20160215 HOLINESS IS EXPRESSED IN LOVE OF NEIGHBOUR
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
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First reading
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Leviticus
19:1-2,11-18 ©
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The Lord spoke to
Moses. He said: ‘Speak to the whole community of the sons of Israel and say to
them:
‘“Be
holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.
‘“You
must not steal nor deal deceitfully or fraudulently with your neighbour. You
must not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God. I am the
Lord. You must not exploit or rob your neighbour. You must not keep back the
labourer’s wage until next morning. You must not curse the dumb, nor put an
obstacle in the blind man’s way, but you must fear your God. I am the Lord.
‘“You
must not be guilty of unjust verdicts. You must neither be partial to the
little man nor overawed by the great; you must pass judgement on your neighbour
according to justice. You must not slander your own people, and you must not
jeopardise your neighbour’s life. I am the Lord. You must not bear hatred for
your brother in your heart. You must openly tell him, your neighbour, of his
offence; this way you will not take a sin upon yourself. You must not exact
vengeance, nor must you bear a grudge against the children of your people. You
must love your neighbour as yourself. I am the Lord.”’
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Psalm
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Psalm 18:8-10,15
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Your words are
spirit, Lord, and they are life.
The law of the Lord
is perfect,
it
revives the soul.
The rule of the Lord
is to be trusted,
it gives
wisdom to the simple.
Your words are
spirit, Lord, and they are life.
The precepts of the
Lord are right,
they
gladden the heart.
The command of the
Lord is clear,
it gives
light to the eyes.
Your words are
spirit, Lord, and they are life.
The fear of the Lord
is holy,
abiding
for ever.
The decrees of the
Lord are truth
and all
of them just.
Your words are
spirit, Lord, and they are life.
May the spoken words
of my mouth,
the
thoughts of my heart,
win favour in your
sight, O Lord,
my
rescuer, my rock!
Your words are
spirit, Lord, and they are life.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Ezk18:31
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Praise to you, O
Christ, king of eternal glory!
Shake off all your
sins – it is the Lord who speaks –
and make yourselves a
new heart and a new spirit.
Praise to you, O
Christ, king of eternal glory!
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Or
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2Co6:2
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Praise to you, O
Christ, king of eternal glory!
Now is the favourable
time:
this is the day of
salvation.
Praise to you, O
Christ, king of eternal glory!
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Gospel
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Matthew 25:31-46
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Jesus said to his
disciples: ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, escorted by all the angels,
then he will take his seat on his throne of glory. All the nations will be
assembled before him and he will separate men one from another as the shepherd
separates sheep from goats. He will place the sheep on his right hand and the
goats on his left.
‘Then the
King will say to those on his right hand, “Come, you whom my Father has
blessed, take for your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation
of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave
me drink; I was a stranger and you made me welcome; naked and you clothed me,
sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me.” Then the virtuous
will say to him in reply, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you; or
thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and make you
welcome; naked and clothe you; sick or in prison and go to see you?” And the
King will answer, “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the
least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.”
‘Next he
will say to those on his left hand, “Go away from me, with your curse upon you,
to the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and
you never gave me food; I was thirsty and you never gave me anything to drink;
I was a stranger and you never made me welcome, naked and you never clothed me,
sick and in prison and you never visited me.” Then it will be their turn to
ask, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, a stranger or naked, sick or
in prison, and did not come to your help?” Then he will answer, “I tell you
solemnly, in so far as you neglected to do this to one of the least of these,
you neglected to do it to me.”
‘And
they will go away to eternal punishment, and the virtuous to eternal life.’
HOLINESS
IS EXPRESSED IN LOVE OF NEIGHBOUR
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: Lev 19:1-2,11-18; Ps 18:8-10,15; Matt 25:31-46
The
call to holiness is one of the most important themes in the season of
Lent. In the first reading, the Lord commanded us, “Be holy, for I,
the Lord your God, am holy.” This command seems clear to all, yet
many do not really understand what holiness is all about.
In
the first place, the etymology of the word, “holiness” is “to be separated.” The root meaning of the
term, “Pharisee” precisely means “to be separated”. They sought holiness
by separating themselves from the priestly caste as they interpreted the Laws
differently from them. They also avoided the Gentiles who were considered
unclean. They despised those Jews who have embraced the Hellenistic or
pagan cultures and practices. Hence, they are called the Separated Ones
as they sought to preserve purity as taught in the Levitical laws, or rather,
their strict and narrow interpretation of these laws. From this root word
of holiness then, a distinction is made between the Sacred and the
mundane. What is sacred becomes separated from the world.
Within
this context, we read that during the time of Jesus, holiness for the
scribes and Pharisees is the observance of laws, rituals and customs.
They were more concerned with ritual purity and external performance of such
practices. Unfortunately, their heart was far from God and from their
neighbours. This has always been the snare for the Jews and their
forefathers since the time of the prophets. To be fair, we must not think
that all the Pharisees were in those days “hypocrites.” The gospel
that was written was colored by a certain polemic against the Pharisees because
they were one of the groups that were opposed to the Jesus movement. In
fact, the Jewish historian, Josephus, described them positively as being
respectful to elders, lived a life of simplicity and maintained good relations
with others.
For us,
we too call fall into the same trap as well. Many Catholics confuse
holiness with piety, especially external expressions of piety. Some
Catholics too, like the Pharisees, take care to be different from the rest of
the world. They observe the rules and traditions of the Church
meticulously. They attend mass on Sundays and even weekdays, fast on the
required days; abstain from meat on Fridays, pray the rosary, say their night
prayers, attend devotions, etc. By performing these spiritual exercises,
they are considered to be “good, pious and holy” Catholics. But by so
doing, we are no better than those Pharisees who were hypocritical in their
spiritual life.
In
no uncertain terms, the holiness that the Lord commanded of the people was not
concerned with ritual purity or even spiritual exercises but it had to do with
a life of justice and charity. The call to be holy like God cannot be that of ethical or
ritual purity but to live a life of love. Indeed, the nature of God is
love. This is what St John tells us, “Beloved, let us love one another;
for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does
not love does not know God; for God is love. In this the love of God was made
manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might
live through him.” (1 Jn 4:7-9)
This is how God revealed to Moses His nature when He said, “The Lord, the Lord,
the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and
faithfulness.” (Ex 34:6)
Hence, in both the readings of today’s mass, holiness is spelt out in terms
rendering justice to our fellowmen and charity towards those who are poor and
neglected. At the end of the day, a holy man is to be measured not
by how much he prayed or what spiritual exercises he performed, but whether he
lives a life of justice and charity. Holiness is not simply to be
separated from the world insofar as the world does not love like God.
Holiness is to live a life of truth and love like God.
In
the first place, holiness is to live a life of integrity and justice towards
our neighbours. This is what the Prophet is instructing us.
This means that we do not steal or take what is not ours. “You must not steal nor deal
deceitfully or fraudulently with your neighbor. You must not exploit or rob
your neighbour.” Depriving others of what is theirs constitutes a failure
in justice. Taking what is not ours cannot make us happy in life.
What is the use of a nice bed when we cannot sleep because of guilt?
Ill-gotten gains cannot make us happy. Those who commit fraud have
no peace in their hearts even if they are not caught. They also worry
that one day they would be exposed. There are some people who would
exploit the naive, uneducated and elderly of their money by asking them for
loans, invest in risky shares or some fast money schemes. Even children
cheat their parents of their money or property and then later drive them out of
their house. How could such people live in peace knowing that they
have taken money from the weak and vulnerable and especially their hard earned
lifelong savings?
Secondly,
justice demands that we treat our workers fairly. “You must not keep back
the labourer’s wage until next morning.” Employers must be just and fair to their
employees. They must be given a just salary. They should not be
treated like slaves as if they have no dignity or feelings. A good
employer, besides paying a just salary on time, must go beyond to look after
the physical and spiritual welfare of their workers. There are some
Catholic employers who do not allow their domestic helpers to go to Church even
on Sundays. Some do not give them a rest day. They are expected to
look after the elderly at home 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This is a
grave injustice because human beings need to rest well in order to work
well. This is the reason why the Lord commands the Sabbath Day to be
observed; not just that we worship Him on Sunday but that we rest ourselves
physically as well.
Thirdly,
justice requires impartiality in our dealings with our brothers and sisters,
regardless of who they are. We must be careful that we do not practise favoritism
because it will only breed resentment, jealousy and division. “You must
not be guilty of unjust verdicts. You must neither be partial to the
little man nor overawed by the great; you must pass judgement on your neighbour
according to justice.” We need to be impartial when dealing with abuses
or complaints. Judgment must be based on facts presented and carried out
objectively. When we show that we are fair and just, people will trust us
and work with us.
Most
of all, we are called to exercise justice and charity in words and forgiveness. “You must not curse the dumb,
nor put an obstacle in the blind man’s way. You must not slander your own
people, and you must not jeopardise your neighbour’s life. I am the
Lord. You must not bear hatred for your brother in your heart. You
must openly tell him, your neighbour, of his offence; this way you will not
take a sin upon yourself. You must not exact vengeance, nor must you bear
a grudge against the children of your people.” Instead of cursing or scolding
or shouting at people, we need simply to speak the truth with firmness and
charity. If there is something we are not happy about, we should have it
out privately with the person, seeking to find out the truth in humility. Bearing
grudges, resentment and seeking revenge will do us greater harm, not just to
our enemies. More often than not, it is because we are presumptuous
in judging people before we come to a conclusion.
However,
Christian charity does not stop here. In today’s gospel, we are called to
love, especially the poor and the marginalized. To those who care for the poor, who are
after all the children of our heavenly Father, He is pleased with us for loving
them. Jesus said, “For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty
and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you made me welcome; naked and you
clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me. I
tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these
brothers of mine, you did it to me.” Because Jesus is identified with the
poor as their brothers, it means that they are God’s children. In loving
them, we love our Father because His joy is to bless all His children with
security, food, clothing and peace.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore
© All Rights Reserved
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