DO YOU KNOW JESUS?

20161229 DO YOU KNOW JESUS?

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: White.

First reading

1 John 2:3-11 ©

We can be sure that we know God

only by keeping his commandments.

Anyone who says, ‘I know him’,

and does not keep his commandments,

is a liar,

refusing to admit the truth.

But when anyone does obey what he has said,

God’s love comes to perfection in him.

We can be sure that we are in God

only when the one who claims to be living in him

is living the same kind of life as Christ lived.

My dear people,

this is not a new commandment that I am writing to tell you,

but an old commandment

that you were given from the beginning,

the original commandment which was the message brought to you.

Yet in another way, what I am writing to you,

and what is being carried out in your lives as it was in his,

is a new commandment;

because the night is over

and the real light is already shining.

Anyone who claims to be in the light

but hates his brother

is still in the dark.

But anyone who loves his brother is living in the light

and need not be afraid of stumbling;

unlike the man who hates his brother and is in the darkness,

not knowing where he is going,

because it is too dark to see.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 95(96):1-3,5-6 ©

Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad.

O sing a new song to the Lord,

  sing to the Lord all the earth.

  O sing to the Lord, bless his name.

Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad.

Proclaim his help day by day,

  tell among the nations his glory

  and his wonders among all the peoples.

Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad.

It was the Lord who made the heavens,

  his are majesty and state and power

  and splendour in his holy place.

Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad.

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

Alleluia, alleluia!

A light to enlighten the pagans

and the glory of your people Israel.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Luke 2:22-35 ©

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.’

DO YOU KNOW JESUS?

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ 1 John 2:3-11; Luke 2:22-35 ]

Christ is born.  But do we know Him?  I presume most Catholics would say that they know Jesus.  Knowing someone of course has different meanings.   Most Catholics know Jesus intellectually.  They have some factual information about Jesus that they studied in their catechism classes or through personal reading.  Some know Jesus more intimately through prayer, worship, and meditation on the Word of God. Others encountered Jesus in the sacraments or had the privilege of a radical Christ-experience.  Even then, such Christ experiences have different depths.  The Seven Mansions, as described by St Teresa of Avila, shows the different levels of entering into the mystery of Christ and His love.

Nevertheless, in the final analysis, to know means to share in the life and love of someone.  When we know someone, we imbibe in the person’s values and perspectives of life.  We are identified with those whom we love.  This is particularly true of married couples.  Intimacy is more than just physical union but a union of heart and mind in all that we do and think.  Otherwise, such physical intimacy is superficial and have not much benefit than just an act of pleasure.   But if there is mutual willing and thinking, such intimacy crowns the union and becomes a real celebration.

This is what St John means when he wrote, “We can be sure that we know God only by keeping his commandments. Anyone who says, ‘I know him’, and does not keep his commandments, is a liar, refusing to admit the truth.”  Keeping the commandments of God is easy only if we love Him deeply and could identify with Him completely.  Otherwise, the commandments become a burden, a restriction, and an imposition.  It is never difficult to obey someone whom we love, not just affectively, but when we are able to see the truth from the person’s perspective.  Christ had no issues with obeying the Father because He knew the Father and the Father knew Him.  (cf Mt 11:27)  He freely gave up His life out of obedience not reluctantly but willingly for the love of His Father.  (cf Jn 10:18)

Secondly, St John says, “We can be sure that we are in God only when the one who claims to be living in him is living the same kind of life as Christ lived.”  The litmus test of whether God or Christ is in us is whether we live the life that Jesus has taught us to live.  To be in Christ means to say with St Paul, “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”  (Gal 2:20) So the best way to gauge our knowledge of God is not in doctrinal knowledge or even our God-experiences, but by the fruits of the Spirit that are manifested in our lives.  These fruits of the Spirit are common to all, but the gifts of the Spirit differ.  Regardless of the gifts we receive, it does not matter so long as we produce the fruits of the Spirit, as St Paul wrote to the Galatians.  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law.” (Gal 5:22f)

Thirdly, we know that we are in Christ only when we love our brothers and sisters. St John wrote, “Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the dark. But anyone who loves his brother is living in the light and need not be afraid of stumbling; unlike the man who hates his brother and is in the darkness, not knowing where he is going, because it is too dark to see.”  Anyone who has the heart of God will love everyone intensely the way God loves each one of us, regardless of our race, language or religion.  Everyone is precious to God, even those who do not know Him, or are His enemies.  God wants to save us all because He loves us all.  If God is in us, then we will recognize that our common love for the Father and our sonship in Christ makes us brothers and sisters of all, regardless.

In the gospel, we have someone who knew Jesus intimately.  We read the prophecy of Simeon.  When he saw the child, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, 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.”  Such confession of faith in Christ goes beyond logic and understanding.  Through the grace of God alone, Simeon, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, could immediately recognize Jesus, that little baby, as the Promised Messiah, the one who will be the light of the nations, enlightening all in the truth about God and about themselves.   Most of all, by His life, His works, teachings, His death and resurrection, He will glorify God.  The little child in the arms of His blessed mother was foretold to bring great and revolutionary changes in the lives of humanity.  Simeon said to Mary, “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.”

If we come to this truth and this knowledge of Christ, it is almost as if we have entered the sixth or seventh castle of the doctrine of St Teresa of Avila because at this point, there is no turning back.  We just want to be with God and bask in His love and mercy forever.  This experience of Simeon of wanting to go back to God is the consequence of encountering the glory of God in the humanity of Christ.  Like the psalmist, we would want to sing for joy. “Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad.  O sing a new song to the Lord, sing to the Lord all the earth. O sing to the Lord, bless his name.  Proclaim his help day by day, tell among the nations his glory and his wonders among all the peoples.”  Within this context, we can appreciate the sharing of St Paul when he spoke of his dilemma.  “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If it is to be life in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.”  (Phil 1:21-24)  More importantly, he also said, “with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.”  (Phil 1:20)

In the light of our reflection, we must therefore consider how much we know the Lord.  What is the depth of our relationship with Him?  Let us not deceive ourselves into thinking that we love the Lord and know Him so much when we are not ready to die with Him or follow His way of life.   We can say all about Jesus, talk about Him, serve Him in ministry, but if we are not ready to live as He lived, love as He loved, suffer as He suffered, forgive as He forgave, then we are still far from knowing Him.  Our knowledge is only a cerebral knowledge; it has not yet reached our hearts nor touched the depths of our spirit.

Realizing how superficial our knowledge and love for the Lord as seen in our sinful way of life, in giving in to sin and selfishness and living in darkness, we must follow Mary in contemplating on Him more and more.  “The child’s father and mother stood there wondering at the things that were being said about him.”   Unless we are willing to make time to contemplate on the Lord, we will never get to know Him from our being.  Intimacy with the Lord is a gift.  We must nurture this gift by entering into the mind and heart of Christ more and more each day through silence, prayer and reading of the Word of God. So we too must pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit to lead us to Jesus.

Simeon tells us how we can prepare for the Holy Spirit by living a devout and holy life.  Simeon “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.”   Let us, with the grace of God, be the glory of God for others by living the radical life that the Lord is inviting us to live.  This life of Christ, St John says, is “what is being carried out in your lives as it was in his, is a new commandment; because the night is over and the real light is already shining.”  Christ gives newness in the way we should fulfill the commandments which are as old as Moses.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved

INNOCENT BUT MADE HOLY

20161228 INNOCENT BUT MADE HOLY

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Red.

First reading

1 John 1:5-2:2 ©

This is what we have heard from Jesus Christ,

and the message that we are announcing to you:

God is light; there is no darkness in him at all.

If we say that we are in union with God

while we are living in darkness,

we are lying because we are not living the truth.

But if we live our lives in the light,

as he is in the light,

we are in union with one another,

and the blood of Jesus, his Son,

purifies us from all sin.

If we say we have no sin in us,

we are deceiving ourselves

and refusing to admit the truth;

but if we acknowledge our sins,

then God who is faithful and just

will forgive our sins and purify us

from everything that is wrong.

To say that we have never sinned

is to call God a liar

and to show that his word is not in us.

I am writing this, my children,

to stop you sinning;

but if anyone should sin,

we have our advocate with the Father,

Jesus Christ, who is just;

he is the sacrifice that takes our sins away,

and not only ours,

but the whole world’s.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 123(124):2-5,7-8 ©

Our life, like a bird, has escaped from the snare of the fowler.

If the Lord had not been on our side

  when men rose up against us,

then would they have swallowed us alive

  when their anger was kindled.

Our life, like a bird, has escaped from the snare of the fowler.

Then would the waters have engulfed us,

  the torrent gone over us;

over our head would have swept

  the raging waters.

Our life, like a bird, has escaped from the snare of the fowler.

Indeed the snare has been broken

  and we have escaped.

Our help is in the name of the Lord,

  who made heaven and earth.

Our life, like a bird, has escaped from the snare of the fowler.

Gospel Acclamation

cf.Te Deum

Alleluia, alleluia!

We praise you, O God,

we acknowledge you to be the Lord;

the noble army of martyrs praise you, O Lord.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Matthew 2:13-18 ©

After the wise men had left, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother with you, and escape into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, because Herod intends to search for the child and do away with him.’ So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, left that night for Egypt, where he stayed until Herod was dead. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken through the prophet:

I called my son out of Egypt.

Herod was furious when he realised that he had been outwitted by the wise men, and in Bethlehem and its surrounding district he had all the male children killed who were two years old or under, reckoning by the date he had been careful to ask the wise men. It was then that the words spoken through the prophet Jeremiah were fulfilled:

A voice was heard in Ramah,

sobbing and loudly lamenting:

it was Rachel weeping for her children,

refusing to be comforted because they were no more.

INNOCENT BUT MADE HOLY

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ 1 John 1:5-2:2; Ps 123:2-5,7-8; Matthew 2:13-18  ]

Today, we celebrate the feast of the Holy Innocents.  On this feast, we remember in a special way not only those innocent babies who died during the time of Christ but also all the unborn babies, and the thousands of children suffering from the tragedy of war, famine and natural disasters.  Besides the young there are many more who died innocently because of terrorism and insane wars.  On this feast too, we think of the many martyrs who stood for truth and love as well.

For such peoples, children and babies included, we can at most say they are innocent, but not holy.  Some of you might be shocked to read this statement.  But this is what St John wrote.  “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”  Indeed, the only exception is Mary who is both innocent and without sin.  The rest of us can be innocent but never without sin.   Even in the case of Mary, she was saved by Christ by exemption and in anticipation of her divine motherhood.

This explains why infants need baptism even though they commit no moral sin or personal sin.   Baptism makes us holy and children of God because it takes away our sins.  By His death and resurrection, “the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”  We are baptized also to prevent us from falling into sin by our fellowship with Christ and the Christian community.  St John reminds us, “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.”  To be baptized is more than just being washed clean of our sins but it is a call to walk in union with Christ and in fellowship with His body, the Church.  Baptism is not a private affair but it is a commitment both to Christ and His Church, the fellowship of the saints.  Those who are baptized but are not in fellowship with fellow Christians will eventually be influenced by the world of sin rather than the world of Christ.

Should we, then too, be worried that those children of ours who are not baptized, especially the unborn babies, aborted or still born are not given eternal life?  Of course not, because the mercy and love of God is beyond human understanding and the laws of the Church.  God can work in ways beyond our imagination.  So instead of fear and anxiety, we should place all our trust in God’s mercy and divine protection.  Like the psalmist, we should pray accordingly, “If the Lord had not been on our side when men rose up against us, then would they have swallowed us alive when their anger was kindled.  Then would the waters have engulfed us, the torrent gone over us; over our head would have swept the raging waters.  Indeed, the snare has been broken and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”  God will rescue us from death because of His love for us.  His mercy and love abounds for all, especially for little babies and children for He did tell His disciples, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 19:14)  We can be sure that with all the mothers, Christ also weeps for innocent children. “It was then that the words spoken through the prophet Jeremiah were fulfilled:  A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loudly lamenting: it was Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted because they were no more.”  The cries of the mothers and the cries of the children are heard by Christ Himself.   He will show us more mercy than we to our own children!  Otherwise, no one would abort their babies or allow innocent children to be victims of war, suffering and hunger.   But the world has no mercy on innocent children and those who are weak, like the elderly and the sick.

But we need to ask a further question, whether we are innocent even though we know we are not holy.  Whilst we realize that holiness comes from God as a gift, can we be innocent in our sinfulness?  Many of us do not walk in the light.  As St John wrote, “we walk in darkness, we lie and do not live according to the truth.”  The fact is that the suffering of the world and of innocent people are due to our sins of selfishness.   When an abortion is carried out, not only is the woman responsible, but the man is equally responsible as well.  Men should not exempt and exonerate themselves from the crime of abortion because they are as responsible in bringing an innocent baby into the world, then discard, terminate and kill the baby simply because they do not want to assume the responsibility of looking after the new life.  The death of an aborted baby is the work of both the man and the woman who brought life into the world.

There is a Herod in each one of us.  Like Herod, we do not want to assume responsibility.  We want to take the easy way out.  We are motivated by fear.  Herod was worried that his power would be taken away from Him by Christ, the Infant King of the Jews.  He thought that without power, his existence and happiness would be threatened.  He was afraid of pain and hunger.  So he sought to keep his status by destroying his perceived opponent or enemy of his desires.   We too act in that manner.  Anyone who is a threat to our status quo or our desires and ambitions, we seek by all means to eliminate, regardless whether they are our family members, colleagues or one-time friends.

We can be sure that those who advocate abortion, war and terrorism are ruled by fear and self-interests.  The reason why they destroy and kill is simply to protect themselves.   Some of them are fully aware that what they are doing is wrong and evil.  But most kill out of fear and helplessness, especially in the case of abortion or even euthanasia.  Some do it believing that it is the lesser of two evils.  So even for such people, we must also say to them, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Lk 23:24)

Indeed, for us all who are neither innocent nor holy, let us turn to the Lord for He is our advocate with the Father.  “My little children, I am writing this to you so that you may not sin; but if any one does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the expiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”  Let us ask for forgiveness and repent of our ways.  The best way to assure ourselves of God’s forgiving and healing love is to find a compassionate confessor who can hear and forgive our sins in the sacrament of reconciliation.  If you cannot find one, pray for one so that you have the courage to confess your sins with contrition and find healing and consolation.

Let us have faith that all is within God’s plan.  We read that Jesus’ fleeing from Herod to Egypt is the work of divine providence.  St Matthew gave a footnote, “This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken through the prophet:  I called my son out of Egypt.”   And so “after the wise men had left, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother with you and escape into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, because Herod intends to search for the child and do away with him.’”  Somehow God will look after us.  All we need to do is to follow the example of Joseph and just obey.  “So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, left that night for Egypt, where he stayed until Herod was dead.”   Let us therefore entrust our lives to the Lord and all our loved ones, the innocent babies and children, the elderly and those who are refugees suffering in war torn countries, those fleeing from wars and authoritarian governments.  Whilst we feel helpless to offer help to all these people, we can pray for them and do the little we can within our capacity and within our own backyard.  We too must be more sensitive to our martyrs at home, our spouse, our children, our siblings and our colleagues and priests who work hard for us.  Have compassion on them by being grateful and do not allow them to suffer injustice and ingratitude, causing them to become resentful towards God!

Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved