Tuesday, 23 December 2014

20140721 INJUSTICES TOWARDS GOD AS HIS INDICTMENT AGAINST HUMANITY

20140721 INJUSTICES TOWARDS GOD AS HIS INDICTMENT AGAINST HUMANITY  

Scripture Readings for 21 Jul 2014

Reading 1, Micah 6:1-4, 6-8

1 Now listen to what Yahweh says: 'Stand up, state your case to the mountains and let the hills hear what you have to say!'
2 Listen, mountains, to the case as Yahweh puts it, give ear, you foundations of the earth, for Yahweh has a case against his people and he will argue it with Israel.
3 'My people, what have I done to you, how have I made you tired of me? Answer me!
4 For I brought you up from Egypt, I ransomed you from the place of slave-labour and sent Moses, Aaron and Miriam to lead you.
6 'With what shall I enter Yahweh's presence and bow down before God All-high? Shall I enter with burnt offerings, with calves one year old?
7 Will he be pleased with rams by the thousand, with ten thousand streams of oil? Shall I offer my eldest son for my wrong-doing, the child of my own body for my sin?
8 'You have already been told what is right and what Yahweh wants of you. Only this, to do what is right, to love loyalty and to walk humbly with your God.'


Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 50:5-6, 8-9, 16-17, 21, 23

5 'Gather to me my faithful, who sealed my covenant by sacrifice.'
6 The heavens proclaim his saving justice, 'God himself is judge.'Pause
8 'It is not with your sacrifices that I find fault, those burnt offerings constantly before me;
9 I will not accept any bull from your homes, nor a single goat from your folds.
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.
23 Honour to me is a sacrifice of thanksgiving; to the upright I will show God's salvation.'


Gospel, Matthew 12:38-42

38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees spoke up. 'Master,' they said, 'we should like to see a sign from you.'
39 He replied, 'It is an evil and unfaithful generation that asks for a sign! The only sign it will be given is the sign of the prophet Jonah.
40 For as Jonah remained in the belly of the sea-monster for three days and three nights, so will the Son of man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.
41 On Judgement Day the men of Nineveh will appear against this generation and they will be its condemnation, because when Jonah preached they repented; and look, there is something greater than Jonah here.
42 On Judgement Day the Queen of the South will appear against this generation and be its condemnation, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and look, there is something greater than Solomon here.

INJUSTICES TOWARDS GOD AS HIS INDICTMENT AGAINST HUMANITY  
SCRIPTURE READINGS: MICAH 6:1-4, 6-8; MT 12:38-42
http://www.universalis.com/20140721/mass.htm
In the past week, we have been hearing God’s complaints about the injustices of His people towards their fellowmen through His prophets.  All the prophetic utterances which we have read in the recent past spoke against the sins of injustice, oppression and idolatry.  Today, Prophet Micah, in a dramatic presentation of the grievances of God against His people, portrays His case in the form of a court trial where the mountains and hills act as jury with God as the plaintiff and His people as defendants.

What is the primary indictment that God made against His people?  It is their ingratitude.  In anguish and deep disappointment, the God of Love and Compassion cried out, “My people, what have I done to you, how have I been a burden to you? Answer me. I brought you out of the land of Egypt, I rescued you from the house of slavery; I sent Moses to lead you, with Aaron and Miriam.”  In His mercy, God saw the miseries of His people and called Moses to lead them out of the slavery of the Egyptians.   Yet in spite of what He had done for them, they turned against Him and worshipped false gods, disobeyed the Covenantal Laws which were given to them so that the People of God could live in peace and harmony based on the principles of justice and charity; truth and love.  Alas, this was not the case.  Not only did they turn against Him, but they had taken advantage of the poor and the weak whom the Lord loves as His own.

Isn’t this the way we regard God as well?  God has blessed us with riches and success.  Have we used them for His glory?  Have we thanked Him by proclaiming Him as our Lord and God?  Do we put Him as the center of our lives, or do we allow pleasures and success to crowd Him out of our lives?  Most of all, do we use our success, power, influence, money and resources for the service of His people?  More often than not, we only care about ourselves, and even if we do help the less fortunate, it is but a meager percentage of what we are enjoying in life.  And God is also asking us the same question as well, “Are we grateful for what we have been given?”

The second charge leveled against us is the failure to repent.  Even in our sinfulness, God does not give up on us.  He is always patient with us, awaiting our repentance.  He does not want to punish or destroy us.  If He allows us to suffer the consequences of sin, it is in order that we may come to the realization of the state of our souls.  Most of all, God sent us His only Son, Jesus, the Word of God, the Greatest of all prophets to call us to repentance.  Yet, like the Jews, our ears are deaf to His call to repentance; our hearts remain hardened in our stubbornness and sinfulness.  This is particularly true for Catholics because we have all the means to be reconciled with God and yet we are lukewarm in our response to His call for a change of heart.  Ironically, just like the so-called pagans, the Ninevites, non-Catholics and sinners are more responsive to the invitation to repent and seek conversion and reconciliation.

Those of us who are lukewarm in our faith are the most resistant to the grace of conversion.  We are contented to drift along with a nominal faith, like the Israelites. We try to soothe our conscience by fulfilling the basic duties of a Catholic, like attending Mass on Sundays and saying a few prayers upon waking up and before going to sleep; and perhaps occasionally, give a few dollars to the Church and to the poor.  However, in our daily lives, whether at work or at home, we are abusive, intolerable, dishonest and unreasonable in our dealings with our fellowmen.

There is also a third charge brought against us.  It is the lack of appreciation of the personal gift of God, the gift of Himself.   Jesus told His countrymen, “On Judgement day the Queen of the South will rise up with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here.”  Just to hear King Solomon, the Queen would take the trouble to travel far and wide to find him.  And here, Jesus is saying that He is the Wisdom of God Himself, the embodiment of the Word of God, yet the Jews paid no attention to Him.

Are we any better than them?  We are so privileged to have the Word of God, the Bible to read each day, and especially at Mass, where the Word of God is proclaimed and preached to help us in our daily life.  But how many of us make time to pray the scriptures and reflect on the Word of God every day, whether at Mass or during our quiet time with the Lord?  Instead, we seek advice and counsel from secular papers and magazines rather than from the Word of God, or from the authoritative teachings of the Magisterium.

Besides the Word, we Catholics are so fortunate to have the Sacraments as well, where we receive Christ personally, His Real Presence, in the Eucharist, His forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and His healing grace in the Sacrament of the Sick.  Again, like the Jews, we take these privileged encounters with Jesus for granted.  We do not treasure His presence in the Eucharist and hardly receive Him or frequent daily Mass.  Nor do we receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation regularly to free ourselves from the burden of sin.  Instead we allow sin to grow in our souls until we are immune to its gravity and indifferent to the grace of God.  And even in sickness, we turn to God for healing only when everything else fails, and when science and medicine cannot cure us.  To such people, Jesus has only this to say, “If only they knew that there is something greater than Solomon here!”

What is the root of our ingratitude and indifference to the grace of God?  It boils down to the lack of faith.  Like the Pharisees, we are not humble enough to bow down before the power of God.  We want proof and signs.  That was what the scribes and Pharisees demanded of Jesus.  The truth is that Faith is not against reason and yet it is beyond reason.  Trust is necessary.  Just as in human friendships, security is found in trust.  So too, the Christian entrusts his life to God because God is trustworthy.

And we can trust Him because as Jesus said, “The only sign that it will be given is the sign of the prophet Jonah.  For as Jonah was in the belly of the sea-monster for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.”  Our security in God is not based on proof, but on God who reveals Himself in Jesus the Christ, who in His passion, death and resurrection has been vindicated as the Risen Lord, the Son of God.  The foundation of Christian Faith is that Jesus is our Lord and Saviour, as attested by the apostles who encountered Him after His passion and death.

So how can this faith be ours today?  We need a change of attitude, a change of heart, and a revolutionary transformation of our mindset.  We need to act justly in charity towards our fellowmen, treating them with sensitivity to their dignity and respect for their rights.  Secondly, we are called to love tenderly.  We must deepen our intimacy with the Lord, for faith is loving intimacy with Him.  In the experience of His love for us, all proof is redundant.  But when we have no experience of His love, no proof can suffice either.  Finally, we must keep ourselves humble before God.  Walking humbly before Him is to recognize that He is the Lord of our lives.  As the bible says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  Only when we fear Him, that is, have reverence for His greatness, majesty, might and wisdom, will we recognize our limitations and walk in His ways, not ours, so that we will walk in wisdom and in love.

WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOH

ARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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