20260227 SEEKING HOLINESS IS AN EVER-DEEPENING PROCESS
27 February 2026, Friday, 1st Week of Lent
First reading |
Ezekiel 18:21-28 |
I prefer to see the wicked man renounce his wickedness and live
Thus says the Lord:
‘If the wicked man renounces all the sins he has committed, respects my laws and is law-abiding and honest, he will certainly live; he will not die. All the sins he committed will be forgotten from then on; he shall live because of the integrity he has practised. What! Am I likely to take pleasure in the death of a wicked man – it is the Lord who speaks – and not prefer to see him renounce his wickedness and live?
‘But if the upright man renounces his integrity, commits sin, copies the wicked man and practises every kind of filth, is he to live? All the integrity he has practised shall be forgotten from then on; but this is because he himself has broken faith and committed sin, and for this he shall die. But you object, “What the Lord does is unjust.” Listen, you House of Israel: is what I do unjust? Is it not what you do that is unjust? When the upright man renounces his integrity to commit sin and dies because of this, he dies because of the evil that he himself has committed. When the sinner renounces sin to become law-abiding and honest, he deserves to live. He has chosen to renounce all his previous sins; he shall certainly live; he shall not die.’
Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 129(130) |
If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt, Lord, who would survive?
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord,
Lord, hear my voice!
O let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleading.
If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt, Lord, who would survive?
If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt,
Lord, who would survive?
But with you is found forgiveness:
for this we revere you.
If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt, Lord, who would survive?
My soul is waiting for the Lord.
I count on his word.
My soul is longing for the Lord
more than watchman for daybreak.
(Let the watchman count on daybreak
and Israel on the Lord.)
If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt, Lord, who would survive?
Because with the Lord there is mercy
and fullness of redemption,
Israel indeed he will redeem
from all its iniquity.
If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt, Lord, who would survive?
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Amos5:14 |
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Seek good and not evil so that you may live,
and that the Lord God of hosts may really be with you.
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Or: | Ezk18:31 |
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Shake off all your sins – it is the Lord who speaks –
and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Gospel | Matthew 5:20-26 |
Anyone who is angry with his brother will answer for it
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.
‘You have learnt how it was said to our ancestors: You must not kill; and if anyone does kill he must answer for it before the court. But I say this to you: anyone who is angry with his brother will answer for it before the court; if a man calls his brother “Fool” he will answer for it before the Sanhedrin; and if a man calls him “Renegade” he will answer for it in hell fire. So then, if you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back and present your offering. Come to terms with your opponent in good time while you are still on the way to the court with him, or he may hand you over to the judge and the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison. I tell you solemnly, you will not get out till you have paid the last penny.’
SEEKING HOLINESS IS AN EVER-DEEPENING PROCESS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Eze 18:21-28; Ps 130:1-8; Mt 5:20-26]
Jesus said to His disciples: “If your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.” The season of Lent is a time for us to grow in holiness, to become more like Christ, reflecting the mercy and love of our heavenly Father. Holiness is not a univocal term which we can use to measure the state of a person’s holiness. There are different degrees of holiness. How do we say that a person is holy or not? The truth is that our growth in holiness has no end-point destination because God is ever holy. As the Lord told the rich man when he said to Jesus, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments.” (Mk 10:17-19) Hence, the call to holiness is an ever-growing process, always seeking to live out the life of God in Christ Jesus.
This progress in living out a life of holiness can be seen in today’s Scripture readings. In the first reading, the Israelites were shaken by their exile to Babylon because of their infidelity to the covenant. They had failed to live up to the Law of Moses and were embracing pagan religions and practices. The question that was asked was, whether a wicked person can change his ways and be spared of the punishment, and whether one generation has to bear the penalty of the sins of the previous generation. Until then, Israel believed in collective consequences of good and evil in the community. We read in the book of Exodus, “I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.” (Ex 20:5-6)
Whilst such thinking is not entirely wrong, since the sins of our ancestors can indeed affect subsequent generations, the truth is that we all influence one another, for better or for worse. We set examples for others to follow. More than that, our lives will affect the lives of those under our care. If we are abusive and selfish, those under us will be deeply hurt by the wounds inflicted on them. In turn, they will also become abusive and selfish as well. The Protestants call this “inter-generational sin”; not that we inherit the sins of our forefathers, but that we could be adversely affected by their uncharitable behaviour, imitating and repeating their sins in our lives.
However, to blame our ancestors or others for all our sins would be to deny that each of us has the power to change our lives, because God has given us the gift of human freedom. Failure to recognise the radical freedom to exercise the choice that God has placed in our hands is an evasion of our responsibility.
It is within this context that Ezekiel insists that the actions of one generation do not necessarily always result in an unbreakable chain of consequences. This would be fatalism. God does not condemn us to repeat the sins of our forefathers. On the contrary, we have been given the grace to act differently. We can choose to break away from their sins and its consequences. What is true of the community is also true of the individual. No one is condemned to his past, and his past does not imprison him in the present or future. What is said of the wicked man is also applicable to the righteous man. Just because a righteous man lived a good life in the past does not guarantee that he would remain righteous until the end. In fact, one could be led astray and embark on the life of the wicked. The point remains that the choice is ours. We can choose to live a wicked life, or a good life. And this choice is not made once and for all. Even if a vow is taken, it has to be renewed each day of our life. We are not mechanically-determined beings, imprisoned by our past or the consequences of the sins of others. We have been given the moral freedom of choice. So the choice of life or death is ours to make. This is the righteousness of God. He gives us the opportunity to change our lives for the better if we repent of our sins. And if we live a good life, we must continue to live out this path we have started every day.
Indeed, God is ever merciful. “When the sinner renounces sin to become law-abiding and honest, he deserves to live. He has chosen to renounce all his previous sins, he shall certainly live; he shall not die.” The responsorial psalm praises God for His mercy and compassion. “If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt, Lord, who would survive? But with you is found forgiveness: for this we revere you. Because with the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption, Israel indeed he will redeem from all its iniquity.” Truly, God is the One who is constant, despite being challenged by the Israelites who claimed that He is not consistent in treating the people. God is consistent with His covenant promises, from the national to the individual level. Anyone, or any nation, that repents from wickedness will find Yahweh to be a God who forgives and forget. The God of Israel is consistent in His desire to give life. God does not desire our death or our suffering, but our repentance, so that we may live.
However, our spirituality cannot simply remain at this level of making choices. Although it is true that making the right decisions about lifestyle and morality has become increasingly difficult in today’s relativistic world – where an almost infinite array of options confronts us – we cannot allow ourselves to succumb to moral paralysis. For this reason, we must go deeper into the process of discernment. It is not enough, as the Lord warns us, not to be contented with simply observing the laws. Christian virtue must go deeper than mere obedience to the law. True holiness is ultimately a matter of the heart – whether our heart is one with God. We need to acquire the righteousness of God, which transcends formal observance of the law.
Jesus seeks for the inner disposition and the motive, not just the outward action. The law is not the ultimate measure of obedience or holiness; rather, it is a guide and a means to grow in holiness. What is required is wholehearted obedience, and a harmony between our inner disposition and outward action. The Jews sought to satisfy the law of God, but Jesus sought to satisfy the love and mercy of His Father. Jesus is not against the Law and the Prophets. In fact, He affirms the importance of the Law and the Prophets as the summit of love. (cf Mt 5:17; 7:12; 22:37-40)
A point in case is anger. The law says, “You must not kill, and if anyone does kill he must answer for it before the court.” But Jesus says, “anyone who is angry with his brother will answer for it before the court; if a man calls his brother ‘Fool’ he will answer for it before the Sanhedrin, and if a man calls him ‘Renegade’, he will answer for it in hell fire.” Jesus goes deeper than mere external compliance -it is not enough to just refrain from killing. Jesus traces the act of murder to its root in the heart – anger, which leads to verbal abuse, and hatred. Whilst hatred might not be a crime, it has no place in the life of the kingdom. Those who are angry might not have to face the court of law, but they would have to face the judgement of God. Jesus understands very well that anger would lead to greater sin, and eventually killing. So we must uproot the causes of killing by removing anger from our lives.
This is why St Paul exhorted the Christians, “Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil.” (Eph 4:26f) Anger is, in itself, not sinful when it is rightly directed – not at a person, but against the sin or an act of injustice done to others. This is the anger of God against the sin of humanity, and the anger of Jesus when He saw the stubbornness of the hearts of the religious leaders towards His message. But harbouring anger and allowing the anger to grow in our hearts will lead to destruction of both ourselves and our neighbours. When we nurse anger within us, such anger becomes self-centred and destructive. Such anger, St James warned us, will not lead to righteousness: “let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness.” (Jas 1:19)
Ultimately, holiness is to be at peace with God and our fellowmen, in a right relationship. Thus, Jesus exhorts us, to be reconciled with our neighbours before we seek to be reconciled with Him. “If you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering before the altar, go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back and present your offering.”
Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections
- Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
- Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
- It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.
Note: You may share this reflection with someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will they be available via email request.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
