WHEN EVIL AND INJUSTICE SEEM TO TRIUMPH

20151216 WHEN EVIL AND INJUSTICE SEEM TO TRIUMPH

Readings at Mass

First reading

Isaiah 45:6-8,18,21-25 ©

Apart from me, all is nothing.

I am the Lord, unrivalled,

I form the light and create the dark.

I make good fortune and create calamity,

it is I, the Lord, who do all this.

Send victory like a dew, you heavens,

and let the clouds rain it down.

Let the earth open

for salvation to spring up.

Let deliverance, too, bud forth

which I, the Lord, shall create.

Yes, thus says the Lord,

creator of the heavens,

who is God,

who formed the earth and made it,

who set it firm,

created it no chaos,

but a place to be lived in:

  ‘I am the Lord, unrivalled:

  there is no other god besides me.

  A God of integrity and a saviour:

  there is none apart from me.

  Turn to me and be saved,

  all the ends of the earth,

  for I am God unrivalled.

  ‘By my own self I swear it;

  what comes from my mouth is truth,

  a word irrevocable:

  before me every knee shall bend,

  by me every tongue shall swear,

  saying, “From the Lord alone

  come victory and strength.”

  To him shall come, ashamed,

  all who raged against him.

  Victorious and glorious through the Lord shall be

  all the descendants of Israel.’

Psalm

Psalm 84:9-14 ©

Send victory like a dew, you heavens, and let the clouds rain it down.

I will hear what the Lord God has to say,

  a voice that speaks of peace,

  peace for his people.

His help is near for those who fear him

  and his glory will dwell in our land.

Send victory like a dew, you heavens, and let the clouds rain it down.

Mercy and faithfulness have met;

  justice and peace have embraced.

Faithfulness shall spring from the earth

  and justice look down from heaven.

Send victory like a dew, you heavens, and let the clouds rain it down.

The Lord will make us prosper

  and our earth shall yield its fruit.

Justice shall march before him

  and peace shall follow his steps.

Send victory like a dew, you heavens, and let the clouds rain it down.

Gospel Acclamation

Is55:6

Alleluia, alleluia!

Seek the Lord while he is still to be found,

call to him while he is still near.

Alleluia!

Or

Is40:9-10

Alleluia, alleluia!

Shout with a loud voice, joyful messenger to Jerusalem.

Here is the Lord God coming with power.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Luke 7:19-23 ©

John, summoning two of his disciples, sent them to the Lord to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or must we wait for someone else?’ When the men reached Jesus they said, ‘John the Baptist has sent us to you, to ask, “Are you the one who is to come or have we to wait for someone else?”’ It was just then that he cured many people of diseases and afflictions and of evil spirits, and gave the gift of sight to many who were blind. Then he gave the messengers their answer, ‘Go back and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind see again, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, the Good News is proclaimed to the poor and happy is the man who does not lose faith in me.’

WHEN EVIL AND INJUSTICE SEEM TO TRIUMPH

SCRIPTURE READINGS: Isaiah 45:6-8, 18, 21-26; Ps 84:9-14; Luke 7:19-23

How often do we feel shortchanged in life, especially when we seek to do good and sacrifice our life for others, particularly our loved ones?  We work hard to support them.  We give them their allowance, pay for their holidays, pay the bills, even cook and wash their clothes, etc and instead of gratitude, all we get is complaints, criticisms, and more demands.  We wonder what we have got ourselves into and why we are doing all these things for them.  What do we get in the end?  They are impossible to please and we are not happy or at peace either.  So what is the use of doing good? Why allow them to take advantage of us, our generosity and kindness?  This is equally true in the office as well.  We work so hard and someone gets the credit, steals the show, leaving us unrecognized and unrewarded.  This is not fair!  Why should our hard work, sweat and sleepless nights go unacknowledged?  Even in Church ministry, this feeling of injustice also persists.  Members keep asking us to cover their duties, never attend meetings and activities, but want to demand for their rights.  They only seek the limelight, the honor and the glory but leave the dirty work to others to do.

Perhaps John the Baptist felt the same sentiments when was in prison.  Why was he in prison?  He did it for the good of his people, and even for the good of King Herod and King Philip and Herodias.   He wanted to save the people and protect the reputation and the unity of Herod’s family.  Instead he was put in prison for speaking the truth, for being the prophet of God and for wanting to reconcile man with God and man with man.  He must have felt disillusioned as well.  For all that he did, only execution awaited him.

So it seems that doing good, living for others and making sacrifices for others is vanity, because none of us is happier.  Evil seems to triumph in the end.  The unjust seem to be enjoying life and prosperity.   They appear to have a good time, merry making, living in luxury and in style, whilst the good seem to be the worse off!  Since we cannot beat them, some of us may say, “we might as well join them!”  Indeed, disheartened by the seeming triumph of evil, we are tempted to give up as well.  Even if we do not join them, we want to stop loving and caring for others.  Let us take care of ourselves, enjoy ourselves, be at peace and leave them alone to rot and destroy themselves.

But today, the scripture readings want to assure us that God is in charge.  He is the victorious One.  God and goodness will triumph; not evil and injustice.  In the first reading, we read of how the Lord anointed the pagan King of Persia, Cyrus the Great to end the exile of the Israelites.   In the first year of his reign, inspired by God, he decreed that the Jews could return to their homeland and rebuild the Temple without conditions.  On top of that, Cyrus returned all the sacred vessels taken from the first Temple and even gave a considerable sum of money to help rebuild the Temple.   Such a decision is unthinkable.  But it shows the power of God, as the prophet said, “I am the Lord, unrivalled, there is no other god besides me, a God of integrity and a saviour; there is none apart from me. Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God unrivalled. By my own self I swear it; what comes from my mouth is truth, a word irrevocable; before me every knee shall bend, by me every tongue shall swear, saying, ‘From the Lord alone come victory and strength.’’  This is what the psalmist also declares. “Mercy and faithfulness have met; justice and peace have embraced. Faithfulness shall spring from the earth and justice look down from heaven. The Lord will make us prosper and our earth shall yield its fruit. Justice shall march before him and peace shall follow his steps.  Send victory like a dew, you heavens!”

The power and foresight of God is also shown in the revelation God gave to Isaiah on the future that was to take place.  It must be remembered that Isaiah who prophesied between 740-681 B.C. was referring to an event that was to take place 150 years later, for Cyrus only started to rule from 559-530 B.C.  Clearly, before Cyrus was born, God had called him by name to be his anointed one to deliver Israel from the Babylonians.  In the same vein, Isaiah was able to prophesy the fall of Judah more than 100 years before it happened in 586 B.C.  That was not all; he could foretell that the temple would be rebuilt 200 years even before it happened.  Such prophecies only serve to underscore the omnipotence and the omniscience of God.   It had been said that Cyrus actually read these prophecies pointing to him and thus he was so moved that when he assumed the throne, he immediately carried out what the Lord had appointed him to do.

In the gospel, we have Jesus too, fulfilling the prophecy of the Messiah who was to come to restore creation to order.  When John the Baptist was wondering whether his mission was a total failure, he caught a glimpse of hope in Jesus whom he believed to be the Messiah.  But he was unsure because Jesus was a man of contradiction.  He was called a drunkard and a friend of tax-collectors and sinners.  In reply, Jesus told his disciples to tell him the signs of the restoration of the kingdom that the Messiah had been called to do.  He said, “Go back and tell John what you have seen and heard; the blind see again, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, the Good News is proclaimed to the poor and happy is the man who does not lose faith in me.”

But this does not completely resolve the conundrum or remove the sense of injustice.  It appears that God has been good to many people.  Like John the Baptist, we hear of miracles taking place, the poor are helped, the sick and the wounded are healed.  What about us, the faithful ones of God?  John the Baptist was in prison and he was not spared martyrdom.  We are still suffering in our sicknesses and not able to get well.  We are still in financial difficulties.  Why is God so good to everyone else except us?  Why is He only merciful to others but not to us?  More disheartening still, is when we hear that God keeps blessing the rich, the evil and unjust, allowing them to be prosperous whilst we continue to suffer injustices and deprivations.  Sure, He loves others except us.  He allows the rich and the lazy people to keep on striking lottery but hardworking people like us never win a lottery that is badly needed by us to support our family.

Once again, we are called to have faith in the mystery of God’s plan.  As the Lord says, “Apart from me, all is nothing.  I am the Lord, unrivalled; I form the light and create the dark. I make good fortune and create calamity, it is I, the Lord, who do all this.  Yes, thus says the Lord, creator of the heavens, who is God, who formed the earth and made it, who set it firm, created it no chaos, but a place to be lived in.”  Indeed, God, who is the creator of heaven and earth and the cause of our existence, should not be brought to question.  How can we ever understand the mind of God?  The same prophet said, “Who has directed the spirit of the Lord, or as his counselor has instructed him? Whom did he consult for his enlightenment, and who taught him the path of justice? Who taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding. Even the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as dust on the scales; see, he takes up the isles like fine dust.” (Isa 40:13-15)

So with the humility of Job who questioned God, we also must say, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.” (Job 42:2f)  Indeed, God allows things to happen for our good.  He is the almighty God and has power over light and darkness, prosperity and poverty.  Our lives are fraught with all these challenges.  We have our good and bad times, abundance and famine, health and sickness, friends and enemies.  All these are the means by which we grow in love, purified in truth and made strong in faith.  Such events, good or bad, are not meant to destroy us but to enlighten and free us for joy and love.

So let us take life in stride.  Follow the advice of Qoheleth when he said, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven … (cf Eccl 3:1ff).  Indeed, “What gain has the worker from his toil?  I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.  He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.  I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live;  also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil – this is God’s gift to man.” (Eccl 3:9-13)  Wasn’t this how Jesus lived His life, in total surrender and trust?  He ate and drank but he also fasted and wept.  

Be content with our lot.  Do not choose our crosses because we will get them wrong!   It won’t fit us well!   Rather, as Jesus would say, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” (Mt 16:24-26)  He has a plan for each one of us.  Just trust God that He knows best.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore

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