20160625 THE TRAGEDY OF A ROUTINE AND NOMINAL FAITH
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Lamentations
2:2,10-14,18-19 ©
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Beth
The Lord has
pitilessly destroyed
all the
homes of Jacob;
in his displeasure he
has shattered
the
strongholds of the daughter of Judah;
he has thrown to the
ground,
he has
left accursed the kingdom and its rulers.
Yod
Mutely they sit on
the ground,
the
elders of the daughter of Zion;
they have put dust on
their heads,
and
wrapped themselves in sackcloth.
The virgins of
Jerusalem hang their heads
down to
the ground.
Kaph
My eyes wasted away
with weeping,
my
entrails shuddered,
my liver spilled on
the ground
at the
ruin of the daughters of my people,
as children, mere
infants, fainted
in the
squares of the Citadel.
Lamed
They kept saying to
their mothers,
‘Where is
the bread?’
as they fainted like
wounded men
in the
squares of the City,
as they poured out
their souls
on their
mothers’ breasts.
Mem
How can I describe
you, to what compare you,
daughter
of Jerusalem?
Who can rescue and
comfort you,
virgin
daughter of Zion?
For huge as the sea
is your affliction;
who can
possibly cure you?
Nun
The visions your
prophets had on your behalf
were
delusive, tinsel things,
they never pointed
out your sin,
to ward
off your exile.
The visions they
proffered you were false,
fallacious,
misleading.
Sade
Cry aloud, then, to
the Lord,
groan,
daughter of Zion;
let your tears flow
like a torrent,
day and
night;
give yourself no
relief,
grant
your eyes no rest.
Qoph
Up, cry out in the
night-time,
in the
early hours of darkness;
pour your heart out
like water
before
the Lord.
Stretch out your
hands to him
for the
lives of your children
who faint with hunger
at the entrance to every street.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm
73:1-7,20-21 ©
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Do not forget your
poor servants for ever.
Why, O God, have you
cast us off for ever?
Why blaze
with anger at the sheep of your pasture?
Remember your people
whom you chose long ago,
the tribe
you redeemed to be your own possession,
the
mountain of Zion where you made your dwelling.
Do not forget your
poor servants for ever.
Turn your steps to
these places that are utterly ruined!
The enemy
has laid waste the whole of the sanctuary.
Your foes have made
uproar in your house of prayer:
they have
set up their emblems, their foreign emblems,
high
above the entrance to the sanctuary.
Do not forget your
poor servants for ever.
Their axes have
battered the wood of its doors.
They have
struck together with hatchet and pickaxe.
O God, they have set
your sanctuary on fire:
they have
razed and profaned the place where you dwell.
Do not forget your
poor servants for ever.
Remember your
covenant; every cave in the land
is a
place where violence makes its home.
Do not let the
oppressed return disappointed;
let the
poor and the needy bless your name.
Do not forget your
poor servants for ever.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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cf.2Tim1:10
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Our Saviour Jesus
Christ abolished death
and he has proclaimed
life through the Good News.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Mt8:17
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Alleluia, alleluia!
He took our
sicknesses away,
and carried our
diseases for us.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 8:5-17 ©
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When Jesus went into
Capernaum a centurion came up and pleaded with him. ‘Sir,’ he said ‘my servant
is lying at home paralysed, and in great pain.’ ‘I will come myself and cure
him’ said Jesus. The centurion replied, ‘Sir, I am not worthy to have you under
my roof; just give the word and my servant will be cured. For I am under
authority myself, and have soldiers under me; and I say to one man: Go, and he
goes; to another: Come here, and he comes; to my servant: Do this, and he does
it.’ When Jesus heard this he was astonished and said to those following him,
‘I tell you solemnly, nowhere in Israel have I found faith like this. And I
tell you that many will come from east and west to take their places with
Abraham and Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of heaven; but the
subjects of the kingdom will be turned out into the dark, where there will be
weeping and grinding of teeth.’ And to the centurion Jesus said, ‘Go back,
then; you have believed, so let this be done for you.’ And the servant was cured
at that moment.
And going
into Peter’s house Jesus found Peter’s mother-in-law in bed with fever. He
touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on
him.
That
evening they brought him many who were possessed by devils. He cast out the
spirits with a word and cured all who were sick. This was to fulfil the
prophecy of Isaiah:
He
took our sicknesses away and carried our diseases for us.
THE
TRAGEDY OF A ROUTINE AND NOMINAL FAITH
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ Lamentations
2:2, 10-14, 18-19; Ps 73:1-7,20-21; Mt 8:5-17]
“When
Jesus heard this he was astonished and said to those following him, ‘I tell you
solemnly, nowhere in Israel have I found faith like this. And I tell you
that many will come from east and west to take their places with Abraham and
Isaac and Jacob at the feast on the kingdom of heaven; but the subjects of the
kingdom will be turned out into the dark, where there will be weeping and
grinding of teeth.’” Such was the judgment of the faith of the Jews,
especially the religious leaders. The remark of Jesus surely would
have been a scandal to the Jews because they thought they were the chosen
people of God and therefore guaranteed of a place in the Kingdom. To add
salt to the wound, Jesus ventured further to declare that the sinners and
gentiles from the four corners of the earth would find themselves in the
kingdom of God, but the Jews would be left out. What is said for them is
also applicable for Catholics as well. Why is this warning so real for
us?
The truth is that we
Catholics, like the Jews, tend to take our faith for granted. Many of us
are cradle Catholics, baptized when we were infants. Our parents made the
act of faith on our behalf when we were still unable to make our personal
profession of faith in Christ. Unfortunately, although we are supposed
over the years to make the faith of our parents our own personally, sometimes
it does not take place. We grow up in a Catholic milieu and we imbibe the
faith like a culture, that is to say, we are conditioned into it without
understanding what or why we are doing or what we do. Indeed, many of us
never question our culture or the customs we practice because everyone else is
doing it. But without understanding the value of the cultural practices,
it becomes routine, perfunctory and sometimes even superstitious.
Indeed, the irony of life
is that those who have to pay a price for what they believe in tend to make
better citizens or committed faith believers. When faith is given to us
on a platter, it ends up as cheap grace. When a gift is given
freely without us realizing the cost, we do not really appreciate what we receive.
This is true for the modern generation because they grow up with all the
comforts of life, unlike those who were born 50 years ago when Singapore was
then still poor. Some Singaporeans take their country for granted and
hence they lack patriotism. As for faith, many Catholics do not treasure
or cherish the faith that was brought to us by our forefathers and the French
missionaries who paid a heavy price to travel to foreign lands and made much
sacrifices for the local church.
The gospel speaks of the
faith of the Centurion. He did not take Jesus for granted. He was
firstly a Roman, hated by the Jews. Secondly, he was of stature in terms
of rank, power and wealth. Yet, he humbled himself to come to the
Lord seeking for His help. He was conscious of his position with respect
to the Jews and also sensitive to their customs. This explains why he did
not want to trouble the Lord to go to his house and be contaminated
ritually. He had total faith in the Lord whom he believed could heal from
afar, since He was a man of God. He was most grateful that Jesus would
even consider his request and dared not ask for more.
When we take our faith for
granted, like the Jews who thought they were the chosen people of God and,
based on that promise, assured of salvation, we will become complacent in our
relationship with God. We cannot depend and rely on heritage when it
comes to faith because faith is a personal thing. Faith is not a thing
but a personal relationship with God. We cannot depend simply on the fact
that we are Catholic, or that we were baptized and therefore grace works
without the need for our human cooperation. On the contrary, grace
perfects nature, but does not work without the assistance of nature.
Many Catholics do not find
their faith liberating and empowering, simply because of routine
practices. Day in day out, Sunday after Sunday, year after year, they
would go to Church and practice the faith like a ritual without personal
conviction or understanding. They do not grow in relationship with the
Lord. Often, what they do is done in a superstitious manner, either for
fear of punishment or condemnation. No wonder a day would come when they
suddenly awaken from their ignorance because someone challenged them in their
faith or because of a crisis in their life. When that happens, often it
is too late to reach out to them because they have found God in another church
or in another religion. If God is experienced outside the Catholic Faith,
they will leave the Church. The truth is not because the Catholic Faith
cannot mediate the presence and the love of God but simply because we allow our
Catholics to live on a nominal, routine and superficial faith. We do not
help them to deepen their faith and their relationship with Christ either intellectually
or personally.
What are the consequences
of a ritualistic and mechanical faith? We will face the same tragic
consequences as the first reading from the Book of Lamentations tells us.
The prophet Jeremiah lamented over the state of Israel. Both the Northern
Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah were destroyed and all were
take captives by the Assyrians and the Babylonians respectively. The
responsorial psalm sums up the sentiments of the Israelites in their national
tragedy when he cried out, “Why, O God, have you cast us off forever?
Turn your steps to these places that are utterly ruined! The enemy has
laid waste the whole of the sanctuary. Your foes have made uproar in your house
of prayer: they have set up their emblems, their foreign emblems, high above
the entrance to the sanctuary. Their axes have battered the wood of its doors.
They have struck together with hatchet and pickaxe. O God, they have set your
sanctuary on fire: they have razed and profaned the place where you dwell.”
Like the Israelites, we
will suffer not just the loss of our Catholic Faith but eventually our society
will be destroyed due to moral and spiritual decadence. When a country
loses her soul and sells herself to materialism, consumerism, power and glory,
its people will end up with an impoverished soul, without strong ethical values
of integrity, honesty, compassion and tolerance. This will surely lead to
the country’s perdition. This is already happening all over the world.
With the family institution weakened because of globalization and migration,
coupled with the instability of marriages, our young people no longer come from
loving, stable and good families. They lack models and mentors for faith
and life. How shortsighted the world has become! We are only
concerned with economic progress and technological advancement but we are not
paying attention to the ethical values of our people. How can a nation
ever sustain itself without moral integrity, justice and compassion especially
for the weak and the poor?
The cause is always a weak
faith in God. Our religious practices are routine, external, and our doctrines
empty, because our hearts are not with God. It is a dead faith. Such
faith cannot give us life abundantly. History repeats itself but no one
takes history seriously until it is too late to regret, like the
Israelites. Unfortunately, like them, we are stubborn and incorrigible
till we suffer the full consequences of our sins and negligence.
Only then will we, like them, cry out to the Lord and return to Him.
Jeremiah said, “Cry aloud, then, to the Lord, groan, daughter of Zion; let your
tears flow like a torrent, day and night; give yourself no relief, grant your
eyes no rest. Up, cry out in the night-time, in the early hours of darkness;
pour your heart out like water before the Lord. Stretch out your hands to him
for the lives of your children who faint with hunger at the entrance to every
street.”
Still, the Lord never
rejects us. He comes to forgive and heal. In the gospel, we read
that He has come to carry our infirmities. “They bought him many who were
possessed by devils. He cast out the spirits with a word and cured all
who were sick. This was to fulfil the prophecy of Isaiah: He took our
sicknesses away and carried our diseases for us.” So with faith and a
humble heart, like the Centurion, let us turn to the Lord and beg for His
mercy.
Most of all, imitating
Peter’s mother-in-law who was healed by the Lord, we must now serve Him with
all our heart. We must never forget that once healed and forgiven, we are
restored for service to the Lord and His people. Health is never for
ourselves but for the service of others. So, let us be grateful
like Peter’s mother-in-law so that out of gratitude, we will not take our faith
for granted but endeavor to deepen our faith in Christ and our relationship
with Him. Only a personal faith in the authority and the person of Jesus
could help us to live our lives meaningfully and courageously. We
are called to cling to His word like the Centurion, believing that His word
gives us life.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights
Reserved
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