20260528 LIVING AS ILLUMINATED CHILDREN OF GOD
28 May 2026, Thursday, 8th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
1 Peter 2:2-5,9-12 |
You are a royal priesthood, a people set apart
You are new born, and, like babies, you should be hungry for nothing but milk – the spiritual honesty which will help you to grow up to salvation – now that you have tasted the goodness of the Lord.
He is the living stone, rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him; set yourselves close to him so that you too, the holy priesthood that offers the spiritual sacrifices which Jesus Christ has made acceptable to God, may be living stones making a spiritual house. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a people set apart to sing the praises of God who called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people at all and now you are the People of God; once you were outside the mercy and now you have been given mercy.
I urge you, my dear people, while you are visitors and pilgrims to keep yourselves free from the selfish passions that attack the soul. Always behave honourably among pagans so that they can see your good works for themselves and, when the day of reckoning comes, give thanks to God for the things which now make them denounce you as criminals.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 99(100):2-5 |
Come before the Lord, singing for joy.
Cry out to the Lord, all the earth.
Serve the Lord with gladness.
Come before him, singing for joy.
Come before the Lord, singing for joy.
Know that he, the Lord, is God.
He made us, we belong to him,
we are his people, the sheep of his flock.
Come before the Lord, singing for joy.
Go within his gates, giving thanks.
Enter his courts with songs of praise.
Give thanks to him and bless his name.
Come before the Lord, singing for joy.
Indeed, how good is the Lord,
eternal his merciful love.
He is faithful from age to age.
Come before the Lord, singing for joy.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Ps129:5 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
My soul is waiting for the Lord,
I count on his word.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn8:12 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the light of the world, says the Lord;
anyone who follows me will have the light of life.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 10:46-52 |
Go; your faith has saved you
As Jesus left Jericho with his disciples and a large crowd, Bartimaeus (that is, the son of Timaeus), a blind beggar, was sitting at the side of the road. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout and to say, ‘Son of David, Jesus, have pity on me.’ And many of them scolded him and told him to keep quiet, but he only shouted all the louder, ‘Son of David, have pity on me.’ Jesus stopped and said, ‘Call him here.’ So they called the blind man. ‘Courage,’ they said ‘get up; he is calling you.’ So throwing off his cloak, he jumped up and went to Jesus. Then Jesus spoke, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ ‘Rabbuni,’ the blind man said to him ‘Master, let me see again.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has saved you.’ And immediately his sight returned and he followed him along the road.
LIVING AS ILLUMINATED CHILDREN OF GOD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 Pt 2:2-5,9-12; Ps 100:2-5; Mk 10:46-52]
In the Early Church, the Sacrament of Baptism was also called the Sacrament of Illumination to symbolise catechumens being enlightened by Christ. Having chosen to die with Him in the waters of baptism to their old, sinful way of life, they rise from the water filled with His Holy Spirit to live as children of God. This is particularly true when catechumens are baptised at the Easter Vigil, which is preceded by the Liturgy of Light. Christ, who rose from the dead to bring light to a world in darkness, is symbolised by the Easter Candle as it is carried into the church and toward the sanctuary.
Having been enlightened by the truth in Christ, the newly baptised – holding their baptismal candles and dressed in their baptismal garments – are now called to be the light of Christ in the world. Peter, in today’s First Reading, reminds us of what we are being baptised into: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a people set apart to the praises of God who called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people at all and now you are the People of God; once you were outside the mercy and now you have been given mercy.” Being baptised calls for a personal testimony of why we have chosen Christ and what He has done for us in our lives. It is a call to proclaim God’s unconditional and overwhelming mercy in Christ, who has shown us the way to live a liberated life.
However, words alone cannot suffice; people will doubt our personal encounter with Jesus the Risen Lord if our lives do not demonstrate a radical change. It is not enough to proclaim that Jesus has forgiven us and set us free if we are still slaves to our passions and desires. St Peter reminds us, “I urge you, my dear people, while you are visitors and pilgrims to keep yourselves free from the selfish passions that attack the soul.” Indeed, we must hold ourselves to the virtues of integrity, truth, charity, and compassion. We must be forgiving and tolerant of those who are unkind to us. St Peter wrote, “Always behave honourably among pagans so that they can see your good works for themselves and, when the day of reckoning comes, give thanks to God for the things which now make them denounce you as criminals.”
But to remain strong and firm in the Gospel values taught to us, we must hunger for spiritual food. St Peter said, “You are new born, and, like babies, you should be hungry for nothing but milk – the spiritual honesty which will help you to grow up to salvation.” This thirst for spiritual food presupposes that we have already “tasted the goodness of the Lord.” In other words, without a personal encounter with the Risen Lord, we will not be able to desire more of Him and His words in our lives. There must be an initial taste of His goodness, His love and His peace; otherwise, there is nothing to fall back on or to desire. How can we desire for something that we have no idea whatsoever? This explains why those of us who have encountered Jesus keep returning to Him, hoping to receive more and more of Him each time.
This is particularly true with respect to our love for the Word of God. When we have encountered the Lord and come to realise that Jesus is personally real, we begin to read the Word of God from a different perspective. We no longer read the Word of God as a historical or a factual book. Rather, we will read with the conviction that Jesus is speaking to us directly. We begin to read as if the Lord is addressing us personally. When we read the Word of God, “not as a human word but as what it really is, God’s word”, it is at work in us. (cf 1 Th 2:13) Indeed, as the author of Hebrews says, “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.” (Heb 4:12f)
All Christians must take their spiritual growth seriously. We cannot presume that once baptised, our faith in Jesus is guaranteed, or that once we encounter the Lord personally, we will always be faithful to Him. As in all relationships, we must not take it for granted; we need to be intentional in growing this relationship through prayer, fellowship, worship, and meditation. This is why, Peter exhorts us, “He is the living stone, rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him; set yourselves close to him so that you too, the holy priesthood that offers the spiritual sacrifices which Jesus Christ has made acceptable to God, may be living stones making a spiritual house.” We must stick close to our Lord, without whom, we will lose our direction, our hearts will become cold, and we will distance ourselves from the ambience of His love. We cannot be the living stones unless we rest on Christ, who is the cornerstone of the Church.
Today, we are called to take Bartimaeus as our example – as one who seeks the truth and, finding it, keeps following and never lets go. When the blind Bartimaeus came to Jesus, the Lord asked the most important question: “What do you want me to do for you?” Many seek the wrong things in life, or irrelevant things. What matters most is that we can see the Lord and recognise who we are. On the physical level, Bartimaeus wanted his sight back, but on the spiritual level, he articulates what every disciple of the Lord ultimately seeks: to see Jesus and to recognise Him as the Son of God. Bartimaeus gives us hope that discipleship is open to all who identify Jesus in faith as the Son of David, the Son of God, and the Messiah. One becomes a disciple by following Bartimaeus’ example – putting our faith in Him and then choosing to follow Him all the way, even to the cross. If the Lord enables us to see, then we must follow Him all the way.
Indeed, the evangelist uses Bartimaeus as a contrast to the apostles James and John, who had earlier approached Jesus while “on their way” to Jerusalem. Here we are told that Bartimaeus “was sitting at the side of the road” – that is, by the way. However, after Jesus healed him of His blindness, “he followed him along the road (the Way). It is significant that Jesus could not grant James and John’s request to sit on the throne beside Him, yet He granted Bartimaeus’ request to see, because Bartimaeus wanted to walk in the Way. It is important to note that in the primitive Church, Christians were called followers of “the Way”. Jesus comes to heal us of our spiritual blindness, not just our physical blindness.
But we also know that following Jesus does not come easy; there are many voices seeking to drown our aspirations and desires. This was true for Bartimaeus. Before the Lord could Heal his blindness, he had to contend with the crowd’s determination to drown his cries for help. He had to be strong even when the whole world was against him. “Many of them scolded him and told him to keep quiet, but he only shouted all the louder, ‘Son of David, have pity on me.'” So, too, the Syrophoenician woman, Jairus, and the woman with haemorrhage; they had to ignore the mockery and scorn of the crowd. Similarly, in trying to follow Jesus on the Way, we will face a “cancel culture” seeking to silence the voice of the Gospel and the way we live our lives. This is because the values of the Gospel contradict the ambitions of the world and the actions of those who do not respect international law and order.
As Christians, we must walk together in unity and in faith. St Peter reminds us that we “are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation.” As members of the priesthood, we offer the Sacrifice of the Mass, which is the sacrament of unity and love. By celebrating the Eucharist and offering the sacrifice of the Mass, we pray for God’s grace to have mercy on the world. Through sharing in the Eucharist, we strengthen our union with the Lord and offering ourselves for the salvation of the world. In this sharing, we walk not only with Jesus, but with the Church as the Body of Christ. The Eucharist brings us closer together as one Church, one Body, sharing in the same Spirit of the Father and the Son. When we are in union with the Holy Trinity and fellow Christians, we will be able to walk the Way of our Lord.
Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections
- Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
- Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
- It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.
Note: You may share this reflection with someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will they be available via email request.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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