20160213 THE JOY OF REPENTANCE
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
First reading
|
Isaiah 58:9-14 ©
|
The Lord says this:
If you do away with
the yoke,
the clenched fist,
the wicked word,
if you give your
bread to the hungry,
and relief to the
oppressed,
your light will rise
in the darkness,
and your shadows
become like noon.
The Lord will always
guide you,
giving you relief in
desert places.
He will give strength
to your bones
and you shall be like
a watered garden,
like a spring of
water
whose waters never
run dry.
You will rebuild the
ancient ruins,
build up on the old
foundations.
You will be called
‘Breach-mender’,
‘Restorer of ruined
houses.’
If you refrain from
trampling the sabbath,
and doing business on
the holy day,
if you call the
Sabbath ‘Delightful’,
and the day sacred to
the Lord ‘Honourable’,
if you honour it by
abstaining from travel,
from doing business
and from gossip,
then shall you find
your happiness in the Lord
and I will lead you
triumphant over the heights of the land.
I will feed you on
the heritage of Jacob your father.
For the mouth of the
Lord has spoken.
Psalm
|
Psalm 85:1-6 ©
|
Show me, Lord,
your way so that I may walk in your truth.
Turn your ear, O
Lord, and give answer
for I am
poor and needy.
Preserve my life, for
I am faithful;
save the
servant who trusts in you.
Show me, Lord,
your way so that I may walk in your truth.
You are my God, have
mercy on me, Lord,
for I cry
to you all the day long.
Give joy to your
servant, O Lord,
for to
you I lift up my soul.
Show me, Lord,
your way so that I may walk in your truth.
O Lord, you are good
and forgiving,
full of
love to all who call.
Give heed, O Lord, to
my prayer
and
attend to the sound of my voice.
Show me, Lord,
your way so that I may walk in your truth.
Gospel
Acclamation
|
cfPs94:8
|
Glory to you, O
Christ, you are the Word of God!
Harden not your
hearts today,
but listen to the
voice of the Lord.
Glory to you, O
Christ, you are the Word of God!
Or
|
Ezk33:11
|
Glory to you, O
Christ, you are the Word of God!
I take pleasure, not
in the death of a wicked man
– it is the Lord who
speaks –
but in the turning
back of a wicked man
who changes his ways
to win life.
Glory to you, O
Christ, you are the Word of God!
Gospel
|
Luke 5:27-32 ©
|
Jesus noticed a tax
collector, Levi by name, sitting by the customs house, and said to him, ‘Follow
me.’ And leaving everything he got up and followed him.
In
his honour Levi held a great reception in his house, and with them at table was
a large gathering of tax collectors and others. The Pharisees and their scribes
complained to his disciples and said, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax
collectors and sinners?’ Jesus said to them in reply, ‘It is not those who are
well who need the doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the virtuous,
but sinners to repentance.’
THE JOY
OF REPENTANCE
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: Isaiah 58:9-14;
Ps 85:1-6; Luke 5:27-32
At the
beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday, the priest puts ash on your forehead and he
said, “Repent and believe in the Good News!” The beginning of
repentance begins with the acceptance of the Good News. Unless the
Good News is heard and experienced, there can be no real repentance. This
explains why the scribes and the Pharisees had no real repentance because they
did not understand the Good News. For them, the only way to be acceptable to
God and men is to appear as if they are holy, particularly by observing the
laws religiously. As a consequence, they became proud and
self-righteous. They were judgmental and fault finding as they were in
today’s gospel when they saw Jesus eating and drinking with sinners.
Jesus
knew that condemning sinners and excluding them or marginalizing them would
only drive them further away. Excommunication, introduced in the early Church with all
good intentions, does not always produce the expected results, namely,
awareness of the seriousness of one’s sins and then turning to the Lord and the
community for forgiveness. I think more often than not, it only
leads them to be resentful, bitter and angry with the Church. Because of
pride, many have left the Church and refused to come back or to admit that they
were wrong.
The
way of Jesus is one of acceptance and respect. We can imagine the happiness and joy of
Levi, who was also called Matthew, when the Lord called him to be His
disciple. It was unimaginable that whilst his fellowmen would not even
want to mix with him, a great rabbi would invite him to be His follower.
For once, Levi must have felt loved and accepted. For once, he did not
have the feeling that he was a hopeless case. So we can feel with Levi
the joy of being loved and welcomed by the Lord. This was something he
could never imagine at all. His conversion was akin to that of St Paul
who was also a great sinner. So great was his joy that he got up immediately,
“left everything and followed him.”
Hence,
in his joy, he called all his friends for a meal with Jesus. Of course, the only friends he
had were fellow tax-collectors because they were all shunned by their fellowmen
who saw them as traitors and dishonest people. To a great extent,
it is true that they were very dishonest and often profited themselves at the
expense of the people when they collected taxes for the Roman governor.
But Levi wanted to share the great news that they have hope and God had
not totally abandoned them in spite of their sinfulness. In Jesus, Levi
saw the unconditional love and mercy of God. That was why he invited the
rest of his kind to come for the meal to experience what he himself
experienced.
It
is also significant that Jesus made Himself available for the meal as well. He did not reject that
invitation, knowing that His presence would create gossip. But that did
not deter Jesus from accepting the invite. Not unexpectedly, the scribes
and Pharisees were scandalized and complained, “Why do you eat and drink with
tax collectors and ‘sinners?” The response of Jesus was clear, “It is not the
healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance.” Indeed, the purpose of His coming was
not to save healthy and righteous men but sinners. He came to restore
life and hope to those who are walking in the shadow of death and have lost
hope in life. To such people the Good News of God’s love and mercy is
offered. This approach to sinners is the way Pope Francis is asking of
the Church during this Jubilee Year of Mercy as well. Like Jesus,
he wants us to be compassionate and accept sinners into our community. We
are called to love them and embrace them rather than treat them as if they are
lepers or untouchables. Only by giving them the love of Jesus can we
bring them back to the fold.
By
so doing, we are not denying the reality and gravity of sins. We are not saying that sins are all
right and that it does not matter whether we live a holy and righteous life or
not. Repentance is the consequence of being loved and accepted.
Repentance must be the result, not the cause, of living a holy
life. If we are already living a righteous life, then no repentance
is necessary. But it is God’s unconditional love and mercy for us that
moves us to repent, because of the joy of being loved and most of all, because
we love Him in return.
Indeed,
in the first reading, the prophet warns us that if we continue to live in our
sins, we will only hurt ourselves even more. When we oppress people, accuse them,
are always angry and filled with malice against them, we cannot expect to find
happiness. An angry person cannot find happiness. A person who
cannot forgive cannot find peace. Those who oppress others, those who
make others suffer at their expense because of their irresponsibility,
injustice and selfishness, cannot expect to have a peaceful conscience.
Their guilt will weigh down their soul. Rather, the prophet says,
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and
malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy
the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your
night will become like the noonday.” So living a life of love and
compassion and honesty will bring us happiness and joy.
Similarly,
those who do not keep the Sabbath, that is put God as the first place in their
lives, will only hurt themselves. The prophet reminds us, “If you keep your feet from
breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call
the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by
not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then
you will find your joy in the Lord.” Just look around us and we see the
consequences of those who do not put the Lord at the center of their lives,
their relationships and their family. Once God is second or third place
in our lives, we get all our priorities wrong. Money, power, status and
career become our God. Sometimes, even our human relationships take
precedence over God and because that relationship is not centered in God, it
becomes lustful, selfish, inward looking and demanding. By placing
God at the center of our lives, and by keeping the Sabbath which is made for
man, then we will know the importance of rest, spending time with God and with
our family instead of busying ourselves with making money, socializing and
ending up with all kinds of vices. For this reason, the most
important commandment in the bible is to love God. “Hear, O Israel:
The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord
your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your
might.” (Dt 6:4f)
But
they will not know the truth about themselves and the beauty of the laws of God
until they come to Christ.
So instead of rejecting them, we must welcome them and be their friends
first. Let them know that there are people who genuinely care for them
and love them. We are inviting them to repent, not to make their lives
miserable or take away their joy and freedom but to give them true joy, true
love and real freedom. To such people, we need to be like Jesus who reached
out to them in the market place and in their own territories, even going into
the house of sinners to stay with them and fellowship with them. We too
must be courageous and be magnanimous to love sinners genuinely, not out of
condescension. When the time is opportune, they too like the tax
collectors would want to hear us out. When that happens, they too will
say, “Show me, Lord, your way so that I may walk in your truth. You are my God,
have mercy on me, Lord, for I cry to you all the day long. Give joy to your
servant, O Lord, for to you I lift up my soul. O Lord, you are good and
forgiving, full of love to all who call.”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
THE JOY
OF REPENTANCE
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: Isaiah 58:9-14;
Ps 85:1-6; Luke 5:27-32
At the
beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday, the priest puts ash on your forehead and he
said, “Repent and believe in the Good News!” The beginning of
repentance begins with the acceptance of the Good News. Unless the
Good News is heard and experienced, there can be no real repentance. This
explains why the scribes and the Pharisees had no real repentance because they
did not understand the Good News. For them, the only way to be acceptable to
God and men is to appear as if they are holy, particularly by observing the
laws religiously. As a consequence, they became proud and
self-righteous. They were judgmental and fault finding as they were in
today’s gospel when they saw Jesus eating and drinking with sinners.
Jesus
knew that condemning sinners and excluding them or marginalizing them would
only drive them further away. Excommunication, introduced in the early Church with all
good intentions, does not always produce the expected results, namely,
awareness of the seriousness of one’s sins and then turning to the Lord and the
community for forgiveness. I think more often than not, it only
leads them to be resentful, bitter and angry with the Church. Because of
pride, many have left the Church and refused to come back or to admit that they
were wrong.
The
way of Jesus is one of acceptance and respect. We can imagine the happiness and joy of
Levi, who was also called Matthew, when the Lord called him to be His
disciple. It was unimaginable that whilst his fellowmen would not even
want to mix with him, a great rabbi would invite him to be His follower.
For once, Levi must have felt loved and accepted. For once, he did not
have the feeling that he was a hopeless case. So we can feel with Levi
the joy of being loved and welcomed by the Lord. This was something he
could never imagine at all. His conversion was akin to that of St Paul
who was also a great sinner. So great was his joy that he got up
immediately, “left everything and followed him.”
Hence,
in his joy, he called all his friends for a meal with Jesus. Of course, the only friends he
had were fellow tax-collectors because they were all shunned by their fellowmen
who saw them as traitors and dishonest people. To a great extent,
it is true that they were very dishonest and often profited themselves at the
expense of the people when they collected taxes for the Roman governor.
But Levi wanted to share the great news that they have hope and God had
not totally abandoned them in spite of their sinfulness. In Jesus, Levi
saw the unconditional love and mercy of God. That was why he invited the
rest of his kind to come for the meal to experience what he himself experienced.
It
is also significant that Jesus made Himself available for the meal as well. He did not reject that
invitation, knowing that His presence would create gossip. But that did
not deter Jesus from accepting the invite. Not unexpectedly, the scribes
and Pharisees were scandalized and complained, “Why do you eat and drink with
tax collectors and ‘sinners?” The response of Jesus was clear, “It is not the
healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance.” Indeed, the purpose of His coming was
not to save healthy and righteous men but sinners. He came to restore
life and hope to those who are walking in the shadow of death and have lost
hope in life. To such people the Good News of God’s love and mercy is
offered. This approach to sinners is the way Pope Francis is asking of
the Church during this Jubilee Year of Mercy as well. Like Jesus,
he wants us to be compassionate and accept sinners into our community. We
are called to love them and embrace them rather than treat them as if they are
lepers or untouchables. Only by giving them the love of Jesus can we
bring them back to the fold.
By
so doing, we are not denying the reality and gravity of sins. We are not saying that sins are all
right and that it does not matter whether we live a holy and righteous life or
not. Repentance is the consequence of being loved and accepted.
Repentance must be the result, not the cause, of living a holy
life. If we are already living a righteous life, then no repentance
is necessary. But it is God’s unconditional love and mercy for us that
moves us to repent, because of the joy of being loved and most of all, because
we love Him in return.
Indeed,
in the first reading, the prophet warns us that if we continue to live in our
sins, we will only hurt ourselves even more. When we oppress people, accuse them,
are always angry and filled with malice against them, we cannot expect to find
happiness. An angry person cannot find happiness. A person who
cannot forgive cannot find peace. Those who oppress others, those who
make others suffer at their expense because of their irresponsibility,
injustice and selfishness, cannot expect to have a peaceful conscience.
Their guilt will weigh down their soul. Rather, the prophet says,
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and
malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy
the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your
night will become like the noonday.” So living a life of love and
compassion and honesty will bring us happiness and joy.
Similarly,
those who do not keep the Sabbath, that is put God as the first place in their
lives, will only hurt themselves. The prophet reminds us, “If you keep your feet from
breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call
the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by
not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then
you will find your joy in the Lord.” Just look around us and we see the
consequences of those who do not put the Lord at the center of their lives,
their relationships and their family. Once God is second or third place
in our lives, we get all our priorities wrong. Money, power, status and
career become our God. Sometimes, even our human relationships take
precedence over God and because that relationship is not centered in God, it
becomes lustful, selfish, inward looking and demanding. By placing
God at the center of our lives, and by keeping the Sabbath which is made for
man, then we will know the importance of rest, spending time with God and with
our family instead of busying ourselves with making money, socializing and
ending up with all kinds of vices. For this reason, the most
important commandment in the bible is to love God. “Hear, O Israel:
The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord
your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your
might.” (Dt 6:4f)
But
they will not know the truth about themselves and the beauty of the laws of God
until they come to Christ.
So instead of rejecting them, we must welcome them and be their friends
first. Let them know that there are people who genuinely care for them
and love them. We are inviting them to repent, not to make their lives
miserable or take away their joy and freedom but to give them true joy, true
love and real freedom. To such people, we need to be like Jesus who
reached out to them in the market place and in their own territories, even
going into the house of sinners to stay with them and fellowship with them.
We too must be courageous and be magnanimous to love sinners genuinely, not out
of condescension. When the time is opportune, they too like the tax
collectors would want to hear us out. When that happens, they too will
say, “Show me, Lord, your way so that I may walk in your truth. You are my God,
have mercy on me, Lord, for I cry to you all the day long. Give joy to your
servant, O Lord, for to you I lift up my soul. O Lord, you are good and
forgiving, full of love to all who call.”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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