20150305 INDIFFERENCE AS THE REAL OBSTACLE TO CONVERSION
Readings at Mass
|
First reading
|
|
Jeremiah 17:5-10
©
|
The Lord says this:
‘A curse on the man
who puts his trust in man,
who relies on things
of flesh,
whose heart turns
from the Lord.
He is like dry scrub
in the wastelands:
if good comes, he has
no eyes for it,
he settles in the
parched places of the wilderness,
a salt land,
uninhabited.
‘A blessing on the
man who puts his trust in the Lord,
with the Lord for his
hope.
He is like a tree by
the waterside
that thrusts its
roots to the stream:
when the heat comes
it feels no alarm,
its foliage stays
green;
it has no worries in
a year of drought,
and never ceases to
bear fruit.
‘The heart is more
devious than any other thing,
perverse too: who can
pierce its secrets?
I, the Lord, search
to the heart,
I probe the loins,
to give each man what
his conduct
and his actions
deserve.’
|
Psalm
|
Psalm 1:1-4,6 ©
|
Happy the man who
has placed his trust in the Lord.
Happy indeed is the
man
who
follows not the counsel of the wicked;
nor lingers in the
way of sinners
nor sits
in the company of scorners,
but whose delight is
the law of the Lord
and who
ponders his law day and night.
Happy the man who
has placed his trust in the Lord.
He is like a tree
that is planted
beside
the flowing waters,
that yields its fruit
in due season
and whose
leaves shall never fade;
and all
that he does shall prosper.
Happy the man who
has placed his trust in the Lord.
Not so are the
wicked, not so!
For they like
winnowed chaff
shall be
driven away by the wind.
for the Lord guards
the way of the just
but the
way of the wicked leads to doom.
Happy the man who
has placed his trust in the Lord.
|
Gospel
Acclamation
|
Lk15:18
|
Praise to you, O
Christ, king of eternal glory!
I will leave this
place and go to my father and say:
‘Father, I have
sinned against heaven and against you.’
Praise to you, O
Christ, king of eternal glory!
|
Or
|
cf.Lk8:15
|
Praise to you, O
Christ, king of eternal glory!
Blessed are those who,
with a noble and
generous heart,
take the word of God
to themselves
and yield a harvest
through their perseverance.
Praise to you, O
Christ, king of eternal glory!
|
Gospel
|
Luke 16:19-31 ©
|
Jesus said to the
Pharisees, ‘There was a rich man who used to dress in purple and fine linen and
feast magnificently every day. And at his gate there lay a poor man called
Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to fill himself with the scraps that
fell from the rich man’s table. Dogs even came and licked his sores. Now the
poor man died and was carried away by the angels to the bosom of Abraham. The
rich man also died and was buried.
‘In his
torment in Hades he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off with Lazarus in
his bosom. So he cried out, “Father Abraham, pity me and send Lazarus to dip
the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in agony in these
flames.” “My son,” Abraham replied “remember that during your life good things
came your way, just as bad things came the way of Lazarus. Now he is being
comforted here while you are in agony. But that is not all: between us and you
a great gulf has been fixed, to stop anyone, if he wanted to, crossing from our
side to yours, and to stop any crossing from your side to ours.”
‘The
rich man replied, “Father, I beg you then to send Lazarus to my father’s house,
since I have five brothers, to give them warning so that they do not come to
this place of torment too.” “They have Moses and the prophets,” said Abraham
“let them listen to them..” “Ah no, father Abraham,” said the rich man “but if
someone comes to them from the dead, they will repent.” Then Abraham said to
him, “If they will not listen either to Moses or to the prophets, they will not
be convinced even if someone should rise from the dead.”’
INDIFFERENCE
AS THE REAL OBSTACLE TO CONVERSION
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: JER 17:5-10; LK 16:19-31
The general theme during
the second week of Lent is conversion. This theme takes its cue from the gospel of the 2nd
Sunday of Lent, which speaks of the Transfiguration of Jesus and the
transforming experience of the apostles. The motive for conversion,
according to today’s scripture readings, is that there is some kind of
continuity between this present life and the next; between now and the
future. Indeed, as Jeremiah prophesied, “I, the Lord, search to the
heart, I probe the loins to give each man what his conduct deserves.” We
all know that this is certainly true. But in spite of such warnings, how
is it that we are still not responding to the call for conversion?
Where, then, is our
heart? What kind of heart do we have? Are we a compassionate
and merciful person, or are we indifferent towards those who suffer, be they
human beings or even animals? Very often, conversion, seen as
metanoia, is a change of life, from one form to another. It is supposedly
a radical change. We understand conversion as a change from an evil, worldly
and selfish life to a good, godly and selfless life. Why is it that some
of us continue to live in a selfish manner towards other beings? How could we,
in the face of human suffering, especially seeing our fellowmen suffering
either from injustice, poverty, hunger or discrimination, turn a blind eye to
their pain or worse still, be the cause and perpetuators of their
suffering? What is the cause of a hardened heart?
If conversion is
difficult, it is because indifference has entered into our lives. This is the real obstacle towards
conversion of heart. Why? Because indifference is worse than
hatred. Between love and hatred, there is only a thin line. Thus
those whom we hate are really those we love. But when love is spurned,
hatred sets in. Indifference is the worst of all sins because it is the sin
against the Holy Spirit. It is when one is numb to the pains of our
fellowmen, and of course to the pain of God, who showed His love for us in the
suffering and death of our Lord Jesus Christ. Being oblivious to their
pain is what makes us commit sin since what we do not see, we do not feel and
therefore do not care. Seeing, of course, is more than physical sight,
but the seeing of the heart. So if we find ourselves not only sinning
against our fellowmen but against God, it is because we do feel with them and
certainly not with God, since He seems to be an invisible and absent
figure. No wonder, fools in the bible are those who think that God does
not see.
This sin of indifference
is exemplified by the rich man in today’s parable. His real sin was not his hatred
for Lazarus, but selfishness and worldliness expressed in his
indifference. He was so filled with himself, consumed by his wealth and
the pleasures of life, that he did not even notice Lazarus outside his door.
As far as he was concerned, anyone outside his house was not his
business. He was totally oblivious to the predicament of Lazarus.
As the proverb says, there is none so blind as those who would not
see. Possibly, for the rich man, he could not stand the sight of Lazarus
and so he mentally closed his mind to Lazarus’ presence. It was not
because he could not see but that he did not want to see. Isn’t it true
for many of us? We see injustice and scandals all around us, but we turn
a blind eye to the reality. We are afraid to take action or champion the
cause of truth and right, especially the voiceless, marginalized and the poor,
for fear of falling out of favour with the powerful and the rich in
society. We try to soothe our conscience by suppressing it and
rationalizing it. Most likely, the rich man must have tried to justify
why he should not help Lazarus. But as Jeremiah says, God knows the depth of
our hearts. We cannot deceive Him!
Ironically, only the
dogs were sensitive to the presence of Lazarus and they attended to him by
licking up his wounds.
Indeed, the dogs were more present to Lazarus than human beings. This
situation echoes the first reading when we are told, “A curse on the man who
puts his trust in man, who relies on things of flesh, whose heart turns from
the Lord.” This is always the mistake of man, trusting in their
fellowmen more than they trust God. When we rely on the things of the
world like the Israelites, tragedy befalls us. The Israelites trusted in their
military might and their strength instead of being faithful to the Lord.
The rich man trusted in his own wealth, failing to realize he would not be able
to take them to the next world.
Thus, those who have
hardened their hearts to the needs and sufferings of their fellowmen, and
continue to hurt and harm them or fail to assist when they can, will hinder
themselves from finding true peace and joy. Within this context, we
can understand why Abraham told the rich man, “between us and you a great gulf
has been fixed, to stop anyone, if he wanted to, crossing from our side to
yours, and to stop any crossing from your side to ours.” Indeed, indifference
is the worst sin against ourselves and our neighbours. Indifference is
worse than hatred, for if we are hated by our enemies, at least they
acknowledge our existence. But not so when people are indifferent to us
because we do not even exist in their sight.
When we apply this truth to
our personal and spiritual life, we can say that the real obstacle to
conversion is not simply because we are sinners. The real problem is
that we have become indifferent to our sinful situation. Like the
rich man, we have grown used to the state of misery that we are in, so much so
that we think that is the best kind of life to live. Losing sensitivity
to sin is the worst of all sins. At least if we are aware that we are
sinful, there is still an opportunity for conversion. But when we have
become identified with our sinfulness, there is very little hope of
conversion. As a result, sin, like cancer, grows gradually in us until we
become totally indifferent to what life is all about.
But the most serious
consequence of indifference is that we cannot hear God anymore. We
are unable to see the signs from God, like the Pharisees implied in today’s
gospel. The rich man symbolized the Pharisees who refused to change their
lives even after hearing the gospel message of Jesus. Like the rich man
who implored that Lazarus be sent to warn his brothers of their impending
destiny but was told that they would not listen to him; a time will come too
when we who are so full of ourselves, our luxuries or our hurts that we cannot
hear God’s promptings anymore. Not even, as Jesus rightly said, “if
someone should rise from the dead.” To be incapable of love, of feeling
with those in pain, is as good as being dead. When the heart no longer
feels, one ceases to be a real person.
Indeed, today, we are
called to heed the advice of Jeremiah. We must trust in God.
God knows our hearts, devious as they may be. He knows our fears, our
hurts, our attachments, and our slavery. He knows that perhaps these could be
the reasons why we are too numbed to hear the invitation of Jesus to repent and
live the life of the gospel. Let us pray that God will soften our heart
so that we can be docile to hear His Word and allow ourselves to melt in His
love and so be able to love again. Until that happens, conversion cannot
yet begin.
But if we do not harden our
hearts, then Jeremiah assures us that if we place our security in Him
instead, relying on His strength, love and mercy, we will bear fruits of love
and joy in our lives. “A blessing on the man who puts his trust in
the Lord. With the Lord for his hope. He is like a tree by the waterside that
thrusts its roots to the stream: when the heat comes it feels no alarm, its
foliage stays green; it has no worries in a year of drought, and never ceases
to bear fruit.” The psalmist confirms these words when he said, “Blessed
are they who hope in the Lord. He is like a tree planted near running water,
that yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade. Whatever he
does, prospers.”
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV
WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP
OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No comments:
Post a Comment