20140723 FORGETFULNESS IS THE CAUSE OF
OUR MISERY AND INFIDELITY
Reading 1, Jeremiah 2:1-3, 7-8, 12-13
2 'Go and shout this in Jerusalem's ears: 'Yahweh says
this: "I remember your faithful love, the affection of your bridal days,
when you followed me through the desert, through a land unsown.
3 Israel was sacred to Yahweh; the first-fruits of
his harvest; all who ate this incurred guilt, disaster befell them, Yahweh
declares." '
7 I brought you to a country of plenty, to enjoy its
produce and good things; but
when you entered you defiled my country and made my heritage loathsome.
8 The priests never asked, "Where is Yahweh?"
Those skilled in the Law did not know
me, the shepherds too rebelled against me and the prophets prophesied by
Baal and followed the Useless Ones.
13 For my people have committed two crimes: they have
abandoned me, the fountain of living water, and dug water-tanks for themselves,
cracked water-tanks that hold no water.
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 36:6-7, 8-9, 10-11
6 your saving justice is like
towering mountains, your judgements like the mighty deep. Yahweh, you support
both man and beast;
7 how precious, God, is your faithful love. So the children of Adam take refuge
in the shadow of your wings.
8 They feast on the bounty of your house, you let them
drink from your delicious streams;
9 in you is the source of life, by your light we see the
light.
10 Maintain your faithful love to those who acknowledge
you, and your saving justice to the
honest of heart.
11 Do not let the foot of the arrogant overtake me or
wicked hands drive me away.
Gospel, Matthew 13:10-17
10 Then the disciples went up to him and asked, 'Why do
you talk to them in parables?'
11 In answer, he said, 'Because to you is granted to
understand the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven, but to them it is not
granted.
12 Anyone who has will be given
more and will have more
than enough; but anyone who has not will be deprived
even of what he has.
13 The reason I talk to
them in parables is that
they look without seeing and listen without hearing or understanding.
14 So in their case what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah is being fulfilled: Listen and listen,
but never understand! Look and look, but never perceive!
15 This people's heart has grown coarse, their ears
dulled, they have shut their eyes tight to avoid using their eyes to see, their
ears to hear, their heart to understand, changing their ways and being healed
by me.
16 'But blessed are your eyes because they see, your ears
because they hear!
17 In truth I tell
you, many prophets and upright people longed to see what you see, and never saw
it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.
FORGETFULNESS
IS THE CAUSE OF OUR MISERY AND INFIDELITY
What is the cause of
betrayal and infidelity?
Mostly, it is because of our forgetfulness of what has been done to us and for
us. Many of us have been blessed with the love of God. He has seen
us through all the years of our life and helped us to overcome its
vicissitudes. When we examine our life, none of us can say that God has
not helped us to overcome our trials and sufferings. For all the blessings
we have received, how many of us are really grateful to God? If we are,
then we would have translated our gratitude in terms of fidelity.
This was the situation
of the people of Israel during the time of Jeremiah. The prophet reminded his people
what the Lord had done for them. The Lord said, “I remember the affection
of your youth, the love of your bridal days: you followed me through the
wilderness, through a land unsown. Israel was sacred to the Lord, the
first-fruits of his harvest; anyone who ate of this had to pay for it,
misfortune came to them – it is the Lord who speaks.” Indeed, although
the Israelites were an unworthy and an insignificant people whose ancestors
were slaves of Egypt, yet the Lord chose them to be His bride. Yahweh
loved them with an everlasting love and with the love of a bridegroom. He
journeyed with them in all their trials in the desert and brought them to the
Promised Land, a place where milk and honey flowed.
Unfortunately, the
people were forgetful of what God had done for them. The Lord
bemoaned through the prophet that no “sooner had you entered than you defiled
my land, and made heritage detestable. The priests have never asked, ‘Where is
the Lord?’ Those who administer the Law have no knowledge of me. The shepherds
have rebelled against me; the prophets have prophesied in the name of Baal,
following things with no power in them.” Instead of remembering that their
identity and existence came solely from the goodness and generosity of the
Lord, they became proud, arrogant and relied on themselves and their worldly
power.
We are no better than
them. Many of us
in bad times have turned to the Lord. When we were down and out, the Lord
was there to help us, whether it was in ill-health, financial difficulty,
personal struggles or interpersonal relationships. But once out of the
situation, like the Israelites, we forget His love. We begin to focus on
ourselves and enjoy the blessings we have, taking them for granted. We
fall back into sin and allow the flesh, the world and Satan to rule our
lives. We never think of God anymore but let the worldly affairs and
pleasures take control of our lives. Thinking that everything is well and
that we are self-sufficient, we no longer turn to the Lord in prayer and worship.
For this reason, the
Lord is warning us through Jeremiah, “my people have committed a double
crime: they have abandoned me, the fountain of living water, only to dig
cisterns for themselves, leaky cisterns that hold no water.” Being
self-reliant and self-centered is like digging cisterns that leak and cannot
hold water. So long as we seek a life without God, we will destroy
ourselves. This is the consequence of those who forget about God.
But more than mere
forgetfulness, the danger is that we soon become coarsened and unable to
hear the voice of God anymore. That was what Jesus warned the
disciples. He said, “For anyone who has will be given more, and he will
have more than enough; but from anyone who has not, even what he has will be
taken away.” We do not lose our faith in God overnight. Satan
works slowly in us. The loss of faith always begins with sin and then
numbness to sin. Alienated from God because of sin, we become distant in
our relationship with Him. Unable to feel the presence of God, we give up
praying, reading the scriptures or even going for mass. Our relationship
with God gets worse because sin leads to more sins. By the time we come
to realize what sin has done to us, we would have been too deeply entrapped by
the snares of the Evil One and hence cannot avoid suffering the consequences of
a sinful life.
When we arrive at this
stage of our spiritual life, we will no longer be capable of listening to
the good spirit prompting us to repent. Our mind will be filled with
so much pride and our heart too wounded to listen to God’s voice. Even
when God sends His servants and messengers to invite us to repentance, we would
be too proud to recognize our sinfulness because we would rationalize and
justify ourselves for what we have done. Sometimes, it could be because
we are so wounded by our sins that we are filled with vindictiveness and hatred
both for God and for our fellowmen. This precisely was the reason given
by Jesus as to why some will not be able to come to understand Him and be converted.
He said, “the reason I talk to them in parables is that they look without
seeing and listen without hearing or understanding.” So in their case the
prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled: “You will listen and listen again,
but not understand, see and see again, but not perceive. For the heart of this
nation has grown coarse, their ears are dull of hearing, and they have shut
their eyes for fear they shall see with their eyes, hear with their ears,
understand with their heart, and be converted and be healed by me.“
It thus behooves us who
have received the gift of faith and the gift of prayer not to take for granted
the graces we have been given. Many of us have been fortunate enough to be blessed with
the grace of encountering Him through a conversion experience or at some moment
in our lives, especially when God showed His face to us through a miraculous
event. It is truly such a great blessing to be able to encounter God or
experience Him deeply in our lives. That is what Jesus said, “But happy
are your eyes because they see, your ears because they hear! I tell you
solemnly, many prophets and holy men longed to see what you see, and never saw
it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.” So we should be thankful
and grateful for so great a blessing from God.
For this reason, we are
called to continue to rely on the fountain of living water. Jesus in
the gospel comes to give us the Living Water. This is what the psalmist
asks of us too when he prayed, “With you is the fountain of life, O Lord. Your
mercy reaches to heaven; your faithfulness, to the clouds. Your justice is like
the mountains of God; your judgments, like the mighty deep. How precious is
your mercy, O God! The children of men take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They have their fill of the prime gifts of your house; from your delightful
stream you give them to drink. For with you is the fountain of life, and in
your light we see light. Keep up your mercy toward your friends, your just
defense of the upright of heart.”
We must not ever think
that God has favourites and that He allows only some to encounter Him while
others cannot.
We must not misconstrue the words of Jesus when He said that “’the mysteries of
the kingdom of heaven are revealed to you, but they are not revealed to
them.” In truth, God has given us all many opportunities to come to
Him. The problem is on our side. We are too obstinate, lazy and
proud to come to Him. The mysteries of the Kingdom will always be given
to those with humble hearts and receptive minds. Jesus has reminded us
many times to be childlike if we are to enter the Kingdom of heaven. We
must avoid repeating the same folly as the Israelites during the time of
Jeremiah. This tragedy can be avoided if we take our spiritual life
seriously, especially our relationship with God. We must not only be
faithful to our prayer life and the sacraments, but we must ensure that we have
a living relationship with God, never falling into mediocrity in our worship,
going through the routine, worshipping in our ritualistic manner but our hearts
are far from Him. Let us recall the love that He has bestowed upon us so
that we can rekindle our warm and heartfelt relationship with Him, especially
through contemplative prayer. A prayerful reading of the Word of God
besides worshipping Him at mass from the depths of our hearts will strengthen
our love for Him as we listen to His voice speaking to us.
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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