20151116
BUILDING SUPERFICIAL UNITY THROUGH SHORTSIGHTED
MEANS
Readings at Mass
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First reading
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1 Maccabees
1:10-15,41-43,54-57,62-64 ©
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There grew a sinful
offshoot, Antiochus Epiphanes, son of King Antiochus; once a hostage in Rome,
he became king in the one hundred and thirty-seventh year of the kingdom of the
Greeks. It was then that there emerged from Israel a set of renegades who led
many people astray. ‘Come,’ they said ‘let us reach an understanding with the
pagans surrounding us, for since we separated ourselves from them many
misfortunes have overtaken us.’ This proposal proved acceptable, and a number
of the people eagerly approached the king, who authorised them to practise the
pagan observances. So they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem, such as the pagans
have, disguised their circumcision, and abandoned the holy covenant, submitting
to the heathen rule as willing slaves of impiety.
Then the
king issued a proclamation to his whole kingdom that all were to become a
single people, each renouncing his particular customs. All the pagans conformed
to the king’s decree, and many Israelites chose to accept his religion,
sacrificing to idols and profaning the sabbath. The king erected the
abomination of desolation above the altar; and altars were built in the
surrounding towns of Judah and incense offered at the doors of houses and in
the streets. Any books of the Law that came to light were torn up and burned.
Whenever anyone was discovered possessing a copy of the covenant or practising
the Law, the king’s decree sentenced him to death.
Yet there
were many in Israel who stood firm and found the courage to refuse unclean
food. They chose death rather than contamination by such fare or profanation of
the holy covenant, and they were executed. It was a dreadful wrath that visited
Israel.
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Psalm
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Psalm
118:53,61,134,150,155,158 ©
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Give me life, O
Lord, and I will do your will.
I am seized with
indignation at the wicked
who
forsake your law.
Though the nets of
the wicked ensnared me
I
remembered your law.
Give me life, O
Lord, and I will do your will.
Redeem me from man’s
oppression
and I
will keep your precepts.
Those who harm me
unjustly draw near;
they are
far from your law.
Give me life, O
Lord, and I will do your will.
Salvation is far from
the wicked
who are
heedless of your statutes.
I look at the
faithless with disgust;
they
ignore your promise.
Give me life, O
Lord, and I will do your will.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Jn8:12
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Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the light of the
world, says the Lord;
anyone who follows me
will have the light of life.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 18:35-43 ©
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As
Jesus drew near to Jericho there was a blind man sitting at the side of the
road begging. When he heard the crowd going past he asked what it was all
about, and they told him that Jesus the Nazarene was passing by. So he called
out, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.’ The people in front scolded him
and told him to keep quiet, but he shouted all the louder, ‘Son of David, have
pity on me.’ Jesus stopped and ordered them to bring the man to him, and when
he came up, asked him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ ‘Sir,’ he replied
‘let me see again.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight. Your faith has
saved you.’ And instantly his sight returned and he followed him praising God,
and all the people who saw it gave praise to God for what had happened.
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BUILDING SUPERFICIAL UNITY THROUGH SHORTSIGHTED MEANS
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SCRIPTURE
READINGS: 1 Maccabees
1:10-15, 41-43,
54-57,
62-64;
LUKE 18:35-43
All of
us seek unity and peace. But should we seek unity at all costs?
Someone once asked me, “Is it more important to seek justice and righteousness
or to maintain peace?” Which would you choose? This question is
erroneous in the first instance because there can be no peace without true
justice. “Peace is not merely the absence of war. Nor can it be
reduced solely to the maintenance of a balance of power between opposing
forces. Instead it is rightly and properly called ‘the effect of justice.’
Peace is the fruit of the harmony built into human society by its divine
founder, and is brought about by men as they strive to attain an even more
perfect justice.” (Gaudium et spes N. 78)
But
that’s what we all want to have; peace without justice. If we try to preserve
peace without justice, that peace is superficial and illusory. We might
have external peace with respect to our relationship with our enemies, but
there is no interior peace because we know that we have not been faithful to
the truth of God spoken in our hearts. No matter how hard the world
tries, they cannot silence the voice of God within us, especially when we
arrive at our deathbed.
Truly,
peace and unity cannot be sought apart from truth. This is what the world is
seeking to do. The world advocates peace and unity without truth, since ethical
relativism is the absolute truth today. It becomes an absolute principle
to live and let live. As a consequence there is an even greater division in
society today. This is the result of moral decay.
This
was the same temptation of the Jews when some of them chose to imbibe in the
Gentiles’ values as a way of seeking unity and integration. Today we term this
perverted inculturation as “secularization”, when Christians shed or compromise
their Christian and gospel values for that of the world’s. In order to
feel accepted by society, many of our Catholics hide their faith and identity
as Catholics and even adopt worldly values and lifestyles. Isn’t this the
same reason why some Jews turned away from their faith? “’Come’ they said ‘let
us reach an understanding with the pagans surrounding us. For since we
separated ourselves from them many misfortunes have overtaken us.’ This
proposal proved acceptable, and a number of the people eagerly approached the
king, who authorised them to practise the pagan observances.” Why would
anyone desire to become Catholic if how we live our lives is not very different
from how the rest of the world lives? If we do not make a difference in the
lives of others, we will not be able to attract them to join us.
Another
attempt at superficial unity is to impose man-made religion. The evil
king sought unity by creating his own religion so that all could be one. This
man-made religion today takes the form of the worship of man, humanism, economy
and technology. Even churches seek to become and act like corporations,
with values taken from the world such as productivity and utility, or creating
impact with visually attractive worship leaders and state-of-the-art settings.
Quite often, pastors today behave more like CEOs rather than pastors with a
heart of the Good Shepherd. We treat our workers and our staff with the
same yardstick that the world regards their staff. The world values its
staff by their productivity and the bottom line is profit. But the ways
of the Church are different. We value compassion before justice;
forgiveness before penalty; effectiveness before efficiency. We do not
hire and fire. Our staff are not measured by performance indicators but
by the beatitudes of the gospel, which is to give their best, namely, the
widow’s mite. Nor do we resort to using human means alone to proclaim the
gospel; relying instead on the power of the Holy Spirit. We do not think
that techniques are the means to attract people to Christ. Rather, it is our
sincerity and conviction in Christ and the proclamation in the power of the
Holy Spirit. This is not to say that we cannot employ modern means of
engagement, but we must learn to rely more on God’s graces and power than to trust
in human ingenuity and efforts alone.
Another
way of creating superficial unity and peace is by suppressing those who
disagree with us. This was the way of King Antiophanes when he killed
those who refused to submit to his religion. This was what the crowd
tried to do for the sake of peace and order in today’s scripture; they tried to
silence the cries of the blind man. This is the form taken by the old
communism and that of religious extremists and fanatics. All these are
superficial ways and will not lead to real peace. Such peace is illusory.
It creates pride and fear. Anything that is suppressed will
eventually lead to revolt. Again, Gaudium et spes reiterates that peace cannot
“arise out of government by tyranny.” (GS 78)
What,
then, is the way to real and lasting peace? Today, the gospel shows us
the way. Firstly, the way to peace must be founded on the way of
truth. It is the way of the blind man who said to the Lord, “that I may
see.” We must be ready to seek the truth as well. The truth can
only be found by those who seek it. Where can we find the truth today
since everything is so grey? The truth is found only in God; and Christ is the
truth and wisdom of God. Ironically, only the blind man could see Jesus
as the truth. To see the truth we must hear the voice of God.
To reject God is to reject the truth. This is the whole problem
with the secular world today. It wants to find the truth without faith in
God as the absolute truth. As a result we are misled by our ignorance and
subjective judgment as we do not have the total truth as man. That is why
we must not allow the noise of the world to suppress the voice of God. We
are reminded of those who stood firm in truth even at the cost of their own
lives. “Yet there were many in Israel who stood firm and found the courage to
refuse unclean food. They chose death rather than contamination by such
fare or profanation of the holy covenant, and they were executed.”
Secondly,
truth can only be fully understood by the way of faith. Like the blind
man, we must cry out to the Lord, “’Jesus, Son of David, have pity on
me.” We must make the leap of faith in Jesus as the Son of David, the
Messiah. Only those who are willing to surrender in faith like the blind
man will see Jesus. Without spiritual sight, we cannot see the truth
which transcends the reason of man. This faith is principally faith in
the peace that Christ brings by His death and resurrection.
Thirdly,
we must follow the path of Jesus, which is the way of love and compassion.
In response to the blind man’s cries, Jesus called out to him even when
others rejected him and considered him a nuisance. Jesus’ empathy for the
man led Him to notice the blind man and heal him of his physical
blindness. Love heals blindness to the truth. Very often, although
we speak the truth, we may fail to speak the truth in love. Or our
recipients are unable to hear us as they do not see that we are speaking the
truth for love of them. Thus before truth can be spoken, we must first
win over those whom we want to be enlightened by our love. Again Gaudium
et spes says, “This peace on earth cannot be obtained unless personal
well-being is safeguarded and men freely and trustingly share with one another
the riches of their inner spirits and their talents. A firm determination to
respect other men and peoples and their dignity, as well as the studied
practice of brotherhood are absolutely necessary for the establishment of
peace. Hence peace is likewise the fruit of love, which goes beyond what justice
can provide.” (GS 78)
Finally,
the way of dialogue is necessary because dialogue requires openness and
truthfulness. Jesus did not heal the man immediately but asked him, “What
do you want me to do for you?” Why did he ask the man an obvious
question? Because it was necessary for Jesus to help the man to search
himself as to whether he really wants to be healed, and to be subjected to the
implications and obligations of the gift of sight. When he was ready, the
Lord healed him. We are told that when his sight was restored, “He
followed him praising God, and all the people who saw it gave praise to God for
what had happened.” Ironically, although many of us can see, we do not
wish to see. We do not desire to know the truth because we are reluctant
to change. That is why we will never find the truth. For if
we really see, it rightfully follows that we must also act. To know the
truth implies the obligation to act accordingly. This is the reason why
all Christians are urgently summoned to practice the truth in love and to join
with all true peacemakers in appealing for peace and working to achieve it.”
(GS 78)
Yes,
today, if we want to establish peace in our community, homes and parishes, we
must pay heed to the example set for us by Jesus and the blind man. We
must imitate the blind man in persevering in the path to peace. It is a
difficult journey marked by rejection and disappointments. But if we are
attentive to the Lord and remain patient, He will hear us and heal us of our ignorance
and blindness so that upon seeing the truth, we can walk the way of love and
compassion.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh
Roman
Catholic Archbishop of Singapore
© All Rights Reserved
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