20150217 IGNORANCE AS THE CAUSE OF OUR DOWNFALL
Readings at Mass
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First reading
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Genesis
6:5-8,7:1-5,10 ©
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The Lord saw that the
wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that the thoughts in his heart
fashioned nothing but wickedness all day long. The Lord regretted having made
man on the earth, and his heart grieved. ‘I will rid the earth’s face of man,
my own creation,’ the Lord said ‘and of animals also, reptiles too, and the
birds of heaven; for I regret having made them.’ But Noah had found favour with
the Lord.
The Lord
said to Noah, ‘Go aboard the ark, you and all your household, for you alone
among this generation do I see as a good man in my judgement. Of all the clean
animals you must take seven of each kind, both male and female; of the unclean
animals you must take two, a male and its female (and of the birds of heaven
also, seven of each kind, both male and female), to propagate their kind over
the whole earth. For in seven days’ time I mean to make it rain on the earth
for forty days and nights, and I will rid the earth of every living thing that
I made.’ Noah did all that the Lord ordered.
Seven
days later the waters of the flood appeared on the earth.
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Psalm
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Psalm
28:1-4,9-10 ©
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The Lord will
bless his people with peace.
O give the Lord, you
sons of God,
give the
Lord glory and power;
give the Lord the
glory of his name.
Adore the
Lord in his holy court.
The Lord will
bless his people with peace.
The Lord’s voice
resounding on the waters,
the Lord
on the immensity of waters;
the voice of the
Lord, full of power,
the voice
of the Lord, full of splendour.
The Lord will
bless his people with peace.
The God of glory
thunders.
In his
temple they all cry: ‘Glory!’
The Lord sat
enthroned over the flood;
the Lord
sits as king for ever.
The Lord will
bless his people with peace.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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cf.Ac16:14
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O
Lord,
to accept the words
of your Son.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Jn14:23
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Alleluia, alleluia!
If anyone loves me he
will keep my word,
and my Father will
love him,
and we shall come to
him.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 8:14-21 ©
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The
disciples had forgotten to take any food and they had only one loaf with them
in the boat. Then he gave them this warning, ‘Keep your eyes open; be on your
guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.’ And they said
to one another, ‘It is because we have no bread.’ And Jesus knew it, and he
said to them, ‘Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you not yet
understand? Have you no perception? Are your minds closed? Have you eyes that
do not see, ears that do not hear? Or do you not remember? When I broke the
five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you
collect?’ They answered, ‘Twelve.’ And when I broke the seven loaves for the
four thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you collect?’ And they
answered, ‘Seven.’ Then he said to them, ‘Are you still without perception?’
IGNORANCE
AS THE CAUSE OF OUR DOWNFALL
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: GENESIS 6:5-8; 7:1-5, 10; MARK 8:14-21
One of
the most heartbreaking feelings in life is to see someone whom we know,
especially our loved ones, taking a path that we know will lead to their
perdition. More painful still, when we see the writing on the wall,
and yet they are so blind that they cannot see the price which they will have
to pay for their folly, if they do not give up their wrongdoing and walk a
righteous path.
Understandably,
we will seek all ways to help them come out of the situation. We
offer them our advice, but most of the time, it seems to fall on deaf ears and
hardened hearts. Instead of being thankful for being their watchmen, they
avoid us or even condemn us for interfering in their lives. This is
particularly true when it comes to extramarital affairs or infidelity in relationships.
Sometimes, it involves honesty and integrity in work and business
dealings. They are too blind or willful to listen to our advice.
They are not ready to face the outcome of their actions.
Wasn’t this how God felt
for His rebellious and incorrigible people in the scriptures? In the first reading from
Genesis, we read of God’s grief over His people who were destroying themselves
by living in sin. “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the
earth, and that the thoughts in his heart fashioned nothing but wickedness all
day long.” So disappointed was God with His people that He even
“regretted having made man on the earth, and his heart grieved.” No
one can imagine how much pain God suffers for us when we sin, because of His total
love and concern for us. If we feel saddened when our loved ones
continue to walk the path of destruction, how much more would God feel when we
continue to disobey His Law, which is His wisdom?
Similarly, Jesus felt
that same pain of His Father in His heart too. In spite of His
preaching, teaching and miracles, even His own disciples failed to understand
His message and recognise His true identity as the Son of the Father.
When He warned them of “the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod”, their
minds were focused on food instead. They were as dumb as the deaf man the
Lord healed earlier on. They could not perceive what Jesus was telling
them. Hence, Jesus reprimanded them, saying, “Do you not yet understand?
Have you no perception? Are your minds closed? Have you eyes that do not see,
ears that do not hear? Or do you not remember?”
What prevents such
people from seeing? Firstly, it could be because of their preoccupation
with the things of this world. In the case of the disciples, they were concerned that they
might not have sufficient food to eat themselves, since they “had forgotten to
take any food and they had only one loaf with them in the boat.” This was
the situation of Noah and the people of his time as well. They were
eating and drinking without any thought for God. We, too, can fall into
the same trap. Due to our desire to achieve more power, wealth and things
for ourselves, we can be blinded to the means we use to attain our ends.
And when we are caught up with material things or with our ambitions, we make
use of people and neglect them as persons, even our loved ones. Some of
us have no qualms in using unscrupulous and dishonest means to get what we
want, even to the extent of destroying people’s character and life.
Isn’t this the sin of
Herod that Jesus is warning us about? What is this yeast of Herod if not the fact that he was a
man who did not follow his conscience? He knew, for example, that John
the Baptist was right in reprimanding him for his adulterous relationship with
Herodias. Instead of doing the right thing, he allowed Herodias to use
him to kill John the Baptist. He was a man without scruples and not
receptive to the Word of God. By indulging in his pageantries and
luxurious living, he could not listen to the voice of God, for he chose to live
in sin and allow his selfish desires to have a better hold over him.
The other reason why we
could be blind to the wisdom of God is because of pride. This would be the yeast of the
Pharisees. The latter wanted to find justification based on their
strength. Externally, they sought to observe the laws so that they could
feel justified before God. But because they did not know the mercy of
God, they could never experience His love and compassion. Furthermore,
deep in their hearts, they knew that they could not always observe the
laws. Even if they did, it was not done in the spirit of the laws.
So exteriorly, they were upright people but interiorly they were far from
God. They became proud and self-righteous.
Jesus wants us to avoid
falling into the sin of hypocrisy. This sin is rooted in pride, the yeast of the
Pharisees. A proud person cannot listen to God’s voice and would follow
no other way than his way. He thinks he has the answer to everything and
would listen to no one, regardless of who they are. Pride ultimately
destroys us because we are left to our folly and ignorance. By not
listening to the wisdom of God spoken through His prophets and the Church and
the Scriptures, a proud person, who is so confident of his intellectual
prowess, will destroy himself, just as Adam and Eve did, for they too wanted to
be like God without God.
The third reason why we are
slow to perceive the wisdom of God and His truth is because we fail to
remember the works of God. This was what Jesus said to the
disciples. ‘“Or do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves among
the five thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you collect? And when I
broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of scraps
did you collect?”… Then he said to them, “Are you still without perception?”’
Truly, how often do we forget what God has done for us! How often do we
forget how God rescued us from dangers, distress and even death! How
often do we fail to remember that without His grace, we would have been
destroyed by our sins, the silly mistakes we made and the tragedies of
life! Indeed, we are no better than the disciples because we have the
faith imparted to us in the last 2000 years through the apostles, the wise
guidance of our Holy Mother Church, the witnesses and testimonies of the lives
of the faithful.
Yes, remembering the
goodness of God is the way to walk in the truth and to live a righteous life.
When we remember how someone has loved us, we want to return that love, not
because we have to, but because we want to. Forgetting the love and mercy
of God is the reason for our ingratitude and the loss of faith. For this
reason, the Mass is called a memorial. Every time we celebrate the Eucharist,
we remember to give thanks to God for our redemption in Christ who, by His
precious blood shed on the cross for us and through His resurrection has given
us His Holy Spirit, making us one in union with Him.
Not only should we remember
God’s forgiveness and merciful love, it is also important to bear in mind
the consequences of sin. When God said, “I will rid the earth’s face
of man, my own creation and of animals also, reptiles too, and the birds of
heaven; for I regret having made them”, it was said not out of vindictiveness.
Rather it is an expression of His suffering with us in our sins. He knows
that we would have to bear the consequences of our actions. What we sow
is what we will reap. Being aware and with our eyes wide open, as
Jesus advised us, will help us to be on guard against the yeast of the
Pharisees and Herod. In whatever we do, we must ask ourselves whether we
are ready for the consequences ahead of us. Have we thought through
carefully and considered the risks and harm that will happen to us and our
loved ones especially? Jesus foresaw the dangers ahead for His disciples
and so He took the occasion to warn them. The flood during the time of
Noah is but an expression of the consequences of the wrath of nature on a
sinful world rather than the revenge of God.
Nevertheless, we need
not fear if we turn to God and rely on His grace. The psalmist
assures us that God is on our side the moment we acknowledge Him.
He invites us to “Give to the Lord, you sons of God, give to the Lord
glory and praise, Give to the Lord the glory due his name; adore the Lord in
holy attire.” Indeed, even when God threatened to destroyed sinful
creation, He did not actually carry it out. His compassion for humanity
is manifested by the very fact that He saved humanity by choosing Noah to begin
a new humanity. Again and again, man has failed God. To ensure that
His divine plan would be a success, Christ, who is the Alpha and the Omega, the
image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation, the Head of the body,
the Church, and the New Man will ensure that we, who are in Him, are reconciled
with His Father and that the fullness of God’s love and peace dwell in
us. Through Him, we find peace and become His adopted sons and daughters.
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV
WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP
OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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