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
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 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
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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