20141006
SELF JUSTIFICATION OR JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH IN
CHRIST
First
reading
Galatians
1:6-12 ©
I
am astonished at the promptness with which you have turned away from the one
who called you and have decided to follow a different version of the Good News.
Not that there can be more than one Good News; it is merely that some
troublemakers among you want to change the Good News of Christ; and let me warn
you that if anyone preaches a version of the Good News different from the one
we have already preached to you, whether it be ourselves or an angel from
heaven, he is to be condemned. I am only repeating what we told you before: if
anyone preaches a version of the Good News different from the one you have
already heard, he is to be condemned. So now whom am I trying to please – man,
or God? Would you say it is men’s approval I am looking for? If I still wanted
that, I should not be what I am – a servant of Christ.
The fact is, brothers, and I want you to
realise this, the Good News I preached is not a human message that I was given
by men, it is something I learnt only through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
Psalm
Psalm
110:1-2,7-10 ©
The
Lord keeps his covenant ever in mind.
or
Alleluia!
I
will thank the Lord with all my heart
in the meeting of the just and their
assembly.
Great
are the works of the Lord,
to be pondered by all who love them.
The
Lord keeps his covenant ever in mind.
or
Alleluia!
His
works are justice and truth,
his precepts are all of them sure,
standing
firm for ever and ever;
they are made in uprightness and truth.
The
Lord keeps his covenant ever in mind.
or
Alleluia!
He
has sent deliverance to his people
and established his covenant for ever.
Holy
his name, to be feared.
His praise shall last for ever!
The
Lord keeps his covenant ever in mind.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel
Acclamation cf.Jn6:63,68
Alleluia,
alleluia!
Your
words are spirit, Lord, and they are life;
you
have the message of eternal life.
Alleluia!
Or Jn13:34
Alleluia,
alleluia!
I
give you a new commandment:
love
one another just as I have loved you,
says
the Lord.
Alleluia!
Gospel Luke 10:25-37 ©
There
was a lawyer who, to disconcert Jesus, stood up and said to him, ‘Master, what
must I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the
Law? What do you read there?’ He replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with
all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your
mind, and your neighbour as yourself.’ ‘You have answered right,’ said Jesus
‘do this and life is yours.’
But the man was anxious to justify himself
and said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’ Jesus replied, ‘A man was once on
his way down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of brigands;
they took all he had, beat him and then made off, leaving him half dead. Now a
priest happened to be travelling down the same road, but when he saw the man, he
passed by on the other side. In the same way a Levite who came to the place saw
him, and passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan traveller who came upon
him was moved with compassion when he saw him. He went up and bandaged his
wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. He then lifted him on to his own mount,
carried him to the inn and looked after him. Next day, he took out two denarii
and handed them to the innkeeper. “Look after him,” he said “and on my way back
I will make good any extra expense you have.” Which of these three, do you
think, proved himself a neighbour to the man who fell into the brigands‘
hands?’ ‘The one who took pity on him’ he replied. Jesus said to him, ‘Go, and
do the same yourself.’
SELF-JUSTIFICATION
OR JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH IN CHRIST
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: : GAL 1:6-12; LK 10:25-37
http://www.universalis.com/20141006/mass.htm
“There was a lawyer who, to
disconcert Jesus, stood up and said to him, ‘Master, what must I do to
inherit eternal life?’” Why did the lawyer think that this question
could cause distress to Jesus? The reason is because the lawyer himself
knew the law, yet at the same time he knew equally well that it was difficult
to fulfill it, and hence he was trying to find an excuse not to fulfill it.
The crux of the problem however does not lie in whether one
can fulfill the law or not. The truth is, who on earth can truly love God
with all our heart, soul, strength and mind and our neighbour as ourselves?
Only Jesus the Son of God and the Son of Man could!
At any rate, the
question was ill put across. If the scribe was so concerned about
fulfilling the law or finding a way to circumvent the law, it was because he
thought that eternal life is something that you do to earn it. Hence, we
read immediately that hearing the orthodox answer of Jesus, “The man was
anxious to justify himself and said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’”
But isn’t this the
attitude of Catholics towards observance of the laws? The attempt to
justify ourselves through the laws is done in two ways. The first way is
to observe the laws merely out of fear, but without love. I wonder how
many Catholics come to Mass on Sundays willingly and joyfully, or more as a
Sunday obligation? Nay, many Catholics want to quickly do away with the
Sunday obligation by attending sunset Mass so that they could be free to do
whatever they like on Sunday, involving themselves in mundane matters rather
than observing the spirit of Sunday, which is to consecrate the whole day to
the Lord in worship, fellowship and service. This is true with respect to
the other laws of the Church, like doing penance on Fridays. Observing
the letter of the law without observing the spirit is as good as not observing
it at all.
Another way is to find
loopholes to circumvent the laws by finding excuses and rationalizing, like the scribe in today’s gospel, for
he knew loving one’s neighbour is difficult. Indeed, in the story, both
the priest and the Levite had good reasons for not helping the injured and
abandoned Samaritan. They were probably going up to Jerusalem for worship
and did not wish to contaminate themselves by touching a dead man.
Strictly speaking, according to the letter of the law, they did not do anything
wrong, as they were required to observe ritual purity. But they failed to
observe the intent of the law.
So the law only reveals
our sinfulness. Even
if we could observe them, we would become proud, egoistic and separated from
our fellowmen. It shows how helpless and hopeless we are in the face of
the laws. But in revealing our helplessness, it forces us to rely on the
grace of God and not on our human strength. This was the motive for
Paul’s letter to the Galatians. What was the problem? The Jewish
Christians were trying to impose Jewish dietary requirements and circumcision
on the gentile Christians.
St Paul himself had a
conversion experience.
Being a rabbi himself, he was fanatical about the observance of the laws.
But after encountering the love of God in Christ for him in spite of his
persecution of the Christians, he knew that salvation did not lie in finding
worthiness through the observance of the laws but in accepting the love of God
and loving in return. Hence, he was in dismay when he heard that the
gentile Christians were going back to the laws. He wrote, “I am
astonished at the promptness with which you have turned away from the one who
called you and have decided to follow a different version of the Good News.”
What is this Good News
that St Paul wanted to remind them? It is the Good News that he “learnt only through a revelation of
Jesus Christ” at Damascus and not “a human message” that was given by
men. That conversion experience convinced Paul that Christ loves him, not
because he was worthy of Him, but because He counted him worthy. It was
such a radical experience of God’s mercy in Christ that Paul was insistent that
there cannot “be more than one Good News; it is merely that some troublemakers
among you want to change the Good News of Christ; and let me warn you that if
anyone preaches a version of the Good News different from the one we have
already preached to you, whether it be ourselves or an angel from heaven, he is
to be condemned. “
Indeed, the responsorial
psalm speaks of the fidelity of God to His covenant. The covenant of
course was purely the grace of God and His mercy. The Israelites were
slaves in Egypt, but God delivered them from their slavery and gave them the
Promised Land and the Kingdom. It was all pure grace. And
thus the psalmist could pray with confidence that “the Lord will remember his
covenant forever.” It is with gratitude and joy that he could say, “I
will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart in the company and assembly of
the just. Great are the works of the Lord, exquisite in all their delights. He
has sent deliverance to his people; he has ratified his covenant forever; holy
and awesome is his name.”
It is flowing from this
experience of His unconditional love and mercy for us that we can now love God and our fellowmen the way God loves us
and the way the Samaritan loved his enemy. When there is love, we do not
measure what we do. Love goes beyond the laws, is not calculative and
includes all, even our enemies. For when there is love in our hearts, we
will be able to have a heart for all, just as God has a heart for us all.
So let us cling to the
true gospel which is the Good News of Christ’s love for us. Jesus
demonstrated to us that He is the Samaritan, for He comes to bandage us when we
are wounded by sin, rescue us from our slavery to Satan, free us from
unforgiveness by reconciling us with His Father on the cross, and most of all,
by giving us His Holy Spirit to love as He did. Yes, we were His enemies
but He came to die for us whilst we were still sinners. He did not
die for the good but for us evil and sinful men and women. He has always
loved us as His own adopted brothers and sisters and will always love us, even
when we reject Him. In fact, He feels sorry for sinners who refuse to
repent, for He knows how much they are hurting themselves emotionally,
psychologically and spiritually. Assured and convicted of this love, it
will not be a question of fulfilling the laws. Rather, as St Paul wrote
in 1 Cor 5:14f: “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that
one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who
live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was
raised again.”
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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