20250105 EMBRACING HOPE
First reading | Isaiah 60:1-6 |
Above you the glory of the Lord appears
Arise, shine out, Jerusalem, for your light has come,
the glory of the Lord is rising on you,
though night still covers the earth
and darkness the peoples.
Above you the Lord now rises
and above you his glory appears.
The nations come to your light
and kings to your dawning brightness.
Lift up your eyes and look round:
all are assembling and coming towards you,
your sons from far away
and your daughters being tenderly carried.
At this sight you will grow radiant,
your heart throbbing and full;
since the riches of the sea will flow to you,
the wealth of the nations come to you;
camels in throngs will cover you,
and dromedaries of Midian and Ephah;
everyone in Sheba will come,
bringing gold and incense
and singing the praise of the Lord.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 71(72):1-2,7-8,10-13 |
All nations shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.
O God, give your judgement to the king,
to a king’s son your justice,
that he may judge your people in justice
and your poor in right judgement.
All nations shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.
In his days justice shall flourish
and peace till the moon fails.
He shall rule from sea to sea,
from the Great River to earth’s bounds.
All nations shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.
The kings of Tarshish and the sea coasts
shall pay him tribute.
The kings of Sheba and Seba
shall bring him gifts.
Before him all kings shall fall prostrate,
all nations shall serve him.
All nations shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.
For he shall save the poor when they cry
and the needy who are helpless.
He will have pity on the weak
and save the lives of the poor.
All nations shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.
Second reading |
Ephesians 3:2-3,5-6 |
It has now been revealed that pagans share the same inheritance
You have probably heard how I have been entrusted by God with the grace he meant for you, and that it was by a revelation that I was given the knowledge of the mystery. This mystery that has now been revealed through the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets was unknown to any men in past generations; it means that pagans now share the same inheritance, that they are parts of the same body, and that the same promise has been made to them, in Jesus Christ, through the gospel.
Gospel Acclamation | Mt2:2 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
We saw his star as it rose
and have come to do the Lord homage.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Matthew 2:1-12 |
The visit of the Magi
After Jesus had been born at Bethlehem in Judaea during the reign of King Herod, some wise men came to Jerusalem from the east. ‘Where is the infant king of the Jews?’ they asked. ‘We saw his star as it rose and have come to do him homage.’ When King Herod heard this he was perturbed, and so was the whole of Jerusalem. He called together all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, and enquired of them where the Christ was to be born. ‘At Bethlehem in Judaea,’ they told him ‘for this is what the prophet wrote:
And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
you are by no means least among the leaders of Judah,
for out of you will come a leader
who will shepherd my people Israel.’
Then Herod summoned the wise men to see him privately. He asked them the exact date on which the star had appeared, and sent them on to Bethlehem. ‘Go and find out all about the child,’ he said ‘and when you have found him, let me know, so that I too may go and do him homage.’ Having listened to what the king had to say, they set out. And there in front of them was the star they had seen rising; it went forward, and halted over the place where the child was. The sight of the star filled them with delight, and going into the house they saw the child with his mother Mary, and falling to their knees they did him homage. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. But they were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, and returned to their own country by a different way.
05 January 2025, SUNDAY, EPIPHANY OF THE LORD (CATECHETICAL SUNDAY)
EMBRACING HOPE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [IS 60:1-6; PS 72:1-2,7-8,10-13; EPH 3:2-3.5-6; MT 2:1-12]
Today we celebrate the Epiphany of our Lord. We celebrate Jesus manifested as the Son of God to the whole world, symbolized in the three Magi who were non-Jews. They, too, came to recognize the Infant King as their Lord and Saviour. “They saw the child with his mother Mary, and falling to their knees they did him homage. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.” Indeed, Jesus was born not just for the Chosen People of God, the Jews, but He is the Saviour of all. This is what St Paul said, “This mystery that has now been revealed through the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets was unknown to any men in past generations; it means that pagans now share the same inheritance.”
Today, we also celebrate Catechetical Sunday. Like St Paul and the Magi, we are called to reveal Christ as our Saviour and Lord to the world. Catechesis is more than just an instruction of the faith and on morality but it is to encounter Jesus as a friend, Lord and Saviour leading to a transformed life. This was what happened to Paul and the Magi. The Magi, after adoring the Lord, “returned to their own country by a different way.” So, too, St Paul, after encountering the Risen Lord in Damascus. “You have probably heard how I have been entrusted by God with the grace he meant for you, and that it was by a revelation that I was given the knowledge of the mystery.” In the words of Pope Benedict, “Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.” (Deus Caritas Est, 1)
Indeed, catechesis is to give a reason for our hope in Christ. “Always be ready to make your defence to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence.” (1 Pt 3:15) This year, the Church is celebrating the Jubilee year of hope. We should take catechesis as the means by which we give hope to the world by giving them Christ. He is our only hope and the basis for hope. Our hope for a better world and a future life beyond this world is founded on the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord. As catechists, we are called first and foremost to offer lasting hope in Christ to our young people and to our Catechumens. He is the way to peace and justice in the world, as the responsorial psalm says.
However, it is not just the work of catechists alone but of everyone in the community. Faith is a communitarian affair. For a person to grow in faith, we need the whole village to help the person in his or her faith journey. Every one of us has a part to play in helping our brothers and sisters in their faith. Parents are the first catechists, but they need help also from the rest of the community. Besides, catechists, priests and all have a role in inspiring and forming the faith of those who seek to know Jesus, especially the young. So long as we are in this community, we can either inspire others in faith or cause them to lose faith because of scandals or the lack of charity, or simply because we do not live out our Catholic life.
We must learn from the wise men that we need to travel together in faith. The journey of faith is long and harsh. Many have a glimpse of Christ and desire to know Him. But not many persevere to the end. And even for those of us who are baptized, when the ointment dries from our head, we also become complacent and indifferent to our faith. Indeed, we have many nominal Catholics in the Church. They get lost along the way. Simply because they travelled alone. They have no Catholic friends to support them in their faith. Their friends are all non-Catholics and so we cannot expect them to help them in their faith. The three wise men walked together, sharing their resources and knowledge, and accompanied each other in the search for the Infant King of the Jews.
They sought help not just from their own studies but from those who know. Like the wise men, they were searching for the Infant King. They would have used all the resources available to them to arrive at the knowledge that the Lord could be found by following the Starthat they saw. “We saw his star as it rose and have come to do him homage.” They were sincere in wanting to find Jesus. There was no complacency on their part. And when they lost sight of the star, they went to the priests and the scribes for information. They said, “At Bethlehem in Judaea, for this is what the prophet wrote: And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, you are by no means least among the leaders of Judah, for out of you will come a leader who will shepherd my people Israel.” We, too, must be humble in our search for the Lord. We need to study about Him from those who have met Him and have learnt about Him. We cannot just depend on ourselves but be humble enough to inquire about Jesus from those who know. We must help each other to strengthen our faith.
In our search for Christ, we need to look out for true mentors of Christ in our community. Some are like King Herod; they pretend to know Him but they have ulterior motives. We do not choose anyone for convenience sake. The people we choose must be disciples of our Lord and people who are passionate about Jesus. Many who offer themselves to be god-parents for baptism and confirmation are themselves not exemplary in their faith life. As the Lord warned us, “If one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.” So we must be selective in those whom we choose to journey with us. Otherwise, instead of leading us to God, they can lead us to sin. That is why we need more exemplary faith believers in our community to teach, form and inspire our young people and those searching. Unfortunately, mentors are hard to find – whether it is in the RCIA or sponsors for teen confirmation. The sponsors are normally the same people who follow from one intake to another. Once they are baptized, they are normally left on their own, and often they feel lost. As a result, some eventually stray from the Church. So, too, our young people cannot find good mentors to be their sponsors. They just choose anyone, mostly relatives to stand in for them even though they themselves are poor witnesses of faith.
Knowledge about Jesus is inadequate, unless it is a personal knowledge. “When the wise men told Herod that they were looking for the infant king of the Jews, King Herod was perturbed. Later he summoned the wise men to see him privately. He asked them the exact date on which the star had appeared, and sent them on to Bethlehem. ‘Go and find out all about the child,’ he said ‘and when you have found him, let me know, so that I too may go and do him homage.'” But he was not sincere. On the contrary, he was plotting to get rid of Him. We, too, must be sincere in our relationship with the Lord. We cannot depend on secondary testimony about Jesus. We must go and discover Him for ourselves and adore Him. As catechists, we must be able to say to those under our charge that we know Him and we have encountered Him. Catechesis is not about providing some information about Jesus, but leading them to know Jesus personally.
Finally, we must shine out to the world. We evangelize best by evangelizing ourselves. As Isaiah said in the first reading, “Arise, shine out, Jerusalem, for your light has come, the glory of the Lord is rising on you, though night still covers the earth and darkness the peoples. Above you the Lord now rises and above you his glory appears.” Let us therefore be witnesses of our Lord, testifying to Him. We must show that our hope in Jesus has transformed our lives. Witnessing faith in life is critical. Just as St Paul and the wise men’s lives were transformed after adoring the Lord Jesus, we should be able to manifest a change of life in our attitudes towards worldly things and our relationships with others. The teachings of our Lord in the scriptures will reveal to us more and more about our identity and how we are called to live our lives meaningfully, and be at the service of God and His people. As we do, we become convinced and remain connected with our experience of the Lord. By sharing, we grow in union with fellow Catholics because it is the Lord that binds us all together. In Christ, we become one people, one body, because of the one Faith we share. Indeed, Christ is our hope, the power and the wisdom of God. (1 Cor 1:24)
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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