teacher will hide no longer, and you will see your teacher with your own eyes. Whether you turn to right or left, your ears will hear these words behind you, ‘This is the way, follow it.'” Through our suffering, we will once again discover the true teacher in our lives. We will learn to be humble and docile and listen to His words and follow Him. God is showing us the way to true freedom and happiness. Jesus, who is the true teacher and healer, shows us the way and binds up our wounds. Isaiah was speaking about the coming of Christ.
This is why the psalmist invites us to hope in God. “Happy are all who hope in the Lord. Praise the Lord for he is good; sing to our God for he is loving: to him our praise is due. The Lord builds up Jerusalem and brings back Israel’s exiles. He heals the broken-hearted, he binds up all their wounds. He fixes the number of the stars; he calls each one by its name. Our Lord is great and almighty; his wisdom can never be measured. The Lord raises the lowly; he humbles the wicked to the dust.” He will restore our life and restore creation abused by man’s selfishness and greed without care for the future of the earth and humanity. “He will send rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the bread that the ground provides will be rich and nourishing. Your cattle will graze, that day, in wide pastures. Oxen and donkeys that till the ground will eat a salted fodder, winnowed with shovel and fork. On every lofty mountain, on every high hill there will be streams and watercourses, on the day of the great slaughter when the strongholds fall.”
But He can do this only if we too work with Him. The Lord asks us to have compassion for creation and humanity. “And when he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.'” We must not think only of ourselves and our needs and abundance. We must identify with those who are less privileged and are suffering because they have no one to guide them, to inspire or to lead them. The world needs a saviour and they need selfless shepherds to lead them to the greener pasture of life. This is why the Lord is enlisting us to be His co-shepherds in the world to give hope to humanity, especially those who are in distress and cannot care for themselves.
The Lord empowers us to do what He did. He chose from among His disciples to be His apostles, to be sent out to proclaim the Good News of hope. He shared with them the authority and power to do what He did. “He summoned his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits with power to cast them out and to cure all kinds of disease and sickness. These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them as follows: ‘Go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. And as you go, proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand. Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils. You received without charge, give without charge.'” Indeed, in Matthew, chapters 8 and 9, we see the Lord in His compassion healing the sick, raising the dead, calming the storms and exorcising evil spirits. This call of course is not just restricted to the apostles but to His disciples as well.
Consequently, because we are doing the work of the Lord, we need to pray as the Lord exhorts us. The greatest temptation of those of us in ministry is to want to do the ministry without relying on the Lord. We think that using the strategy of the world and those in business is the way to make the church grow and the gospel spread to all. What is needed is prayer, preaching and ministering. Without focusing on the gospel and relying on the Lord, the success of the ministry will be superficial. It is not about increasing membership but about transmitting the person of the Lord to people in a real and tangible way through sharing the Word, teaching the gospel, and most of all, through interpersonal relationship, healing, counselling and encouraging each other in a life of discipleship. It is always personal.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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