09-01-2014, 04:29 PM
PROCLAMATION OF CHRIST CRUCIFIED AS THE GOOD NEWS IN THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT
SCRIPTURE READINGS: 1 COR 2:1-5; LK 4:16-30
http://www.universalis.com/20140901/mass.htm
Today, we begin the reading of the gospel taken from St Luke the evangelist. It begins with the inauguration of the ministry of Jesus, which is spelt out in terms of bringing the Good News to the poor and in terms of liberation. He is called to give hope to the marginalized and the poor; and to set the captives free from all that prevents them from living the fullness of life.
As followers of Christ, how are we to continue this mission that Jesus has begun? Very often, many good believers make the sincere mistake of either reducing the proclamation of the gospel to the salvation of souls, or reducing it merely to a programme for liberation movements. The truth is that Jesus has come to bring real liberation to everyone, not simply political, spiritual or social liberation but total liberation. The gospel must permeate every area of human life, whether it is spiritual, social, political or economic.
How then is this proclamation to be realized? In today’s second reading, St Paul says he came to proclaim the Crucified Christ. He said, “Brothers, when I came to you, it was not with any show of oratory or philosophy, but simply to tell you what God had guaranteed. During my stay with you, the only knowledge I claimed to have was about Jesus, and only about him as the crucified Christ.”
Why did he not speak about liberation like Jesus did? For St Paul, social justice and reaching out to the poor presupposes faith in Christ crucified. This is true also in terms of spiritual liberation from sin. For this reason, Pope Benedict in his first encyclical, “God is love”, underscores that unconditional love for others presupposes a prior experience of God’s unconditional and total love.
Consequently, St Paul makes the kergyma his preaching. The proclamation of Christ crucified speaks on the self-emptying love of the Father and the Son in the mutual kenosis. The Father delivered His only Son to sinners to be put to death and the Son surrendered Himself to the Father’s will for the love of the world.
Of course, to the Jews who were looking for a glorious and triumphant saviour, a crucified messiah was a scandal to them. Yet, they failed to see that such is the wisdom of God, not the wisdom of man. For real power is not the wealth and worldly power that the wisdom of the world proclaims; it is not even knowledge! Rather, real power is the power of love. Only love can conquer the hearts of men, not worldly powers nor intellectual power.
What would have made St Paul, himself a great scholar of scriptures, to take this unconventional approach? It was his personal experience of the love of God in Jesus. Indeed, it was his conversion experience at Damascus that changed his whole mindset. This is implied in the statement, “During my stay with you, the only knowledge I claimed to have was about Jesus, and only about him as the crucified Christ.” Before that, he relied only on his knowledge and will-power to know God and obey the laws. He was self-righteous and judgmental. But after the encounter with Jesus and hearing him say, “Why are you persecuting me?” he came to realize the love and mercy of Christ crucified. Furthermore, when he recognized that Christ had chosen him to be an apostle of the gospel, in spite of his past, he was certainly, even more humbled by that experience.
As he said earlier, “…at the time when you were called: how many of you were wise in the ordinary sense of the word, how many were influential people, or came from noble families? No, it was to shame the wise that God chose what is foolish by human reckoning, and to shame what is strong that he chose what is weak by human reckoning; those whom the world thinks common and contemptible are the ones that God has chosen – those who are nothing at all to show up those who are everything.” (1 Cor 1:26-31). Truly, he came to realize that the gospel has power only because it is not the work of man but the work of God.
What does this mean for us all? Firstly, it means that in proclaiming the gospel today, proclaiming Christ crucified means that we need to teach a life of renunciation and poverty as Christ commanded us.
The gospel has lost its power today because we are depending too much on worldly wisdom and power, focusing more on branding, marketing, techniques, arguments and planning, rather than on the power that comes from God. This is not to say that such planning or employment of the modern means of communication is not necessary in proclaiming the gospel. What needs to be underscored is our reliance on the Lord above all.
At the same time, we are no longer living lives of contradiction. Our lifestyle is no different from those of non-Christians. We must once again recover the secret of the proclamation of the gospel which is to live our life in the shadow of the cross. Jesus refused to play according to the rules of His people, who wanted Him to prove His worth through power and glory. Instead, He came for the poor and lived among the poor. Concretely, this means that we cannot carry out our Christian ministry without the cross. We must be ready to suffer for the truth which we are called to proclaim. We must be ready to be ridiculed, slandered and misunderstood in trying to proclaim the gospel. It is said that no one throws stones at barren trees! Hence, we must carry the cross because we are invited to live a life of integrity, compassion, charity and love.
Like Jesus who refused to bow to pressure to perform miracles in order to prove Himself, we too must pray for courage to be different. We must remind ourselves that we are called to proclaim God’s love and mercy and not to boost our ego or to bask in our glory. Indeed, how many of us dare to challenge the complacency of the faith and love of our fellow Christians? We must avoid the unconscious desire for popularity, fame, glory and power, especially at the workplace, and in the social circles we move in.
For this to be possible, we need to follow the same path as Jesus and Paul did, which is to exercise our Christian mission in the power of the Spirit. Jesus prefaced His call by declaring, “The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me.” St Paul too said, “Far from relying on any power of my speeches and the sermons that I gave, there were none of the arguments that belong to philosophy; only a demonstration of the power of the Spirit. And I did this so that your faith should not depend on human philosophy but on the power of God.” Being in touch with the Spirit of God therefore is the key to power in our proclamation of the gospel in our lives.
Accordingly, we need to pray for this encounter with the Spirit by meditating on the Word of God, like the Psalmist who said, “How I love your law, O Lord! It is my meditation all the day. Your command has made me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers when your decrees are my meditation.” Yes, when the word of God abides in us, then the Father and his Son will dwell in us through the Holy Spirit. Only then can we proclaim his Word, the Good News of liberation with the power of the Spirit.
SCRIPTURE READINGS: 1 COR 2:1-5; LK 4:16-30
http://www.universalis.com/20140901/mass.htm
Today, we begin the reading of the gospel taken from St Luke the evangelist. It begins with the inauguration of the ministry of Jesus, which is spelt out in terms of bringing the Good News to the poor and in terms of liberation. He is called to give hope to the marginalized and the poor; and to set the captives free from all that prevents them from living the fullness of life.
As followers of Christ, how are we to continue this mission that Jesus has begun? Very often, many good believers make the sincere mistake of either reducing the proclamation of the gospel to the salvation of souls, or reducing it merely to a programme for liberation movements. The truth is that Jesus has come to bring real liberation to everyone, not simply political, spiritual or social liberation but total liberation. The gospel must permeate every area of human life, whether it is spiritual, social, political or economic.
How then is this proclamation to be realized? In today’s second reading, St Paul says he came to proclaim the Crucified Christ. He said, “Brothers, when I came to you, it was not with any show of oratory or philosophy, but simply to tell you what God had guaranteed. During my stay with you, the only knowledge I claimed to have was about Jesus, and only about him as the crucified Christ.”
Why did he not speak about liberation like Jesus did? For St Paul, social justice and reaching out to the poor presupposes faith in Christ crucified. This is true also in terms of spiritual liberation from sin. For this reason, Pope Benedict in his first encyclical, “God is love”, underscores that unconditional love for others presupposes a prior experience of God’s unconditional and total love.
Consequently, St Paul makes the kergyma his preaching. The proclamation of Christ crucified speaks on the self-emptying love of the Father and the Son in the mutual kenosis. The Father delivered His only Son to sinners to be put to death and the Son surrendered Himself to the Father’s will for the love of the world.
Of course, to the Jews who were looking for a glorious and triumphant saviour, a crucified messiah was a scandal to them. Yet, they failed to see that such is the wisdom of God, not the wisdom of man. For real power is not the wealth and worldly power that the wisdom of the world proclaims; it is not even knowledge! Rather, real power is the power of love. Only love can conquer the hearts of men, not worldly powers nor intellectual power.
What would have made St Paul, himself a great scholar of scriptures, to take this unconventional approach? It was his personal experience of the love of God in Jesus. Indeed, it was his conversion experience at Damascus that changed his whole mindset. This is implied in the statement, “During my stay with you, the only knowledge I claimed to have was about Jesus, and only about him as the crucified Christ.” Before that, he relied only on his knowledge and will-power to know God and obey the laws. He was self-righteous and judgmental. But after the encounter with Jesus and hearing him say, “Why are you persecuting me?” he came to realize the love and mercy of Christ crucified. Furthermore, when he recognized that Christ had chosen him to be an apostle of the gospel, in spite of his past, he was certainly, even more humbled by that experience.
As he said earlier, “…at the time when you were called: how many of you were wise in the ordinary sense of the word, how many were influential people, or came from noble families? No, it was to shame the wise that God chose what is foolish by human reckoning, and to shame what is strong that he chose what is weak by human reckoning; those whom the world thinks common and contemptible are the ones that God has chosen – those who are nothing at all to show up those who are everything.” (1 Cor 1:26-31). Truly, he came to realize that the gospel has power only because it is not the work of man but the work of God.
What does this mean for us all? Firstly, it means that in proclaiming the gospel today, proclaiming Christ crucified means that we need to teach a life of renunciation and poverty as Christ commanded us.
The gospel has lost its power today because we are depending too much on worldly wisdom and power, focusing more on branding, marketing, techniques, arguments and planning, rather than on the power that comes from God. This is not to say that such planning or employment of the modern means of communication is not necessary in proclaiming the gospel. What needs to be underscored is our reliance on the Lord above all.
At the same time, we are no longer living lives of contradiction. Our lifestyle is no different from those of non-Christians. We must once again recover the secret of the proclamation of the gospel which is to live our life in the shadow of the cross. Jesus refused to play according to the rules of His people, who wanted Him to prove His worth through power and glory. Instead, He came for the poor and lived among the poor. Concretely, this means that we cannot carry out our Christian ministry without the cross. We must be ready to suffer for the truth which we are called to proclaim. We must be ready to be ridiculed, slandered and misunderstood in trying to proclaim the gospel. It is said that no one throws stones at barren trees! Hence, we must carry the cross because we are invited to live a life of integrity, compassion, charity and love.
Like Jesus who refused to bow to pressure to perform miracles in order to prove Himself, we too must pray for courage to be different. We must remind ourselves that we are called to proclaim God’s love and mercy and not to boost our ego or to bask in our glory. Indeed, how many of us dare to challenge the complacency of the faith and love of our fellow Christians? We must avoid the unconscious desire for popularity, fame, glory and power, especially at the workplace, and in the social circles we move in.
For this to be possible, we need to follow the same path as Jesus and Paul did, which is to exercise our Christian mission in the power of the Spirit. Jesus prefaced His call by declaring, “The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me.” St Paul too said, “Far from relying on any power of my speeches and the sermons that I gave, there were none of the arguments that belong to philosophy; only a demonstration of the power of the Spirit. And I did this so that your faith should not depend on human philosophy but on the power of God.” Being in touch with the Spirit of God therefore is the key to power in our proclamation of the gospel in our lives.
Accordingly, we need to pray for this encounter with the Spirit by meditating on the Word of God, like the Psalmist who said, “How I love your law, O Lord! It is my meditation all the day. Your command has made me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers when your decrees are my meditation.” Yes, when the word of God abides in us, then the Father and his Son will dwell in us through the Holy Spirit. Only then can we proclaim his Word, the Good News of liberation with the power of the Spirit.