20150206 SENSITIVITY TO ONE’S CONSCIENCE AS A PREREQUISITE FOR
GROWTH IN CHRISTIAN LIFE
Readings at Mass
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First reading
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Hebrews 13:1-8 ©
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Continue to love each
other like brothers, and remember always to welcome strangers, for by doing
this, some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Keep in mind
those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; and those who
are being badly treated, since you too are in the one body. Marriage is to be
honoured by all, and marriages are to be kept undefiled, because fornicators
and adulterers will come under God’s judgement. Put greed out of your lives and
be content with whatever you have; God himself has said: I will not fail you
or desert you, and so we can say with confidence: With the Lord to help
me, I fear nothing: what can man do to me?
Remember
your leaders, who preached the word of God to you, and as you reflect on the
outcome of their lives, imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same today as
he was yesterday and as he will be for ever.
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Psalm
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Psalm
26:1,3,5,8-9 ©
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The Lord is my
light and my help.
The Lord is my light
and my help;
whom
shall I fear?
The Lord is the
stronghold of my life;
before
whom shall I shrink?
The Lord is my
light and my help.
Though an army encamp
against me
my heart
would not fear.
Though war break out
against me
even then
would I trust.
The Lord is my
light and my help.
For there he keeps me
safe in his tent
in the
day of evil.
He hides me in the
shelter of his tent,
on a rock
he sets me safe.
The Lord is my
light and my help.
It is your face, O
Lord, that I seek;
hide not
your face.
Dismiss not your
servant in anger;
you have
been my help.
The Lord is my
light and my help.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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cf.Lk8:15
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are those
who,
with a noble and
generous heart,
take the word of God
to themselves
and yield a harvest
through their perseverance.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 6:14-29 ©
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King Herod had heard
about Jesus, since by now his name was well-known. Some were saying, ‘John the
Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work
in him.’ Others said, ‘He is Elijah’; others again, ‘He is a prophet, like the
prophets we used to have.’ But when Herod heard this he said, ‘It is John whose
head I cut off; he has risen from the dead.’
Now it
was this same Herod who had sent to have John arrested, and had him chained up
in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife whom he had married.
For John had told Herod, ‘It is against the law for you to have your brother’s
wife.’ As for Herodias, she was furious with him and wanted to kill him; but
she was not able to, because Herod was afraid of John, knowing him to be a good
and holy man, and gave him his protection. When he had heard him speak he was
greatly perplexed, and yet he liked to listen to him.
An
opportunity came on Herod’s birthday when he gave a banquet for the nobles of
his court, for his army officers and for the leading figures in Galilee. When
the daughter of this same Herodias came in and danced, she delighted Herod and
his guests; so the king said to the girl, ‘Ask me anything you like and I will
give it you.’ And he swore her an oath, ‘I will give you anything you ask, even
half my kingdom.’ She went out and said to her mother, ‘What shall I ask for?’
She replied, ‘The head of John the Baptist’ The girl hurried straight back to
the king and made her request, ‘I want you to give me John the Baptist’s head,
here and now, on a dish.’ The king was deeply distressed but, thinking of the
oaths he had sworn and of his guests, he was reluctant to break his word to
her. So the king at once sent one of the bodyguard with orders to bring John’s
head. The man went off and beheaded him in prison; then he brought the head on
a dish and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. When John’s
disciples heard about this, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
SENSITIVITY
TO ONE’S CONSCIENCE AS A PREREQUISITE FOR GROWTH IN CHRISTIAN LIFE
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: HEB 13:1-8; MK 6:14-29
Christians are called to
imitate Christ the High Priest in perfection and holiness. To grow in holiness presupposes
that we are purified of our sins, which means in the first place that we need
to grow in sensitivity to our conscience. This is particularly important,
especially with regard to the question of justice and truth. Hence, the gospel
presents to us the different kinds or levels of conscience which one can grow
or diminish in our spiritual life.
The conscience that most
of us have is that of Herod’s, which is a weak and feeble conscience. When we examine the
interior struggles of Herod, we find that actually he was not a bad man.
In fact, he was a generous man who wanted to walk in the truth. He was
not a man without conscience at all. Indeed, Mark recounts, “Herod was
afraid of John, knowing him to be a good and holy man, and gave him his
protection. When he had heard him speak he was greatly perplexed, and yet
he liked to listen to him.” He wanted to live an authentic life.
But he was torn between being true to himself and gaining the respect of
others.
Unfortunately, he was a
man who chose to please everyone for love of himself, his pride and reputation.
The fact that he could, without thinking, offer the daughter of Herodias anything
she asked for, even “half of his kingdom”, shows that he must have been quite a
show off. Of course, he had to pay a high price for such an irresponsible
act, since it cost the head of John the Baptist, which was not what he
wanted. This made him “deeply distressed, but thinking of the oaths that
he had sworn, and of what his guests would think of him, he was reluctant to
break his word to her.” Here again, we see the tension between his
conscience and his desire to please, and also the need to protect his ego.
We can easily identify with
Herod. Like him, we want to please everyone. We have
generally a good heart. But we tend to compromise because of our weakness
in love. We do not know, or rather, we do not have the heart to say “no”
to things that are wrong, or anything that would compromise our vocation. Like
Herod, we compromise in our irregular relationships with others; we compromise
when it comes to honesty with regard to money or things entrusted to our care;
we compromise by being hypocritical, saying nice things to people in front of
them but destroying their character behind their backs.
For this reason, we
suffer guilt and fear, like Herod, whose conscience continued to haunt him
throughout his life, for whenever he heard of John the Baptist he would say,
‘It is John whose head I cut off; he has risen from the
dead.’ We too will suffer the same fate with him if we are
not careful.
But what is even more
dangerous is that a person who has a weak and feeble conscience can end up
with a lax, evil and immoral conscience. Sin increases and snowballs
if we do not deal with it head-on. In living a hypocritical lifestyle, we
are actually living in darkness. Those who live in the dark always fear
the light; those who are living in sin fear the truth. This was certainly
the situation of Herodias. When the truth was exposed, she became
defensive and vindictive. Because her security, ego and interests were
threatened, she began to plot the death of John the Baptist: “she was furious
with him and wanted to kill him; but she was not able to, because Herod was
afraid of John.” The only reason she did not carry out her act was
because the opportunity was not available, but she had already murdered him in
her heart. So she began to scheme and wait for a chance to take her
revenge.
The same thing will also
happen to us. We know that dishonest and immoral living will somehow
come to surface in due time. What is hidden cannot be kept for long.
It is understandable that when such wrongs are exposed, whoever is accused
would want to defend and justify himself at all cost. Few would have the
courage and humility to admit the truth, because like Herodias, we need to save
face. Even Herod, who made the foolish promise to Herodias’ daughter,
came under pressure to give in so as to show himself a man of his word before
his nobles and army officers.
Of course, the tragedy is
that an unscrupulous conscience does not stop here. One would
think that Herodias must have been the most evil and deceitful woman with the
worst kind of conscience one could think of. Yet, even for Herodias,
there is still hope for salvation because she was simply insecure and angry to
the point of being revengeful. Hatred had consumed and blinded her.
The danger for us all is that, like her, hatred and revenge can overwhelm us in
such a way that we can no longer differentiate between what is right and wrong
anymore.
The daughter of Herodias
exemplifies this outcome of a conscience that has turned lax and then dead. She must have been so
influenced by Herodias’ plotting and scheming that she could no longer
distinguish between truth and falsehood. She had an indifferent
conscience, oblivious to truth and goodness. With such a conscience, one does
not think anymore. One acts according to one’s whims and fancies.
It is good to take note that she had no part in the condemnation of John the
Baptist. In fact, she was not even an enemy of John the Baptist.
Yet, when her mother told her to ask for the head of John the Baptist, she
could obey without even thinking of the consequences. Such indifference
is brought out so poignantly today when Mark narrates how the executioner,
after beheading John the Baptist in prison; “brought the head on a dish and
gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.” How can a
person be so unfeeling at the sight of a decapitated head and yet show no
emotion? It was all done in a perfunctory and nonchalant manner. She
could even give up half the kingdom that could have been hers, just for the
head of John the Baptist! She must be the epitome of apathy towards the
values of life.
We, too, can also become
as dead to our conscience after some time. This is true for those of
us who rationalize our sinful actions. The truth is that one sin always
leads to another. This has been true since the days of Adam and
Eve. The first sin of disobedience led to murder by Cain. Indeed,
it is said that the trauma one feels the first time one kills another person,
as in a war, is the most acute. But after the first killing, the killer
is no longer restrained. He becomes more courageous and numbed as he goes
on to kill more and more. This is very true of murderers.
In contrast we have the exemplary
Christian life of John the Baptist. He was a man who was so true
to himself and to his conscience. He bore all the characteristics
that the Jewish Christians were exhorted to practice in their lives in the
first reading. For Indeed, John the Baptist loved everyone like brothers, even
when they were strangers, unrelated to him. This explains why he spoke out
against Herod for betraying his brother, Philip. John the Baptist wanted to
protect the sanctity of marriage for the good of society. He recognized
that “marriage is to be honoured by all, and marriages are to be kept
undefiled, because fornicators and adulterers will come under God’s judgement.”
Finally, John the Baptist understood what it means to care for prisoners, for
he himself was in prison for the sake of the truth. Certainly, the
exhortation to “keep in mind those who are in prison, as though you were in
prison with them; and those who are being badly treated, since you too are in
the one body” must have been part of his outlook in life.
No wonder, the life of
John the Baptist is often seen as parallel to that of Jesus. He was
the forerunner of Jesus in a very real way. For like Jesus, he was a
prophet; condemned to an innocent death although his executor reluctantly
consented to his killing; his accusers were members of his own family and race;
he was buried by his disciples and allegedly raised from the dead.
Indeed, the tragic ending of John prepares us for the fate of Jesus.
Today, John the Baptist
shows himself to be the true and authentic Christian. Let us take
heed of the advice of the author in the first reading to “remember your
leaders, who preached the word of God to you, and as you reflect on the outcome
of their lives, imitate their faith.” Yes, if we are to be faithful to
Jesus and to our Christian conscience, then we must be like the Jewish
Christians who affirmed with confidence that God would not fail or desert them.
With them, we must say, “with the Lord to help me, I fear nothing: what can man
do to me? … Jesus Christ is the same as he was yesterday and as he
will be for ever.”
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV
WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP
OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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