20140714
TRUE WORSHIP OF GOD IS
EXPRESSED IN A LIFE OF JUSTICE AND CHARITY
Reading 1, Isaiah 1:10-17
10 Hear what Yahweh says, you
rulers of Sodom; listen to what our God teaches, you
people of Gomorrah.
11 'What are your endless sacrifices to me?' says Yahweh.
'I am sick of burnt offerings of
rams and the fat of calves. I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs
and goats.
12 When you come and present yourselves before me, who has
asked you to trample through my courts?
13 Bring no more futile cereal offerings, the smoke from
them fills me with disgust. New Moons, Sabbaths, assemblies -- I cannot endure solemnity
combined with guilt.
14 Your New Moons and your meetings I utterly detest; to
me they are a burden I am tired of bearing.
15 When you stretch out your hands I turn my eyes away.
You may multiply your prayers, I shall not be listening. Your hands are covered
in blood,
16 wash, make yourselves clean. Take your wrong-doing out
of my sight. Cease doing evil.
17 Learn to do good, search for justice, discipline the
violent, be just to the orphan, plead for the widow.
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 50:8-9, 16-17, 21, 23
16 But to the wicked, God says: 'What right have you
to recite my statutes, to take my covenant on your lips,
17 when you detest my teaching, and thrust my words behind
you?
21 You do this, and am I to say nothing? Do you think that
I am really like you? I charge you, indict you to your face.
Gospel, Matthew 10:34--11:1
34 'Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the
earth: it is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword.
35 For I have come to set son against father, daughter
against mother, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law;
37 'No one who prefers father or mother to me is worthy of
me. No one who prefers son or daughter to me is worthy of me.
38 Anyone who does not take his cross and follow in my
footsteps is not worthy of me.
40 'Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me; and anyone who
welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.
41 'Anyone who welcomes a prophet because
he is a prophet will have a
prophet's reward; and anyone who welcomes an upright person because
he is upright will have the
reward of an upright person.
42 'If anyone gives so much as a cup of cold water to one
of these little ones because he is a disciple, then in truth I tell
you, he will most
certainly not go without his reward.'
1 When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve
disciples he moved on from there to teach and preach in their towns.
TRUE
WORSHIP OF GOD IS EXPRESSED IN A LIFE OF JUSTICE AND CHARITY
Religion is often
narrowly defined as the worship of God or deities. It is seen as a matter of
offering worship to God, appeasing Him with sacrificial offerings, because of
His jealousy and vindictiveness. If God is seen in this manner, our
relationship with Him is one of fear and domination. On the contrary, the
God of the Christians is a humble, compassionate and forgiving God. He is
patient and awaits our repentance.
Unfortunately, whilst this
is what Christianity officially proclaims, it is not how many Catholics live
their relationship with God. Many think that practising the Catholic
faith is simply a matter of observing some laws and obligations. Their
Faith is thus reduced to one of performing works so that they can feel
justified before God. How else how do we explain the irony of the
lives they live – on the one hand involving themselves in all manner of Church
worship and good works, but on the other hand treating their fellow human
beings with scant respect, justice and charity. Some would not think
twice about abusing their authority to manipulate people for their personal
interests, ill-treating their workers, or even pressurizing their employees to
commit fraud and dishonesty for the company.
This dichotomy between
faith and life is abhorrent to the Lord. Without mincing his words, the Prophet Isaiah
condemned those who on one hand were careful in observing their religious
duties but on the other hand, do evil and practise social injustices. The
Lord spurns sacrifices from those who do not have pure hearts and clean
hands: “I am sick of holocausts of rams and the fat of calves. The blood
of bulls and of goats revolts me. When you come to present yourselves before
me, who asked you to trample over my courts? Bring me your worthless offerings
no more, the smoke of them fills me with disgust.”
It is no accident that
Christianity was originally called the Way in the early Church. Christian
Faith is a way of life. The love and worship of God cannot be
dissociated with a life of charity and justice. In the gospel, Jesus
teaches us that living a life based on truth and love is the kind of sacrifice
that really pleases the Lord. What does it take to live such a life?
Firstly, we must live a
life of justice. But there can be no justice unless there is
charity. God, through Isaiah, demands that before we offer worship to
Him, we must not do wrong, “Cease to do evil. Learn to do good, search for
justice, help the oppressed, be just to the orphan, plead for the widow.”
To be an authentic Christian, we must not use religion and worship to mask our
failure to exercise justice and respect for others. We measure our
Christian growth in maturity not by our involvement in Church or even how many
hours we pray, but by the degree to which we have grown in virtues especially
of faith, hope and charity.
Secondly, we are called
to live a life of truth. Living such a life is not easy because
whoever lives in truth will be a threat to those who want to live in falsehood
and in selfishness. We all know that in many instances, we are called to
compromise our values because the company requires us to engage in practices
that go against our conscience, failing which we run the risk of losing our job
or overlooked in a promotion. We should not be surprised, as Jesus has
already forewarned us, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to
earth: it is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword.”
But what is even more
difficult to tolerate is when our loved ones are against us because we
chose to do the right thing. Did not Jesus explicitly say, “A man’s
enemies will be those of his own household?” Jesus was most probably
speaking from His own experience of being rejected by His own family and
relatives when He said, “I have come to set a man against his father, a
daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her
mother-in-law.” In our own lives, we have seen how often siblings or
parents fight each other, even to the extent of going to court, over the care
of their elderly, or some inheritance. Many parents too are often left in
a quandary when they see their grown up children living immoral lives and yet,
lack the courage to speak up for fear of losing that relationship. This
is true also of friends. In order not to sour relationships, we continue
to keep a blind eye on each other. Yet, how can we ignore Jesus’ declaration
that “anyone who prefers father or mother to me is not worthy of me. Anyone
who prefers son or daughter to me is not worthy of me”?
However, even if we have
strived to live a life of justice and truth, our Christian responsibility does
not end here. We must also be ready to act on behalf of the poor, the
needy and the oppressed according to our capacity. It is not
enough to do good and refrain from evil, but we have a duty to be the voice of
the weak and voiceless of society. Whilst it is true that the just
ordering of society is primarily the work of the State, Pope Benedict in his
encyclical, God is love, writes, “at the same time she cannot and must not
remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice. She has to play her part
through rational argument and she has to reawaken the spiritual energy without
which justice, which always demands sacrifice, cannot prevail and prosper. A
just society must be the achievement of politics, not of the Church. Yet the
promotion of justice through efforts to bring about openness of mind and will
to the demands of the common good is something which concerns the Church
deeply.” It is here that the Church has an indirect duty to “contribute to the
purification of reason and to the reawakening of those moral forces without
which just structures are neither established nor prove effective in the long
run.”
As Church, we cannot take
part in politics, but the lay faithful as individual Christians have a duty
to contribute to the development of society, the formation of policies, the
promotion of good values and building a just and humane culture that favours
life. As citizens of the State, they “are called to take part in public
life in a personal capacity. So they cannot relinquish their participation in
the many different economic, social, legislative, administrative and cultural
areas, which are intended to promote organically and institutionally the common
good.” Once again, by so doing, we run the risk of antagonizing those who
are against our values especially in the areas of marriage, bioethics and
business ethics. However, Jesus’ demand for discipleship is clear,
“Anyone who does not take his cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of
me. Anyone who finds his life will lose it; anyone who loses his life for
my sake will find it.”
How can we find the
courage to be prophets and champions of social justice and advocates of
life? What is the key to Justice and Charity? It is to be identified with Jesus in
His solidarity with every man and woman. In the gospel, Jesus identified
Himself with those in need, with the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the
naked, the sick and those in prison. Accordingly, we must take the words
of Jesus to heart when He said, “As you did it to one of the least of these my
brethren, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40). When we see everyone in Christ, then we
will recognize everyone as a child of God whom the Father loves as much as He
loves us. Without which, a person is only seen as another individual, a
creature but not as a person and a child of God who needs love, compassion,
understanding and kindness just like you and I.
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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