20140720
THE JUSTICE OF GOD IS
HIS MERCY
Scripture Readings for 20 July 2014
Reading 1, Wisdom 12:13, 16-19
13 For there is no god, other than you, who cares for
every one, to whom you have to prove that your sentences have been just.
16 For your strength is the
basis of your saving justice, and your sovereignty over all makes you lenient
to all.
17 You show your strength when
people will not believe
in your absolute power, and you confound any insolence in those who do know it.
18 But you, controlling your strength, are mild in
judgement, and govern us with great lenience, for you have only to will, and
your power is there.
19 By acting thus, you have taught your people that the
upright must be kindly to his fellows, and you have given your children the good hope that after
sins you will grant
repentance.
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 86:5-6, 9-10, 15-16
5 Lord, you are kind and forgiving, rich in faithful love
for all who call upon you.
6 Yahweh, hear my prayer, listen to the sound of my
pleading.
16 turn to me and pity me. Give to your servant your
strength, to the child of your servant your saving help,
Gospel, Matthew 13:24-43
24 He put another parable before them, 'The kingdom of Heaven may be
compared to a man who sowed good seed in his
field.
25 While everybody was asleep his enemy came, sowed darnel
all among the wheat, and made off.
26 When the new wheat sprouted and ripened, then the
darnel appeared as well.
27 The owner's labourers went to him and said, "Sir,
was it not good seed that
you sowed in your field? If so, where does the darnel come from?"
28 He said to them, "Some enemy has done this."
And the labourers said, "Do you want us to go and weed it out?"
29 But he said, "No, because when you weed out the
darnel you might pull up the wheat with it.
30 Let them both grow till the harvest; and at harvest time I shall say
to the reapers: First collect the
darnel and tie it in bundles to be burnt, then gather the wheat into my
barn." '
31 He put another parable before them, 'The kingdom of Heaven is like a
mustard seed which a man took and
sowed in his field.
32 It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has
grown it is the biggest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the
air can come and shelter in its branches.'
33 He told them another parable, 'The kingdom of Heaven is like
the yeast a woman took and
mixed in with three measures of flour till it was leavened all through.'
34 In all this Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables;
indeed, he would never speak to them except in parables.
35 This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet: I will speak to
you in parables, unfold what has been hidden since the foundation of
the world.
36 Then, leaving the crowds, he went to the house; and his
disciples came to him and said, 'Explain to us the parable about the darnel in
the field.'
38 The field is the world; the good seed is the
subjects of the kingdom; the darnel, the subjects of the Evil One;
39 the enemy who sowed it, the devil; the harvest is the
end of the world; the reapers are the angels.
40 Well then, just as the darnel is gathered up and burnt
in the fire, so it will be at the
end of time.
41 The Son of man will send his angels and they will gather out
of his kingdom all causes of falling and all who do evil,
43 Then the upright will shine like
the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Anyone who has ears should listen!
Reading 2, Romans 8:26-27
26 And as well as this, the Spirit too comes
to help us in our weakness, for, when we do not know how to pray properly, then
the Spirit
personally makes our petitions for us in groans that cannot be put into words;
27 and he who can see into all hearts knows what the Spirit means
because the prayers that the
Spirit makes for
God's holy people are always in accordance with the mind of God.
THE
JUSTICE OF GOD IS HIS MERCY
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: WIS 12:13, 16-19, ROM 8:26-27, MT 13:24-43 OR MT 13:24-30
http://www.universalis.com/20140720/mass.htm
We know that God is just
because He is truth.
This is what the first reading says. “There is no god, other than you,
who cares for everything, to whom you might have to prove that you never judge
unjustly. Your justice has its source in strength. You show your strength
when your sovereign power is questioned and you expose the insolence of those
who know it.”
As a consequence, we
begin to fear His justice and His punishments. When there is
fear, there is no love. Perfect love casts out fear. So long as
fear exists, we cannot love truly. We dare not be ourselves and we fear
rejection and punishment. As a consequence because we fear God, He becomes
far from us. When God is no longer our friend and our Father but
merely a judge and worse, an executioner, we turn away from Him. We can
no longer feel His Fatherly love.
If that is how we feel, it
is because we have a wrong notion of divine justice. Our
understanding of justice is based on human justice which is basically the
principle of revenge. Justice is seen very often in terms of punishment,
not so much in terms of restoration. When someone has done
something wrong, the world says he or she must be punished. The purpose
is not so much to help the offender but to punish. This is not the
justice of God. He does not punish us to exact revenge. Rather, He
wants to restore and reconcile us with Himself.
What is the justice of
God? The justice of God is His compassion. The author of Wisdom says, “Your sovereignty over
all makes you lenient to all.” God is always ready to forgive us. The
psalmist says, “You, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in kindness to
all who call upon you. Hearken, O Lord, to my prayer and attend to the sound of
my pleading.” Indeed, God is merciful in judgment for “disposing of such
strength, you are mild in judgment, you govern us with great lenience, for you
have only to will, and your power is there.”
His justice is tampered
with patience. This is illustrated in the parable of the sower. ‘And the servants said, “Do you want us
to go and weed it out?” But he said, “No, because when you weed out the darnel
you might pull up the wheat with it. Let them both grow till the harvest; and
at harvest time I shall say to the reapers: First collect the darnel and tie it
in bundles to be burnt, then gather the wheat into my barn.”‘ God
gives us time to repent. He respects our need to grow in holiness and in
obedience. He is patient with us. He cautions us against impatience in
our growth to holiness. Uprooting the weeds too early can result in the
destruction of the good plants in the process. In truth the weeds
can also help us to grow to learn to be strong. In the face of evil and
suffering, we can actually become perfected in truth and holiness. The
sins of others can purify us in love and compassion
Within this context, we
must be patient with our erring brothers and sisters in the community. Jesus is exhorting us to be
patient in dealing with the scandal of sins in the Christian community.
God’s judgment is not made hastily. Rather God sees the entire life
of ours rather than just the individual actions we do, good and bad. So
in the face of scandals, we should not be surprised as some of us when we hear
of fellow Catholics, especially Church leaders, failing in their conduct and
moral life. Sure, we should be saddened by the scandals we hear but we should
not be surprised since the Church is a community of pilgrims journeying towards
sainthood.
Yet, there is also a
warning not to take His mercy for granted. There is a time for judgement. God’s mercy is
unlimited and infinite but we will have to make a decision finally.
So whilst He speaks of mercy, punishment also awaits those who reject
Him. “The Son of Man will send his angels and they will gather out of his
kingdom all things that provoke offences and all who do evil, and throw them
into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.
Then the virtuous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
Listen, anyone who has ears!” God of course does not stop loving us
but the choice of accepting Him is ultimately ours. This is because the
justice of God must prevail; otherwise He would not be true to Himself because
He is Truth.
Consequently, we must
take His grace seriously. Let us not turn the grace of God into cheap
grace. We must cooperate with the grace of God in our lives.
Indeed, we have so many opportunities when the Lord invites us to return to
Him. By not taking His grace seriously, we will only harm
ourselves. This is the downfall of many Christians who have received the
grace of Christ at baptism but failed to live out the life of discipleship.
We must realize that what
we sow is what we reap. This is what Jesus said, “The sower of the
good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world; the good seed is the
subjects of the kingdom; the darnel, the subjects of the evil one; the enemy
who sowed them, the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; the reapers are
the angels. Well then, just as the darnel is gathered up and burnt in the fire,
so it will be at the end of time.” What do we sow in life?
Are we sowing good seeds? Are we cultivating virtues or allowing the
vices to cling on to our lives?
Bad habits will one day
become big just as good habits will also grow. In the parable of the mustard
seed, Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man
took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it
has grown it is the biggest shrub of all and becomes a tree so that the birds
of the air come and shelter in its branches.” Good or evil seeds sown in
our hearts will grow in due time and yield a harvest of good or bad
fruits. An act will soon become a habit and then it becomes part of our
character that determines our destiny. So we must be watchful of the kind
of seeds we sow in our lives. If we allow the Word of God to take root in
our hearts, we will be filled with the love of Christ and we shall enjoy the
fruits of the Spirit. Otherwise, we will only destroy ourselves. We
must nurture our faith.
So it is important that
having been forgiven and reconciled to God, we must now continue with a life of
discipleship. It
is important that we be true to His love. Faith without good works is
dead. We must now show our faith in His love and mercy by the fruits of
love and service. We must in turn continue to offer hope to others,
especially forgiveness. The first reading exhorts us to imitate the mercy of
God. “By acting thus you have taught a lesson to your people how the
virtuous man must be kindly to his fellow men, and you have given your sons the
good hope that after sin you will grant repentance.” We must learn to be
tolerant of others. The scripture warns us against intolerance. We
must remain patient with those who do not disagree with us. The way
to win our enemies over is not to destroy them but through love and
compassion. Time is needed for people to change and be converted.
Some people cannot wait. We will only hurt them more.
We must change but not
by our strength but by His grace. Indeed, St Paul tells us that “the Spirit comes to help
us in our weakness.” Only with His grace and strength, can we live a good
life and a life of holiness. This is what the parable of the dough is
teaching us. “The kingdom of heaven is like the yeast a woman took and
mixed in with three measures of flour till it was leavened all through.”
Grace is like the dough. It is a powerful agent of change. When
grace is given, it will bring transformation in our lives. When we
surrender ourselves to the grace of God, He will work wonders in our lives.
Consequently, we must
turn to the Lord for strength in prayer daily. “For when we cannot choose words
in order to pray properly, the Spirit himself expresses our plea in a way that
could never be put into words, and God who knows everything in our hearts knows
perfectly well what he means, and that the pleas of the saints expressed by the
Spirit are according to the mind of God.” Indeed, we are like the mustard
seed. Everything is God’s grace. The mustard seed, small as it
were, will grow to be a big tree that gives shelter to the birds. So too,
God’s kingdom and His grace works quietly and gradually in and
through. It starts from small beginnings but the end is
unimaginable. Indeed, let our praise be “All the nations you have made
shall come and worship you, O Lord, and glorify your name. For you are great,
and you do wondrous deeds; you alone are God. Lord, you are good and
forgiving.”
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOHARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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