Wednesday, 1 July 2015

GOOD INTENTIONS CAN ALSO BE MISGUIDED

20150702 GOOD INTENTIONS CAN ALSO BE MISGUIDED

Readings at Mass

First reading
Genesis 22:1-19 ©
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
Psalm 114:1-6,8-9 ©
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
Psalm 113B:1-6,8-9 ©
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
Mt11:25
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
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
Matthew 9:1-8 ©
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

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