REMAINING STEADFAST IN OUR CONVICTIONS IN THE FACE OF CHALLENGES

20151117 REMAINING STEADFAST IN OUR CONVICTIONS IN THE FACE OF CHALLENGES

Readings at Mass

First reading

2 Maccabees 6:18-31 ©

Eleazar, one of the foremost teachers of the Law, a man already advanced in years and of most noble appearance, was being forced to open his mouth wide to swallow pig’s flesh. But he, resolving to die with honour rather than to live disgraced, went to the block of his own accord, spitting the stuff out, the plain duty of anyone with the courage to reject what it is not lawful to taste, even from a natural tenderness for his own life. Those in charge of the impious banquet, because of their long-standing friendship with him, took him aside and privately urged him to have meat brought of a kind he could properly use, prepared by himself, and only pretend to eat the portions of sacrificial meat as prescribed by the king; this action would enable him to escape death, by availing himself of an act of kindness prompted by their long friendship. But having taken a noble decision worthy of his years and the dignity of his great age and the well earned distinction of his grey hairs, worthy too of his impeccable conduct from boyhood, and above all of the holy legislation established by God himself, he publicly stated his convictions, telling them to send him at once to Hades. ‘Such pretence’ he said ‘does not square with our time of life; many young people would suppose that Eleazar at the age of ninety had conformed to the foreigners’ way of life, and because I had played this part for the sake of a paltry brief spell of life might themselves be led astray on my account; I should only bring defilement and disgrace on my old age. Even though for the moment I avoid execution by man, I can never, living or dead, elude the grasp of the Almighty. Therefore if I am man enough to quit this life here and now I shall prove myself worthy of my old age, and I shall have left the young a noble example of how to make a good death, eagerly and generously, for the venerable and holy laws.’

  With these words he went straight to the block. His escorts, so recently well disposed towards him, turned against him after this declaration, which they regarded as sheer madness. Just before he died under the blows, he groaned aloud and said, ‘The Lord whose knowledge is holy sees clearly that, though I might have escaped death, whatever agonies of body I now endure under this bludgeoning, in my soul I am glad to suffer, because of the awe which he inspires in me.’

  This was how he died, leaving his death as an example of nobility and a record of virtue not only for the young but for the great majority of the nation.

Psalm

Psalm 3:2-7 ©

The Lord upholds me.

How many are my foes, O Lord!

  How many are rising up against me!

How many are saying about me:

  ‘There is no help for him in God.’

The Lord upholds me.

But you, Lord, are a shield about me,

  my glory, who lift up my head.

I cry aloud to the Lord.

  He answers from his holy mountain.

The Lord upholds me.

I lie down to rest and I sleep.

  I wake, for the Lord upholds me.

I will not fear even thousands of people

  who are ranged on every side against me.

The Lord upholds me.

Gospel Acclamation

cf.Ps129:5

Alleluia, alleluia!

My soul is waiting for the Lord,

I count on his word.

Alleluia!

Or

1Jn4:10

Alleluia, alleluia!

God so loved us that he sent his Son

to be the sacrifice that takes our sins away.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Luke 19:1-10 ©

Jesus entered Jericho and was going through the town when a man whose name was Zacchaeus made his appearance: he was one of the senior tax collectors and a wealthy man. He was anxious to see what kind of man Jesus was, but he was too short and could not see him for the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus who was to pass that way. When Jesus reached the spot he looked up and spoke to him: ‘Zacchaeus, come down. Hurry, because I must stay at your house today.’ And he hurried down and welcomed him joyfully. They all complained when they saw what was happening. ‘He has gone to stay at a sinner’s house’ they said. But Zacchaeus stood his ground and said to the Lord, ‘Look, sir, I am going to give half my property to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody I will pay him back four times the amount.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek out and save what was lost.’

REMAINING STEADFAST IN OUR CONVICTIONS IN THE FACE OF CHALLENGES

SCRIPTURE READINGS: 2MC 6:18-31; LK 19:1-10

This is an increasingly difficult world because we are called to compromise our values, our visions and ideals so that all can live in peace with each other.  This is so especially when we live in a world that promotes the rights of the individual and the autonomy of the person.  In this age of globalization and mass communication and relativism, Christian values are being challenged on every side. The Church is no longer seen as the divine source of morality.  Everything is relative and there are no absolutes.  As a result, Christians are constantly under temptation to compromise their values in order to fit into the secular world.  For many, Christian values are seen as impractical if not outdated.

But not only Christian values are compromised; our own convictions are often compromised as well.  Indeed, many of us often come to an organization with clear visions and goals.  But in the process of trying to promote such visions, we too give up because of opposition.  This is rather unfortunate because very often people who have charismatic ideas for transformation and growth are stifled and rejected.  As a result, the community becomes poorer and the visionary feels stifled and disillusioned.  Sometimes, it is really difficult to tell the difference between compromising one’s visions and goals on one hand; and on the other, the fear that we might be intransigent and stubborn, not open to dialogue.  Yet the truth remains that most of us succumb to opposition when our ideas are challenged.  Instead of pursuing our visions, we cave in under pressure.  As it is often said, “if you can’t beat them, join them.”  When we adopt such an attitude, it is a sad day indeed for all concerned.  Indeed, one wonders if Jesus had compromised with the Jewish leaders of his day and the crowd, there would not be any gospel today.  If He were to depend on consensus, His gospel would not have been unique and He would not have been crucified.  That would have been the safest thing to do.

Today, if we find ourselves in such a situation, then we can seek inspiration from Eleazar in the first reading and from Zacchaeus in the gospel.  We are told that Eleazar too faced opposition in his attempts to be faithful to the Law and to his religious convictions.  Yesterday, we read how many of his fellow Israelites had abandoned their religion and religious customs and beliefs in order to find acceptance among the pagans and their conquerors by accepting the religion of the king.  Eleazar too must have been tempted to take the easy way out.  But he did not.  Even when his so-called concerned friends persuaded him to put on an act of accepting the religion of the king by pretending to partake in the sacrificial meat as prescribed, he flatly refused such a cowardly act.  Instead he stood firm in his beliefs even unto death.  As a result, even his long-standing friends abandoned him and considered him foolish and stupid for not compromising his beliefs.   They regarded his decision as “sheer madness.”

It was also the case for Zacchaeus as well.  He too was unpopular with his people.  Being a tax-collector for the Romans made him a professional outcast.  True, he had not been honest his job as well.  But he really wanted to change.  He wanted to meet Jesus.  But he could not get close to Jesus because he was ostracized by his fellowmen.  But he took courage to humble himself to climb on top of a sycamore tree so that Jesus could notice him.  This act of his certainly took much humility because he was one of the senior tax collectors and a wealthy man.  He did not mind making himself a fool for the sake of meeting Jesus.  And when the people murmured that Jesus was staying in the house of a sinner, we are told in the gospel that “Zacchaeus stood his ground and said to the Lord, “Look, sir, I am going to give half my property to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody, I will pay him back four times the amount.”

The question we ask therefore is where did Eleazar and Zacchaeus get their inner strength to remain firm in the face of ridicule and opposition?  What gave them the courage to stay firm in their convictions?  The first reason, I believe, is because of their relationship with the Lord.  We are told that Eleazar was a man who was already advanced in years.  He was one of the foremost teachers of the Law.  Being a man conversant with the Law and with God, he knew that his God of the covenant would not abandon him.  He knew that God would vindicate him for he said, “The Lord whose knowledge is holy sees clearly that, though I might have escaped death, whatever agonies of body I now endure under this bludgeoning, in my soul, I am glad to suffer, because of the awe which he inspires in me.”

As for Zacchaeus, we are told that he wanted to have a relationship with the Lord.  He was desperate in wanting to see Jesus. He might have been rich, even powerful as well.  But his life was empty and meaningless.   It was the realization that only Jesus could restore him to wholeness that gave him the courage to even belittle himself in front of others.  Zacchaeus knew that to meet Jesus was worth more than all his wealth and status.  So for the love of Jesus, Zacchaeus risked his reputation to allow Jesus to come to him.

Secondly, if both of them could find their inner strength it was because of their love for their fellow human beings.  The love of God was manifested in their love for others.  Eleazar was aware of the implications of his action.  Not only would he bring disgrace upon himself and his religion, but if he were to compromise, he would have been a cause of scandal to the young and his fellow Israelites.  He was aware of the tremendous responsibility he had for his people.  It was his love for his people that compelled him to leave “the young a noble example of how to make a good death, eagerly and generously, for the venerable and holy laws.”  And indeed, as the author remarked, his death was certainly “an example of nobility and a record of virtue not only for the young but for the great majority of the nation.”

Again, this must also be said of Zacchaeus.  In his encounter with the Lord, he showed his love by giving away half of his property and paying back fourfold the amount he had cheated from people.  His readiness to testify to his love for God concretely and to manifest a real conversion certainly would have inspired many of his people during his time.  For this reason, Jesus remarked with joy, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come back to seek out and save what was lost.”

Yes, if we are to stay firm and strong in our convictions, ideals and vision, we must stay close to Jesus.  Only He can give us the courage and strength to carry on even when we are misunderstood and opposed, not only by our enemies but our friends as well.  Only with faith in Him, that He will vindicate us in the long run, can we remain faithful to our beliefs.  Of course, this willingness to suffer must also be complemented by our deep love for our fellow human beings for whom we live for.  Unless we are prompted and inspired by our love both for God and for others, it would be impossible to be true to ourselves and to our beliefs.  

In failing to be true to ourselves and our visions, not only do we betray God and our fellow human beings, but we also betray ourselves.  This is the real tragedy.  The truth is that when we are not faithful to what we believe in, we begin to cheat ourselves.  We are not what we are called to be.  We are the ones who will ultimately suffer because we know that we are simply repressing the voice of the Spirit of God who is crying out through us seeking for conversion and transformation.  We might have saved our skin but we would have lost our spirit.  Without the Spirit, there can be no life, simply mere existence.

The choice is therefore ours.  Do we want to choose a mere human existence where we live in a kind of shadowy world, the world of Sheol?  Or do we want to be truly alive in the Spirit by being faithful to the gospel of Christ and His special invitation to each one of us, calling us to serve in our own ways?  Unless and until we are faithful to our beliefs and convictions, we can never be at peace in this life and certainly not at the threshold of death as well.  But if we are faithful like Eleazar, then we will have no fear of death for we know that we will die a good death because we have been faithful to life already.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore

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