Breaking the Word

Friday, January 11, 2008

Friday After Epiphany
The Testimony of Heart and Hand

Readings: 1 John 5:5-13; Psalm 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20; Luke 5:12-16

The testimony of God is this, that he has testified on behalf of his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has this testimony within himself…

What do you think of when you hear the word testimony? I know one particular image quickly comes to my mind. It is that of someone speaking from a witness box in a court of law. Isn’t this what it means to testify? You speak in support of someone or something so that others might believe. And often the testimony of a witness can be crucial. In capital cases it can even mean the difference between life and death. This is also the significance of the testimony referred to in the first reading. For what is at stake is belief in the Son of God. And, as we heard, whoever possesses the Son has life; whoever does not possess the Son of God does not have life. What is at stake here is nothing less than eternal life for the salvation of the world.

Again, what do you think of when you hear the word testimony? When it becomes clear that we’re speaking in the realm of faith, another image comes to my mind. It is that of what is sometimes referred to as the bible-thumping Christian. Whether it is on the street or going from door-to-door, this person is also giving testimony. S/he is speaking about the Son of God so that people might believe in Him and have life. Whatever may be our reactions to this image, we cannot deny that, as Christians, we all have the responsibility to, in some way, testify to Christ by word of mouth. But even before considering what might be our responsibility, the Mass readings for today invite us to linger over other images.

What do you think of when you hear the word testimony? In the gospel, we are presented with an image of Jesus’ testimony to the Father’s love for us. In addition to the testimony of the word, his is also a testimony of the hand. When confronted with the pitiful but revolting sight of a leper, we are told that Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him… This testimony is also a symbolic action. It points us to the true identity and mission of Jesus. In him God the Father stretches out a hand of compassion to gather us into the warmth of the divine embrace. Which is why there is more to the testimony that Jesus gives in the gospel. His outstretched hand is also a testimony of the heart, a heart moved with pity at the plight of others, at our plight.

What do you think of when you hear the word testimony? The first reading hints at yet another image. Here, we see the full extent of the testimony of heart and hand that Jesus offers us. We are told that Jesus Christ came not by water alone, but by water and blood. What comes to mind is, of course, that scene in John 19:34 where the crucified Christ has his side pierced by a soldier’s lance, and at once there came out blood and water… What we find here is a testimony of the broken heart and the broken hand.

These are the scenes that our readings bring to our attention as the Christmas season gradually draws to a close. They are primarily images that testify to the love that the season celebrates. Not so much our love for God, but God’s love for us. As we continue to contemplate these images, perhaps we might pray that they will move us to offer our own unique testimony to a waiting world.

How are we being called to do this today?

1 comment:

AnonymousFri Jan 11, 05:41:00 pm GMT+8
What do I think of when I hear the word testimony? I think of being a witness to Christ.

Easy for me to say but so hard to do. Because I must try not only to testify to the truth of our Lord but to "Act" the way of our Lord. I can profess my faith but to live out my faith is a challenge.

I believe that being a witness to God is the fruit of our knowledge of Him. All our understanding of scripture and Bible must make us better witnesses of Christ.

I remember reading somewhere (maybe The Catholic News) that we can pray fervently in Church and be reflective and holy but the minute we step into the car and shout at the warden because someone is blocking your way, everything goes down the drain.

In the end I feel that it is how I treat my neighbour that shows if I am testifying to Christ.
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Breaking News: Ordinary Time

Apart from those seasons having their own distinctive character, thirty-three or thirty-four weeks remain in the yearly cycle that do not celebrate a specific aspect of the mystery of Christ. Rather, especially on the Sundays, they are devoted to the mystery of Christ in all its aspects. This period is known as Ordinary Time. Ordinary Time begins on Monday after the Sunday following 6 January and continues until Tuesday before Ash Wednesday inclusive. It begins again on Monday after Pentecost and ends before Evening Prayer I of the First Sunday of Advent. This is also the reason for the series of liturgical texts found in both the Roman Missal and The Liturgy of the Hours (Vol. III - IV), for Sundays and weekdays in this season. ~ General Norms for the Liturgical Year & Calendar, 43-44

From 36th Jesuit General Congregation

It is our union with one another in Christ that testifies to the Good News more powerfully than our competences and abilities.... In our individualistic and competitive age, we should remember that the community plays a very special role since it is a privileged place of apostolic discernment.... The Jesuit community is a concrete space in which we live as friends in the Lord. This life together is always at the service of mission, but because these fraternal bonds proclaim the Gospel, it is itself a mission. –Companions in a Mission of Reconciliation and Justice (CMRJ), nn. 7-9.

With the poor, we can learn what hope and courage mean.... In our communities and apostolates, we hear the call to rediscover hospitality to strangers, to the young, to the poor, and to those who are persecuted. Christ himself teaches us this hospitality. –CMRJ, nn. 15-16.

At the heart of Ignatian spirituality is the transforming encounter with the mercy of God in Christ that moves us to a generous personal response. The experience of the merciful gaze of God on our weakness and sinfulness humbles us and fills us with gratitude, helping us to become compassionate ministers to all.... For us Jesuits, compassion is action, an action discerned together. Yet we know that there is no authentic familiarity with God if we do not allow ourselves to be moved to compassion and action by an encounter with the Christ who is revealed in the suffering, vulnerable faces of people, indeed in the suffering of creation. –CMRJ, nn. 19-20.

(T)he Society must respond more decisively to the Church’s call for a new evangelization, giving special emphasis to ministry to and with the young and with families.... A special gift Jesuits and the Ignatian family have to offer to the Church and her mission of evangelization is Ignatian spirituality, which facilitates the experience of God and can therefore greatly help the process of personal and communal conversion. –CMRJ, nn. 22-23.

In many societies, there is an increased level of conflict and polarization, which often gives rise to violence that is all the more appalling because it is motivated and justified by distorted religious convictions. In such situations, Jesuits, along with all who seek the common good, are called to contribute from their religious-spiritual traditions towards the building of peace, on local and global levels. –CMRJ, n. 28.

Pope Francis has emphasized the fundamental connection between the environmental crisis and the social crisis in which we live today. Poverty, social exclusion, and marginalization are linked with environmental degradation. These are not separate crises but one crisis that is a symptom of something much deeper: the flawed way societies and economies are organised. The current economic system with its predatory orientation discards natural resources as well as people. For this reason, Pope Francis insists that the only adequate solution must be a radical one. The direction of development must be altered if it is to be sustainable. We Jesuits are called to help heal a broken world, promoting a new way of producing and consuming, which puts God’s creation at the center.... The multifaceted challenge of caring for our common home calls for a multifaceted response from the Society. We begin by changing our personal and community lifestyles, adopting behaviour coherent with our desire for reconciliation with creation. – CMRJ, nn. 29-30

From 35th Jesuit General Congregation

From General Congregation 35

By sending us to 'those physical and spiritual places which others do not or have difficulty reaching,' the Pope entrusts to us the task to 'build bridges of understanding and dialogue,' according to the best tradition of the Society, in the diversity of its ministries.
- Decree With Renewed Fervor and Dynamism, n. 6

To be missioned to this work 'at the New Frontiers of our times' always requires that one also be rooted at the very heart of the Church. This tension, specific to the Ignatian charism, opens the way to true creative fidelity.
- Decree With Renewed Fervor and Dynamism, n. 13

In every mission that we carry out, we seek only to be where (Christ) sends us. The grace we receive as Jesuits is to be and to go with him, looking on the world with his eyes, loving it with his heart and entering into its depths with his unending compassion.
- Decree on Identity, n. 15

For ultimately, there is no reality that is only profane for those who know how to look. We must communicate this look and provide a pedagogy inspired by the Spiritual Exercises, that carries people - especially the young - into it.
- Decree on Identity, n. 10

Our ministries of proclamation of the Word and the celebration of the Life of Christ in the sacraments continue to be fundamental for our mission and our lives together as Jesuits.
- Decree on Mission, n. 19

The complexity of the problems we face and the richness of the opportunities offered demand that we engage in building bridges between rich and poor and establishing advocacy links of mutual support between those who hold political power and those who find it difficult to voice their interests. Our intellectual apostolate provides an inestimable help in setting up these bridges, offering us new ways of understanding in depth the mechanism and links among our present problems.
- Decree on Mission, n. 28

Jesuit community is not just for mission, it is itself mission.
- Decree on Mission, n. 41

In this global context it is important to highlight the extraordinary potential represented by our character as an international and multicultural body. Acting consistently with this character can not only enhance the apostolic effectiveness of our work but in a fragmented and divided world it can witness to the reconciliation in solidarity of all the children of God.
- Decree on Mission, n. 43

Faith in Jesus Christ teaches us that self-realization comes from self-giving and that freedom is not so much the power to choose as the power to order our choices toward love. At the same time, love for Jesus Christ and the desire to follow him call us to trusting commitment. Commitment to the Word Incarnate cannot be separated from commitment to the concrete manifestations of the Word that are at the center of our lives, the Church and the Society which exists to serve the Church.
- Decree on Obedience, n. 19