20150503
COMMUNION IN MISSION: ROOTED IN CHRIST AND HIS
CHURCH
Readings at Mass
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First reading
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Acts 9:26-31 ©
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When Saul got to
Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him: they
could not believe he was really a disciple. Barnabas, however, took charge of
him, introduced him to the apostles, and explained how the Lord had appeared to
Saul and spoken to him on his journey, and how he had preached boldly at
Damascus in the name of Jesus. Saul now started to go round with them in
Jerusalem, preaching fearlessly in the name of the Lord. But after he had
spoken to the Hellenists, and argued with them, they became determined to kill
him. When the brothers knew, they took him to Caesarea, and sent him off from
there to Tarsus.
The
churches throughout Judaea, Galilee and Samaria were now left in peace,
building themselves up, living in the fear of the Lord, and filled with the
consolation of the Holy Spirit.
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Psalm
|
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Psalm
21:26-28,30-32 ©
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You, Lord, are my
praise in the great assembly.
or
Alleluia!
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!
You, Lord, are my
praise in the great assembly.
or
Alleluia!
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.
You, Lord, are my
praise in the great assembly.
or
Alleluia!
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.’
You, Lord, are my
praise in the great assembly.
or
Alleluia!
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Second reading
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1 John 3:18-24 ©
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My children,
our love is not to be
just words or mere talk,
but something real
and active;
only by this can we
be certain
that we are children
of the truth
and be able to
quieten our conscience in his presence,
whatever accusations
it may raise against us,
because God is
greater than our conscience and he knows everything.
My dear people,
if we cannot be
condemned by our own conscience,
we need not be afraid
in God’s presence,
and whatever we ask
him,
we shall receive,
because we keep his
commandments
and live the kind of
life that he wants.
His commandments are
these:
that we believe in
the name of his Son Jesus Christ
and that we love one
another
as he told us to.
Whoever keeps his
commandments
lives in God and God
lives in him.
We know that he lives
in us
by the Spirit that he
has given us.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Jn15:4,5
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Make your home in me,
as I make mine in you.
Whoever remains in me
bears fruit in plenty.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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John 15:1-8 ©
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Jesus said:
‘I am the true vine,
and my Father is the
vinedresser.
Every branch in me
that bears no fruit
he cuts away,
and every branch that
does bear fruit
he prunes to make it
bear even more.
You are pruned
already,
by means of the word
that I have spoken to you.
Make your home in me,
as I make mine in you.
As a branch cannot
bear fruit all by itself,
but must remain part
of the vine,
neither can you
unless you remain in me.
I am the vine,
you are the branches.
Whoever remains in
me, with me in him,
bears fruit in
plenty;
for cut off from me
you can do nothing.
Anyone who does not
remain in me
is like a branch that
has been thrown away – he withers;
these branches are
collected and thrown on the fire,
and they are burnt.
If you remain in me
and my words remain
in you,
you may ask what you
will
and you shall get it.
It is to the glory of
my Father that you should bear much fruit,
and
then you will be my disciples.’
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COMMUNION
IN MISSION: ROOTED IN CHRIST AND HIS CHURCH
|
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: Acts 9:26-31;
PS 21:26-28,30-32; 1 John 3:18-24; John 15:1-8
We read
of the dramatic conversion of St Paul. He was once a persecutor of the
Christians. But one day on his way to persecute the Christians at
Damascus, the Lord appeared to Him. That encounter with the Lord was a
life-changing experience. His life was never the same again. He was
struck blind temporarily by the light of truth, the light of
Christ. He was enlightened on his ignorance about the Christians,
symbolized by his blindness and regaining of his sight. He was forgiven
and later on, from persecutor turned missionary and preacher for Christ.
What
does it take to have this new life? When we have a kergymatic experience
through faith in Christ’s love and mercy! This is the only
condition. It is the experience of being loved, forgiven and healed by
Christ. This is what the kerygma is all about. Justification
is not through our efforts or merits. No one can be saved by doing good
works because we know that our hearts are never pure and what we do is not
always without conditions. Otherwise, many of us would be condemned by
our conscience. John assures us, “My dear people, if we cannot be
condemned by our own conscience, we need not be afraid in God’s presence and
whatever we ask him, we shall receive, because we keep his commandments and
live the kind of life that he wants.” The only way to calm our
conscience is to rely not on our efforts and merits because we will never be
good enough to go to heaven but to depend on His mercy and grace.
This
explains why St John tells us this that “His commandments are these: that we
believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and that we love one another as he
told us to. Whoever keeps his commandments lives in God and God lives in
him. We know that he lives in us by the Spirit that he has given us.”
Salvation and peace comes from believing in Christ who is the mercy of God and
His forgiveness. Realizing that we are always loved and forgiven in spite
of our sinfulness, we now find the strength to keep His commandment of love.
We live a good life, the life of Christ, not out of fear or obligation but
simply because we want to share the joy and love in our hearts.
What
are the signs that we have had a real conversion experience?
The
sure sign that we have encountered the Lord and had a conversion experience is
firstly the change of lifestyle and the desire to be a disciple of the
Lord. We will not go back to that life of sin and slavery anymore,
having tasted the joy and freedom of the life of the Spirit. This was
what we read about St Paul. “When Saul got to Jerusalem he tried to
join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him: they could not believe he
was really a disciple.” They could not believe that a persecutor of
Christians could overnight be transformed to a disciple of the Lord.
Secondly,
the corollary sign is that of evangelization. If there is no real
desire and passion to announce the Good News to others, it means that our
conversion is weak. If the experience is an overpowering experience, we
will want to share with others simply out of love for others whom we hope might
be able to also share our indescribable joy, peace and freedom. Once we are
touched by the Lord, like St Paul, we want to proclaim the Good News about
Jesus and give testimony to His work in our lives. Indeed, we read “Saul
now started to go round with them in Jerusalem, preaching fearlessly in the
name of the Lord. But after he had spoken to the Hellenists, and argued with
them, they became determined to kill him.”
Thirdly,
it is to live a life of integrity. “My dear people, if we cannot be
condemned by our own conscience, we need not be afraid in God’s presence, and
whatever we ask him, we shall receive, because we keep his commandments and
live the kind of life that he wants.” The proclamation of the Good News
goes beyond words and sharing. It involves living a life of love and
compassion. This is the clearest sign of conversion. St John wrote,
“My children, our love is not to be just words or mere talk, but something real
and active; only by this can we be certain that we are the children of the
truth.” The proclamation of the truth when not matched with a life of
truth puts our proclamation in question. The early Christians could
accept St Paul only because they saw a tremendous change in his lifestyle and
most of all, his sincerity demonstrated by his actions.
However,
this lifestyle cannot be taken for granted. Conversion is an ongoing
experience and process. We need to grow in Christian
maturity. Consequently, we need to be intentional disciples like St
Paul. We need to be purified in our faith. Jesus says, “I am the
true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that bears no
fruit he cuts away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes to make it
bear even more.” There are still many areas in our lives that need
healing. We are like onions. When one layer of skin is peeled away,
we see another layer. We have been putting on so many masks in
lives. We have allowed many hurtful incidents in our lives to be kept in
our unconscious. This causes us to react when we face new situations or
respond with selfish motives. So we all need pruning.
Disciples
of Christ, like St Paul, must take formation seriously. The real problem
with many of us after a conversion experience is the desire to spread the
gospel. Many are keen to help out in the Church ministry or to be
involved in the social apostolate of mercy. Such desires are certainly
noble and must be commended. Unfortunately, most of us are only
interested to serve but do not have the foundation. We want to serve
before we are formed. That was the same mistake of St Paul. We read
that several days later, he started to proclaim that Christ is the Son of
God. He was not only rejected by the people but also among the disciples
of Christ. Without a strong spiritual formation, the residues of the old
Adam will come back to haunt us. In the process of serving others, the
old wounds will resurface as we meet other wounded people whom we try to help.
Instead of healing them, we become wounded ourselves because we are still not
healed sufficiently to be wounded healers.
Consequently,
we need first and foremost to be one with Christ. Jesus said, “Make your
home in me, as I make mine in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit all by itself,
but must remain part of the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. I am
the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, with me in him, bears
fruit in plenty; for cut off from me you can do nothing.” We must always
stay close to the Lord in prayer and in our life.
A
strong prayer life demands a good foundation of the Word of God and a love for
the Word. We cannot grow and mature in faith unless we are pruned by the
Word. This was what Jesus said, “You are pruned already, by means of the
word that I have spoken to you.” We must read the scriptures daily and be
challenged, inspired and motivated by the Word of God. Praying the
scriptures is the way by which Christ speaks to us.
Secondly,
we also must be grafted to the body of Christ, the Church. We need to be
in communion with the Church. We have in the first reading, the kindness
of Barnabas who introduced Paul to the community. “Barnabas, however,
took charge of him, introduced him to the apostles, and explained how the Lord
had appeared to Saul and spoken to him on his journey, and how he had preached
boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.” We need constant support from
the Body of Christ. We are not alone in the mission. Without the
acceptance of our fellow Catholics, the love of the community, we cannot carry
out the mission of the Church. We read that after Paul had spoken to the
Hellenists, and argued with them, they became determined to kill him. When the
brothers knew, they took him to Caesarea, and sent him off from there to
Tarsus.” It is the love and care of the Christian community that
Christ becomes real to us and to others.
We must
therefore find a Catholic group or small community to belong to.
However, it is not a matter of being a member of a ministry or some church
organizations. More importantly, we need to belong to a cell group of
four or five members who gather weekly to pray and share the Word of God
together. Without a community to support us, we will eventually stray
from the truth because we are weak and easily distracted. Jesus warns us,
“Anyone who does not remain in me is like a branch that has been thrown away –
he withers; these branches are collected and thrown on the fire, and they are
burnt.”
Indeed,
if we are faithful to what the Lord tells us in today’s gospel, then we can be
sure our prayers will always be heard. We are guaranteed of success in
our mission. “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask
what you will and you shall get it. It is to the glory of my Father that you
should bear much fruit, and then you will be my disciples.” When the Word
of Christ is in us, we share His mind and heart. Whatever we do, it is
with the same intention of Christ who comes to serve and not to be served.
With the Spirit of Christ in us, we live the life of Christ. St John
says, “Whoever keeps his commandments lives in God and God lives in him. We
know that he lives in us by the Spirit that he has given us.”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh
Roman
Catholic Archbishop of Singapore
©
All Rights Reserved
