20160306 ENTERING THE PROMISED LAND
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Rose or Violet.
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First reading
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Joshua 5:9-12 ©
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The Lord said to
Joshua, ‘Today I have taken the shame of Egypt away from you.’
The
Israelites pitched their camp at Gilgal and kept the Passover there on the
fourteenth day of the month, at evening in the plain of Jericho. On the morrow
of the Passover they tasted the produce of that country, unleavened bread and
roasted ears of corn, that same day. From that time, from their first eating of
the produce of that country, the manna stopped falling. And having manna no
longer, the Israelites fed from that year onwards on what the land of Canaan
yielded.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm 33:2-7 ©
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Taste and see that
the Lord is good.
I will bless the Lord
at all times,
his
praise always on my lips;
in the Lord my soul
shall make its boast.
The
humble shall hear and be glad.
Taste and see that
the Lord is good.
Glorify the Lord with
me.
Together
let us praise his name.
I sought the Lord and
he answered me;
from all
my terrors he set me free.
Taste and see that
the Lord is good.
Look towards him and
be radiant;
let your
faces not be abashed.
This poor man called,
the Lord heard him
and
rescued him from all his distress.
Taste and see that
the Lord is good.
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Second reading
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2 Corinthians
5:17-21 ©
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For anyone who is in
Christ, there is a new creation; the old creation has gone, and now the new one
is here. It is all God’s work. It was God who reconciled us to himself through
Christ and gave us the work of handing on this reconciliation. In other words,
God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself, not holding men’s faults
against them, and he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled. So
we are ambassadors for Christ; it is as though God were appealing through us,
and the appeal that we make in Christ’s name is: be reconciled to God. For our
sake God made the sinless one into sin, so that in him we might become the goodness
of God.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Lk15:18
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Praise and honour to
you, Lord Jesus!
I will leave this
place and go to my father and say:
‘Father, I have
sinned against heaven and against you.’
Praise and honour to
you, Lord Jesus!
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Gospel
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Luke
15:1-3,11-32 ©
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The tax collectors
and the sinners were all seeking the company of Jesus to hear what he had to
say, and the Pharisees and the scribes complained. ‘This man’ they said
‘welcomes sinners and eats with them.’ So he spoke this parable to them:
‘A man
had two sons. The younger said to his father, “Father, let me have the share of
the estate that would come to me.” So the father divided the property between
them. A few days later, the younger son got together everything he had and left
for a distant country where he squandered his money on a life of debauchery.
‘When he
had spent it all, that country experienced a severe famine, and now he began to
feel the pinch, so he hired himself out to one of the local inhabitants who put
him on his farm to feed the pigs. And he would willingly have filled his belly
with the husks the pigs were eating but no one offered him anything. Then he
came to his senses and said, “How many of my father’s paid servants have more
food than they want, and here am I dying of hunger! I will leave this place and
go to my father and say: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you;
I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as one of your paid
servants.” So he left the place and went back to his father.
‘While he
was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran to
the boy, clasped him in his arms and kissed him tenderly. Then his son said,
“Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to
be called your son.” But the father said to his servants, “Quick! Bring out the
best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
Bring the calf we have been fattening, and kill it; we are going to have a
feast, a celebration, because this son of mine was dead and has come back to
life; he was lost and is found.” And they began to celebrate.
‘Now the
elder son was out in the fields, and on his way back, as he drew near the
house, he could hear music and dancing. Calling one of the servants he asked
what it was all about. “Your brother has come” replied the servant “and your
father has killed the calf we had fattened because he has got him back safe and
sound.” He was angry then and refused to go in, and his father came out to
plead with him; but he answered his father, “Look, all these years I have
slaved for you and never once disobeyed your orders, yet you never offered me
so much as a kid for me to celebrate with my friends. But, for this son of
yours, when he comes back after swallowing up your property – he and his
women – you kill the calf we had been fattening.”
‘The
father said, “My son, you are with me always and all I have is yours. But it
was only right we should celebrate and rejoice, because your brother here was
dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found.”’
ENTERING
THE PROMISED LAND
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: Joshua 5:9-12;
Ps 33:2-7;
2 Cor 5:17-21;
Luke 15:1-3.11-32
It
is the desire of God that we enter into the Promised Land. He only desires our happiness. In
the first reading, we read how the Israelites would at last enter the Promised
Land where they would enjoy “the produce of that country, unleavened bread and
roasted ears of corn.” What is said of the Israelites is also true
for us. God is preparing us to enter into the Promised Land at Easter as
we enter the 4th Sunday of Lent. In the Promised Land, we will
receive the fullness of life, sharing in the resurrection of Christ. Most
of all, we become a new creation in Christ as we would be given a new sonship
in Him.
So
what is preventing us from entering into the Promised Land or becoming a new
creation? Slavery! Two kinds of slavery, namely, sin and
Law. These two kinds of slavery are mentioned in the
gospel.
There
is first the slavery into sin. This is the case of the Prodigal
Son. We read how
out of selfishness and arrogance, he demanded to have his share of the
property. After that he “left for a distant country where he squandered
his money on a life of debauchery.” He lived a life of sin so much so
that he completely forgot his dignity and identity. He was worse than a
slave because figuratively and symbolically he was reduced to becoming a most
despicable animal, namely, eating “the husks the pigs were eating.” So
much so that, forgetting his identity as the son of the Father, he could only
say to himself, “I will leave this place and go to my father and say: Father, I
have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called
your son; treat me as one of your paid servants.”
Indeed,
for those of us who are living in sin, this is what sin is doing to us. Just pause and think whether we are
slaves to our sins and what sins have made of us into. Is our life better
than an animal? Do we just allow our days to be wasted, eating and
drinking, womanizing and cheating? Is that what life is all about?
Can we recognize the evil in our hearts, the envy and jealousy that possess us,
the anger and vindictiveness in our hearts; the greed and lust for money and
sex? When we allow sin to take charge of our lives and when our hearts
are evil, can we ever find peace, joy and true freedom? Is that the
kind of life we want to live, a life of fear, misery and resentment?
There
is another form of slavery; it is the slavery to the Law which leads to the sin
of pride and self-righteousness. This form of slavery was exemplified in
the elder son. We
read how riled and furious he was when he heard that his father was giving a
celebration to welcome the prodigal brother back. We can feel with him
because he was the faithful and obedient one. As far as he was concerned,
not only should the younger brother not be welcomed back but he should be
punished severely. Instead, the father saw his son’s return in a
different light. He said to the elder brother, “But it was only right we
should celebrate and rejoice, because your brother here was dead and has come
to life; he was lost and is found.”
Clearly,
for the elder brother, his relationship with his father was not one of love but
of duty. That
was why he was out of the house. “He was angry then and refused to go in,
and his father came out to plead with him.” He was simply carrying out
his duty in order to earn the father’s favour. He expected the father to
be proud of him and to some extent grateful to him for his fidelity to
him. If there were to be any celebration, it should be for him rather
than for his brother. He was certainly jealous and felt unjustly
treated.
His
obedience to his father was based on merit. He admitted that he had been a slave for the father
all these years. “Look, all these years I have slaved for you and
never once disobeyed your orders.” In other words, the younger
brother does not deserve any mercy. Many so-called good Catholics
behave in this manner, self-righteous and disdaining of sinners. They
think that the way to the kingdom is purely through merit and hard work.
It is not about the grace of God but the grace won by them through the efforts
they put in. For them, salvation is not grace but the prize of good
works. It is owed to us by God; not a free gift.
Sin
always causes shame. Self-righteousness
makes us proud. When we live in shame, we cannot face the world,
ourselves and God. Shame is the cause of low self-esteem and failures in
life. Shame causes us to cheat, boast, deceive and be driven for more
power and glory. The elder brother wanted to shame the brother by
speaking of his shameful past. Shame can be removed when we are forgiven.
Indeed, this is what the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have taken the shame of
Egypt away from you.” With our sins forgiven, we no longer have to live
in the past or in shame. The Lord is ready to heal us and set us
free.
Christ
has come to set us free from our slavery in all its forms. This is purely the work of
Christ. St Paul in the second reading wrote, “God in Christ was
reconciling the world to himself, not holding men’s faults against them.”
Truly, we are called to claim the forgiveness of God in Christ Jesus. He
has conquered sin and death. All we need to do is to receive the
free gift of forgiveness in Christ. Like the prodigal father, Christ
comes to forgive us all our sins and to assure us that all our sins are forgiven.
Christ could save us from our sins and forgive us unconditionally because He is
identified with us even in the effects of our sins.
In
both instances in the gospel, we see the magnanimity of the Father, whether it
was to the younger or elder son. Both were important to him. It is painful for all parents
when their children cannot get along with each other. In this case,
the elder brother looked at his younger brother with disgust and damnation. He
even disowned him by saying to his father, “this son of yours!” The Father
nevertheless continued to call him “My son, you are with me always and all I
have is yours.” He wanted the elder son to know that everything he had
was His. So there was nothing for the elder son to be proud of. God
does not want us to slave for Him. He wants us to regard Him as
Father and He wants to have a relationship with us. This is the problem
of the world. Parents are slaving for their children and becoming
resentful. So, too, children are slaving for their parents. When
there is no real relationship, there is no love. The relationship becomes
hostile.
On
the other hand, the younger brother, although a slave to sin, had his sonship
restored completely.
“But the father said to his servants ‘Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it
on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet … this son
of mine was dead and has come back to life; he was lost and is found.’ And they
began to celebrate.” For God the Father, He is happy to forgive us the
moment we decide to return home so that we will not hurt ourselves anymore.
In
the gospel, we are told that God is ever ready to forgive us. He is waiting for us to return, keeping
watch far and near, today and always, for us to return home. He is
sad to see us hurting and ostracized. So do not delay any
longer. Make it a point to celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation
individually or as a community. Find time to experience the mercy of
Christ and be set free from fear and shame. Only when we experience His
unconditional love and mercy in the sacrament of reconciliation and in quiet
prayer, can we begin a new chapter of life. Otherwise, the past will
cripple us. So we need to come to Him with all our sins and past mistakes
so that the Lord can take them away.
What
is needed for us to make that move is to come to realize our wretched
condition. Coming
to self-awareness is what it takes for the Lord to heal us. With
self-awareness, we will then be ready to receive His love and
forgiveness. That is why the Sacrament of reconciliation must be preceded
by a sincere examination of conscience, going through not just our sins, but
the cause and the consequences of our sins so that we will hate our sins and
will not want to repeat them. We need to spend some time preparing
ourselves for the sacrament of reconciliation. It would be good to take a
week to pray over our sins and our past so that our confession would be
contrite, thorough and sincere. In this way, we allow the Lord to heal us
effectively.
Once
our sins are confessed, we will feel as if we are a new creation and that we
are once again the children of God, like the prodigal son. We will be given back our
sonship and dignity. We must make ourselves available to the Lord’s
mercy and grace if we are to be set free and be received into the Promised
Land.
Only
those of us who have tasted the Lord’s goodness and mercy can now become His
ambassadors of reconciliation. St Paul wrote that Christ gave them “the work of handing on this
reconciliation. In other words, God in Christ was reconciling the world to
himself, not holding men’s faults against them, and he has entrusted to us the
news that they are reconciled. So we are ambassadors for Christ.”
Let us therefore, after having experienced His love and mercy and tasted His
goodness, be His messengers of love and peace in the world. We must
now be announcers of the Good News. Freely received, freely give!
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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