BEING VISIONARY AND REVOLUTIONARY BUT WITH COMPASSION

20160520 BEING VISIONARY AND REVOLUTIONARY BUT WITH COMPASSION

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Green.

First reading

James 5:9-12 ©

Do not make complaints against one another, brothers, so as not to be brought to judgement yourselves; the Judge is already to be seen waiting at the gates. For your example, brothers, in submitting with patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord; remember it is those who had endurance that we say are the blessed ones. You have heard of the patience of Job, and understood the Lord’s purpose, realising that the Lord is kind and compassionate.

  Above all, my brothers, do not swear by heaven or by the earth, or use any oaths at all. If you mean ‘yes’, you must say ‘yes’; if you mean ‘no’, say ‘no.’ Otherwise you make yourselves liable to judgement.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 102:1-4,8-9,11-12 ©

The Lord is compassion and love.

My soul, give thanks to the Lord

  all my being, bless his holy name.

My soul, give thanks to the Lord

  and never forget all his blessings.

The Lord is compassion and love.

It is he who forgives all your guilt,

  who heals every one of your ills,

who redeems your life from the grave,

  who crowns you with love and compassion.

The Lord is compassion and love.

The Lord is compassion and love,

  slow to anger and rich in mercy.

His wrath will come to an end;

  he will not be angry for ever.

The Lord is compassion and love.

For as the heavens are high above the earth

  so strong is his love for those who fear him.

As far as the east is from the west

  so far does he remove our sins.

The Lord is compassion and love.

Gospel Acclamation

Ps110:7,8

Alleluia, alleluia!

Your precepts, O Lord, are all of them sure;

they stand firm for ever and ever.

Alleluia!

Or

Jn17:17

Alleluia, alleluia!

Your word is truth, O Lord:

consecrate us in the truth.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Mark 10:1-12 ©

Jesus came to the district of Judaea and the far side of the Jordan. And again crowds gathered round him, and again he taught them, as his custom was. Some Pharisees approached him and asked, ‘Is it against the law for a man to divorce his wife?’ They were testing him. He answered them, ‘What did Moses command you?’ ‘Moses allowed us’ they said ‘to draw up a writ of dismissal and so to divorce.’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘It was because you were so unteachable that he wrote this commandment for you. But from the beginning of creation God made them male and female. This is why a man must leave father and mother, and the two become one body. They are no longer two, therefore, but one body. So then, what God has united, man must not divide.’ Back in the house the disciples questioned him again about this, and he said to them, ‘The man who divorces his wife and marries another is guilty of adultery against her. And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another she is guilty of adultery too.’

BEING VISIONARY AND REVOLUTIONARY BUT WITH COMPASSION

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ JM 5:9-12; MK 10:1-12    ]

It is normal for people to complain.  Some complaints are legitimate but many are over petty matters.   We expect everyone to be perfect and dance exactly to our tune.   Many of us cannot tolerate inefficiency and want things to be put right immediately, according to our perspective and judgment, sometimes without knowing the facts and the limitations that others are working with.  To such people, St James exhorts, “Do not make complaints against one another, brother, so as not to be brought to judgement yourselves; the Judge is already to be seen waiting at the gates.”  By complaining, we have already judged ourselves, indicating the kind of people we are.   What is more important than merely complaining is to be proactive by offering to help to make things better.

All of us, I am sure have lots of things to say about the Church, the bishop and his priests; why the Church is not doing this and that.  Some are not happy with the liturgical services in the Church or the catechesis.  Some find them boring and irrelevant.  Some feel neglected in their parishes and have no sense of belonging.  As a result some have left the Church, joined other Christian churches or given up on religion all together.  Your complaints and unhappiness are not totally unfounded.

However, instead of complaining, a more proactive approach is to become His witnesses of truth and love.  Without stifling our zeal and passion, we need to exercise caution.   We have to be patient.  This is the advice of St James.  “Brothers, in submitting patience, take the prophet who spoke in the name of the Lord; remember it is those who had endurance that we say are the blessed ones.  You have heard of the patience of Job, and understood the Lord’s purpose, realising that the Lord is kind and compassionate.” We must be sensitive to those whom we reach out to.   The lack of patience can cause more harm than good.  Quite often, we are pressurized to act quickly.  But some issues need time to consider carefully, and think through as to how we can best respond, rather than simply reacting to a situation.  Without objectivity and studying the situation calmly, any reaction would not bring the results we seek.

Hence, we need to spend time in prayer and reflection.   As St James exhorts us, it is necessary that whatever we do springs from compassion and love.  Merely reacting to a problem may cause more hurt.  Any correction must be done purely out of love and not out of pride, selfish ambition or merely to serve one’s interests and convenience.  Such clarity of motives in acting cannot be done without a true examination of one’s conscience before the Lord in humble prayer and the desire to act in accordance with the Spirit of Christ and for the good of the Church and His people.  The lack of compassion would be totally against the gospel, for Christ is not looking for efficiency but love.

That is why we are called to recognize the weaknesses in humanity and the compassion of God.   We are all weak and sinful.  No one is perfect and in a special way, we are called to love sinners, those who have left the Church and sinners in the Church.  We must avoid being legalistic and judgemental, always finding fault.  There is a real danger of us falling into self-righteousness.  Being proud and self-righteous is no better than being a sinner.  The psalmist reminds us that “It is he who forgives all your guilt who heals every one of your ills, who redeems your life from the grave, who crowns you with love and compassion.  The Lord is compassion and love, slow to anger and rich in mercy. His wrath will come to an end; He will not be angry forever. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so strong is his love for those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our sins.”

Indeed, all of us were also once lost and walked in darkness.  All the more we should be compassionate and understanding.  Truly, compassion will win hearts and change lives.  This does not mean that we cannot have the ideal vision as presented by Jesus.  But the ideal remains ideal because it can never be reached.  It is something beyond us but we can certainly strive to bring ourselves closer to the ideal.  It does not mean that we can attain it today or even tomorrow.  It will be a lifelong struggle.  Hence, this calls for patience and perseverance, forgiveness and compassion.

The case in point in today’s gospel is the question of marriage.  We all know very well the position of the Church with respect to the sanctity of marriage.  Married couples are called to be in union with each other, in mind, body and spirit.  Through their mutual love for each other, by accepting each other, forgiving and encouraging each other, they are to be sanctified in love over the years.  Union in marriage is a whole life struggle.  The couple is not only called to find love and fulfilment in their vocation but they are to sanctify each other in love so that they find salvation in Christ. They are therefore called to sacrifice themselves for each other unconditionally, and love the other more than himself or herself.  It calls for a death to oneself in the process of love.   They are to forgive each other and be patient and tolerant with each other.

But how many couples can love so selflessly in that way, being faithful and true in love to the extent of dying to their selfishness for the other?  Human love is conditional and limited.  We love those who love us.  This is only human.  But to come to a point of agape love, to love those who do not love us, requires more than human strength but God’s grace. Thus many couples are struggling in their relationships.  They have their disagreements and fights.  Sometimes they find it so difficult to forgive the other spouse, especially when it involves infidelity.  Many end up as intimate strangers because they no longer are able to communicate with each other.

This is also true of us who are priests and religious.  The fact that we have chosen ordination is because we want to give ourselves to Christ and His Church totally.  But even then, we have our limitations.  We find ourselves selfish at times.  We struggle to give ourselves totally to Christ and His Church.  This is true for religious who take the vows of obedience, poverty and chastity.   Taking the vows is one thing but to really live out the vows, not just externally but interiorly, is another.  Each day, priests and religious are called to gradually die to ourselves so that we can be truly configured in Christ.  We must therefore be patient with each other in sanctification.

This is of course no excuse for us to remain complacent.  As St James urges us, “Above all, my brothers, do not swear by heaven or by the earth, or use any oaths at all.  If you mean ‘yes’, you must say ‘yes’; if you mean ‘no’, say ‘no’.  Otherwise you make yourselves liable for judgement.”   As far as we can, we must be true to ourselves and strive to be faithful to our commitments and the ideals of the gospel we profess in.  We must be exemplary.   We must be firm and integral in our faith. We need to be witnesses not just by words but by deeds and lifestyle and that is why we are called to be witnesses for Christ.  Witnessing without love and compassion is contradictory.  So let our love, compassion and patience in the spread of the Good News be the motivating factors in all that we do and say.  Let us make a difference in the lives of others.  Show that we are different in our lifestyle, values and priorities.  Most of all, others must see the joy and love in our hearts.  One cannot proclaim the gospel without joy.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved