20241211 GOD IS RELIABLE
First reading | Isaiah 40:25-31 |
The Lord strengthens the powerless
‘To whom could you liken me
and who could be my equal?’ says the Holy One.
Lift your eyes and look.
Who made these stars
if not he who drills them like an army,
calling each one by name?
So mighty is his power, so great his strength,
that not one fails to answer.
How can you say, Jacob,
how can you insist, Israel,
‘My destiny is hidden from the Lord,
my rights are ignored by my God’?
Did you not know?
Had you not heard?
The Lord is an everlasting God,
he created the boundaries of the earth.
He does not grow tired or weary,
his understanding is beyond fathoming.
He gives strength to the wearied,
he strengthens the powerless.
Young men may grow tired and weary,
youths may stumble,
but those who hope in the Lord renew their strength,
they put out wings like eagles.
They run and do not grow weary,
walk and never tire.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 102(103):1-4,8,10 |
My soul, give thanks to the Lord.
My soul, give thanks to the Lord
all my being, bless his holy name.
My soul, give thanks to the Lord
and never forget all his blessings.
My soul, give thanks to the Lord.
It is he who forgives all your guilt,
who heals every one of your ills,
who redeems your life from the grave,
who crowns you with love and compassion.
My soul, give thanks to the Lord.
The Lord is compassion and love,
slow to anger and rich in mercy.
He does not treat us according to our sins
nor repay us according to our faults.
My soul, give thanks to the Lord.
Gospel Acclamation |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Behold, our Lord will come with power
and will enlighten the eyes of his servants.
Alleluia!
Or: |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Look, the Lord will come to save his people.
Blessed those who are ready to meet him.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
Matthew 11:28-30 |
My yoke is easy and my burden light
Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.’
11 December 2024, Wednesday, 2nd Week in Advent
GOD IS RELIABLE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ISAIAH 40:25-31; PS 103:1-4,8,10; MATTHEW 11:28-30]
We all have our crosses and trials in life. No one is exempted – old or young, single or married, poor or rich, good health or in poor health, professionals or ordinary workers. As the Lord said, everyone has to carry his or her own cross. The real choice and difference between Christians and the world is whether we want to carry our own cross ourselves or we want to follow Jesus in carrying the cross. The Lord said, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?” (Mt 16:24-26)
For this reason, when the Lord asks us to carry our cross, He asks us to follow Him, not just in giving our life for the service of others and for the greater glory of God, but He asks us to come to Him to find strength and direction. In the gospel, Jesus exclaimed, “Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest.” Indeed, the strength of a Christian does not lie in himself or herself. It lies in Christ. This is why St Paul said, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Phil 4:13)
How does Christ strengthen us? Firstly, He teaches us the way. In relation to His Heavenly Father, He urges us to trust in His divine providence and to do His will. With respect to our fellowmen, He taught us to be prudent in judgment of people’s actions and words, to render forgiveness and compassion in dealing with our enemies, and to seek, knock and ask with faith. Most of all, we are called to build our life on His words. “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock.” (Mt 7:24f)
Secondly, Christ shows us the way. Christ not only teaches us by His word, He lived out what He taught. Indeed, Christ lived out in entirety what He taught us at the Sermon on the Mount. He gave His life for the service of the poor, the sick, the oppressed and the sinners. He embraced everyone who sought life and truth. He even reached out to the most condemned and marginalized people, the tax-collectors, the prostitutes and the Gentiles. Above all, He accepted the cross of ridicule, rejection, opposition and persecution. Yet, He forgave them all, including all those who played a part in putting Him to death on the cross.
This is why the Lord asks of us, “Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.” We are to carry the cross with Jesus, sharing in His yoke. In other words, when we walk with Jesus in our trials and suffering in life, we no longer walk alone. He is carrying the cross with us and giving us His support and strength. In life, sometimes, we cannot take away the sufferings of others but we can help them to carry them. This is sufficient in most cases because when we know that we do not carry our sufferings alone, we will find extra strength to do it.
Indeed, Christ can teach and show us the way only because He is identified with us in our humanity. This is why God does not save us without us. He became a man to save us as man. He knows our struggles. He knows our pains. He knows our temptations. He knows what it means to be abandoned, to be betrayed, to walk alone, to be misunderstood, to suffer hunger and to be falsely accused. He knows what it means to feel the absence of God. Truly, Jesus is one who journeys with us and carries with us in His body our pains and suffering.
Most of all, Jesus makes suffering light because He provides us the right perspective in looking at our trials and difficulties. He does not simply tell us the problem but how to see them in a new light. He invites us to transform our sufferings into opportunities. In other words, instead blaming others for our woes, or focusing on what is wrong, He gives us hope and courage by asking us to focus on what is positive and what the future holds for us. The parables of the Kingdom are all about expanding our narrow view point and embracing the possibilities that lie ahead of us. We are invited to go beyond our narrow self, our fears, and to learn to take risks and be adventurous enough to allow God to work miracles in our lives.
But is God reliable? This is the question some of us struggle with. Can we depend on Him to work miracles in and through us? Some of us might think that God cannot be trusted because He might not even exist. For many believers, God is only a backup in case everything else fails. He is not the first solution or person we turn to for help but only as a last resort. Like Israel, in our time of exile, we wonder whether God can turn the situation around. But the Lord challenged Israel, “How can you say, Jacob, how can you insist, Israel, ‘My destiny is hidden from the Lord, my rights are ignored by my God’? Did you not know? Had you not heard?” These questions too are directed at us who doubt His power and His wisdom in turning evil into good.
In the first place, God made it clear that His power and wisdom are seen in creation. He is not a creature but the creator. “To whom could you liken me and who could be my equal?’ says the Holy One. Lift your eyes and look. Who made these stars if not he who drills them like an army, calling each one by name? So mighty is his power, so great his strength, that not one fails to answer.” God who calls all things into being therefore have the power to do the impossible. God can transform the events of life and bring us surprises, just as He did when He raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus’ enemies thought that they had won, with the death of the troublemaker, and His band of followers disbanded. But God raised Him back to life.
For this reason, today, we are called to renew our faith and trust in God. He knows our pains just as He told Moses when He saw His people suffering. “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey.” (Ex 3:7f) This is why Isaiah urges us to trust in Him. “The Lord is an everlasting God; he created the boundaries of the earth. He does not grow tired or weary, his understanding is beyond fathoming. He gives strength to the wearied, he strengthens the powerless.”
We must hope in the Lord as the prophet said, “Young men may grow tired and weary, youths may stumble, but those who hope in the Lord renew their strength, they put out wings like eagles. They run and do not grow weary, walk and never tire.” Indeed, those who hope in the Lord will always find strength. Only those who have given up hope in God will give up hope in themselves and the world. But for those of us who hope in the Lord and trust in Him, we will never give up trying and persevering until we reach the goal. So long as there is life, we must continue to cling on to God as our Lord did on the cross. Even in the face of death, He did not believe that His mission would fail. He entrusted His mission to the Father when He said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” (Lk 23:46)
So let us remove the obstacle of pride and turn to Him for mercy and forgiveness. We must remove the obstacles to faith and love by encountering His healing and compassion. The psalmist says, “It is he who forgives all your guilt, who heals every one of your ills, who redeems your life from the grave, who crowns you with love and compassion. The Lord is compassion and love, slow to anger and rich in mercy. He does not treat us according to our sins nor repay us according to our faults.” Truly, having our sins forgiven is the first step to healing and strengthening our faith. Forgiveness opens our hearts and minds to Him when we experience healing. We learn to let go of our scepticism and unbelief.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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