Tuesday, 2 January 2018

BECOMING WHO WE ARE

20180103 BECOMING WHO WE ARE

03 JANUARY, 2018, Wednesday, Weekday of Christmas Time

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: White.

First reading

1 John 2:29-3:6 ©

You know that God is righteous –

then you must recognise that everyone whose life is righteous

has been begotten by him.

Think of the love that the Father has lavished on us,

by letting us be called God’s children;

and that is what we are.

Because the world refused to acknowledge him,

therefore it does not acknowledge us.

My dear people, we are already the children of God

but what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed;

all we know is, that when it is revealed

we shall be like him

because we shall see him as he really is.

Surely everyone who entertains this hope

must purify himself, must try to be as pure as Christ.

Anyone who sins at all

breaks the law,

because to sin is to break the law.

Now you know that he appeared in order to abolish sin,

and that in him there is no sin;

anyone who lives in God does not sin,

and anyone who sins

has never seen him or known him.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 97(98):1,3-6 ©

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Sing a new song to the Lord

for he has worked wonders.

His right hand and his holy arm

have brought salvation.

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

All the ends of the earth have seen

the salvation of our God.

Shout to the Lord, all the earth,

ring out your joy.

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Sing psalms to the Lord with the harp

with the sound of music.

With trumpets and the sound of the horn

acclaim the King, the Lord.

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia, alleluia!

A hallowed day has dawned upon us.

Come, you nations, worship the Lord,

for today a great light has shone down upon the earth.

Alleluia!

Or	Jn1:14,12

Alleluia, alleluia!

The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.

To all who received him he gave power to become children of God.

Alleluia!

Or	Heb1:1-2

Alleluia, alleluia!

At various times in the past

and in various different ways,

God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets;

but in our own time, the last days,

he has spoken to us through his Son.

Alleluia!

Gospel

John 1:29-34 ©

Seeing Jesus coming towards him, John said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. This is the one I spoke of when I said: A man is coming after me who ranks before me because he existed before me. I did not know him myself, and yet it was to reveal him to Israel that I came baptising with water.’ John also declared, ‘I saw the Spirit coming down on him from heaven like a dove and resting on him. I did not know him myself, but he who sent me to baptise with water had said to me, “The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is going to baptise with the Holy Spirit.” Yes, I have seen and I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God.’

BECOMING WHO WE ARE

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ 1 JOHN 2:29-3:6; PSALM 98; JOHN 1:29-34 ]

“Think of the love that the Father has lavished on us, by letting us be called God’s children; and that is what we are.” This is such great news for all, regardless of whether we are Catholic or otherwise. In these words, we confess that all of us are children of God and we have the same Father. This is what the Lord said, “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Mt 5:44f)

But this reality is not known to all; especially for those without faith. This is because they do not know that God is their Father. Cut off from God, they live a life without origin, identity and destiny. They do not know who they are. Without knowing their identity and origin, how can anyone live a purposeful and meaningful life? For them, life on earth is just doing without being; surviving and waiting for the day to depart from this world forever. They reduce themselves to living a life of an animal; working, eating, enjoying and sleeping. There is no meaning to life beyond this.

For this reason Jesus came to reveal to us our identity by showing us the Father. “I have manifested thy name to the men whom thou gavest me out of the world; thine they were, and thou gavest them to me, and they have kept thy word.” (Jn 17:6)^“Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me; or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves.” (Jn 14:10f)

However, this presupposes that we believe in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God. This is because “no one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.” (Jn 1:18) In another text, Jesus said, “All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” (Mt 11:27) Necessarily, to know the Father, we must come to believe in Jesus. “And this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” (Jn 17:3)

Jesus not only reveals to us the identity of the Father, He shows us the Way to the Father. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; henceforth you know him and have seen him.” (Jn 14:6f) By His life, passion, death and resurrection, Jesus points the way to the love of the Father.

If we claim to be God’s children, we must become who we are. So while in principle we are God’s children, we have not fully arrived at who we are. Christian life is a process and a journey of reclaiming our sonship and daughtership in Christ. St John reiterates this when he wrote, “we are already the children of God but what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed; all we know is, that when it is revealed we shall be like him because we shall see him as he really is.” Becoming Christ, so that we will be truly God’s adopted children not just in name but in fact, is a lifelong process. How can we become more like Christ and share in His sonship? Not by our power but by His Might.

Firstly, we must recognize our lack of capacity to do the right thing. Just because we know the law and what is right, does not mean that we can do it or follow the law always. We are in many ways powerless when temptations come. So we are sinners and will always remain sinners. But so long as we are striving to overcome our imperfections, God will forgive us our sins. God wants to assure us that in Christ, He has already forgiven us, so long as we are repentant of our weaknesses, even though we might fall again and again. He is “the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” Jesus who is that unblemished lamb, was offered as a sacrifice for the atonement of our sins. In Christ, His death on the cross cancelled all our sins when He showed us the mercy of God. Indeed, St John said, “Now you know that he appeared in order to abolish sin, and that in him there is no sin.”

As we come to know Jesus more and more, we will sin less and less. His love and mercy for us will give us the capacity to do everything that the law requires, not out of fear but out of love and understanding of the truth. Truly, “anyone who sins has never seen him or known him.” Knowing Jesus is what helps us to walk more closely with Him. Jesus is “the true light that enlightens every man.” (Jn 1:9) “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not live according to the truth; but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 Jn 1:6f)

But Christian life is not just a matter of exercising the will and making efforts to follow the way of Christ. We are given that capacity to live the life of Christ. “But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God;who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (1 Jn 1:12) How is one born of God if not through the Holy Spirit? Jesus told Nicodemus, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (Jn 3:5f) Only the Holy Spirit can give us the capacity to live the life of Christ. For this reason, John the Baptist made it clear that purification by baptism of water, which he was administering to the people, was only a symbolic expression of repentance and the forgiveness of sins. But he said, “The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is going to baptize with the Holy Spirit.” Jesus is the One who can bestow upon us the gift of sonship and daughtership in the Holy Spirit.

Indeed, as Christians we can truly rejoice in our salvation. With the psalmist, we too sing, “Sing a new song to the Lord for he has worked wonders. His right hand and his holy arm have brought salvation. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Shout to the Lord, all the earth, ring out your joy. Sing psalms to the Lord with the harp with the sound of music. With trumpets and the sound of the horn acclaim the King, the Lord.” In Christ, we are saved because He enlightens us in the truth, shows us the way and empowers us to walk the way of the Spirit. Following Jesus, we will come to the fullness of truth and love, and at the end of our journey come to meet the Father face to face. We shall be like Jesus because we shall see Him as He really is.

In the meantime, let us also invite others to come to know the Lord. We are called to witness to Jesus as John the Baptist did when he said in no uncertain terms, “Yes, I have seen and I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God.” We too have seen the Lord and so we are called to invite others to reclaim their dignity as God’s children. John the Baptist recognized that he was only a precursor to the coming of Christ. “A man is coming after me who ranks before me because he existed before me. It was to reveal him to Israel that I came baptizing with water.” We must be humble in recognizing who we are and our calling in life. We must not pretend to be what we are not. Like John the Baptist, we must recognize our sinfulness and our limitations. Nevertheless, having found new meaning in Christ, we are called to point others to Jesus by living out our sonship and daughtership.

CONFESSING JESUS AS THE CHRIST

20180102 CONFESSING JESUS AS THE CHRIST

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: White.

First reading

1 John 2:22-28 ©

The man who denies that Jesus is the Christ –

he is the liar,

he is Antichrist;

and he is denying the Father as well as the Son,

because no one who has the Father can deny the Son,

and to acknowledge the Son is to have the Father as well.

Keep alive in yourselves what you were taught in the beginning:

as long as what you were taught in the beginning is alive in you,

you will live in the Son

and in the Father;

and what is promised to you by his own promise

is eternal life.

This is all that I am writing to you about the people who are trying to lead you astray.

But you have not lost the anointing that he gave you,

and you do not need anyone to teach you;

the anointing he gave teaches you everything;

you are anointed with truth, not with a lie,

and as it has taught you, so you must stay in him.

Live in Christ, then, my children,

so that if he appears, we may have full confidence,

and not turn from him in shame

at his coming.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 97(98):1-4 ©

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Sing a new song to the Lord

for he has worked wonders.

His right hand and his holy arm

have brought salvation.

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

The Lord has made known his salvation;

has shown his justice to the nations.

He has remembered his truth and love

for the house of Israel.

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

All the ends of the earth have seen

the salvation of our God.

Shout to the Lord, all the earth,

ring out your joy.

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Gospel Acclamation

Jn1:14,12

Alleluia, alleluia!

The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.

To all who received him he gave power to become children of God.

Alleluia!

Or	Heb1:1-2

Alleluia, alleluia!

At various times in the past

and in various different ways,

God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets;

but in our own time, the last days,

he has spoken to us through his Son.

Alleluia!

Alleluia, alleluia!

A hallowed day has dawned upon us.

Come, you nations, worship the Lord,

for today a great light has shone down upon the earth.

Alleluia!

Gospel

This is how John appeared as a witness. When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ he not only declared, but he declared quite openly, ‘I am not the Christ.’ ‘Well then,’ they asked ‘are you Elijah?’ ‘I am not’ he said. ‘Are you the Prophet?’ He answered, ‘No.’ So they said to him, ‘Who are you? We must take back an answer to those who sent us. What have you to say about yourself?’ So John said, ‘I am, as Isaiah prophesied:

a voice that cries in the wilderness:

Make a straight way for the Lord.’

Now these men had been sent by the Pharisees, and they put this further question to him, ‘Why are you baptising if you are not the Christ, and not Elijah, and not the prophet?’ John replied, ‘I baptise with water; but there stands among you – unknown to you – the one who is coming after me; and I am not fit to undo his sandal-strap.’ This happened at Bethany, on the far side of the Jordan, where John was baptising.

02 JANUARY, 2018, Tuesday, Weekday of Christmas Time

CONFESSING JESUS AS THE CHRIST

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ 1 JOHN 2:22-28; JOHN 1:19-28 ]

Today, the identity of Jesus is still on trial. Some think that Jesus is just a man, admittedly a great man. He could be considered as one of the great prophets. This was how His compatriots perceived him during His time. When Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” (Mk 8:27) They answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” (Mk 8:28) Others might even believe that He was the Messiah, the Anointed One of God. But this does not go far enough.

The confession of the Christian about Jesus is nothing less than this declaration of St Peter, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Mt 16:16) Indeed, this is what St John sought to testify to us about Jesus. At the end of the gospel, he concluded by saying, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.” (Jn 20:30f)

Yesterday, when we celebrated the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God, it was a feast not so much in honour of our Blessed Mother but of Jesus who was truly born of the Virgin Mary as man, even though He remained as God. In calling Mary the Mother of God, the Church wants to affirm that the Word of God is made flesh in Jesus. Jesus is one person who is truly divine and human. Jesus is the Incarnate Word. Hence, it is proper to call Mary the Mother of God, the Son who is divine and Jesus, the son of Mary. The person of Jesus is therefore the Eternal Word who, after the incarnation, remains as one person with two natures, divine and human.

For this reason, any confession of Jesus’ identity that falls short of declaring that Jesus is the God-Man in one person would compromise the identity of Jesus. This explains why St John says in the first reading, “The man who denies that Jesus is the Christ – he is the liar; he is Antichrist; and he is denying the Father as well as the Son, because no one who has the Father can deny the Son, and to acknowledge the Son is to have the Father as well.” To deny that Jesus is the Anointed One of God, the Messiah and the Son of the living God, would have far-reaching implications.

Denying the divinity of Christ would mean that we do not know the Father. As St John wrote, “The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard. He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but must endure God’s wrath.” (Jn 3:31,32, 34-36) Jesus speaks the Word of the Father and is identified with Him. He said to Philip, “ Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves.” (Jn 14:10f)

And if we do not know the Father, we also do not know our identity as His children. “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” (1 Jn 3:1) Only in Christ who is the Son of God can we share in His sonship by adoption, not by nature.

“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption.” (Rom 8:14f) Jesus is the One who reveals to us our identity as sons and daughters of the Father. Not only did He reveal to us our identity, He made it possible for us to share in the life of the Father. St Paul wrote, “When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ – if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.” (Rom 8:15-17)

How, then, do we know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God? St John the Baptist gives us the answer. Only because Jesus Christ is the Anointed One of God that He could anoint us with the Holy Spirit. That was why John the Baptist said to the people, “I baptise with water; but there stands among you – unknown to you – the one who is coming after me; and I am not fit to undo his sandal strap.” St Mark elaborated further when he wrote, “I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mk 1:8) We are able to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God only because Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit. This was His promise when He told the disciples before His departure from this world. “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.” (Jn 14:16f)

Indeed, the Holy Spirit will lead us to Him because He is the Spirit of Truth. All of us who are anointed in the Holy Spirit will know that Jesus is Lord and God. “But you have not lost the anointing that he gave you, and you do not need anyone to teach you; the anointing he gave teaches you everything; you are anointed with truth, not with a lie, and as it has taught you, so you must stay in him.” This Spirit of Truth of course is given not primarily to the individuals but to the Church at large under the guidance of the successors of the apostles. “The entire body of the faithful, anointed as they are by the Holy One, cannot err in matters of belief. They manifest this special property by means of the whole peoples’ supernatural discernment in matters of faith when ‘from the Bishops down to the last of the lay faithful’ they show universal agreement in matters of faith and morals. That discernment in matters of faith is aroused and sustained by the Spirit of truth. It is exercised under the guidance of the sacred teaching authority, in faithful and respectful obedience to which the people of God accepts that which is not just the word of men but truly the word of God. Through it, the people of God adheres unwaveringly to the faith given once and for all to the saints, penetrates it more deeply with right thinking, and applies it more fully in its life.” (Lumen Gentium 12a)

Most of all, we already have a foretaste of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us as a pledge of our salvation. “In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.” (Eph 1:13f)

In the final analysis, the real proof that we believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God is not by mere profession alone but by living the life of Christ in us. It is when we live in Jesus and He lives in us that we live the life of the Spirit in us, “Keep alive in yourselves what you were taught in the beginning: as long as what you were taught in the beginning is alive in you, you will live in the Son and in the Father; and what is promised to you by his own promise is eternal life. Live in Christ, then, my children, so that if he appears, we may have full confidence, and not turn from him in shame at his coming.”

So let us follow John the Baptist, seeking to point people to Christ the Son of the Living God. Sometimes we might appear to be that lone voice crying out in the wilderness, but our task is to point people to Jesus. We must be careful not to preach ourselves and make ourselves the focal point in our witnessing for Christ. Like John the Baptist, we must decrease so that He might increase. We are called to lead others to Him so that others can say, “The Lord has made known his salvation; has shown his justice to the nations. He has remembered his truth and love for the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Shout to the Lord, all the earth, ring out your joy.”