20150702 GOOD INTENTIONS CAN ALSO BE MISGUIDED
Readings at Mass
First reading
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Genesis 22:1-19 ©
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God put Abraham to
the test. ‘Abraham, Abraham’ he called. ‘Here I am’ he replied. ‘Take your
son,’ God said ‘your only child Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of
Moriah. There you shall offer him as a burnt offering, on a mountain I will
point out to you.’
Rising
early next morning Abraham saddled his ass and took with him two of his
servants and his son Isaac. He chopped wood for the burnt offering and started
on his journey to the place God had pointed out to him. On the third day
Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. Then Abraham said to his
servants, ‘Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there; we will
worship and come back to you.’
Abraham
took the wood for the burnt offering, loaded it on Isaac, and carried in his
own hands the fire and the knife. Then the two of them set out together. Isaac
spoke to his father Abraham, ‘Father’ he said. ‘Yes, my son’ he replied.
‘Look,’ he said ‘here are the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the
burnt offering?’ Abraham answered, ‘My son, God himself will provide the lamb
for the burnt offering.’ Then the two of them went on together.
When they
arrived at the place God had pointed out to him, Abraham built an altar there,
and arranged the wood. Then he bound his son Isaac and put him on the altar on
top of the wood. Abraham stretched out his hand and seized the knife to kill
his son.
But the
angel of the Lord called to him from heaven. ‘Abraham, Abraham’ he said. ‘I am
here’ he replied. ‘Do not raise your hand against the boy’ the angel said. ‘Do
not harm him, for now I know you fear God. You have not refused me your son,
your only son.’ Then looking up, Abraham saw a ram caught by its horns in a
bush. Abraham took the ram and offered it as a burnt-offering in place of his
son. Abraham called this place ‘The Lord Provides’, and hence the saying today:
On the mountain the Lord provides.
The angel
of the Lord called Abraham a second time from heaven. ‘I swear by my own
self – it is the Lord who speaks – because you have done this,
because you have not refused me your son, your only son, I will shower
blessings on you, I will make your descendants as many as the stars of heaven
and the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants shall gain possession
of the gates of their enemies. All the nations of the earth shall bless
themselves by your descendants, as a reward for your obedience.’
Abraham
went back to his servants, and together they set out for Beersheba, and he
settled in Beersheba.
EITHER:
The
first psalm shown here is used in the whole world except the USA, and the
second one is used in the USA because of a clerical error.
Psalm
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Psalm
114:1-6,8-9 ©
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I will walk in the
presence of the Lord in the land of the living.
I love the Lord for
he has heard
the cry
of my appeal;
for he turned his ear
to me
in the
day when I called him.
I will walk in the
presence of the Lord in the land of the living.
They surrounded me,
the snares of death,
with the
anguish of the tomb;
they caught me,
sorrow and distress.
I called
on the Lord’s name.
O Lord, my God,
deliver me!
I will walk in the
presence of the Lord in the land of the living.
How gracious is the
Lord, and just;
our God
has compassion.
The Lord protects the
simple hearts;
I was
helpless so he saved me.
I will walk in the
presence of the Lord in the land of the living.
He has kept my soul
from death,
my eyes
from tears
and my
feet from stumbling.
I will walk in the
presence of the Lord
in the
land of the living.
I will walk in the
presence of the Lord in the land of the living.
OR:
Alternative
Psalm
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Psalm
113B:1-6,8-9 ©
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I will walk in the
presence of the Lord in the land of the living.
Not to us, Lord, not
to us,
but to
your name give the glory
for the sake of your
love and your truth,
lest the
heathen say: ‘Where is their God?’
I will walk in the
presence of the Lord in the land of the living.
But our God is in the
heavens;
he does
whatever he wills.
Their idols are
silver and gold,
the work
of human hands.
I will walk in the
presence of the Lord in the land of the living.
They have mouths but
they cannot speak;
they have
eyes but they cannot see;
they have ears but
they cannot hear;
they have
nostrils but they cannot smell.
I will walk in the
presence of the Lord in the land of the living.
Their makers will
come to be like them
and so
will all who trust in them.
Sons of Israel, trust
in the Lord;
he is
their help and their shield.
I will walk in the
presence of the Lord in the land of the living.
Gospel
Acclamation
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Mt11:25
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are you,
Father,
Lord of heaven and
earth,
for revealing the
mysteries of the kingdom
to mere children.
Alleluia!
Or
|
2Co5:19
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Alleluia, alleluia!
God in Christ was
reconciling the world to himself,
and he has entrusted
to us the news that they are reconciled.
Alleluia!
Gospel
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Matthew 9:1-8 ©
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Jesus
got in the boat, crossed the water and came to his own town. Then some people
appeared, bringing him a paralytic stretched out on a bed. Seeing their faith,
Jesus said to the paralytic, ‘Courage, my child, your sins are forgiven.’ And
at this some scribes said to themselves, ‘This man is blaspheming.’ Knowing
what was in their minds Jesus said, ‘Why do you have such wicked thoughts in
your hearts? Now, which of these is easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven,” or
to say, “Get up and walk”? But to prove to you that the Son of Man has
authority on earth to forgive sins,’ – he said to the paralytic –
‘get up, and pick up your bed and go off home.’ And the man got up and went
home. A feeling of awe came over the crowd when they saw this, and they praised
God for giving such power to men.
GOOD
INTENTIONS CAN ALSO BE MISGUIDED
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: GENESIS 22:1-19;
MT 9:1-8
When
Jesus was on the cross, He prayed, “Father, forgive them; they do not know what
they are doing.” (Lk 23:34)
I would tend to agree with Jesus that most of our sufferings in the world come
from the sin of ignorance. Ignorance can come from a lack of clarity of
the truth in terms of knowledge, understanding and perception. This leads
one to being misguided in one’s actions, whether doing evil or good. When
one is misguided, he labours under the belief that he is doing the right thing,
or even a good thing.
Can we
therefore exonerate all those who do evil? Of course not! Being
ignorant of a truth can be a matter of degree. Secondly, there is the
question of culpability of an erroneous judgment. Thirdly, there is also
the extent of consent to something that we do. So even though ignorant
people are not totally guilty of their sins, that does not make them free from
guilt as they could be culpable in not taking the necessary steps to search for
the truth. For example, in the question of abortion or euthanasia or same
sex union, we need to search the scriptures carefully; the history of morals
and current psychological and scientific studies to help us grasp the truth of
what the Church intends to teach before we take such matters into our own
hands. Indeed, many practice euthanasia in the name of mercy-killing; and
so, too, many abort unborn children under the excuse that the child would
suffer more as the parents are not ready to take care of the baby. So
even in evil deeds, many are misguided as to the full implications of what they
are doing. But because such actions spring from some form of ill-will and
selfishness, even revenge, they cannot be acquitted from their sinful actions.
To some extent, their ignorance can mitigate their sins but the consequences of
their actions will unfold in their lives as they and those related to them will
suffer the effects of their foolish acts.
What is
true of evil actions is also true of good actions. Just as evil actions
can harm oneself and others, so too, even supposedly good actions. Many parents
apparently work hard for a good living for their families, but often at the
expense of giving quality time and affection to their children. Pre-marital
or casual sex is practiced simply because couples feel that it is an expression
of love, especially when the emotional relationship is not strong. As a
consequence, lovers regret and become insecure, destroying trust and confidence
that are so necessary for growing the affective and emotional dimensions of the
relationship. Indeed, such people, although not maliciously sinful,
certainly because they are misguided, can harm both themselves and those whom
they claim to love.
Wasn’t
this the case of Abraham and that of the scribes and Pharisees in today’s
scripture readings? In the first reading, we have the sacrifice of Isaac.
This story has its primitive origin in human sacrifice, especially of children,
which was practiced in ancient times but later abandoned. Indeed, some
readers wondered how God could demand Abraham to sacrifice his only son,
Isaac. This seems unthinkable, since God is a merciful and loving
God. In its historical meaning, the story illustrates precisely that God does
not want any human sacrifice. Hence, He stopped Abraham from killing
Isaac.
The
truth is that Abraham, obedient as he was to God, misinterpreted God’s desire
that He should sacrifice his only son. It was a misguided action due to a
wrong interpretation of God’s will that resulted in Abraham’s near execution of
his son. Of course, in his case, the intention was right, as Abraham
wanted to give everything to God and obey Him in everything, and would hold
nothing back, not even his only son. So on the level of history; it was a
mistake of Abraham. On the level of spirituality, Abraham was recognized
as the Father of faith because of his total obedience to the Lord.
Such
people do exist even in our day, such as terrorists. They truly believe
that God wants them to die for their people’s freedom and justice; or for the
purity and defence of their religion. Such people sincerely, although
misguided, believe that their death is a martyrdom for God and His people and
that a greater good will come out of their destructive actions which claim even
innocent lives. But one need not be a terrorist to do such things.
In the name of religion or even in the cause of justice, one can use unjust
means to bring about the end, such as proselytization or religious suppression;
and using evil means to destroy evil people.
In the
same vein, we have the scribes and Pharisees who were also misguided as to what
the Lord expected of them. They were sincere people who wanted to uphold
the Law of Moses. They were right in saying, “This man is blaspheming” because
no one can forgive sins except God alone. So uncompromising were they in
holding this tenet of faith that they could not believe that God could work
beyond the confines of theology and rules set by man. Jesus challenged this
narrow understanding of God’s authority when He said to the paralytic, “Get up,
pick up your bed and go off home.” And of course, later on, in the
name of God and the preservation of the Law of Moses, they thought it was the
best thing to have Jesus put to death even if they had to frame Him for
something that Jesus did not do or say.
Indeed,
they could not break out of the theological framework that they were brought up
with. In their view, Jesus was a rebel, a law breaker and because His
hard teachings were so true, it was too difficult for them to accept.
Pride, fear, anxiety and protectionism confused the intention of the religious
leaders in their desire to put Jesus away. Should we be surprised too
that many of us are similarly stuck in the cultural or religious traditions
that we were brought up with, so that even in the face of irrelevancy or
superstition, we find it hard to abandon our practices? We call ourselves
traditionalists, meaning faithful to the tradition, when in actual fact by
failing to change we observe only the laws but miss the spirit of the
traditions. Thus the same sentiments come to play, namely, pride, fear, anxiety
rule our minds and actions.
What is
the striking contrast between the attitude of Abraham and religious leaders
during Jesus’ time? In the case of Abraham, when he came to realize that
he had misinterpreted the mercy and demands of God, he immediately withdrew his
decision and did not go ahead with his intended plan. Abraham was docile
and receptive to the cultural reversal where children’s sacrifices were then
practiced by the pagans. In contrast, the religious leaders, even after
Jesus’ explanation, remained hardened in their hearts, in spite of the fact
that they saw before their very eyes, “the man got up and went home.” And
we also noted that unlike the Jewish leaders, the ordinary people were filled
with awe “when they saw this, and they praised God for giving such power to
men.”
What
about us, where do we stand? Are we on the side of Abraham, willing to
correct our theological and philosophical positions when corrected, or are we
like the Jewish religious leaders, resistant to change? By continuing to
be misguided rather than being guided by truth and love, we actually cause more
harm to those whom we claim to love, God and our fellowmen, as well as
ourselves. Hence, we must pray for wisdom, which require humility and
discernment, both accompanying pre-requisites for discerning the truth with
love. With the psalmist, we must pray, “I will walk in the presence of the
Lord, in the land of the living. Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name
give glory because of your kindness, because of your truth.” The moral of
today’s lesson is clear. It is not enough to have good intentions, but
the intentions must be objectively good. Good will is not good enough!
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh
Roman
Catholic Archbishop of Singapore
© All Rights Reserved
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