20160728 A NEW LIFE WITH GOD ENTAILS ACCEPTING OUR PAST AND BEING
OPEN TO NEW POSSIBILITIES
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Jeremiah 18:1-6 ©
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The word that was
addressed to Jeremiah by the Lord, ‘Get up and make your way down to the
potter’s house; there I shall let you hear what I have to say.’ So I went down
to the potter’s house; and there he was, working at the wheel. And whenever the
vessel he was making came out wrong, as happens with the clay handled by
potters, he would start afresh and work it into another vessel, as potters do.
Then this word of the Lord was addressed to me, ‘House of Israel, can not I do
to you what this potter does? – it is the Lord who speaks. Yes, as the
clay is in the potter’s hand, so you are in mine, House of Israel.’
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm 145:2-6 ©
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He is happy who is
helped by Jacob’s God.
or
Alleluia!
My soul, give praise
to the Lord.
I will
praise the Lord all my days,
make
music to my God while I live.
He is happy who is
helped by Jacob’s God.
or
Alleluia!
Put no trust in
princes,
In mortal
men in whom there is no help.
Take their breath,
they return to clay
and their
plans that day come to nothing.
He is happy who is
helped by Jacob’s God.
or
Alleluia!
He is happy who is
helped by Jacob’s God,
whose
hope is in the Lord his God,
who alone made heaven
and earth,
the seas
and all they contain.
He is happy who is
helped by Jacob’s God.
or
Alleluia!
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Jn15:15
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Alleluia, alleluia!
I call you friends,
says the Lord,
because I have made
known to you
everything I have
learnt from my Father.
Alleluia!
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Or
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cf.Ac16:14
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O
Lord,
to accept the words
of your Son.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 13:47-53
©
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Jesus said to the
crowds, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea that brings
in a haul of all kinds. When it is full, the fishermen haul it ashore; then,
sitting down, they collect the good ones in a basket and throw away those that
are no use. This is how it will be at the end of time: the angels will appear
and separate the wicked from the just to throw them into the blazing furnace
where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.
‘Have
you understood all this?’ They said, ‘Yes.’ And he said to them, ‘Well then,
every scribe who becomes a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a
householder who brings out from his storeroom things both new and old.’
A NEW
LIFE WITH GOD ENTAILS ACCEPTING OUR PAST AND BEING OPEN TO NEW POSSIBILITIES
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ JER
18:1-6; MT 13:47-53 ]
What is
most consoling about today’s scripture passages is that none of us, no matter
who we are, is doomed. Until the day of reckoning comes, as the parable
of the dragnet tells us, this is a time of grace. Indeed, both readings
speak about the possibility of change and conversion so long as we are still
alive. They are not concerned with judgement. God who is patient
with the Israelites in their fidelity is also patient with us.
But
what is even more encouraging about today’s scripture message is that the
change that is envisaged will happen in such a way that it does not do violence
to our natural process of growth. God is gentle with us even when He
invites us to conversion. Indeed, the new life that God wants to give us
would basically be derived from the old. That is what the parable of the
potter and the clay meant to tell us. Like the potter who uses the same
clay to re-mould the pots that he is dissatisfied with, so too God will use all
our weaknesses, mistakes and limitations for our personal growth in
grace. Indeed, our sins and limitations would be the very means by which
God will re-mould us into His likeness.
Consequently,
we who are struggling to remain faithful to God and to the gospel life need not
despair, especially when we find that the strength to change is rather weak, or
when we find that we have an ugly past. For many of us, we find it
difficult to thank God for our past, especially our broken past. Indeed
many of us find it difficult to thank God for our weaknesses, especially in our
struggles to be true to ourselves. Most of us would rather hate and hide
our past than admit them.
However,
the scripture readings today want to remind us that we need not be ashamed of
our past. To deny our past will not help us to be whole and to be
healed. What is not exposed cannot be healed. Hence, the only way
true healing can take place is when we accept our past with gratitude and
thankfulness. Let the past be the instruments of God’s purification for
us in our endeavour to find the truth. Indeed, our weaknesses and failures
would be the very means by which God will bring us to realization and true
conversion. Even sins, although abhorred by God, can be transformed into
powerful means of grace.
But
that is not all. The gospel also says that we must be like the learned
scribe who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old. It is not
enough to dwell on our past, even if we can accept it with gratitude.
Equally important is that we must also be open to what is being offered to
us. We must be open to the new possibilities for change. We must be
open to the new movements of the Spirit in our institutions and in the world.
But
there is an implicit warning here as well. Just as not everything that is
old should be discarded, conversely, we must realize that not everything that
is new is necessarily good and from the Spirit. This is where it calls
for discernment. What is old can actually be new if we perceive the
reality of it. And what is new is, more often than not, actually old;
simply old ideas in new packaging. Consequently, newness or oldness is
not a reality in themselves, but they are always clothed in various ways
according to the epoch of our day. Reality cannot be new, neither can
reality be old. Reality is always as it is. But the way we perceive
reality can be new.
Thus,
the fullness of life would basically be a life that is carved from the old and
in view of the potential life ahead of us. In the blending of the old and
the new, we find life. In the blending of the old and the new, we see
reality as it is. Yes, between our inherited tradition and the
progressive theologies, our faith grows and becomes dynamic and
renewed. Life is never of the past or even of the future.
Life is lived only in the present – but a present that is born of the past and
from the future revealed to us by Christ.
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