[stephenkhoo]

Saturday, 31 December, 2011, 7th Day in Octave of Christmas
DEALING WITH THE LAST DAYS OF THE ANTICHRIST
SCRIPTURE READINGS: 1 JOHN 2:18-21; PS 95(96); JOHN 1:1-18

Today, we are celebrating the seventh and the penultimate day of the Octave of Christmas. Tomorrow, we will celebrate the Solemnity of the Mother of God, exactly a week after the celebration of Christmas, the Incarnation of God. For this reason, the liturgy of today’s gospel gives us the full prologue of St John’s gospel, which sums up the significance of the whole celebration of Christmas. At the same time, the Church is aware that today is the last day of the Calendar year. And thus the first reading speaks of the last days, the days of the Anti-Christ and the Day of Judgment. “Children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come; therefore we know that it is the last hour.” In order to benefit from today’s liturgy, the theme of the last days must be seen in relationship with the Incarnation.

Although we are chronologically in the last day, we are in many ways experiencing the last days that the Christians experienced two thousand years ago. These last days refer to the days of the Anti-Christ, when people do not live in the truth. As St John tells us, they denied Christ and the gospel, living in darkness and sin. When we look at the world today, we are certainly living in the last days. More than ever, Christianity is being challenged by the world. The world of secularism is threatening not just the practice of Christian Faith but religions at large. Secularism has become an antithesis to faith in God and takes on a hostile position towards the Church and believers in God. Indeed, we can see that the values of the gospel are no longer embraced by the world.

In the light of such a serious threat to world peace and authentic living, must we fall into despair? Nay, the truth is that Jesus is for us the light in the world. It is through Christ that the world would be saved. We can see the contrast between the first reading and the gospel. St. John’s letter which begins with the sober reminder, “Children, it is the last hour!” is deliberately contrasted with the gospel overture, “In the beginning was the Word….” So, in Christ we have a new beginning. The last days have become our first day in that we are a new creation. So we need not fear the world and its hostility towards believers, provided we choose Christ. The moment we choose Christ, the reign of sin comes to an end. We become the children of God. John testified, “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.”

In Christ we see the fullness of God’s glory. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father … No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.” Indeed, we are the blessed ones. As Christians it is our great privilege to be given the full revelation of God. Only Christ, as the Son of the Father, could reveal to us who God really is. In knowing God, we know who we are and what our ultimate calling is. Thus, we say, we receive grace and truth in Christ Jesus. “And from his fullness have we all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

Indeed, it is our confession in the incarnation of the Word made flesh that is the basis for our hope. Because Jesus is God made visible, we are now in union with God in truth and love. With John we declare, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.” The corollary is that “in him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” Truly, if we want to live the fullness of life in these last days of the Anti-Christ, we must accept Jesus into our lives. This is important not only for our own salvation but also for the world.

However, we are also called to be proactive by being a witness for Christ, just as John the Baptist did for Jesus. The gospel tells us, “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light.” We who have come to know Jesus as the Light and Life of the world must now enlighten many who have not yet received Jesus. This is because Jesus “the true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world.” If the world is in darkness and hostile to God, it is because the world does not know God. We who “have been anointed by the Holy One,and have all received the knowledge” of the truth, must now proclaim to others who have yet not known Christ. We cannot overcome darkness simply by moaning and lamenting what the world is like today. Rather, we eliminate darkness by being the light of Christ for humanity by sharing Christ with them, not just in words but in our very lives.

Indeed, there are still many people who do not know Christ and therefore the truth about life and love. Yes, as John regretfully remarked, “He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. He came to his own home, and his own people received him not.” How tragic indeed that Christ who is from God and one of us is rejected by us. Thus, as Christians, we must continue to battle with the world of darkness by proclaiming Christ and the gospel in the world. Only in this way can we assure the salvation of humankind. It is not enough to save ourselves but we, who are blessed with the gift of salvation and revelation, have a duty to save the whole world, for that is the desire of God.

So as we begin the New Year, let the New Year be filled with the grace and truth that comes from Christ alone. When the world is filled with the fullness of Christ’s presence, the world will come to know that God is with them. With the Incarnation of Christ, let us make His presence felt through and in us, because we are filled with the Spirit of Christ. Otherwise, it only shows that we never belonged to Him, as St John observed, “Those rivals of Christ came out of our own number, but they had never really belonged; if they had belonged, they would have stayed with us; but they left us, to prove that not one of them ever belonged to us.” So let us in the face of secularism and cynicism of the presence and love of God, with the psalmist proclaim that God is here and this earth belongs to Him. “”He comes to rule the earth. He shall rule the world with justice and the peoples with his constancy.”