Ascension Thursday Year A 2023

It is weird that we seemed to have transferred Corpus Christi to a Sunday but allowed Ascension to remain on a Thursday. It feels like a sort of liturgical schizophrenia if we consider that there is a wholesale capitulation in the march to the altar of convenience.

Be that as it may, the 1st Reading taken from the Acts of the Apostles gives us food to chew on. Luke took pains to record that the event took place exactly 40 days after the Resurrection. The time frame of 40 days, nights or years refers to phases whereby God’s wayward children undergo cleansing purification and/or paradigm-shifting preparation. They were cleansed of their sins by a 40-day 40-night flood during Noah’s time. For 40 years, they were purified in the desert while preparing to settle in the Promised Land. Even Jesus Himself was subject to the purification of fasting from power, prestige and possession and He prepares for His public ministry.

The period of 40 days sets the post-resurrection stage for Jesus remaining here on earth. It was an intense time of purification and also a preparation for the Apostles—purified of their worldly ideas of the Kingdom and prepared for ministry without the physical presence of Jesus. The ministry waiting for the Apostles is to boldly go into the whole world to make disciples of all the nations through the gift of baptism and to teach all to observe the commands given by Christ.

We have a task ahead of us. In this difficult climate of competing truths, the Truth who Jesus Christ almost stands no chance. The baptism enjoined by Jesus means that we must not only preach with our words but also proclaim with our lives. Everyone here knows how hard it is to match our words with our deeds.

Tough as that may be, the 2nd Reading provides an important detail of the Ascension that has hopeful implications for each one of us. Jesus ascended to seat at the right hand of the Father. There He is far above every Sovereign, Authority, Power and Domination. What are these but the different classes of angelic powers. At the start of creation, God created the angels and as spiritual beings, they are placed way about man. But with the Ascension, Christ in His humanity, has elevated man to a rank even above the angels.

Take a moment to savour this exalted reality. During the 40 days, Jesus was preparing the Church for her mission whereas the Church’s eternal destiny is revealed at the Ascension. It makes sense that the Church dares to proclaim the dogma of the Assumption. In no way is the celebration of Mary being taken into heaven, a deification of Our Lady. Instead, both the Ascension and the Assumption are two sides of the coin of the Resurrection.

The Ascension describes where the Head has gone to and where He is, the Body is bound to follow. Hence, the event of Mary’s Assumption merely states that the Church, the Body of Christ, as represented by her who is the most perfect member, is following in the footsteps of Christ the Head. The Ascension is our divine destiny.

We were given a mission at the Ascension. Go make disciples of all the nations. Why? The command to evangelise is not because we are better but it flows naturally from the act of creation. The entire creation has been created through Him. That means every human being is called to be incorporated into the Body of Christ so that everyone will follow Him to heaven.

Definitely, the Ascension reminds us that we are citizens who straddle two worlds. Even though Jesus is no longer with us physically but through the Ascension, He has made it possible for the Spirit to empower us for the mission of transforming the City of Man. Yet whatever is done on earth has a divine bearing. While we do not neglect our earthly duties here to be Christ to the world, we should always be conscious that our true destiny is to be with Jesus in heaven for in truth we are citizens of the City of God.

6th Sunday of Easter Year A 2023

As we inch closer to two major solemnities of the liturgical calendar, we rejoice at the growth of the Apostolic community. However, both the events of the Ascension and Pentecost share a “negative” reality and that is the withdrawal of Jesus’ physical presence. In His stead, He promised that the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete or the Advocate who is coming, will speak on His behalf. The 1st Reading offers discernible and concrete evidence that the Holy Spirit was present in the building up of believers.

From one of the seven deacons selected from last Sunday’s Gospel, we have Philip the Evangelist who baptised an entire Samaritan village. Peter and John went there pray for those baptised to receive the Holy Spirit. In a way, the action of Peter in laying lands on the newly baptised supports the current Catholic practice that reserves the Sacrament of Confirmation to Bishops. (CCC#1313). Even though, scripturally there is no mention of the word “Confirmation”, the fact that the Apostles went to Samaria seems to identify the rite of laying on of hands with the completion of the rite of Baptism (CCC#1285). In fact, the Eastern Churches provide a way of understanding Confirmation. They call it “Chrismation” which requires, apart from the laying on of hands, an anointing with the “Oil of Chrism”. In a sense, Confirmation grants a special strength of the Holy Spirit in order for a Christian to witness as “another Christ”.

The Farewell Discourse of the Gospel is crucial to understanding the meaning of being “another Christ”. Jesus repeatedly reminded the Apostles that to love Him is to keep His commandments. In other words, to be Christ is to keep His laws. Thus, the Sacrament intensifies the presence of the Holy Spirit by strengthening the Christian to love Jesus more and to bear witness to Him within the Church but most all without the Church. That is the major fruit of Confirmation.

For that, the 2nd Reading sets the context for this witnessing. We know how the early Church was persecuted, firstly by the Jews themselves and then as the community grew larger, by the Romans fearful that this new religion might subvert their pagan worship. Within the opposition and rejection, St Peter asked that each believer be prepared to give an account of their belief.

The word used in Greek is “apologia” which English speakers typically take it to mean an “apology”, that is, to be “sorry”, as in to apologise. While our current usage tend towards regret, the etymology of “apologia” bears the Greek “logos”, which denotes speech or reason. An “apologia” is to prepare a reasoned explanation for the hope that one has. It is to give a justification for one’s faith.

This is not an easy task because the accent or focus is no longer on God but on us. “Meaning” tops the list of our priority. How often do we hear the lamentation that “life is meaningless”? Or a few years of the grand and great wedding, “my marriage has no meaning”. When subjective meaning is primary, we tend to embrace a more relaxed notion of Jesus and His commandments. In the case of a meaningless marriage, “Would God desire my unhappiness?”. Worst is that many no longer believe that there is a God let alone that life has a meaning more than what is found in this world.

Just recently, BBC put out an item on its news app about a disabled Aussie woman named M and a sex worker named C. The woman had never been touched before in a non-medical manner and at 43, she paid thousands of dollars for C to fulfil her erotically. Whilst BBC celebrates this woman’s sexual emancipation and expression, the underlying message is quite clear. This unfulfilled disabled woman has to find her completion or meaning in this life if she were not to be stigmatised as a failure. Such a worldly model of meaning or self-realisation is a repudiation or a rejection of the belief in the Resurrection. Christian discipleship must increasingly witness to a world that has no inkling that there is a supernatural realm beyond this world. Those of you who have remained faithful despite the world telling you that you are stupid, well… you hold on because you believe that failure in this life is not the concluding chapter in your divine destiny.

The complication is that human nature is both wily and also self-centred and this makes the interpretation of God’s commandments rather difficult. More so when everyone feels that his or her interpretation is the correct one. It is an unavoidable consequence of losing every marker we have with regard to human nature, social behaviour and religious beliefs. When we no longer have fixed boundaries, we are naturally forced to retreat to the “self”. But who we are as human beings is not merely a matter of “self-perception”. Rather, our Catholic faith shines a light on who we are as embodied spirits and we are part of God’s created order. We are not fluid beings subject to the whims of how we feel. Meaning is more eternally grounded than it is temporally based.

In a world that has forgotten its divine destiny, the Holy Spirit gives strength for authentic Christian witnessing. “Do not fear” is the other side of heroism and sanctity in living the teachings of Christ and His Church. The remedy to meaninglessness is derived from boldly witnessing to a hope beyond a crude and myopic materialism that drives one in a desperate scramble to accumulate more. We are caged in a materialistic plenty that hides a crushing void inside us.

It is extremely challenging to proclaim to a world that is at best, ignorant of or at worst, indifferent to Christ and His hope for humanity. What is right and what is easy are usually opposing options. The step in the right direction requires the fortitude of the Spirit to walk away from a despairing world caught in the narrow vision that the only sensible progress forward is to accumulate more. Thus, the hope we bear is never for a better future or a more comfortable life. According to Benedict XVI, “the one who has hope lives differently” (Spe salvi) because the risen and victorious Lord will see us through, no matter what. The hope we are, the joy we exude and the confidence we carry is directed to a life that is everlasting and much more than what this world can ever guarantee. We have Jesus’ word as our pledge and promise.

5th Sunday of Easter Year A 2023

We witness a period of the early Church where organisational challenges were beginning to manifest themselves. In order to serve and provide for the widows who were plaintively ignored in the distribution of food, the ministry of “diakonos” was created. Despite the shortcomings in this nascent Church, St Paul in the 2nd Reading pointedly reminded the people that by virtue of their faith and baptism, their incorporation into the Church has consecrated them into holy nation, a people dedicated to God.

Indeed, the 1st Reading portrays the unavoidable growing pains of the post-Resurrection Apostolic community. Even though the Gospel is taken from a time before the Jesus’ Passion and Death, it can still be applied to this situation. The Lord’s Farewell Discourse took place right after He had washed the feet of the Apostles. As He faced His impending death, Jesus exhorted them not to be afraid. He asked the Apostles to trust Him because He is heading towards the eternal homeland to prepare a place for them. When quizzed on how they are able to get there, Jesus replied that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

What can we learn from the readings and the Gospel?

Firstly, trust the Lord no matter the shape of the present. The situation of the apostolic community is instructive for us. There has never been a time where the Church was perfect. Instead, Church membership is made up of fallible humanity which in turn undermined the Church’s witnessing. If anything, the brokenness of mankind should be an incentive to pray most especially for the leaders of the institutional Church. The Apostles did not simply select seven deacons but they gathered first to pray before confirming their choices. An action-oriented culture tends to act first and only then pray to sanctify their actions. Prayers should always precede our actions.

Secondly, the absence of the Institution Narrative connects the Eucharist to service. The Eucharist is central to the life of the Church, not just as food for the journey. It nourishes and deepens the spirit of service. Almost instinctively, our focus is directed to the orphans, the widows and the poor. In other words, service is associated with the notion of social justice. But, Christian service should be more “catholic” than merely focussing on the tenets of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. The present environment that preaches D.E.I. makes it next to impossible to speak of anything in a definite manner. The reason is because definition will require distinct demarcation. In a world that is afraid of being excluded, to designate Jesus as THE way would run counter to the current sentiments.

The prevailing canon is that there are as many ways as there are people in the world. Each path requires respect if we were not to incur the condemnation of “bigotry”. In a way, the fear of bigotry has censored our missionary outreach. Our silence contradicts our belief. As Saviour, He is either the Way or He is not. We may try to accommodate as many people as we can but ultimately we will need to draw the line.

Thus, apart from caring for the poor and making sure that the environment is sustainable, service is also towards the Truth. In this sense, Sacred Scripture is never afraid to draw the line. Today, for fear of media backlash and cancellation, we are feeble in drawing our moral boundaries. How can the moral line be drawn to respect every private perversion except those that include children? The service of the truth requires that we be not selective in drawing the line because it is a mistaken notion that children are the last line of defence. The last line of defence is actually the family. Without responsible parenting, perverts will always look for loopholes to exploit, weakness in the boundaries that protect children.

Jesus asked the Disciples not to be afraid as He prepared them for the time when He will no longer be with them physically. He promised the Advocate to guarantee that His Church will always have His Spirit even if the missionary landscape is tough.

The love and service we can offer to this world is one of deep hope—a hope that is founded on Christ’s promise and presence. There seems to be a hopelessness that we need to combat. The fear brought about by the pandemic, coupled with the extreme isolation that was necessary may have also driven the young into a selfishness which is now exhibiting itself. For example, the medical condition of dysphoria could be symptomatic of the hopelessness that the young are feeling about the dystopian future. Every weather variation is packaged as part of climate change and while we do need to take responsibility, this kind of scaremongering can only demoralise a hopeless generation.

How can we offer the hope that is based on Jesus Christ? As JPII told the world, “Be not afraid”, he was not advocating a kind of “stoicism”. Rather, he was encouraging

Catholics not to be afraid because we are in a century of new evangelisation. This means we need to believe in Jesus first our lives. Our lives must show the world that Jesus is The Way, The Truth and The Life. The “new” in the new evangelisation just means that more than proclaiming Jesus in words, we live Jesus in deeds to the core of our being.

It is so much easier to shout slogans and to put out captions. Look at “Laudato si” initiatives. Much energy is spent on talking about it but when it comes to making decisions in favour of environmental justice, we are slow. Many of our Church events still feature single-use plastic. We are good at speaking about climate change but inauthentic in our actions.

There will never be a convenient time to believe, never a perfect moment to preach. The challenge indeed is to proclaim the same Gospel that was preached by Jesus Christ. Every Catholic who lives this Gospel personally becomes an open bible to others. The Church exists precisely to proclaim that Jesus is The Way, The Truth and The Life. Even when her mouth is taped up, still she must continue to evangelise. The message is only credible through our actions.

Finally, with regard to Jesus’ response to His Apostles on being the Way, the Truth and the Life, “Western” thinking struggles with the idea of “definition” because to define suggests that there might be absolutes we need to accept. For example, a US Suprême Court Justice, at her Senate Confirmation Hearing, was unable to define what a woman was. Definition comes from drawing lines. Because we are afraid to demarcate, we continue to lament that the world is imperfect and the result is a withdrawal into selfishness. Without the certainty of defining, we necessarily resort to self-definition, making the “self” an absolute. The Coronation of King Charles III is timely because it reveals the consequence of our “isolating selfishness”. It is incredibly alien in a cosmos where the self is deified to have someone who is held above everyone else. In a way, the Coronation becomes an antidote to “non-defining, yet self-defining” selfishness that seemed to have enveloped the West. We cannot define anything except that we acknowledge the self to be the only definition. During the Coronation, we see that for those who bear arms, there exists someone other than the soldier and his self-interest who demands his allegiance, his loyalty and his service. In a manner of speaking, the soldier would even die for that Commander in Chief rather than choose to preserve his own life. The Coronation helps to make sense of the absolute and defining statement that Jesus IS The Way, The Truth and The Life. It is impossible to be a holy people and a consecrated nation if there were no one out there whose Lordship lays claim over us. Do not be afraid. With Jesus as the Lord and Saviour, we shall be persuasive witnesses of His Way, humble servants of His Truth and gentle lovers of His Life.

Vocation Sunday Year A 2023

Divine Mercy is definitely more than just a private revelation. Last week, the Road to Emmaus showed us that the Eucharist, the life-line of the Lord to His Church is actually the most radical expression of Divine Mercy. This Sunday, we shall look at a key component of Christ’s extending His life-line to the Church and that person is called “alter Christus”.

The context is in today’s chosen Gospel passage. It is located between the two accounts of miracles that were proclaimed and heard during Lent. He healed the man born blind on the 4th Sunday of Lent and on the 5th, He raised Lazarus from the dead. The argument against curing the blind man on a Sabbath occasioned for Jesus a catechesis on the relationship between the Shepherd and the Sheep.

In teaching about what a herder should be like, the Lord modelled the shepherd on Himself. More than the ease of moving amongst sheep or that sheep are familiar with his voice, the heart of a shepherd is his willingness to lay down his life for them. There appears to be a thread that runs from the Sunday of Divine Mercy to the Breaking of Bread last weekend and to this Sunday, otherwise known as Good Shepherd Sunday. The link between the Road to Emmaus and the Good Shepherd grants us an opportunity to speak of vocation, notably, the priestly vocation.

The Gospel invites us to reflect on Jesus as the Good Shepherd. For some parishes, it is an occasion for sharing the vocation story of a priest. Sadly, last Monday we buried an emeritus Bishop. So, rather than giving a personal testimony, perhaps it might be more profitable to speak on the situation of the priestly vocation.

The priesthood is suffering a decline in number. If an active priest were to suffer an untimely demise, then the diocese would be gripped by a frenzy of adjustment to the new status quo. At it is, the diocese does not have “unemployed” priests. Our exorcist is already in his 80s. Many amongst the clergy are wearing one hat too many. Why is the number of vocation not increasing?

The dismal statistics may just expose our poor understanding of the nature of clerical vocation, the purpose of the Church and how the Lord intends to save. A common strategy in the last few decades has been to promote the vocation of a priest along the line of a professional career. It uses the matrix of productivity and it is ministry-centred rather than presenting vocation as a call to mirror Christ the High Priest. The ministry does not make the priest. Even a monkey can do the work of a priest. Instead we may have forgotten that it is the priest who sanctifies his ministry. As a result, vocation directors may have sacrificed the priestly vocation at the altar of productivity. A priest is a priest even if he does nothing. His main task is simply to be an “alter Christus”.

To speak of the priest as “another Christ” is not to idolise or put him on a pedestal but to state the truth that the “alter Christus” is a mirror of the Eucharist. If the Eucharist make the Church and the Church makes the Eucharist, then the core of the Church’s identity is the Eucharist. Holding on to the principle that every Sacrament is the work of Christ Himself done through the agency of the Church, then at the heart of this principle is the priest who stands in for the person of Christ.

According to the passage in John’s gospel which corresponds to the Institution Narratives found in the Synoptics, Jesus’ conversation with the 5000-strong crowd He fed, highlights the centrality of the Eucharist for eternal life. “If you desire eternal life, eat my flesh and drink my blood”. Jesus was unambiguous in stating this requirement and this was proven by the fact that He did not stop the crowd from walking away after they had heard Him.

The Church uses the theological term “Transubstantiation” to express how Christ is able to feed us His Flesh and Blood. Through the person of the priest, Christ effects the change of the whole substance of bread into His Body and the whole substance of wine into the His Blood so that we may eat and drink of the food of eternal life.

The whole edifice of our Catholic theology is like a house of cards. Every component of our faith is connected one to the other. If we remove one facet, then the house of cards will tumble. While the decline in vocation possibly conveys a lack of understanding of the nature of the Catholic priesthood, what is more likely is that it demonstrates an unquestioned disbelief in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. In other words, all claim to believe in the necessity of the Eucharist but our actions speak otherwise.

According to the same Chapter 6 of John’s Gospel, Christ intends to feed His Church with the Sacrament of Salvation: His Body and His Blood and the only way to do it is through the Catholic priesthood. It means that Christ continues to call but two facts characterise our lack of response. Young men no longer hear God’s call or people no longer believe that the Sacrament of the Eucharist is sine qua non, that is, the Eucharist is not essential for eternal life.

The second could sadly be the case. If we do not really need the Eucharist for salvation, then we do not really need the priesthood in the Church. And if we remove the Catholic priesthood, is the resultant entity the same Church founded and instituted by Jesus Christ? Can the Lord recognise His Church without the priesthood. If no, the dire situation of vocational response leaves much to be desired. Since the number of priestly vocation continues to decline, perhaps it is a clear indication that we do not really need the Eucharist as much as we proclaim we do.

We should pray for young men to step courageously into the sandals of the Shepherd. Either we pray and beg the Lord to awaken new vocations or if not, we will be driven by whatever faddish winds that blow that try to reshape the priesthood according to the spirit of the times. Either the priesthood is necessary for providing the Eucharist or if not, then we will have to look for a solution to this purported or supposed Eucharistic necessity for salvation.

Finally, the death of a cleric is always a moment of reckoning for any Eucharistic community. The fact remains that many priests and bishops fall short of “Whom” they have been called to be. Yet, this shortcoming cannot mask the truth that the priesthood is a reminder of Jesus Christ’s eternal love for His sheep, His Church and a powerful sign that He is still saving the world, through His Church, through the priesthood and through the Eucharist.