20140909
SEEKING JUSTICE WITHIN THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY
First
reading
1
Corinthians 6:1-11 ©
How
dare one of your members take up a complaint against another in the law courts
of the unjust instead of before the saints? As you know, it is the saints who are
to ‘judge the world’; and if the world is to be judged by you, how can you be
unfit to judge trifling cases? Since we are also to judge angels, it follows
that we can judge matters of everyday life; but when you have had cases of that
kind, the people you appointed to try them were not even respected in the
Church. You should be ashamed: is there really not one reliable man among you
to settle differences between brothers and so one brother brings a court case
against another in front of unbelievers? It is bad enough for you to have
lawsuits at all against one another: oughtn’t you to let yourselves be wronged,
and let yourselves be cheated? But you are doing the wronging and the cheating,
and to your own brothers.
You know perfectly well that people who do
wrong will not inherit the kingdom of God: people of immoral lives, idolaters,
adulterers, catamites, sodomites, thieves, usurers, drunkards, slanderers and
swindlers will never inherit the kingdom of God. These are the sort of people
some of you were once, but now you have been washed clean, and sanctified, and
justified through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and through the Spirit of
our God.
Psalm Psalm 149:1-6,9 ©
The
Lord takes delight in his people.
or
Alleluia!
Sing
a new song to the Lord,
his praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let
Israel rejoice in its Maker,
let Zion’s sons exult in their king.
The
Lord takes delight in his people.
or
Alleluia!
Let
them praise his name with dancing
and make music with timbrel and harp.
For
the Lord takes delight in his people.
He crowns the poor with salvation.
The
Lord takes delight in his people.
or
Alleluia!
Let
the faithful rejoice in their glory,
shout for joy and take their rest.
Let
the praise of God be on their lips:
this honour is for all his faithful.
The
Lord takes delight in his people.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel
Acclamation Ph2:15-16
Alleluia,
alleluia!
You
will shine in the world like bright stars
because
you are offering it the word of life.
Alleluia!
Or cf.Jn15:16
Alleluia,
alleluia!
I
chose you from the world
to
go out and bear fruit,
fruit
that will last,
says
the Lord.
Alleluia!
Gospel Luke 6:12-19 ©
Jesus
went out into the hills to pray; and he spent the whole night in prayer to God.
When day came he summoned his disciples and picked out twelve of them; he
called them ‘apostles’: Simon whom he called Peter, and his brother Andrew;
James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon
called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot who became a traitor.
He then came down with them and stopped at a
piece of level ground where there was a large gathering of his disciples with a
great crowd of people from all parts of Judaea and from Jerusalem and from the
coastal region of Tyre and Sidon who had come to hear him and to be cured of
their diseases. People tormented by unclean spirits were also cured, and
everyone in the crowd was trying to touch him because power came out of him
that cured them all.
SEEKING
JUSTICE WITHIN THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: 1 COR 6:1-11; LK 6:12-19
http://www.universalis.com/20140909/mass.htm
The Church, like Israel
in the Old Testament, is called to be a perfect community of love on earth. God had chosen Israel to be His
own, so Jesus too, has chosen us. This election of God is described in
the responsorial psalm when the psalmist says, “The Lord takes delight in his
people. Let Israel be glad in their maker, let the children of Zion rejoice in
their king. For the Lord loves his people, and he adorns the lowly with
victory.” In the Old Testament, God gave the Laws to the people through
Moses, so that by observance of these laws, the people could stay united in
love. In the New Covenant, to enable the Church, the New People of God to
live harmoniously, God provides the Church with leaders in the apostles, and He
also provides us the Holy Spirit so that we can live the New Covenant of love
and unity. In this way the Church becomes the sacrament of unity and
love.
In contrast, St Paul
said that unbelievers, “people who do wrong will not inherit the kingdom of God: people of immoral lives, idolaters,
adulterers, catamites, sodomites, thieves, usurers, drunkards, slanderers and
swindlers will never inherit the kingdom of God.” Although the Church is
called to be ideally the perfect community on earth, yet the truth is that the
Church, although holy, is comprised of sinners as well. So what happens
when there are differences among Christians? Of course, as Christians
following Jesus, we must practice forgiveness and compassion. Still, one
cannot ignore the need to render justice as well.
Where then do Christians
seek justice when differences arise over an issue? The irony is that in the face of
differences, Christians were turning to the secular courts to render
justice. St Paul opined that to turn to a secular court for judgment is
to deny our belief that we have the truth and wisdom of God. He asked,
“How dare one of your members take up a complaint against another in the
lawcourts of the unjust instead of before the saints? As you know, it is the
saints who are to ‘judge the world’; and if the world is to be judged by you,
how can you be unfit to judge trifling cases? Since we are also to judge
angels, it follows that we can judge matters of everyday life; but when you
have had cases of that kind, the people you appointed to try them were not even
respected in the Church. “
To be ruled by secular
judges is to trust that their justice, which is that of the world, is greater
than the justice given to us in the gospel. Hence to accept the standards
of justice in the world, which is based on revenge, is to lower the standards
of the gospel. Thus when disputes arise between
believers, such as disagreements, they should be settled within the Christian
community through dialogue and mutual understanding, if necessary, mediated
by some respectable members or leaders of the community. This does not
mean that Christians cannot turn to a secular court for judgment, especially
when it is a serious case that involves with non-believers.
Furthermore, when dealing
with fellow sinners, we are called to exercise compassion and be
non-judgmental. As Christians, St Paul urges us that we do not
wrongly judge our brothers. St Paul cautions us to make a distinction
between sinners who refuse to repent and those who are sincerely struggling to
overcome their sinfulness. At the same time, St Paul is not asking us to
tolerate sin in the community. St Paul reprimanded them saying, “It
is bad enough for you to have lawsuits at all against one another: oughtn’t you
to let yourselves be wronged, and let yourselves be cheated? But you are doing
the wronging and the cheating, and to your own brothers.” The Church cannot
allow fellow members to abuse each other, and this is where Church discipline
and Canon Laws are instituted to help to regulate relationships among
members. Living a life of sin would prevent us from entering the kingdom
of God.
Compassion is the
Christian response to the sins of our fellow brothers and sisters. At any rate, St Paul reminded
the Christians that they were once sinners themselves. “These are the sort of
people some of you were once, but how you have been washed clean, and sanctified,
and justified through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and through the Spirit
of our God.” Yes, we must have faith in the power of God’s salvation and
the grace of sanctification, after all, St Paul says we were once sinners
ourselves and if God could change us, He can change them.
At any rate, Christians
should not always seek for justice. On the contrary, sometimes
Christians are called to suffer innocently like their master. St Paul
himself wrote in today’s first reading, “To this day, we go without food and
drink and clothes; we are beaten and have no homes; we work for our living with
our own hands. When we are cursed, we answer with a blessing; when we are
hounded, we put up with it; we are insulted and we answer politely. We are
treated as the offal of the world, still to this day, the scum of the
earth.” Indeed, St Paul willingly suffered with Christ and for Christ
without taking revenge.
In the final analysis, when
Christians have to fight out in the civil courts, there are negative consequences
for the Church. It destroys the credibility of the church as the
sacrament of unity and love. It is a counter witness to the gospel of
forgiveness and tolerance that we proclaim. Secondly, it shows we are
unenlightened ourselves, therefore no better than the world. Most
of all, when we wash our dirty linen in public, the world, instead of focusing
on our message of salvation, will focus on the scandals and quarrels. So
who is the loser at the end? The whole Church, and most of all, the gospel is
compromised and discredited! It will be a sad day indeed for all,
including the world, because the Church can no longer present herself as hope
for a world that seeks genuine unity and love.
However, this fraternal
way of settling disputes is only possible when we are dealing with real
Christians who are passionate for Christ and His Church. For the love of
the Church, such Christians will seek dialogue and mutual understanding by
sincerely searching the will of God together through prayer and the Word of
God, and if necessary, seek a mature fellow Christian to mediate. The
work of unity cannot be achieved by man alone. Christ Himself spent long
hours at prayer when choosing His apostles. So before we take action of
any sort, let us bring our grievances to Him and beg His counsel. In
whatever we do, the virtue of justice must be tampered by charity, compassion
and forgiveness.
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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