20150204 GAINING CONFIDENCE IN OTHERS

20150204 GAINING CONFIDENCE IN OTHERS

Readings at Mass

First reading

Hebrews 12:4-7,11-15 ©

In the fight against sin, you have not yet had to keep fighting to the point of death.

  Have you forgotten that encouraging text in which you are addressed as sons? My son, when the Lord corrects you, do not treat it lightly; but do not get discouraged when he reprimands you. For the Lord trains the ones that he loves and he punishes all those that he acknowledges as his sons. Suffering is part of your training; God is treating you as his sons. Has there ever been any son whose father did not train him? Of course, any punishment is most painful at the time, and far from pleasant; but later, in those on whom it has been used, it bears fruit in peace and goodness. So hold up your limp arms and steady your trembling knees and smooth out the path you tread; then the injured limb will not be wrenched, it will grow strong again.

  Always be wanting peace with all people, and the holiness without which no one can ever see the Lord. Be careful that no one is deprived of the grace of God and that no root of bitterness should begin to grow and make trouble; this can poison a whole community.

Psalm

Psalm 102:1-2,13-14,17-18 ©

The love of the Lord is everlasting upon those who hold him in fear.

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.

The love of the Lord is everlasting upon those who hold him in fear.

As a father has compassion on his sons,

  the Lord has pity on those who fear him;

for he knows of what we are made,

  he remembers that we are dust.

The love of the Lord is everlasting upon those who hold him in fear.

But the love of the Lord is everlasting

  upon those who hold him in fear;

his justice reaches out to children’s children

  when they keep his covenant in truth.

The love of the Lord is everlasting upon those who hold him in fear.

Gospel Acclamation

Mt4:4

Alleluia, alleluia!

Man does not live on bread alone,

but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Alleluia!

Or

Jn10:27

Alleluia, alleluia!

The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice,

says the Lord,

I know them and they follow me.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Mark 6:1-6 ©

Jesus went to his home town and his disciples accompanied him. With the coming of the sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue and most of them were astonished when they heard him. They said, ‘Where did the man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been granted him, and these miracles that are worked through him? This is the carpenter, surely, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joset and Jude and Simon? His sisters, too, are they not here with us?’ And they would not accept him. And Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is only despised in his own country, among his own relations and in his own house’; and he could work no miracle there, though he cured a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.

GAINING CONFIDENCE IN OTHERS

SCRIPTURE READINGS: HEB 12:4-7, 11-15; MK 6:1-6

http://www.universalis.com/20150204mass.htm

“No prophet is without honour except in his native place, among his own kindred, and in his own house.”  These poignant words of Jesus cannot but also resonate with our own life experiences.  It is indeed rare that a person is accepted and truly appreciated for what he is and what he is doing in his own home.  It has been for Jesus and of course, we are no exception.

Yet, such a situation is really tragic.  It is tragic because it prevents the person who has been prejudiced from giving himself totally to his community.  The fact is that each one of us has so much to offer to others.  But one cannot offer himself if there are no takers.  One cannot offer himself unless the people he serves have confidence in him.  Without confidence, no matter how talented or gifted we are, we will be useless to our recipients.  Nothing that we say or do would be received positively by them.  For this reason, the evangelist tells us that Jesus could work no miracle in His hometown, apart from curing a few who were sick.  Yes, even Jesus Himself was helpless in the face of rejection by His townsfolk.

But this is not only a tragedy for the prophet himself but equally tragic for the potential beneficiaries.  By rejecting the prophet, they have deprived themselves of his services.  They have become poorer.  Instead of seizing the opportunity of having such a person to contribute to the community, they prefer to live in their own world.  However, their loss would be to others’ gain.   Indeed, we are told that Jesus, when He realized their lack faith in Him, “made the rounds of the neighbouring villages instead.”  As for the prophet himself, he really loses nothing.  He can always offer his services to those who want him.  And this was precisely what Jesus did.  And this is what many of us also do.  When we are not appreciated by the people we serve, we simply pack our bags and move to other places and people who are open to us and require our services.

But surely we do not want to act the way the townsfolk of Jesus did.  We might be thinking to ourselves, “What a waste!  They have missed such golden opportunities.”  But the irony is that we do this most of the time, especially to those whom we stay and work with.  Our lives are full of prejudices.  Many people whom we have rejected in life have turned out to be a joy and fortune to others.  And by the time we discover what we have lost, it is a bit too late.  Of course, we know that is not the right way of seeing life and people.  Thus, in order to keep ourselves open to others, and not fail to recognize the prophet of God in our midst, we must first understand why we treat people this way.

Firstly, our inability to have confidence in others results from our familiarity with them.  As the cliche goes, familiarity breeds contempt.  When we know a person too well, we tend to take a person for granted.  This tendency extends to things and situations as well.  We take whatever we have for granted.  Quite often, what are privileges initially soon become our rights. The truth is that when we take people and our life for granted, there is nothing new and exciting anymore.  They become simply routine.  The sparks and the colours no longer attract us.  Consequently, they do not inspire us anymore.  We have become numb to their uniqueness and their presence.  This, then, is the first reason for our indifference to others in our lives.

Secondly, our inability to have confidence in others arise from our own prejudices against them.  Such prejudices could have come from many sources.   Some of these could be due to our upbringing or past experiences which we then project on to these people.  This explains why we have aversion to certain people whom we have met only for the first time.  This is a psychological reaction.  Awareness of such feelings within ourselves can help us to stay more objective and receptive.

But I think what is even more difficult is the result of our past encounters, which are not necessarily negative with these people themselves.  Such encounters pre-determine our mind-set towards these people.  And thus, each one of us has this set image of the person in our minds, an image that has hardly changed over the years.  This was surely the case of Jesus’ townsfolk.  The reason why they could not accept Jesus was not because of what Jesus had done, but simply because they knew Him as one among them, the son of the carpenter.  They simply could not believe that this Jesus was no more the little child they knew.  In other words, they had an old image of Jesus that they could not erase.  Perhaps a greater self-consciousness will enable us to be aware that our image of the person must change, since situations have changed.

But I think the most insurmountable stumbling block in our ability to accept others is due to the bad encounters we have had with these people.  Such bad encounters cannot but have indelibly left an imprint on our memories.  And if these bad encounters are repeated, the situation worsens because they reinforce our negative image of the person.  Consequently, one is no longer able to be receptive to these people.   It is unfortunate, because our prejudice against such people will make us blind even to the other aspects of goodness in such persons.

Is there a way to overcome our prejudices against others? Yes, simply by realizing that the person you see before you is no more the person you saw yesterday or even a minute ago.  We are always being born anew each minute and each day of our lives.  We are never the same.  Even our cells are regenerating all the time.  And that is true for our thoughts and feelings as well.  People are never static.  To be alive is to change; to decay, to die and to rise.

So, if we can see that people are always changing, then perhaps, we can learn to trust them a little bit more.  We can give them, so to speak, a chance still.  But we know that it is difficult to continue to trust others, even if we believe that they are newly born again.  Somehow our past unpleasant experiences will keep on intruding into our present perception of them.  Consequently, if our faith in the other person is to be a reasonable faith, the other party must also show himself to be trustworthy and that he has changed.  Thus, if we are the ones that others have become prejudicial to, then we must show by our actions that we are not what they think we are.  In other words, through our actions and our very being, we show that we are truly born again.  In this way, we eventually win back their confidence.

And if it true that we have certain faults that are hurting others, then we need to change.  This is what the author of the letter to the Hebrews is advising us.   He asks us to fight against sin and to accept the discipline that comes from the Lord.  Yes, through all our daily encounters, our interactions, these are the ways that God disciplines us in the truth.  For it is through these interactions with others that we come to know ourselves more deeply.

Yes, although we cannot completely eradicate our prejudices against our fellow human beings and even life itself, at least being conscious that such prejudices are there enable us to be more objective in judging situations and people.   To the extent we can reduce our prejudices, to that extent, life becomes richer.  When no prejudice exists in our lives, then all of us become winners.  But whenever prejudices dominate our lives, we are always losers in the long run.

WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOH

ARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

20150203 STRIVING FOR PERFECTION IN HOLINESS

20150203 STRIVING FOR PERFECTION IN HOLINESS

Readings at Mass

First reading

Hebrews 12:1-4 ©

With so many witnesses in a great cloud on every side of us, we too, then, should throw off everything that hinders us, especially the sin that clings so easily, and keep running steadily in the race we have started. Let us not lose sight of Jesus, who leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection: for the sake of the joy which was still in the future, he endured the cross, disregarding the shamefulness of it, and from now on has taken his place at the right of God’s throne. Think of the way he stood such opposition from sinners and then you will not give up for want of courage. In the fight against sin, you have not yet had to keep fighting to the point of death.

Psalm

Psalm 21:26-28,30-32 ©

They shall praise you, Lord, those who seek you.

My vows I will pay before those who fear him.

  The poor shall eat and shall have their fill.

They shall praise the Lord, those who seek him.

  May their hearts live for ever and ever!

They shall praise you, Lord, those who seek you.

All the earth shall remember and return to the Lord,

  all families of the nations worship before him;

They shall worship him, all the mighty of the earth;

  before him shall bow all who go down to the dust.

They shall praise you, Lord, those who seek you.

And my soul shall live for him, my children serve him.

  They shall tell of the Lord to generations yet to come,

declare his faithfulness to peoples yet unborn:

  ‘These things the Lord has done.’

They shall praise you, Lord, those who seek you.

Gospel Acclamation

Jn14:6

Alleluia, alleluia!

I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, says the Lord;

No one can come to the Father except through me.

Alleluia!

Or

Mt8:17

Alleluia, alleluia!

He took our sicknesses away,

and carried our diseases for us.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Mark 5:21-43 ©

When Jesus had crossed in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered round him and he stayed by the lakeside. Then one of the synagogue officials came up, Jairus by name, and seeing him, fell at his feet and pleaded with him earnestly, saying, ‘My little daughter is desperately sick. Do come and lay your hands on her to make her better and save her life.’ Jesus went with him and a large crowd followed him; they were pressing all round him.

  Now there was a woman who had suffered from a haemorrhage for twelve years; after long and painful treatment under various doctors, she spent all she had without being any the better for it, in fact, she was getting worse. She had heard about Jesus, and she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his cloak. ‘If I can touch even his clothes,’ she had told herself ‘I shall be well again.’ And the source of the bleeding dried up instantly, and she felt in herself that she was cured of her complaint. Immediately aware that power had gone out from him, Jesus turned round in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ His disciples said to him, ‘You see how the crowd is pressing round you and yet you say, “Who touched me?”’ But he continued to look all round to see who had done it. Then the woman came forward, frightened and trembling because she knew what had happened to her, and she fell at his feet and told him the whole truth. ‘My daughter,’ he said ‘your faith has restored you to health; go in peace and be free from your complaint.’

  While he was still speaking some people arrived from the house of the synagogue official to say, ‘Your daughter is dead: why put the Master to any further trouble?’ But Jesus had overheard this remark of theirs and he said to the official, ‘Do not be afraid; only have faith.’ And he allowed no one to go with him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. So they came to the official’s house and Jesus noticed all the commotion, with people weeping and wailing unrestrainedly. He went in and said to them, ‘Why all this commotion and crying? The child is not dead, but asleep.’ But they laughed at him. So he turned them all out and, taking with him the child’s father and mother and his own companions, he went into the place where the child lay. And taking the child by the hand he said to her, ‘Talitha, kum!’ which means, ‘Little girl, I tell you to get up.’ The little girl got up at once and began to walk about, for she was twelve years old. At this they were overcome with astonishment, and he ordered them strictly not to let anyone know about it, and told them to give her something to eat.

STRIVING FOR PERFECTION IN HOLINESS

SCRIPTURE READINGS: HEB 12:1-4; MK 5:21-43

http://www.universalis.com/20150203mass.htm

We certainly desire to grow in holiness and perfection.  Yet we know how weak we are.  We find ourselves unable to overcome our sinfulness and weaknesses.  Sin continues to cling to us easily, as the author of Hebrews noted.  The more we try to run away from sin, the more sin runs after us.  Indeed, sometimes because we keep falling into the same sin again and again, we feel like giving up.

This anxiety is understandable, and a human reaction in the face of resistance to change. We all doubt whether any spiritual conversion can truly last, even if such a conversion experience is given to us. We feel diffident that the troubles and challenges of life will lead us to sin again.  Most of all, we wonder whether we can be faithful to our spiritual life, especially in spending time with the Lord in prayer. But the gospel and the first reading tell us “do not fear.”  How can we overcome our fear?

Firstly, we must cultivate the right and positive attitudes towards life, suffering and ourselves.  The most important among such attitudes is faith.  We must surrender ourselves in faith, like the woman in the gospel.   “She had heard about Jesus, and she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his clock.  ‘If I can touch even his clothes,’ she had told herself ‘I shall be well again.’  And the source of bleeding dried up instantly, and she felt in herself that she was cured of her complaint.”  So it is this desire to touch Jesus and be touched by Him in a personal relationship of trust and intimacy that will strengthen us.  For most of us, the danger is that our relationship with Jesus remains at the cerebral level and never goes deeper to that of intimacy. Indeed, faith is presupposed.  If the woman was healed, it was because she surrendered herself to Jesus.  She was commended for her faith in Jesus, “’My daughter,’ he said ‘your faith has restored you to health; go in peace and be free from your complaint.’”  But if we allow ourselves to be loved by Jesus, then we too will, like the woman, experience the healing power coming out of Jesus.

Secondly, we must be focused on our goal, which is to grow in holiness and share the life of the kingdom.  As Hebrews reminds us, “For the sake of the joy which was still in the future, he endured the cross, disregarding the shamefulness of it, and from now on has taken his place at the right of God’s throne.”  We, too, must think of the joy ahead so that we do not become discouraged in the face of difficulties.  We must be motivated by the vision before us.  If we do not keep our vision in sight, we would focus so much on our present sorrows that we forget the reasons for our sacrifices.

Thirdly, we must adopt a courageous and persevering attitude of hope, like the woman. “Now there was a woman who had suffered from a hemorrhage for twelve years…She had heard about Jesus, and she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his clock.”   Indeed, the woman never gave up hope in spite of the fact that she had spent almost all her money on doctors.  She could have given up, cursed God and fallen into despair.   But she did not.  She knew that even if through ordinary means she could not be healed, then surely God would not fail her.  And of course, she was proven right.

Conversely, we must avoid the negative attitudes towards life.  The crowd did not have faith in Jesus.  In fact, “some people arrived from the house of the synagogue official to say, ‘your daughter is dead: why put the master to any further trouble?’”  Yes, they lost hope.  They gave up so easily even when Jesus who “overheard this remark of theirs” … “said to the official, ‘Do not be afraid; only have faith.’“  Indeed, we must be alert to the wet blankets around us.  Quite often we too fall into that kind of attitude, “why bother, we can never make it.”  This is true in the case of our sins.  We fall into sin again and we say to ourselves, we can never conquer this particular weakness of ours.  So we give up trying, like the crowd.  We must know that this is the strategy which the devil uses to discourage us so that we give up trying.  The devil wants us to rely on our effort, rather than on Jesus, to overcome our sinfulness.  Actually, what is needed is faith in Jesus who will help us to overcome our weakness, rather than looking at our misery, which will only make us feel more rotten and result in us hating ourselves.

However, what is even more destructive than the lack of faith is being cynical about life, healing, conversion and holiness.  We think that all are hypocrites and no one is sincere in wanting to change their lives, since we continue to see the same sins and weaknesses in others and in ourselves.  Instead of trusting in Jesus, our lack of faith becomes cynicism.  Wasn’t the behaviour of the people towards Jesus cynical when Jesus “came to the official’s house and Jesus noticed all the commotion, with people weeping and wailing unrestrainedly.”?  When He went in and said to them: “’Why all this commotion and crying?  The child is not dead, but asleep.’  But they laughed at him.”  This is the height of unbelief.  Sorrow and pain had turned into anger and resentment.

Today, if we find ourselves lacking faith and trust, then we must find consolation and strength from the clouds of witnesses around us.  This was the exhortation of the author of Hebrews.  He said, “with so many witnesses in a great cloud on every side of us, we too, then, should throw off everything that hinders us, especially the sin that clings so easily, and keep running steadily in the race we have started.”  Indeed, as Church, we are surrounded by the saints in heaven and saints on earth to help us in this journey.

The saints in heaven can be a great source of inspiration in our spiritual life and ministry.  The fact that so many saints have been canonized is in order that we can look to them for inspiration and for assistance.  So important are they that the calendar of the Church commemorates the saints in the liturgy so that reading their writings, examining their lives and asking for their intercession, we will also grow in grace and holiness.

But it is not enough to pray to the saints in heaven.  We must also look to the saints on earth.  All Christians in the early Church were called saints because we are called to be different from the rest of the people in the world.  Such saints are all around us.  They could be our fellow brothers and sister friends, colleagues and priests, because they inspire us in some aspects of their lives, be it prayer, virtues, ministry or charisms.  We only need to open our eyes to see their goodness and recognize the gifts that God has given to them.

Hence, we are called to encourage each other in our spiritual life.  In the spirituality of communion, we, who are saints in Christ, must support and encourage each other and not be wet blankets in our growth towards perfection.  We must affirm each other and not be too quick to point out others’ mistakes, sometimes more out of spite or revenge than sincerely wanting to help the other person to grow in sanctity and perfection. Of course, we must not go to the other extreme of offering false encouragement.  That would be deceiving the other person also.

In the light of what has been said, we must therefore cultivate those positive attitudes from the saints, especially from Christ. Truly, we are called to contemplate on the passion and resurrection of Jesus so that we can find strength and courage.  Like the saints, we must “keep running steadily in the race we have started.  Let us not lose sight of Jesus, who leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection.”  So keeping faith in Jesus is the fundamental attitude we should bear in mind.  All must carry the cross and give ourselves to Christ unto death, keeping Him in sight and the joy that awaits us.

So let us never become discouraged, especially when we meet with failure in Christian living.  Instead, with humility and trust, let us surrender ourselves to Jesus who has won the victory over sin and is now our throne of grace.  And if this is still not sufficient to spur us on to persevere, then Hebrews tells us, “In the fight against sin, you have not yet had to keep fighting to the point of death.“  So, we should never give up hope.  We must never say “die” until we have suffered as much as Jesus has suffered.  Until we suffer unto death and have given the last drop of our blood, we must continue to fight the good fight until the last.

WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOH

ARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

20150202 CONSECRATING OUR LIVES FOR THE SERVICE OF GOD

20150202 CONSECRATING OUR LIVES FOR THE SERVICE OF GOD

Readings at Mass

First reading

Malachi 3:1-4 ©

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.

Psalm

Psalm 23:7-10 ©

Who is the king of glory? He, the Lord, he is the king of glory.

O gates, lift high your heads;

  grow higher, ancient doors.

  Let him enter, the king of glory!

Who is the king of glory? He, the Lord, he is the king of glory.

Who is the king of glory?

  The Lord, the mighty, the valiant,

  the Lord, the valiant in war.

Who is the king of glory? He, the Lord, he is the king of glory.

O gates, lift high your heads;

  grow higher, ancient doors.

  Let him enter, the king of glory!

Who is the king of glory? He, the Lord, he is the king of glory.

Who is he, the king of glory?

  He, the Lord of armies,

  he is the king of glory.

Who is the king of glory? He, the Lord, he is the king of glory.

Second reading

Hebrews 2:14-18 ©

Since all the children share the same blood and flesh, Christ too shared equally in it, so that by his death he could take away all the power of the devil, who had power over death, and set free all those who had been held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death. For it was not the angels that he took to himself; he took to himself descent from Abraham. It was essential that he should in this way become completely like his brothers so that he could be a compassionate and trustworthy high priest of God’s religion, able to atone for human sins. That is, because he has himself been through temptation he is able to help others who are tempted.

Gospel Acclamation

Lk2:32

Alleluia, alleluia!

The light to enlighten the Gentiles

and give glory to Israel, your people.

Alleluia!

EITHER:

Gospel

Luke 2:22-40 ©

When the day came for them to be purified as laid down by the Law of Moses, the parents of Jesus took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, – observing what stands written in the Law of the Lord: Every first-born male must be consecrated to the Lord – and also to offer in sacrifice, in accordance with what is said in the Law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.

  Now in Jerusalem there was a man named Simeon. He was an upright and devout man; he looked forward to Israel’s comforting and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had set eyes on the Christ of the Lord. Prompted by the Spirit he came to the Temple and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the Law required, he took him into his arms and blessed God; and he said:

‘Now, Master, you can let your servant go in peace,

just as you promised;

because my eyes have seen the salvation

which you have prepared for all the nations to see,

a light to enlighten the pagans

and the glory of your people Israel.’

As the child’s father and mother stood there wondering at the things that were being said about him, Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘You see this child: he is destined for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected – and a sword will pierce your own soul too – so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare.’

  There was a prophetess also, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was well on in years. Her days of girlhood over, she had been married for seven years before becoming a widow. She was now eighty-four years old and never left the Temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer. She came by just at that moment and began to praise God; and she spoke of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.

  When they had done everything the Law of the Lord required, they went back to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. Meanwhile the child grew to maturity, and he was filled with wisdom; and God’s favour was with him.

OR:

Alternative Gospel

Luke 2:22-32 ©

When the day came for them to be purified as laid down by the Law of Moses, the parents of Jesus took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord – observing what stands written in the Law of the Lord: Every first-born male must be consecrated to the Lord – and also to offer in sacrifice, in accordance with what is said in the Law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. Now in Jerusalem there was a man named Simeon. He was an upright and devout man; he looked forward to Israel’s comforting and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had set eyes on the Christ of the Lord. Prompted by the Spirit he came to the Temple and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the Law required, he took him into his arms and blessed God; and he said:

‘Now, Master, you can let your servant go in peace,

just as you promised;

because my eyes have seen the salvation

which you have prepared for all the nations to see,

a light to enlighten the pagans

and the glory of your people Israel.’

CONSECRATING OUR LIVES FOR THE SERVICE OF GOD

SCRIPTURE READINGS: MAL 3:1-4; HEB 2:14-18; LK 2:22-40

http://www.universalis.com/20150202mass.htm

Forty days after Christmas, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord which marks the close of Christmastide.  What is the common theme between Christmas and the Feast of the Presentation?  It is the theme of light.

Christmas is a celebration of the festival of light.  Christ at His birth is recognized as the Light that has come to enlighten all men.  He has come to bring light to those who walk in the shadow of death.  He has come to offer hope to all peoples.  As Simeon prophesied, “My eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared for all the nations to see, a light to enlighten the pagans and the glory of your people Israel.”  In the same vein, in the second reading, the author says that “By his death he could take away all the power of the devil, who had power over death and set free all those who had been held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death.”

However, on the Feast of the Presentation, we focus on Jesus as the Light of glory of the chosen people of God, as Simeon prophesied. Jesus’ presentation in the Temple of Jerusalem is a symbolic act of Jesus’ entry into the Temple of God, fulfilling the prophecy of Malachi.  Christ is now seen as the New Temple of God.  He has come to take possession of the Temple.  But He is not simply the temple of God, for He makes us all who are united in Him the Temple of God where His Spirit lives in the Christian community.  He is the fulfillment of the prophecy of Malachi when God will purify the people of God so that their offering would be acceptable.  Our sacrifice is made perfect since the sacrifice we offer is that of Jesus Himself.  As Christians, we are privileged to have known Christ.  By virtue of our baptism, we have been incorporated into the Body of Christ.

But with this privilege, we have a responsibility as well.  We are now His messengers.  Like John the Baptist, we are called to prepare the way for the Lord.  Many people have yet to come and recognize Christ as the Light of their lives.  For this reason, the Lord is inviting us to proclaim Him as the Light of mankind.  This also explains why today is also called candlemas.  On this day, we have the blessing of candles so that we will be able to proclaim publicly that Jesus is the Light of the world.  This is the same candle which we held at our baptism when we were given a new birth. But today, we are called to commit our life to the Lord and be His emissaries in the world.

The liturgy invites us to be like Jesus in the way He consecrated His whole life and work to the Father.  Indeed, the letter to Hebrews tells us that the Eternal Word took flesh so that “He should in this way become completely like his brothers so that he could be a compassionate and trustworthy high priest of God’s religion, able to atone for human sins. That is because he has himself been through temptation he is able to help others who are tempted.”  We are called to be exemplars in Christian living so that others will find hope and strength.  Our consecration to God is manifested by a lifestyle different from that of the world.

Secondly, the gospel reminds us that we must be signs of contradiction in the positive sense in the world.  The world promotes consumerism and materialism, and an extreme form of individualism resulting in relativism.  All the more, it is necessary that we do not allow ourselves to unconsciously imbibe the values of the world.

A consecrated life also requires us to be ready to face rejection and accept failures in our ministry.  Like Jesus, in living out the demands of the gospel, especially the proclamation of truth and justice, we will always make ourselves unpopular.  Yes, like Mary, we will face the sword piercing our hearts.

How can this be possible?  Today, we must realize that unless we are prayerful and focused like Simeon and Anna, we will not be able to withstand the onslaught of the world.  We have the shinning example of Simeon who waited for the Lord.  He lived an upright and devout life.  Hence, he was spiritually sensitive enough to recognize the Christ when Jesus was brought to the Temple by His parents.

But it is not sufficient to pray, we must also fast.  This was what Anna did.  She “Never left the temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer. She came by just at that moment and began to praise God; and she spoke of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.”  Only fasting and prayer can help us to be sensitive to the promptings of the Spirit.  Prayer alone is useless, unless it is accompanied by discipline in our passions, which fasting seeks to do.  Without disciplining our passions and desires, we cannot progress in our prayer life.

Secondly, like Jesus who went back to Nazareth and grew in maturity and wisdom, we too must always be humble and be ready to grow as well.  As we grow in age, wisdom and grace, we will find ourselves ready to face our daily challenges.

On this Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, let us surrender our entire lives to the Lord so that He can make great use of us.  Life is a gift from God and the perfect way to express our gratitude is to give our lives to Him for His service and the service of His people.  By giving ourselves to God as Jesus did, we will also find life for ourselves.

WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOH

ARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE

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