FINDING GOD IN DESPERATION

20160704 FINDING GOD IN DESPERATION

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Green.

First reading

Hosea 2:16,17-18,21-22 ©

It is the Lord who speaks:

I am going to lure her

and lead her out into the wilderness

and speak to her heart.

I am going to give her back her vineyards,

and make the Valley of Achor a gateway of hope.

There she will respond to me as she did when she was young,

as she did when she came out of the land of Egypt.

When that day comes – it is the Lord who speaks –

she will call me, ‘My husband’,

no longer will she call me, ‘My Baal.’

I will betroth you to myself for ever,

betroth you with integrity and justice,

with tenderness and love;

I will betroth you to myself with faithfulness,

and you will come to know the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 144:2-9 ©

The Lord is kind and full of compassion.

I will bless you day after day

  and praise your name for ever.

The Lord is great, highly to be praised,

  his greatness cannot be measured.

The Lord is kind and full of compassion.

Age to age shall proclaim your works,

  shall declare your mighty deeds,

shall speak of your splendour and glory,

  tell the tale of your wonderful works.

The Lord is kind and full of compassion.

They will speak of your terrible deeds,

  recount your greatness and might.

They will recall your abundant goodness;

  age to age shall ring out your justice.

The Lord is kind and full of compassion.

The Lord is kind and full of compassion,

  slow to anger, abounding in love.

How good is the Lord to all,

  compassionate to all his creatures.

The Lord is kind and full of compassion.

Gospel Acclamation

cf.Jn6:63,68

Alleluia, alleluia!

Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life;

you have the message of eternal life.

Alleluia!

Or	cf.2Tim1:10

Alleluia, alleluia!

Our Saviour Jesus Christ abolished death

and he has proclaimed life through the Good News.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Matthew 9:18-26 ©

While Jesus was speaking, up came one of the officials, who bowed low in front of him and said, ‘My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her and her life will be saved.’ Jesus rose and, with his disciples, followed him. Then from behind him came a woman, who had suffered from a haemorrhage for twelve years, and she touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself, ‘If I can only touch his cloak I shall be well again.’ Jesus turned round and saw her; and he said to her, ‘Courage, my daughter, your faith has restored you to health.’ And from that moment the woman was well again.

  When Jesus reached the official’s house and saw the flute-players, with the crowd making a commotion he said, ‘Get out of here; the little girl is not dead, she is asleep.’ And they laughed at him. But when the people had been turned out he went inside and took the little girl by the hand; and she stood up. And the news spread all round the countryside.

FINDING GOD IN DESPERATION

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ Hosea 2:16, 17-18, 21-22; Matt 9:18-26 ]

In the first reading, we read of the Northern Kingdom, Israel, which was prosperous but her people had abandoned God.  The upper middle class were doing well in trade but the poorer people were suffering because of the lack of justice and integrity.  Not only did they abandon the Covenant but they adulterated the faith of Israel with the pagan god of Baal.  Unfortunately, this has always been the weakness of humanity.  In prosperity and success, we tend to neglect God and think too highly of ourselves.  Indeed, this is the state of the modern man today.  Because of knowledge, science and technology, we delude ourselves into thinking that we are gods and that we can do anything and everything without God. This explains why there are a growing number of humanists and atheists today because they believe that they can change the world and their destiny using human knowledge and science.  God is not needed in this world.  We are gods and able to take care of ourselves.

Pride, arrogance and self-sufficiency are always the beginning of the downfall of man.  When we think that we can do everything and fail to remember our finiteness, a time will come when we will repeat the history of humanity.  All great nations go through a cycle of rise and fall.  Many nations were once great, but today they are no longer the powerful nations that they were. Powerful nations will one day also degenerate because of affluence, power and moral decadence.  It is a matter of time before nature and evil will strike at the folly of human beings.  Israel and Judah were great under King David and Solomon; so much so even the Queen of Egypt came to visit King Solomon.  But at its height they allowed their wealth, self-indulgence, greed and, most of all, their lack of love for God to lead them to self-destruction.

If we want to avoid such catastrophes in our lives, then we must resist the moral decadence in our society.  Like the prophet Amos and Hosea, we cannot stand on the sidelines and watch our nation fall apart. We must be prophets to call our people to sobriety and wisdom in deciding how the country should grow.  The day we lose all moral sense of what is right and wrong; the importance of the family and holistic upbringing of children; the necessity of ethics in the employment of science and technology, especially in medical research, that would be when we would end up with technological progress without a corresponding progress in the human person in terms of spiritual, moral, social and intellectual development.  Seeking to build a nation without the right moral values, integrity and justice will destroy all that our forefathers have built up over the years.

Notwithstanding the warning of eventual punishments that would come from the consequences of our sins, the first reading reminds us that God is all merciful.  He comes not to condemn but to save us and to heal us.  As the prophet of love said, “I am going to lure her and lead her out into the wilderness and speak to her heart. There she will respond to me as she did when she was young, as she did when she came out of the land of Egypt. When that day comes – it is the Lord who speaks – she will call me, “My husband”, no longer will she call me, ‘My Baal.’”  Indeed, the Lord wants to invite the adulterous bride of Israel, and that includes us all, to return to Him, the bridegroom.  He does not reject us even when we have committed adultery; not like most married couples who would sue for divorce the moment the other spouse is caught with infidelity.  Not for the Lord!  If we repent and come back to Him, He would happily receive us back into His bosom and He will love us again with an overwhelming love.  He said, “I will betroth you to myself for ever, betroth you with integrity and justice, with tenderness and love; I will betroth you to myself with faithfulness, and you will come to know the Lord.”  Such is the forgiveness and faithful unconditional love of God.

But we can return to Him only when we are back in our wilderness.  This is the unfortunate thing.  Even Israel and Judah never learnt their lessons in spite of the passionate and constant exhortations of the prophets calling them to repentance.  They simply won’t listen.  They wanted to have their own ways.  They were over confident of themselves because they were rich and had power.  It was only when God permitted Assyria to conquer Israel and Babylon to conquer Judah that they came to realize their nothingness and their mistakes.  Of course, it was a bit too late.  They were sent to exile, back to Egypt, the wilderness, the desert to pray, reflect and repent of their haughtiness, superiority and self-sufficiency.

But if we are in that humble and dependent state, it means we are ready to receive the graces of God.  As Mary sang in the Magnificat, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.  He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly.” (Lk 1:46,47; 51,52)  When we are stripped of our power and come to realize our nothingness, then, only then, would the Lord lift us up.  When we realize that no one can save us or our loved ones, not even the best doctors in the world or the richest and most powerful man on earth, then we know that we are not that great and mighty after all.

This was the situation of Jairus.  He came to Jesus in desperation because his daughter had just died.  Any parent who loses his or her daughter can appreciate the anxiety and pain of Jairus.  Any parent would do anything to save the lives of his or her children.  No parent would spare anything, even if they have to sell the house or take up loans, to save their children.  So when Jairus came to Jesus, he was truly desperate.  So, too, the woman suffering from hemorrhage.  We read that she was suffering probably from menstrual disorder for 18 years, which caused her not just inconvenience but made her unclean to go for worship and for socializing as it would cause others to be ritually unclean as well.  She had to live with the shame for years and she had spent all her money on doctors without any cure.  Both of them were in dire straits and no human being on earth could help them.

The Good News is that the Lord wants to help us if we are humble enough to surrender in faith and trust in Him.  The Lord will not heal us if we are prideful and think we can do without Him.  That was why He instructed those who did not believe in Him to leave the room when He prayed over the child.  He said, “’Get out of here; the little girl is not dead, she is asleep.’  And they laughed at him.”  With cynical and proud people, the Lord would not show His power and mercy.  But for the official and the woman who sneaked in from behind and without permission sought the healing grace from our Lord, their prayers were answered.  We read that “Jesus turned round and saw her; and he said to her, ‘Courage, my daughter, your faith has restored you to health.’  And from that moment the women was well again.”  With Jairus’ daughter, “when the people had been turned out he went inside and took the little girl by the hand; and she stood up.”

Indeed, God can heal us of our past sins, wounds, shame and brokenness the way He healed the woman who touched the fringe of His cloak.  He can raise us up from the dead like He did with the child.  So, too, if we want the Lord to help us and to heal us from our illness and all hopeless situations, then the truth remains that the Lord is not without power and grace.  He can heal us and set us free.   All we need is to come to Him in prayer, to hear Him speaking the words of healing and forgiveness in the Bible to us; and to be touched by Him as we receive Him in the sacraments, particularly of Reconciliation and the Eucharist. Indeed with the psalmist, we declare, “The Lord is kind and full of compassion. The Lord is great, highly to be praised, his greatness cannot be measured. Age to age shall proclaim your works, shall declare your mighty deeds, shall speak of your splendor and glory, tell the tale of your wonderful works.”

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