20250108 RECOGNIZING THE PRESENCE OF GOD
First reading | 1 John 4:11-18 |
As long as we love one another God's love will be complete in us
My dear people,
since God has loved us so much,
we too should love one another.
No one has ever seen God;
but as long as we love one another
God will live in us
and his love will be complete in us.
We can know that we are living in him
and he is living in us
because he lets us share his Spirit.
We ourselves saw and we testify
that the Father sent his Son
as saviour of the world.
If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,
God lives in him, and he in God.
We ourselves have known and put our faith in
God’s love towards ourselves.
God is love
and anyone who lives in love lives in God,
and God lives in him.
Love will come to its perfection in us
when we can face the day of Judgement without fear;
because even in this world
we have become as he is.
In love there can be no fear,
but fear is driven out by perfect love:
because to fear is to expect punishment,
and anyone who is afraid is still imperfect in love.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 71(72):1-2,10-13 |
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.
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.
Gospel Acclamation | Lk4:17 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord has sent me to bring the good news to the poor,
to proclaim liberty to captives.
Alleluia!
Or: | cf.1Tim3:16 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Glory to you, O Christ,
proclaimed to the pagans;
glory to you, O Christ,
believed in by the world.
Alleluia!
Or: | Mt4:16 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The people that lived in darkness
has seen a great light;
on those who dwell in the land and shadow of death
a light has dawned.
Alleluia!
Or: | cf.Mt4:23 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Jesus proclaimed the Good News of the kingdom
and cured all kinds of diseases among the people.
Alleluia!
Or: | Lk7:16 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
A great prophet has appeared among us;
God has visited his people.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 6:45-52 |
His disciples saw him walking on the lake
After the five thousand had eaten and were filled, Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to Bethsaida, while he himself sent the crowd away. After saying goodbye to them he went off into the hills to pray. When evening came, the boat was far out on the lake, and he was alone on the land. He could see they were worn out with rowing, for the wind was against them; and about the fourth watch of the night he came towards them, walking on the lake. He was going to pass them by, but when they saw him walking on the lake they thought it was a ghost and cried out; for they had all seen him and were terrified. But he at once spoke to them, and said, ‘Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.’ Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind dropped. They were utterly and completely dumbfounded, because they had not seen what the miracle of the loaves meant; their minds were closed.
08 January 2025, Wednesday After Epiphany
RECOGNIZING THE PRESENCE OF GOD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 JN 4:11-18; MK 6:45-52]
We are in the season of Epiphany, which celebrates the manifestation of God in Christ. The scripture readings of today describe two forms of manifestation of God in our lives. The first way in which Christ manifests His presence in our lives is in times of trials and temptations. We can imagine how the disciples of Jesus must have felt when they were in the boat fighting against the strong wind. Jesus was not with them. In our lives too, we often meet with trials, whether in our ministry, in our relationships, or when suffering illness or failures. In such moments, we tend to think that God has abandoned us. We feel helpless and powerless against the odds facing us. Some of us may even succumb to despair and give up.
But the gospel tells us that it is during such times when God is watching over us. Although the disciples thought that Jesus was not with them, He was watching over them – from land. He never let His eyes off His disciples. And so, as they were battling against the wind, “about the fourth watch of the night he came towards them, walking on the lake. He was going to pass them by, but when they saw him walking on the lake they thought it was a ghost and cried out, for they had all seen him and were terrified.” Indeed, we see what fear can do to us. It makes us conjure images that are not real. The disciples could not recognize Jesus in their fear, and worse still, they thought they were seeing a ghost. But the Lord assured them saying, “Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.” We should not fear any longer when the Lord manifests Himself to us. “Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind dropped.” When Jesus was with them, calm returned to the sea.
Clearly, Jesus is manifested as the Lord of nature. He has power to calm the storms. He has power to multiply bread for the five thousand. Unfortunately, the disciples in spite of what they saw, were still unenlightened. It did not yet occur to them the real identity of Jesus. The evangelist noted, “They were utterly and completely dumbfounded, because they had not seen what the miracle of the loaves meant; their minds were closed.” Perhaps this is true for us too. If we fail to recognize the presence of God in our lives and in times of trials, it is because we have not understood the events in our lives and read them in the light of faith. Through all our events, the Lord wants to show us His presence and His care. Indeed, when we consider all the trials in our lives that we have gone through, how we have managed to pull through all those difficult times and challenging situations, we will come to know that it is not on our own strength and ingenuity but solely by His grace. We need to open the eyes of our minds and faith to see how much the Lord has shown Himself to us in many ways which we have not grasped, just like the disciples of our Lord.
However, if we have the eyes of faith, not only will we be able to see God at work in our lives, and feel His presence, but we can also feel Him living in us as well. This is the second way in which the epiphany of God is experienced. St John wrote, “My dear people, since God has loved us so much, we too should love one another. No one has ever seen God; but as long as we love one another God will live in us and his love will be complete in us.” For St John, it was clear that when we love each other, God lives in us. But this is not just any kind of love. It is not just a reciprocal love between two persons. Of course, such love is also a participation in God’s love. But for St John, this love for each other comes from the fact that we have experienced the love of God in the first place. The power to love comes from the love of God in us. This is what St John meant when he wrote, “We can know that we are living in him and he is living in us because he lets us share his Spirit.” We know that God is real and is present in us because we are not loving from our own strength or from a mutual love from each other, but from the love of God in us.
Our love therefore is not from an act of the will or from a reciprocal love between two persons but is rooted in God’s love for us. For such love to be more than human, it presupposes that we have seen the love of God for us in Christ Jesus. “We ourselves saw and we testify that the Father sent his Son as saviour of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him, and he in God.” It calls for faith in Jesus as the Son of God, which the disciples then could not yet recognize until after His passion, death and resurrection. “They were utterly and completely dumbfounded because their minds were closed.”
This explains why for those who love God and see in Jesus the manifestation of God, God lives in them. St John wrote, “We ourselves have known and put our faith in God’s love towards ourselves. God is love and anyone who lives in love lives in God, and God lives in him.” When we are driven by God’s love in us, we experience the love of God when we reach out to others because we see how God works in and through us in spite of our limitations and constraints. Knowing that we are not doing the work of God but that God is at work in us, makes all the difference in the way we conduct our ministry.
Above all, this love of God in us comes to its completion when we no longer live in fear, as St John wrote. “Love will come to its perfection in us when we can face the day of Judgement without fear; because even in this world we have become as he is. In love there can be no fear, but fear is driven out by perfect love: because to fear is to expect punishment, and anyone who is afraid still is imperfect in love.” Indeed, we know that we have truly loved God and our fellowmen when we are living with a clear conscience, knowing that we have done all we possibly could as a human being. As for the rest, we can rely on the love and mercy of God. When our love for God is perfect, there is nothing to fear, even at our death bed because His love is in our hearts. When we love someone, we do not fear the person. When we love God, we do not fear Him. Fear is only present to one who does not know God or has not loved Him. This explains why those who have lived selfish and evil lives are fearful of death and judgement because they cannot face themselves and they cannot face God.
So, as we contemplate on the face of God in Jesus during this season of Epiphany, we are called to reflect the face of Jesus in our life and in our ministry. Let us ground ourselves in the love of God first before we engage in ministry. We must not use our own strength alone and our human ingenuity to do God’s work because we will suffer fatigue, like the apostles in times of trials and difficulties. When our faith fails us, we will become disillusioned and fall into despair. But if we grow in intimacy with our Lord first before we embark on our ministry, then we will be able to remain calm in the face of challenges, because our conscience is clear, because we are motivated by God’s love, and we are not worried about the judgment of others. So long as we have done what we possibly could, we should surrender everything else into the hands of God. As the responsorial psalm says, “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. 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.” God will see to our needs. He will know how to judge and help us accordingly.
Hence, like Jesus, we must learn from Him. We are told that “after the five thousand had eaten and were filled, Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to Bethsaida, while he himself sent the crowd away. After saying goodbye to them he went off into the hills to pray.” Jesus never got carried away by His ministry. The first thing He did after such a great miracle was to spend time in the hills alone to pray to His Father. He did not spend time with His disciples celebrating the great success of feeding the Five Thousand. Rather, He withdrew all by Himself to bask in the love of His Father. It is in the quiet presence of God that we find strength and courage in our ministry. Maintaining a loving relationship and intimacy with our Lord is the key to living in the presence of His love and His joy. In this way, we will always remain calm and tranquil in good and in bad times.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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