20151127 SHARING THE FIRST FRUITS OF ULTIMATE VICTORY
Readings at Mass
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First reading
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Daniel 7:2-14 ©
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I, Daniel, have been
seeing visions in the night. I saw that the four winds of heaven were stirring
up the great sea; four great beasts emerged from the sea, each different from
the other. The first was like a lion with eagle’s wings; and as I looked its
wings were torn off, and it was lifted from the ground and set standing on its
feet like a man; and it was given a human heart. The second beast I saw was
different, like a bear, raised up on one of its sides, with three ribs in its
mouth, between its teeth. “Up!” came the command “Eat quantities of flesh!”
After this I looked, and saw another beast, like a leopard, and with four
bird’s wings on its flanks; it had four heads, and power was given to it. Next
I saw another vision in the visions of the night: I saw a fourth beast,
fearful, terrifying, very strong; it had great iron teeth, and it ate, crushed
and trampled underfoot what remained. It was different from the previous beasts
and had ten horns.
While I
was looking at these horns, I saw another horn sprouting among them, a little
one; three of the original horns were pulled out by the roots to make way for
it; and in this horn I saw eyes like human eyes, and a mouth that was full of
boasts. As I watched:
Thrones were set in
place
and one of great age
took his seat.
His robe was white as
snow,
the hair of his head
as pure as wool.
His throne was a
blaze of flames,
its wheels were a
burning fire.
A stream of fire
poured out,
issuing from his
presence.
A thousand thousand
waited on him,
ten thousand times
ten thousand stood before him.
A court was held
and the books were
opened.
The great things the
horn was saying were still ringing in my ears, and as I watched, the beast was
killed, and its body destroyed and committed to the flames. The other beasts
were deprived of their power, but received a lease of life for a season and a
time.
I gazed into the
visions of the night.
And I saw, coming on
the clouds of heaven,
one like a son of
man.
He came to the one of
great age
and was led into his
presence.
On him was conferred
sovereignty,
glory and kingship,
and men of all
peoples, nations and languages became his servants.
His sovereignty is an
eternal sovereignty
which shall never
pass away,
nor will his empire
ever be destroyed.
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Canticle
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Daniel 3:75-81 ©
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Mountains and hills!
bless the Lord.
Give
glory and eternal praise to him!
Every thing that
grows on the earth! bless the Lord.
Give
glory and eternal praise to him!
Springs of water!
bless the Lord.
Give
glory and eternal praise to him!
Seas and rivers!
bless the Lord.
Give
glory and eternal praise to him!
Sea beasts and
everything that lives in water! bless the Lord.
Give
glory and eternal praise to him!
Birds of heaven! all
bless the Lord.
Give
glory and eternal praise to him!
Animals wild and
tame! all bless the Lord.
Give
glory and eternal praise to him!
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Lk21:28
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Stand erect, hold
your heads high,
because your
liberation is near at hand.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 21:29-33 ©
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Jesus
told his disciples a parable: ‘Think of the fig tree and indeed every tree. As
soon as you see them bud, you know that summer is now near. So with you when
you see these things happening: know that the kingdom of God is near. I tell
you solemnly, before this generation has passed away all will have taken place.
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.’
SHARING
THE FIRST FRUITS OF ULTIMATE VICTORY
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What is
becoming of the world? What is the future for this world? Will evil
triumph over good? Looking at the current trends, we might think
that the world could be coming to an end, what with the institutions of
marriage and family being destroyed, the rise of terrorism and the ongoing wars
in the world. With the rise of secularism that is hostile to religions,
particularly to Christianity, and a moral relativism that is no longer able to
recognize right from wrong, truth from falsehood, humanity seems to be
descending into decadence as man lives for today, for this world, for pleasures
and enjoyment rather than for the future of humanity, the preservation of
lasting values, such as honesty, justice, peace, love and self-sacrifice.
The
answer to such apprehensions and fears is that even whilst living in this
troubled and fragile world, victory is certain. In the first reading, we
read how bad and evil the situation was already in the time of the Israelites
before the coming of Christ. The book of Daniel speaks of the four beasts
that terrorized the world in those days. The first beast refers to the
Kingdom of Babylon under King Nebuchadnezzar, as Babylon was represented by a
lion, a symbol of royal power. The second beast, a bear, represents the
Kingdom of Media when King Darius conquered Babylon swiftly. The third
beast, the leopard, represents Cyrus, the King of Persia. Finally, the
last beast depicts the Greek Empire of Alexander the Great. Upon his
death, the empire was divided among his four generals. Among
them, King Antiochus Epiphanes IV was the most vicious. He plundered the
Temple and started persecuting the Jews. This period was one of the worst
in of Israel’s history.
Yet,
regardless how evil and disastrous the situation was, God was with the
Israelites. They were able to survive crisis after crisis. The
prophet assures us that ultimately God will triumph. Written during the
time of the Maccabees, he prophesied the end of the persecution of
Antiochus. Indeed, let us never forget that the powers of this world are
only temporary as prophet Daniel said, “The other beasts were deprived of their
power, but received a lease of life for a season and a time.” No evil can
triumph over good. So let us not be too proud like the kings before us,
who thought that they were mighty and strong and invincible. Even Alexander the
Great met with an illness and suffered a painful and untimely
death. As for Antiochus, the evil king, he also died a miserable
death. So let us not be too proud, arrogant and confident of our
achievements and status in life. No matter who we are and what we
have done, we will need to face judgement at death. Power and glory and
wealth cannot be ours for long. We will need to let go of them, if
not, they would be taken away from us by force, whether by our enemies,
competitors or by our mortality.
Indeed,
Daniel’s vision of the Son of Man, as distinct from God, anticipates the coming
of the Messiah who would establish the Kingdom of God. Jesus is the
fulfillment of that vision when Daniel said, “I gazed into the visions of the
night, and I saw, coming on the clouds of heaven, one like a son of man. He
came to the one of great age and was led into his presence. On him was
conferred sovereignty which shall never pass away, nor will his empire ever be
destroyed.”
This,
Jesus did, in principle, by His death and resurrection. By His
coming into the world, in His battle against the Kingdom of darkness, Jesus as
the Way, the Truth and the Life proclaimed the way to the kingdom. By His
life of selfless and humble service, He overcame hatred by love and
forgiveness. By His death, He has conquered the fear of death
forever. By His resurrection, He shows us that this life is not the
ultimate but that we are all destined for fullness of life with God.
Jesus
indeed is the budding of the Kingdom as the gospel says. “Think of the fig tree
and indeed every tree. As soon as you see them bud, you know that summer
is now near.” Fig trees bear fruits twice a year. So when it is
budding we know what season is approaching. Similarly, we too already
have the fruits of victory in Christ. We have the first installment of
the Spirit as a pledge of eternal life. In the life of Jesus, in His
works, especially His death and resurrection, the future is already made clear
for us all. We are certain of our future because Christ is the future of
humanity. We can cling to His promises because Christ is the Son of God,
the Universal King of the world. Indeed, this is what Christ says, “I
tell you solemnly, before this generation has passed away all will have taken
place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass
away.” All that Christ has taught us is true and we must hold on to His
words as we await His promises to be fulfilled.
In the
meantime, we must continue to work through our salvation. We must obey
the Word of God, and all that Jesus taught us. Only through living
a life of the Spirit, can we be spared from destruction. We also
have the benefit of the other set of signs before us. We see in
those countries that have given up faith in God and become secularized; the
people in those countries that are godless have no meaning and purpose.
If we follow the path of secularism in the west, then we are heading towards
annihilation. By then, once the current sets in, it would be too late to
restrain the tide from flowing in.
So
whilst we still have our Catholic faith and values, whilst our people still
have some faith in God, and our young people still are receptive to Christ, we
must do all we can to stir up their faith. It is important that we
do not take our faith for granted. We need to strengthen the faith of our
Catholics, especially our young. Otherwise, they who are the leaders of
tomorrow will be misled and influenced by secularism, relativism and
consumerism. This will lead to the eventual destruction of society
because it becomes utilitarian and epicurean. So let us not be complacent
in our faith. We must proactively deepen our faith so that our
children will be brought up with the right values in life. We need to be
their models and mentors. They need to see the fruits of faith in our
lives if they are to be convinced that Christ is their Lord and savior.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh
Roman
Catholic Archbishop of Singapore
©
All Rights Reserved
