20150602
FIDELITY AND INTEGRITY IN THE FACE OF TRIALS AND
MISUNDERSTANDINGS
Readings at Mass
First reading
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Tobit 2:9-14 ©
|
I, Tobit, took a
bath; then I went into the courtyard and lay down by the courtyard wall. Since
it was hot I left my face uncovered. I did not know that there were sparrows in
the wall above my head; their hot droppings fell into my eyes. White spots then
formed, which I was obliged to have treated by the doctors. But the more
ointments they tried me with, the more the spots blinded me, and in the end I
became blind altogether. I remained without sight four years; all my brothers
were distressed; and Ahikar provided for my upkeep for two years, till he left
for Elymais.
My wife
Anna then undertook woman’s work; she would spin wool and take cloth to weave;
she used to deliver whatever had been ordered from her and then receive
payment. Now on March the seventh she finished a piece of work and delivered it
to her customers. They paid her all that was due, and into the bargain
presented her with a kid for a meal. When the kid came into my house, it began
to bleat. I called to my wife and said, ‘Where does this creature come from?
Suppose it has been stolen! Quick, let the owners have it back; we have no
right to eat stolen goods.’ She said, ‘No, it was a present given me over and
above my wages.’ I did not believe her, and told her to give it back to the
owners (I blushed at this in her presence). Then she answered, ‘What about your
own alms? What about your own good works? Everyone knows what return you have
had for them.’
Psalm
|
Psalm
111:1-2,7-9 ©
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With a firm heart
he trusts in the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
Happy the man who
fears the Lord,
who takes
delight in all his commands.
His sons will be
powerful on earth;
the
children of the upright are blessed.
With a firm heart
he trusts in the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
He has no fear of
evil news;
with a
firm heart he trusts in the Lord.
With a steadfast
heart he will not fear;
he will
see the downfall of his foes.
With a firm heart
he trusts in the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
Open-handed, he gives
to the poor;
his
justice stands firm for ever.
His head
will be raised in glory.
With a firm heart
he trusts in the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel
Acclamation
|
Heb4:12
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The word of God is
something alive and active:
it can judge secret
emotions and thoughts.
Alleluia!
Or
|
cf.Ep1:17,18
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
May the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ
enlighten the eyes of
our mind,
so that we can see
what hope his call holds for us.
Alleluia!
Gospel
|
Mark 12:13-17 ©
|
The
chief priests and the scribes and the elders sent to Jesus some Pharisees and
some Herodians to catch him out in what he said. These came and said to him,
‘Master, we know you are an honest man, that you are not afraid of anyone,
because a man’s rank means nothing to you, and that you teach the way of God in
all honesty. Is it permissible to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay,
yes or no?’ Seeing through their hypocrisy he said to them, ‘Why do you set
this trap for me? Hand me a denarius and let me see it.’ They handed him one
and he said, ‘Whose head is this? Whose name?’ ‘Caesar’s’ they told him. Jesus
said to them, ‘Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar – and to God
what belongs to God.’ This reply took them completely by surprise.
FIDELITY
AND INTEGRITY IN THE FACE OF TRIALS AND MISUNDERSTANDINGS
|
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: TOB 2:9-14;
MK 12:13-17
There
is no way to happiness and peace if we do not strive to live a life of
integrity. To think otherwise is to deceive ourselves. “The wicked
have fallen into the pit they have dug; their feet are caught in the net they
have hidden.” (Ps 9:15)
When we live a life of dishonesty, deceit and vindictiveness, we will only
bring curses upon ourselves as the psalmist warns. In attempting to
cheat and trap others, invariably, we will cheat and hurt ourselves even more.
This is
so succinctly captured by the psalmist today in the responsorial psalm when he
described the rewards of the Just Man. He said, “Blessed the man who
fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commands. His posterity shall be
mighty upon the earth; the upright generation shall be blessed. Lavishly he
gives to the poor; his generosity shall endure forever; his horn shall be
exalted in glory.” In blessing others with a good life, he blesses not
only himself but his posterity as well. That is why in another text of
the gospel, Jesus said, “forgive and you will be forgiven; give and it will be
given to you; good measure pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be
put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you
get back.” (Lk 6:38)
But
this does not appear to be true, at least apparently. The harder we seek to
live an honest life and walk the way of God, the more troubles we have.
Tobit and Christ lived a just life and yet suffered injustices and
misery. They lived a charitable life, yet they were grossly
misunderstood, even persecuted. Tobit was an honest, God-fearing
man. He had immense concern and compassion for the poor and the
marginalized, going out of his way to alleviate their sufferings, regardless of
their status. And the reward for doing all these was having enemies from
without and from within, his wife berated him for being so foolish. The
irony of it all was that he became blind one day and was deprived of his sight,
which in the Old Testament was seen as an affliction from God. So too,
Jesus was faithful to His Father’s will. He endeavored throughout His
life to do what the Father wanted and not His will. But instead of making
friends, He made enemies who wanted to have Him killed.
Many of
us Catholics and Christians also feel short-changed too, especially in the
office or when doing business. By not employing unscrupulous means to get
business contracts, they appear to be losers in worldly terms. It seems the
wicked prosper more and more, living a better life, whereas the good and honest
people suffer. So what is the use of righteous living? It does not earn us a
good and luxurious life. This too was the cynicism of Tobit’s wife with
regard to her husband’s refusal to bend to the ways of the world. When he
insisted on being honest, even when they were in need, she sarcastically
retorted: “What about your own alms? What about your own good works? Everyone
knows what return you have had for them.” So the question is: Does
being good, honest and faithful to God, ourselves and our fellowmen pay?
Are we losers in this game of life?
The truth
is that the lack of integrity and fidelity to our vocation in life and the
values of the Gospel would cause us untold problems in time to come, if not in
this world, surely in the life to come. Those who live by the sword will
die by the sword. Look at the dictators of the world. They are eventually
brought down by their own people, as we can see in many parts of the world.
Those who lie, cheat in business or in relationships, will eventually be
uncovered. They will have a high price to pay for their greed. Not
only will their families break apart, their work and business will be affected
as their personal problems, family issues and guilt will have a toll on their
conscience, draining all their energy and concentration required for their work
and business.
Why?
The reality is that we cannot run away from who we are, created in the image of
God’s likeness and love. This truth can be drawn from Jesus’ reply to the
question of whether one should pay taxes to Caesar or not. After being
handed a denarius, He asked, “Whose head is this? Whose name?” It is a
question of integrity. In an ingenious and enlightening manner, Jesus drew a
distinction between the state and religion. In saying that one should
‘Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar – and to God what belongs to God’,
Jesus is challenging the Jewish leaders to confront their real
allegiance. Hence we must be true to ourselves at all times. To the
state, we give it the rightful obedience it deserves, since it is the duty of
the state to look after its citizens and preserve peace and harmony; and to
God, we give our absolute obedience He deserves, because we are created in His
image.
Secondly,
just as we expect the state to protect us according to the laws of the land, we
can expect God to protect us according to the promises He made to us. Tobit
himself was overcome by fear and was not just physically but spiritually blind,
so much so he could not see that God was still with him by first giving him his
brothers to help him out. As he said, “I remained without sight four
years; all my brothers were distressed; and Ahikar provided for my upkeep for
two years, till he left for Elymais.” Then later on, in His divine
providence, God provided his wife with a job of spinning wool and weaving cloth.
Not only did she do her job well but she received a big bonus of a kid as well,
beyond the required payment. But Tobit refused to believe her and insisted that
she returned it. Tobit did not have sufficient faith and trust in divine
providence and in his wife. Aren’t we like that as well in our sufferings
and pain? We are blind to the many ways God shows us His love and care through
others and certain providential events in our lives. Instead of grumbling and
doubting, we must confess the fidelity of God to His faithful ones, like the
psalmist when he declared, “An evil report he shall not fear; his heart is
firm, trusting in the Lord. His heart is steadfast; he shall not fear till he
looks down upon his foes. The heart of the just one is firm, trusting in the
Lord.”
In the
final analysis, let us always be conscious that happiness is never to be
measured by what we own and what office we hold in society. It is who we
are as persons, created for love and relationships that ultimately
matters. Time will prove that living a just and righteous life will bring
us real happiness. The peace and joy and freedom that come from
equanimity towards all things and forgiveness are so precious that no amount of
money and prestige in life can give us. This peace and joy we have will
flow towards all those whom we meet, especially our family and our children,
for the psalmist confesses, “Lavishly he gives to the poor; his generosity
shall endure forever; his horn shall be exalted in glory.” So great
is the joy that comes from a compassionate, forgiving and generous heart that
one would never want to exchange such a life for another.
Conversely,
if we are like the wicked people and the hypocrites, like the Pharisees who
were consumed with jealousy, anger and hatred for the rich, and captivated by
their greed and desire for power and recognition, we will never find peace in
this life. For such people, they see the wisdom of the righteous as
folly. They think falsehood, deception, self aggrandizement and cheating
without getting caught is the way to life and happiness. They will await
their punishment, not from God, but from the very sins they commit, as sins
always recoil on the doers who commit them.
Of
course, those of us who live righteous lives must not fall into the danger of
self-righteousness. Tobit erred in this manner for misjudging his wife,
although his intention was sincere and good. But by presuming that his
wife had taken stolen goods and committed a fraudulent act, he was being too
presumptuous. His wife too, could also have been trying to live a righteous
life, perhaps not to the level of generosity that Tobit had. We can
imagine how hurtful it must have been for his wife, Anna, to be falsely accused
and be doubted for her honesty and sincerity. No wonder she reacted with
bitterness and sarcasm. What happened to her also happens to us,
especially in our own household where good intentions are often misinterpreted
by our loved ones. How painful it is when they pass rash judgements and
false accusations on us! Hence, even as we seek to live a life of
integrity and fidelity to our values and ourselves, let us not become
judgemental, proud and arrogant, otherwise, we would also fall into the snare
of the Evil One. Spiritual pride is even more insidious and dangerous
than crude pride and arrogance. Instead, let us give glory to God
for His grace and in humility thank Him for keeping us faithful to Him and
courageous in always doing the right and honest thing.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh
Roman
Catholic Archbishop of Singapore
©
All Rights Reserved
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