05-05-2012, 02:49 PM
Scripture Reflections
05 May, 2012, Fourth Saturday of Easter
SEEKING GOD IN CHRIST
SCRIPTURE READINGS: ACTS 13:44-52; PSALM 97(98); JOHN 14:7-14
Philip said to Jesus, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” This request of Philip’s is also the desire of every person. Man cannot find rest until he discovers his identity. This cannot be found unless he knows his origin and his purpose and destiny in life. Otherwise, he lives his life aimlessly, not knowing where he comes from, who he really is and what hope holds for him in this life and after death. That is why if we know our origin, which is from the Father who is the author of life; we too will discover our identity and our purpose on earth. This deep yearning to discover God and to experience Him is the reason why many adherents of main stream churches are migrating to the charismatic and evangelical churches to experience the Lord in their lives.
How then can we come to know Him? Different religions give different answers. This is because in most religions, men seek God. In Christian Faith, however, it is God who seeks man. Although with different degrees of success, their search remains inadequate, as no man can really know God. That is why faith in God’s revelation of Himself is the presupposition of faith in Christ as the Son of God. Jesus claims to be the revealer of God His Father. This is what He is claiming in St John’s gospel. In Christ we see the face of the Father. As Nicodemus tells us, Christ comes from above and therefore He knows heavenly things. “The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony.” (Jn 3:31-32)
In today’s gospel passage, Jesus defended His identity and authority by claiming Divine Sonship. Jesus, in exasperation, reprimanded Philip when He said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The father who dwells in me is doing his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves.“
So the ultimate criterion is whether we believe in Jesus as the expression of the Father. Unless we believe in Jesus as identified with God, we cannot claim to have complete faith in Jesus. Only by confessing the divinity of Christ, can we then also reclaim our identity as children of the same Father and thereby perform the same works as He did, since we are identified with Christ. This made Jesus declare: “Amen, amen I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask for in my name I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask for anything in my name, I will do it.”
Our task is to proclaim Christ as the Son of the Father, the Way, the Truth and the Life to all once we have discovered this truth for ourselves. Like the apostles, we who have encountered Christ as the Risen Lord in our lives, we must now announce Him as the Good News to others. That was what the apostles did. This work of evangelization entails both ad intra and ad extra, within and without. Within, we must help our Catholics to encounter Jesus personally in their lives. Without, we must proclaim to those who do not yet know Jesus. One would think that it is easier to proclaim Christ to non-Catholics and Non-Christians. On the contrary, the most difficult people to evangelize to are those Catholics who think that they do not need conversion or a renewal, because they have a superior and self-sufficient complex, thinking they know everything about their faith already.
This situation was similar to that faced by the apostles when they were spreading the Good News. The most unlikely recipients of the Good News were the pagans. Their own fellow Jews were stirring up trouble for the apostles. They were “prompted by jealousy, used blasphemies and contradicted everything Paul said.” As if that was not enough, they even instigated “some of the devout women of the upper classes and the leading men of the city and persuaded them to turn against Paul and Barnabas and expel them from their territory.”
It was a sin of ingratitude, intellectual pride and complacency. The price of ingratitude and pride is to be hindered from accepting the gift of God. The Word of God is given to us, but by our opposition, the Word is given to others. Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, “we had to proclaim the word of God to you first, but since you have rejected it, since you do not think yourselves worthy of eternal life, we must turn to the pagans. For this is what the Lord commanded us to do when he said: I have made you a light for the nations, so that my salvation may reach the ends of the earth.” So for those who are too proud to relearn what they had learnt many years ago about their faith, they will be left behind. By their rejection of the gospel, what was a loss to the Jews became a gain for the pagans. This is the wisdom of God. We read, “It made the pagans very happy to hear this and they thanked the Lord for his message; all who were destined for eternal life became believers. Thus the word of the Lord spread through the whole countryside.”
What attitude should we take in the face of rejection? We read, “So they shook the dust from their feet in defiance and went off to Iconium; but the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.” We must not be discouraged when the message we proclaim is rejected by others. The discouragement has to do without our wounded ego and the desire for appreciation and acceptance. In truth, they did not reject us but they rejected Christ whom we believe. Like the apostles, we must surrender the work of conversion to the Holy Spirit. By reacting negatively, we allow human emotions and our selfish needs to determine our apostolic zeal. We must be cautious that we do not obstruct the gospel, or if met with opposition, react negatively because of a wounded ego rather than out of sadness for those whom we love, even when we do not know them.
Following the apostles, let us be filled with joy in the Holy Spirit instead. Joy of course is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, then there will always be joy in the ministry. A lack of joy is an indication that we are no better than the Jews who opposed Paul when he proclaimed the Word of God. Instead of recognizing the work we do as the work of God and in the power of the Holy Spirit, we reduce our work to mere human manipulation of people’s hearts. We must never think that conversion is our work. The psalmist makes it clear when he prayed, “Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done wondrous deeds; His right hand has won victory for him, his holy arm. All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.” God is our warrior and the Holy Spirit is the one that stirs hearts to conversion. Our part is simply to do what we can and commend everything into the hands of God.
05 May, 2012, Fourth Saturday of Easter
SEEKING GOD IN CHRIST
SCRIPTURE READINGS: ACTS 13:44-52; PSALM 97(98); JOHN 14:7-14
Philip said to Jesus, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” This request of Philip’s is also the desire of every person. Man cannot find rest until he discovers his identity. This cannot be found unless he knows his origin and his purpose and destiny in life. Otherwise, he lives his life aimlessly, not knowing where he comes from, who he really is and what hope holds for him in this life and after death. That is why if we know our origin, which is from the Father who is the author of life; we too will discover our identity and our purpose on earth. This deep yearning to discover God and to experience Him is the reason why many adherents of main stream churches are migrating to the charismatic and evangelical churches to experience the Lord in their lives.
How then can we come to know Him? Different religions give different answers. This is because in most religions, men seek God. In Christian Faith, however, it is God who seeks man. Although with different degrees of success, their search remains inadequate, as no man can really know God. That is why faith in God’s revelation of Himself is the presupposition of faith in Christ as the Son of God. Jesus claims to be the revealer of God His Father. This is what He is claiming in St John’s gospel. In Christ we see the face of the Father. As Nicodemus tells us, Christ comes from above and therefore He knows heavenly things. “The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony.” (Jn 3:31-32)
In today’s gospel passage, Jesus defended His identity and authority by claiming Divine Sonship. Jesus, in exasperation, reprimanded Philip when He said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The father who dwells in me is doing his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves.“
So the ultimate criterion is whether we believe in Jesus as the expression of the Father. Unless we believe in Jesus as identified with God, we cannot claim to have complete faith in Jesus. Only by confessing the divinity of Christ, can we then also reclaim our identity as children of the same Father and thereby perform the same works as He did, since we are identified with Christ. This made Jesus declare: “Amen, amen I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask for in my name I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask for anything in my name, I will do it.”
Our task is to proclaim Christ as the Son of the Father, the Way, the Truth and the Life to all once we have discovered this truth for ourselves. Like the apostles, we who have encountered Christ as the Risen Lord in our lives, we must now announce Him as the Good News to others. That was what the apostles did. This work of evangelization entails both ad intra and ad extra, within and without. Within, we must help our Catholics to encounter Jesus personally in their lives. Without, we must proclaim to those who do not yet know Jesus. One would think that it is easier to proclaim Christ to non-Catholics and Non-Christians. On the contrary, the most difficult people to evangelize to are those Catholics who think that they do not need conversion or a renewal, because they have a superior and self-sufficient complex, thinking they know everything about their faith already.
This situation was similar to that faced by the apostles when they were spreading the Good News. The most unlikely recipients of the Good News were the pagans. Their own fellow Jews were stirring up trouble for the apostles. They were “prompted by jealousy, used blasphemies and contradicted everything Paul said.” As if that was not enough, they even instigated “some of the devout women of the upper classes and the leading men of the city and persuaded them to turn against Paul and Barnabas and expel them from their territory.”
It was a sin of ingratitude, intellectual pride and complacency. The price of ingratitude and pride is to be hindered from accepting the gift of God. The Word of God is given to us, but by our opposition, the Word is given to others. Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, “we had to proclaim the word of God to you first, but since you have rejected it, since you do not think yourselves worthy of eternal life, we must turn to the pagans. For this is what the Lord commanded us to do when he said: I have made you a light for the nations, so that my salvation may reach the ends of the earth.” So for those who are too proud to relearn what they had learnt many years ago about their faith, they will be left behind. By their rejection of the gospel, what was a loss to the Jews became a gain for the pagans. This is the wisdom of God. We read, “It made the pagans very happy to hear this and they thanked the Lord for his message; all who were destined for eternal life became believers. Thus the word of the Lord spread through the whole countryside.”
What attitude should we take in the face of rejection? We read, “So they shook the dust from their feet in defiance and went off to Iconium; but the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.” We must not be discouraged when the message we proclaim is rejected by others. The discouragement has to do without our wounded ego and the desire for appreciation and acceptance. In truth, they did not reject us but they rejected Christ whom we believe. Like the apostles, we must surrender the work of conversion to the Holy Spirit. By reacting negatively, we allow human emotions and our selfish needs to determine our apostolic zeal. We must be cautious that we do not obstruct the gospel, or if met with opposition, react negatively because of a wounded ego rather than out of sadness for those whom we love, even when we do not know them.
Following the apostles, let us be filled with joy in the Holy Spirit instead. Joy of course is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, then there will always be joy in the ministry. A lack of joy is an indication that we are no better than the Jews who opposed Paul when he proclaimed the Word of God. Instead of recognizing the work we do as the work of God and in the power of the Holy Spirit, we reduce our work to mere human manipulation of people’s hearts. We must never think that conversion is our work. The psalmist makes it clear when he prayed, “Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done wondrous deeds; His right hand has won victory for him, his holy arm. All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.” God is our warrior and the Holy Spirit is the one that stirs hearts to conversion. Our part is simply to do what we can and commend everything into the hands of God.