20241223 THE WAYS OF GOD ARE NOT THE WAYS OF MAN
First reading |
Malachi 3:1-4,23-24 |
Before my day comes, I will send you Elijah my prophet
The Lord God says this: Look, I am going to send my messenger to prepare a way before me. And the Lord you are seeking will suddenly enter his Temple; and the angel of the covenant whom you are longing for, yes, he is coming, says the Lord of Hosts. Who will be able to resist the day of his coming? Who will remain standing when he appears? For he is like the refiner’s fire and the fullers’ alkali. He will take his seat as refiner and purifier; he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and then they will make the offering to the Lord as it should be made. The offering of Judah and Jerusalem will then be welcomed by the Lord as in former days, as in the years of old.
Know that I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before my day comes, that great and terrible day. He shall turn the hearts of fathers towards their children and the hearts of children towards their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a curse.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 24(25):4-5,8-9,10,14 |
Stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand.
Lord, make me know your ways.
Lord, teach me your paths.
Make me walk in your truth, and teach me:
for you are God my saviour.
Stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand.
The Lord is good and upright.
He shows the path to those who stray,
He guides the humble in the right path,
He teaches his way to the poor.
Stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand.
His ways are faithfulness and love
for those who keep his covenant and law.
The Lord’s friendship is for those who revere him;
to them he reveals his covenant.
Stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand.
Gospel Acclamation |
Alleluia, alleluia!
King of the peoples
and cornerstone of the Church,
come and save man,
whom you made from the dust of the earth.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 1:57-66 |
'His name is John'
The time came for Elizabeth to have her child, and she gave birth to a son; and when her neighbours and relations heard that the Lord had shown her so great a kindness, they shared her joy.
Now on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother spoke up. ‘No,’ she said ‘he is to be called John.’ They said to her, ‘But no one in your family has that name’, and made signs to his father to find out what he wanted him called. The father asked for a writing-tablet and wrote, ‘His name is John.’ And they were all astonished. At that instant his power of speech returned and he spoke and praised God. All their neighbours were filled with awe and the whole affair was talked about throughout the hill country of Judaea. All those who heard of it treasured it in their hearts. ‘What will this child turn out to be?’ they wondered. And indeed the hand of the Lord was with him.
23 December 2024, Monday, 4th Week in Advent
THE WAYS OF GOD ARE NOT THE WAYS OF MAN
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Mal 3:1-4,23-24; Luke 1:57-66]
At the end of today’s gospel, “All those who heard of it treasured it in their hearts. ‘What will this child turn out to be?’ they wondered.” This is what St Luke is asking us to reflect on as well. In asking this question, we are called to remind ourselves that God works in unusual ways, not always in line with man’s thinking and customs. The strange events caused them to wonder about the role of this child. They certainly knew that John the Baptist was not just an ordinary child, but he had been given a special role in salvation history. When God puts His hand on the person, He can do wonders. This was what Luke said, “And indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him.” This child would walk in the way of the Lord and serve Him.
In the first place, God made it possible for an elderly couple to bear a child when they were considered infertile and barren. God could have chosen a younger couple to give birth to the forerunner of the Messiah. But He chose Zechariah and Elizabeth instead to be the parents of the forerunner. This is God’s way of showing that He is in charge of our history and the author of life, the creator of humanity. The barren Elizabeth was a symbol of Israel being barren of prophets all these years since the last prophet Malachi. For God, nothing is impossible. We must not delimit the ways God wants to work in our lives. This is why doing God’s work requires courage and faith, to believe in the impossible. We must learn the lesson of Zechariah not to doubt the Word of God.
In the second place, this child was given a strange name. The angel had instructed Zechariah that he was to be called John. “Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John.” (Lk 1:13) Indeed the people were surprised that he was not named after the father as was the custom. The people objected to Elizabeth naming him “John”, but they were overruled by Zechariah who wrote on the wax tablet confirming that “His name is John”, meaning he was “A gift from God” and “God is gracious.” Indeed, John is God’s gift, not just to Elizabeth and Zechariah but also to the people of Israel because, as the angel told Zechariah, “You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Lk 1:14-17)
It took much courage for Elizabeth and Zechariah to go against the custom of their time. Instead of allowing the customs and traditions of the people to restrict their obedience to the Word of the Lord, they were able to resist them. Indeed, we also need to learn from this as well, because quite often even in ministry, we are afraid of change simply because we succumb to peer pressure and the secular attitudes of the world. To hear God and carry out His word in obedience is more important than to follow the customs. The ways of God are not always agreeable with the ways of the world. We too must be careful that we do not allow peer pressure and the world to force us to accept their customs and judgments on what is right.
In the third place, Zechariah’s tongue was loosened, and he received his speech once again. This time, upon regaining his speech, he immediately broke into tongues of praise for God’s mercy and fidelity to Israel. Zechariah had learnt his lesson. When God acts, we should listen. Then, he did not believe in the message of the angel so the Lord gave him time for reflection by taking away his speech. As a righteous man, he emerged stronger in faith.
This is what Zechariah had to say about this event. God is once again acting on behalf of the people by visiting them and sending them His messengers. Zechariah made it clear that God’s visitation would come with the Messiah’s visitation. He would rescue Israel from her enemies and all those who hated God’s people. However, the real enemies, as the Lord would tell them, were not so much the foreign invaders but the spiritual foes, the evils of society. This is why, John the Baptist was “to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins.” (Lk 1:76f) The real conversion that is needed is that there must be a right relationship between God and man so that this can also be extended horizontally for man to have a right relationship with each. Man must first repent of their sins.
Once again, God proved Himself to be faithful to His covenantal promises to the fathers of Israel, right down to Abraham. In this way, Zechariah said they would be able once again serve God with their whole life without fear and in holiness. Israel would be vindicated. His own son, John, would play the role of a forerunner. (cf Lk 1:57-69) “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord.” John the Baptist as the forerunner of the Messiah would point the people to the Messiah and prepare them to receive Him. Indeed, John the Baptist is the fulfilment of the prophecy of Malachi when we read in the first reading, the Lord said, “I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before my day comes, that great and terrible day. He shall turn the hearts of fathers towards their children and the hearts of children towards their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a curse.” He will prepare the way for the Messiah to come and restore Israel.
Today, we need to preach once again on sin and judgment. But this is very unpopular today because the world does not like to hear that they are sinners. The world wants us all to believe that we are all conceived without sin and remain sinless. It is a matter of preference or often due to ignorance. This is why the gospel of repentance is neglected today. We are too quick to offer the Good News without the need for repentance. Today, we are telling everyone that God loves us as we are and there is no need to change. By so doing, we are underestimating the depth of our sin, the Incarnation and the atoning death of our Lord. If we have no sin and if we do not need repentance in anyway, then we have emptied the cross and His death of all meaning. When men and women are made aware of their sins and the judgment of God, they are awakened and freed from their “enemies”, only then, as Zechariah said, will we be able to live a life of righteousness and holiness.
Isn’t this what the Lord said to us through the prophet Malachi? “The Lord God says this: “Look, I am going to send my messenger to prepare a way before me. And the Lord you are seeking will suddenly enter his Temple; and the angel of the covenant whom you are longing for, yes, he is coming”, says the Lord of hosts. “Who will be able to resist the day of his coming? Who will remain standing when he appears? For his is like the refiner’s fire and the fullers’ alkali. He will take his sear as the refiner and the purifier; he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and then they will make the offering to the Lord as it should be made.” God is going to purify us and unless we are ready to be purified, we will not be able to offer the perfect sacrifice to the Lord. Sin and holiness are not compatible. We must first purify ourselves so that the Lord can come and take His place in our hearts.
So as we approach Christmas, let us prepare our hearts to receive Him. Let us be heralds of the gospel like John the Baptist by giving people a knowledge of salvation and forgiveness. Let us experience God’s tender mercy and forgiveness ourselves in the sacrament of reconciliation. Let us show those who are walking in the shadow of death and those who sit in darkness by showing them the light and love of Christ. In this way, we too will be like John the Baptist, a gift to others. John the Baptist is a gift from God, but Jesus is the greatest gift of God Himself. At Christmas therefore, we must be people of joy and hope. As we share our gifts with each other, let us also share ourselves and our lives. By so doing, we can really say, “O Emmanuel”, the 7th O Antiphon, that God is with us, and He is incarnated in our midst, dwelling in our hearts as we celebrate the joy of Christmas together. The best way to thank God for the gift of Christ is to make ourselves a gift to others, a difference in the lives of others. So, don’t just celebrate with your friends and relatives without also remembering those who are walking in the valley of death. Let us be that messenger of Good News to others.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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