CAUSE AND EFFECT OVERCOME BY GRACE

20160628 CAUSE AND EFFECT OVERCOME BY GRACE

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Red.

First reading

Amos 3:1-8,4:11-12 ©

Listen, sons of Israel, to this oracle the Lord speaks against you, against the whole family I brought out of the land of Egypt:

You alone, of all the families of earth, have I acknowledged,

therefore it is for all your sins that I mean to punish you.

Do two men take the road together

if they have not planned to do so?

Does the lion roar in the jungle

if no prey has been found?

Does the young lion growl in his lair

if he has captured nothing?

Does the bird fall to the ground

if no trap has been set?

Does the snare spring up from the ground

if nothing has been caught?

Does the trumpet sound in the city

without the populace becoming alarmed?

Does misfortune come to a city

if the Lord has not sent it?

No more does the Lord do anything

without revealing his plans to his servants the prophets.

The lion roars: who can help feeling afraid?

The Lord speaks: who can refuse to prophesy?

I overthrew you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,

and you were like a brand snatched from the blaze;

and yet you never came back to me.

It is the Lord who speaks.

This therefore, Israel, is what I plan to do to you,

and because I am going to do this to you,

Israel, prepare to meet your God!

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 5:5-8 ©

Lead me, O Lord, in your justice.

You are no God who loves evil;

  no sinner is your guest.

The boastful shall not stand their ground

  before your face.

Lead me, O Lord, in your justice.

You hate all who do evil;

  you destroy all who lie.

The deceitful and bloodthirsty man

  the Lord detests.

Lead me, O Lord, in your justice.

But I through the greatness of your love

  have access to your house.

I bow down before your holy temple,

  filled with awe.

Lead me, O Lord, in your justice.

Gospel Acclamation

Ps147:12,15

Alleluia, alleluia!

O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!

He sends out his word to the earth.

Alleluia!

Or

Ps129:5

Alleluia, alleluia!

My soul is waiting for the Lord,

I count on his word.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Matthew 8:23-27 ©

Jesus got into the boat followed by his disciples. Without warning a storm broke over the lake, so violent that the waves were breaking right over the boat. But he was asleep. So they went to him and woke him saying, ‘Save us, Lord, we are going down!’ And he said to them, ‘Why are you so frightened, you men of little faith?’ And with that he stood up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and all was calm again. The men were astounded and said, ‘Whatever kind of man is this? Even the winds and the sea obey him.’

CAUSE AND EFFECT OVERCOME BY GRACE

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ AMOS 3:1-8; 4:11-12; Ps 5:5-8; Mt 8:23-27 ]

When something goes wrong, we tend to assign blame.  We look for scapegoats for our misfortunes, mistakes and failures in life.  We blame our parents, our teachers and our guardians.  Otherwise, we blame the government, society and the Church.  Finally, we blame God for being uncaring, unjust and indifferent towards us.  When we refuse to take ownership of our failures and mistakes in life and assign the blame to others, we will never learn or be able to get out of our situation.  Pointing fingers at others will only augment our resentment, hatred and revenge, and reinforce our positions and negative views towards life.  This is the way of a defeatist.  It will only lead to anger, depression and suicide.  This is a negative way of dealing with life and its struggles.

Rather, we must take a good look at ourselves and examine our faults.  Instead of blaming others for our follies, we must face squarely our own failures, mistakes and sins.  The first and foremost thing we need to do is to admit our mistakes and acknowledge them. If we do not acknowledge that we are responsible, we cannot make any progress. If we do not say “Yes, I have sinned”, then the devil will make us look for other scapegoats.  And it must be done humbly, sincerely, existentially and doctrinally.  That is to say, it cannot be just a general awareness of the fact that we are sinners.  Rather, we must be able to pinpoint exactly where our failings are, what they are and why they are wrong.  Otherwise, there is no true repentance.  We can repent with a contrite heart only when we know that we have done wrong, and when we have hurt our fellowmen, especially those whom we love or those who love us dearly.

What are these sins and the causes that have resulted in where we are today?  Firstly, one of the most dangerous sins is the sin of sloth!  As the proverb says, “The idle mind is the devil’s workshop!”   When we are complacent and lazy, our minds are tempted to sin.  This was the mistake of the Israelites.  They were complacent about themselves.  Just because the Lord had chosen them to be His Covenanted People, they took for granted that privilege and were not faithful to the Covenantal promise of obeying the commandments of the Lord.  Indeed, as the Oracle of the Lord says, “Listen, the sons of Israel.  You alone, of all the families of earth, have I acknowledged.”  But it is not enough to be called sons and daughters of God and be His people if we do not live like the children of God.  We are called not for ourselves but for others.  Israel was chosen by the Lord not for the purpose of being a privileged nation but for the service of others so that all peoples of the earth would come to know how great and loving our God is.

The second reason for the cause of our fall is always because of wrong company.  The Lord asked, “Do two men take the road together if they have not planned to do so?” Indeed, the proverb says, “Birds of a feather flock together.”  Quite often, the people we mix with in life influence the way we think and say and do.  We cannot be wise unless we mix with the wise.  So quite often, when we mix with unhealthy company, we cannot but be sucked into their sinful and wasteful way of life.  Indeed, when we look at ourselves today, we are what our friends are.  So choose carefully the people you walk with and mix with.  It does not mean that we should not reach out to those who are living sinful or destructive lives, but that is provided we come to help them, not to learn from them how to be evil.  It presupposes that we are enlightened.  Only the healthy can help the sick; not the other way around.  We need to choose the right company so that walking together, we find strength and direction.

The third reason for our fall is because we do not avoid the occasions of sin and allow ourselves to fall into temptation.  The Lord says, “Does the lion roar in the jungle if no prey has been found?”  More often than not, if only we learn to be humble and cautious, we could avoid being the prey for others.   There are many dishonest, evil and selfish people in the world who want to harm and destroy us.  They want to destroy our families and our lives.  Consequently, we must be wary of such people who use us as prey to feed their ambitions, greed and power.  If we do not expose ourselves to evil, then evil cannot harm us.  No matter who we are, we can be tempted to sin.  And temptations are everywhere.  Even the Lord was tempted by the Evil One. Unless we are strong we cannot defeat temptations when they come.  So knowing that we are weak, let us avoid the occasions of sin and not allow ourselves to be trapped by them.

The fourth reason for our fall is because of greed.  Again the prophet says, “Does the young lion growl in his lair if he has captured nothing?” We desire to have more.  We want power, status and sex.   When we are greedy and lustful, we look for victims to satisfy us.  Indeed, most of us get into trouble because we are greedy.  We will never have all we want in this life.  Even God cannot satisfy our desires.  God can only fulfill our needs, not our wants because our desires are fathomless.  Indeed, if we do not know contentment, then no matter what we have will never be enough.  Happiness is not dependent on what we have but how little we need to be contented in life.  Happiness is not what we own but who we are.

So today, the scripture invites us to examine our motives in what we do.   The prophet says, “Does the bird fall to the ground if no trap has been set? Does the snare spring up from the ground if nothing has been caught?”   We need to purify our motives and do the right thing.

Otherwise, we only reap what we sow.  Indeed, the Lord reminds us that judgment is inevitable.  Justice will be served at the end of the day.  Truth will triumph.  “I overthrew you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a brand snatched from the blaze; and yet you never came back to me. It is the Lord who speaks. This, therefore, Israel, is what I plan to do to you, and because I am going to do this to you, Israel, prepare to meet your God!”

God has served us notice and therefore we have no excuse when judgment is served.  If Israel was punished, it was not because the Lord took revenge as He is all compassion and forgiveness.  Rather, it was because their evil actions brought about the necessary consequences.  As the psalmist says, “You are no God who loves evil; no sinner is your guest. The boastful shall not stand their ground before your face.  You hate all who do evil; you destroy all who lie. The deceitful and bloodthirsty man the Lord detests.”  In saying this, it does not mean that God condemns us.  It simply means that God and Evil do not mix.  Holiness and sin; truth and falsehood are not compatible.  So those who do evil necessarily bring evil upon themselves.  It is not God who punishes them but evil that will punish them.  Indeed, as St Augustine often says, the punishment for iniquity is more iniquity.  We are punished by the very sins we commit!

Yet, if we are in such a mess already, then all we need is to repent and turn to Him for forgiveness and healing.  The sufferings that come from our sins and mistakes are not meant to be vindictive punishment.  Rather, they are means by which the Lord wakes us up to the greater reality before us, which is eternal life.  It is better to forfeit the joys of this world than to be condemned to death for all eternity.  This is what the Lord says, “And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell.” (Mt 5:30)  The moment we repent, we are set free.  Indeed, when we repent, the new life is ours.  He will restore us to fullness of life.

So in our misery, in our fear of the future, in our problems and sufferings, let us not lose hope but cling to Jesus in our storms.  This is what the gospel is asking of us.  The disciples too were afraid when the storm beat against the boat.  That they were afraid in spite of the fact that they were fishermen meant that the storm was no ordinary storm and they knew fully the dangers ahead of them.  For this reason, they cried out to the Lord, “Save us, Lord, we are going down!”  Indeed, like the disciples in our times of fear, we think that the Lord is sleeping. He seems not to be helping us to fight the storms of our lives.  He appears to be indifferent to our fears and anxieties.

But in truth, He is with us in the boat.  So long as we are in the same boat as our Lord, we will never be drowned.  He will see that we remain safe and calm.  All He asks of us is to have faith in Him.  He said, “’Why are you so frightened, you men of little faith?’  And with that he rebuked the winds and the seas; and all was calm again.”  So in the storms of our lives, we must turn to Jesus to find strength, courage and inspiration.  In every storm, let us put Christ at the center of our lives.  In this way, we can find peace, not outside the storm but inside the storm.  We cannot stop the storms from manifesting or temptations from coming but we can be strong enough to resist the storms and the temptations that come by.

How can we do this if not to find faith in the Lord?  Like the disciples, we need to ask ourselves, do we have faith in the Lord?  Where is this faith found if not in surrendering our lives to Him?  We must learn to accept the will of God and not fight against His will.  We must learn to accept the price of our mistakes, not as punishment but as grace from God to help us grow in love and in character.  So instead of fighting against the means of purification through the sufferings we are going through, we must use them as opportunities for growth in holiness, truth and love.  When we are resigned to His will, we will find peace in the storm.  The world outside us might still be stormy, but in our hearts there will be peace, and in our minds calmness, because our conscience is clear and our will is aligned with God’s will.  In His will is our peace.

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