Tuesday, 23 December 2014

20140715 WARNING AGAINST THE SIN OF INDIFFERENCE

20140715 WARNING AGAINST THE SIN OF INDIFFERENCE  
Daily Reading for Tuesday, July 15th, 2014
Reading 1, Isaiah 7:1-9
1 In the reign of Ahaz son of Jotham, son of Uzziah king of Judah, Razon king of Aram advanced on Jerusalem with Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel, to attack it; but he was unable to attack it.
2 The House of David was informed: 'Aram has halted in Ephraimite territory.' At this, his heart and his people's hearts shook like forest trees shaking in the wind.
3 Yahweh then said to Isaiah, 'Go out with your son Shear-Jashub, and meet Ahaz at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the road to the Fuller's Field,
4 and say to him, "Pay attention and keep calm. Do not be frightened or demoralised by these two smouldering sticks of firewood, by the fierce anger of Razon, Aram and the son of Remaliah,
5 or because Aram, Ephraim and the son of Remaliah have been plotting against you and saying:
6 Let us mount an attack on Judah, destroy it, force it onto our side and install the son of Tabeel there as king.
7 "Lord Yahweh says this: This will not happen, it will never occur,
8 for the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Razon; another sixty-five years, and Ephraim will cease to be a people.
9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you will not take your stand on me you will not stand firm." '
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 48:2-3, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
2 towering in beauty, the joy of the whole world: Mount Zion in the heart of the north, the settlement of the great king;
3 God himself among its palaces has proved himself its bulwark.
4 For look, kings made alliance, together they advanced;
5 without a second glance, when they saw, they panicked and fled away.
6 Trembling seized them on the spot, pains like those of a woman in labour;
7 it was the east wind, that wrecker of ships from Tarshish.
8 What we had heard we saw for ourselves in the city of our God, in the city of Yahweh Sabaoth, which God has established for ever.
Gospel, Matthew 11:20-24
20 Then he began to reproach the towns in which most of his miracles had been worked, because they refused to repent.
21 'Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
22 Still, I tell you that it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on Judgement Day than for you.
23 And as for you, Capernaum, did you want to be raised as high as heaven? You shall be flung down to hell. For if the miracles done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have been standing yet.
24 Still, I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on Judgement Day than for you.'
Scripture Reflection
WARNING AGAINST THE SIN OF INDIFFERENCE  
SCRIPTURE READINGS: ISA 7:1-9; MT 11:20-24
http://www.universalis.com/20140715/mass.htm
“Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida!  For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.”   Yes, we cannot but feel with Jesus in His sadness and regret for those people living in Chorazin, Bethsaida and Caperrnaum.   What affected Jesus most was not because these people were hostile towards Him, because if it were so, then perhaps the hostility would be indicative that His message was provoking some discomfort in their lives. The truth is that when people react to what we say and do, even if negatively, it means there is hope, because they are thinking and are being challenged.  They might not agree with us then, but on hindsight they might come to accept our message.  But if people are not even moved by our message, then all that we say or do are in vain.  And that is why there is no greater sin than the sin of indifference!  This, according to Jesus, is even worse than the sin of Sodom, well known for its notorious and sinful living.  Indeed, we know from the Old Testament that Sodom was a city of sin because God could not even find ten righteous men in that city.

But the condemnation of the people in these towns is also our condemnation.  We are no better than them in many ways.  We too are guilty of the sin of indifference.  Indeed, we have taken so many things for granted in life.  Many of us have taken our faith for granted.  We are not intent on deepening our spiritual life, even when we have been given all the opportunities that people elsewhere do not have.  We forget the privilege of being called to faith as Christians.  There are many people in the world looking for life, but their lives remain empty in spite of their wealth and success.  How many of us thank God everyday for the gift of faith, peace and freedom to worship and to practice our faith? Instead, we have been careless.  Instead of seeing them as gifts from God, we think that they are our rights.  Indeed, we are just like the people of these towns that Jesus felt sorry for.  They too had the most of everything, but they did not respond to the gospel message.  Indeed, the gospel tells us that most of His miracles were worked in these towns.

What are the reasons for the sin of indifference?  Firstly, it is the result of lacking sensitivity to the wonders of life.  The word “miracle” in the gospel is translated as dunameis and semeion, that is, signs of wonder.  Because they are works of wonder, they are expressed in Latin as ‘miraculum’, from which the English word, ‘miracle’ is translated.  So if the people did not repent, it was due to the fact that they did not see the works that Jesus did as signs of wonder.  Perhaps Jesus worked so many miracles there that these works became ordinary to them.  It is true for us too.  When we received our First Holy Communion we were filled with wonder.  But very soon, we got used to it, so much so that we do not appreciate the Eucharist anymore.  That is why many of us do not appreciate the Mass or the sacraments until we are deprived of them.

Secondly, this sin of indifference could be due to the sin of pride.  This was the sin of those people staying in Capernaum.  We are told in the gospel that Capernaum was the city where Jesus lived.  And we know elsewhere in the gospel that Jesus did lament once, that a prophet is never accepted in his own country.  Perhaps, if the people did not heed the message of Jesus, it was because they were too proud to listen to Him.  No wonder Jesus said, “And as for you, Capernaum, did you want to be exalted as high as heaven?”  Pride is certainly one of the main obstacles for not wanting to listen to God who speaks to us through others.  We feel that we know better than them.  This lack of humility is a real obstacle to conversion in our lives.

Thirdly, the sin of indifference is the result of the lack of faith, or the lack of trust.  This was the case of Ahaz, the King of Judah in the first reading.  Not only was he blind to the sign that God gave him in the form of Prophet Isaiah and his son, She-ar-ja-shub, but he refused to surrender his life to God.  Through Prophet Isaiah, God told Ahaz not to align himself with the King of Aram, i.e. Syria and the King of Ephraim, that is, the Northern tribe of Israel against the Assyrian invaders.  But Ahaz refused to take this sign from Isaiah, that his kingdom would not be destroyed entirely, but that the remnant would come back.  Similarly for us too, we do not trust in God sufficiently.  We doubt His love and providence in spite of the fact that over the years He had looked after us.

As a result of the lack of sensitivity to the wonders of God in our lives, pride and our lack of faith, we resort to relying on ourselves, like Ahaz in the first reading.  In so doing, we have to pay a price for our foolishness, just as Ahaz did.  Yes, today, the Lord is warning us, “if you do not stand by me, you will not stand at all.”  When we do not put our trust in God but instead rely only on ourselves, then we deceive ourselves.  When we do not listen anymore, or can see no further than ourselves, then indeed we are blind.  Such blindness to what God intends for us, especially through the events of our lives or the people that we meet, will surely destroy us eventually.

Yes, let us realize that when we refuse the signs of God that have come into our lives, then we will ultimately have to accept the consequences that the people of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum suffered.  When we fail to appreciate what we have, be it our faith, our calling, our material well-being, one day, these will be taken away from us and then we will regret, albeit sometimes a bit too late.  So, today let us pray for openness, sensitivity and most of all, gratitude to God’s wonders, miracles and His blessings in our lives.  Only when we are open, sensitive and appreciative, can we respond to His grace.  And only when we have the ability to respond to God’s wonders or signs in our lives would we can be saved.  So let us ask ourselves what are these signs and wonders that we have been indifferent or blind to, lest we suffer the consequences of our sin of indifference.

WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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