by Fr Joachim Robert
Daniel 7:13-14
Psalm 92:1-2,5
Apocalypse 1:5-8
John 18:33-37
Theme: Not a Throne of Gold but a Cross of Love
Dear friends,
This evening’s theme for the Mass is:
Not A Throne Of Gold But A Cross Of Love.
In our journey of life, dear friends, we often encounter worldly values and the ways of the Gospel. And we are confronted with this situation as we face the world. And as we look at everything that is confronting the world, it may be depressing, we may be disillusioned, we may find perhaps there is no hope around us.
But before we move on, I would like to continue with what Pope Francis spoke to the young people in his message. And the theme that he has taken is:
Those who hope in the Lord will run and not be weary.
And this is taken from Isaiah 40:31. And this is a time, if we look at the scripture text from Isaiah 40:31, it was written for the time when the people were in the Babylonian exile. And during that time, there were so many things that were happening around and those people perhaps have no reason to live because they have lost hope.
But during that end period during that situation, there was a resurgence of hope. A resurgence of hope because something new was about to happen. And there Isaiah writes:
Those who hope in the Lord will run and not be weary.
And if you take a look at the world around us today, dear friends, there is situations of despair that prevents us from finding hope and it moves us away from that hope for synodality, hope for new life, hope for a new beginning.
Because we are confronted with so many situations. For example the tragedy of the world that is around us, the injustice that happened around us, the inequality that happens and perhaps we may not be so privilege compared to others. The oppression sometimes we feel because we are rejected, because we feel isolated, hunger perhaps for relationships, hunger to be accepted, to be included and perhaps as well exploitation of power and authority.
And when we are confronted with situations like this, dear friends, we are called to put our faith and trust in God and move forward, acknowledging of the certainty of the love that God has for us. Because as we move forward, we can be tempted with our own brokenness, we can be imprisoned with our own laziness, with our own depressions, with our own boredom which cripples us from moving forward.
And for young people as well, dear friends, I am sure there are so many things that is around you today. Situations of life that you and I, perhaps the elderly (I consider myself elderly), you and I perhaps have not been confronted before. But as you move in this new era, as you move forward in this new horizon that is before us, with all the challenges that is before us, sometimes it can be very difficult.
And Pope Francis once again as he begins this whole journey of this Year of Jubilee in 2025, he speaks about two things about this pilgrimage:-
1) The aspect of walking;
2) and the aspect of tiredness.
As a pilgrim, dear friends, our life is a pilgrimage:
~ A pilgrimage towards a better future.
~ A pilgrimage of wanting to be happy.
~ A pilgrimage of wanting to know what God wants of us.
~ A pilgrimage of where God wants us to be.
~ A pilgrimage towards God.
And if we take that step gradually, moving forward, trusting in that loving providence of God, we find hope.
But still, as we move forward in that direction, sometimes we can feel tired. And sometimes we also feel anxious, filled with anxiety, fatigue, because moving forward can be difficult. And I am sure, dear friends, many of you, when you are confronted with so many things that is beyond you and everything happens at that particular moment, that particular time, and that you are called to confront those situations and give hope for others, sometimes that burden can be heavy to carry.
And sometimes, I am sure, we break down in tears, not knowing what to do and losing all sense of hope for the future.
But Pope Francis invites us, he invites us, to move away from this paralysis of boredom, of lukewarmness, of depression, of being afraid to take risks because he says these are things that cement us and becoming still and not walk.
But how do we face and confront these challenges?
He says we need to walk. Even though it may be difficult, it may be challenging, he invites us to walk, putting our faith and trust in God. And he offers us three things:-
The first thing that we need to do in growing in hope is to be grateful and be thankful. To be thankful for the gift of life that God has blessed us with. To acknowledge that everything that is around us is a blessing from God, is a blessing from one another. And when we are able to acknowledge and thankful, to seek the Lord with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your strength. And he gives an example that we need to move from just being tourists to becoming pilgrims. Because when we are tourists, we just move around and look at things that is around us and we just allow that moment to just pass us by.
And he says if we move from tourists to pilgrims, we would immerse ourselves in that moment, acknowledging how we have been blessed, how we with our whole heart, allowing the Spirit to lead us and seek what is before us. And when we are able to do that, we are able to restore hope.
So as we seek, we need to move from being tourists to become pilgrims.
And the third thing that he offers us to confront this hopelessness is that we need to have a heart of repentance. We need to acknowledge where we have been, acknowledging that we have moved away from the throne of gold and we must make our way towards that cross of love.
That we must move from the values of the world towards the humility of love of the cross. And when we are able to have a heart of penance, then we are able to live a life of conversion. Converting ourselves from worldly values to Godly values.
And as we move forward, dear friends, especially for our young people, we are called as they come forward to offer themselves, to offer their life in sacrifice, to become pilgrims of hope, you and I are called to do the same. To offer our lives as an offering for God. And as we offer our life as an offering for God, we allow the Lord to magnify His love and to allow His grace to work in and through us as we lead forward to become ambassadors of hope towards one another.
And now I would like to invite the young people as well to sing this song of offering their life in thanksgiving, of seeking and a life of conversion towards God.
Click below to listen to homily and watch video:-
Click to live-stream Mass on 23 November 2024