20160726 MYSTERY OF EVIL OVERCOME BY MYSTERY OF GRACE
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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Jeremiah
14:17-22 ©
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The Lord said to me:
Say this word to the
people:
‘Tears flood my eyes
night and day,
unceasingly,
since a crushing blow
falls on the daughter of my people,
a most grievous
injury.
If I go into the
countryside,
there lie men killed
by the sword;
if I go into the
city,
I see people sick
with hunger;
even prophets and
priests
plough the land: they
are at their wit’s end.’
‘Have you rejected
Judah altogether?
Does your very soul
revolt at Zion?
Why have you struck
us down without hope of cure?
We were hoping for
peace – no good came of it!
For the moment of
cure – nothing but terror!
the Lord, we do
confess our wickedness
and our fathers’
guilt:
we have indeed sinned
against you.
For your name’s sake
do not reject us,
do not dishonour the
throne of your glory.
Remember us; do not
break your covenant with us.
Can any of the pagan
Nothings make it rain?
Can the heavens
produce showers?
No, it is you, the
Lord.
O our God, you are
our hope,
since it is you who
do all this.’
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm
78:8-9,11,13 ©
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Rescue us, O Lord,
for the glory of your name.
Do not hold the guilt
of our fathers against us.
Let your
compassion hasten to meet us;
we are
left in the depths of distress.
Rescue us, O Lord,
for the glory of your name.
O God our saviour,
come to our help.
Come for
the sake of the glory of your name.
O Lord our God,
forgive us our sins;
rescue us
for the sake of your name.
Rescue us, O Lord,
for the glory of your name.
Let the groans of the
prisoners come before you;
let your
strong arm reprieve those condemned to die.
But we, your people,
the flock of your pasture,
will give
you thanks for ever and ever.
We will
tell your praise from age to age.
Rescue us, O Lord,
for the glory of your name.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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1P1:25
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The word of the Lord
remains for ever:
What is this word?
It is the Good News
that has been brought to you.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The seed is the word
of God, Christ the sower;
whoever finds this
seed will remain for ever.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 13:36-43
©
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Leaving
the crowds, Jesus went to the house; and his disciples came to him and said,
‘Explain the parable about the darnel in the field to us.’ He said in reply,
‘The sower of the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world; the good
seed is the subjects of the kingdom; the darnel, the subjects of the evil one;
the enemy who sowed them, the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; the
reapers are the angels. Well then, just as the darnel is gathered up and burnt
in the fire, so it will be at the end of time. The Son of Man will send his
angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that provoke offences
and all who do evil, and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will
be weeping and grinding of teeth. Then the virtuous will shine like the sun in
the kingdom of their Father. Listen, anyone who has ears!’
MYSTERY
OF EVIL OVERCOME BY MYSTERY OF GRACE
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ JER
14:17-22; MT 13:36-43 ]
In the
first reading, we read of the grief of Jeremiah over the destruction of his
homeland by the Babylonian army. In spite of his forewarnings, his
compatriots did not believe in him. They continued to rebel against God and
aligned themselves with foreigners. Most of all, they were not faithful
to the Covenant. This national tragedy caused the inhabitants, including
Jeremiah, to try to understand the significance of their sufferings. As the
true prophet, it behooved Jeremiah to interpret for the people how their
sufferings were God’s judgment on His people and also part of a larger plan
that God had for Judah.
When we
face crises in life, we, too, like Jeremiah, always begin by lamenting about
our predicament. Such a time of mourning is always necessary.
However, it is more important that such events force us to look deeply into
ourselves and search for God’s plan for us. Through failures, mistakes
and sufferings, we are driven to self-realization and wisdom.
Through the trials and challenges of life, we experience the growing pains of Christ’s
kingdom inside us. Let us not delude ourselves into thinking that God’s
kingdom always comes in spectacular ways. More often than not, it works quietly
like the seed and yeast. Our frustrations, doubts and questions, sinning
and repenting are all the growing pains of Christ coming to life in us. This is
the message of today’s scripture readings.
There
is a purpose for God permitting sin and evil to exist in this world. The
parable of the weeds and wheat is a clear reminder that goodness and evil
co-exist in this world. At any time, there is a hostile power that is at
work seeking to destroy goodness. In this world, there will always be a tension
between doing the right thing and the wrong thing. The kingdom of God
does not come without a struggle. This battle takes place ordinarily in
our daily struggles in our relationships and in the choices we make.
Often we feel rather frustrated because we are always torn between doing good
and succumbing to evil. The temptation is for us to fall into legalism and see
all things as neatly demarcated into evil and good. The truth is that we
do not want to live in tension. This is what fundamentalists seek to do
when it comes to difficult areas of doctrines, be they concerned with morals or
faith.
The truth is that life is
rather complex and decision-making is never easy. The discernment process
is even trickier. This is what the parable of the weeds and wheat is
meant to illustrate. We must not seek the easy way out by bundling
everything into good or evil. Like the tares and the wheat, they
look so alike. In the early stages, the tares closely resemble the wheat
that it is impossible to tell one from the other. Only much later, when
both have headed out, can they be distinguished. Unfortunately, by then
the roots of both would have been so inter-twined that it is impossible to
remove the tares without also pulling up the wheat.
In our
lives too, we must be careful of judging people too quickly when we do not have
all the facts about the person. Often we hear one or two remarks about
the person, and we are ready to sum up the person. Knowing just a part of
the person does not give us the right to judge the whole person.
How often have we come across people who appear to be good and holy, only to find
out later that they are living double and hypocritical lives? And the
reality is, how many of us can truly say that we always live lives of
integrity? The world is so quick to judge and is very unforgiving of
people who make mistakes. The world will pass judgement on those
who have sinned or failed in their responsibilities, as if we ourselves are
faultless. All the good that the person has done are immediately
forgotten. We choose to pick that one fault and the person is
condemned. Indeed, we must be careful that we do not label or classify
people too quickly without first examining all the facts. This explains why all
judgment must be left to the Lord. Only He can read the hearts of men
when we can only see their external actions. Only He can see our whole
life from the day we were conceived in our mother’s womb till the day we die,
whereas we can see only certain actions of our fellowmen.
Secondly, we too can ill
afford to remove difficult people from our lives just because we find them
irritable. We also have to learn to live with the imperfections and sins
that we have inherited or cultivated. We are what we are today partly
because of our upbringing, the culture we have inherited and our own personal
choices. As it is said, we are spiritual benefactors to each
other. The good can influence us to be like them. The bad can
purify our love and our motives. The difficult people who are always
finding fault with us could very well be agents of God’s purifying work to help
us grow in love. Consequently, we must accept the mystery of God’s grace
at work in our lives. Good or evil, we can be influenced either
way. It is how we want to respond to grace. So we must let both the
strong and the weak, good and evil, healthy and sick co-exist. Through their
interaction, the strong becomes stronger and the weak becomes strong. The
weak purifies the strong; and the strong strengthens the weak.
Consequently,
it behooves us to recognize that we are in solidarity with others in sin.
Before we pass judgment on others, let us be conscious that none of us can say
that he is without sin, for all of us have sinned, albeit differently. So
like Jeremiah, although he lamented at the ruins of Israel, he did not condemn
his own countrymen for causing the downfall of all, especially the
innocent. On the contrary, he identified himself as a fellow sinner with
the rest, imploring God for His forgiveness, mercy and compassion. He
prayed, “Lord, we do confess our wickedness and our father’s guilt: we have
sinned against you.”
Of course,
we must always be on guard lest we drag each other down the slippery path.
Because as the gospel says, there will be a final judgment. “Well then,
just as the darnel is gathered up and burnt in the fire, so it will be at the
end of time. The Son of Man will send his angels and they will gather out
of his kingdom all things that provoke offences and all who do evil, and throw
them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and grinding of
teeth. Then the virtuous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their
Father. Listen, anyone who has ears!”
In the
meantime, we must place all our hopes in Christ. He will be victorious in
the end. He intends that the stones He puts in our way be stepping stones
to heaven. It is said that if God sends us stony paths, He also provides
strong shoes. So if God allows us to suffer disasters in life, it is to
help us to appreciate who we are and what we have forgotten. One of the
greatest artists in history is Rembrandt, a 17th century Dutch
painter. His wife died in the midst of his career and that caused him to fall
into deep depression and sadness. Upon coming out of his bereavement, he
assumed his work with greater passion. It seems that the mourning period
for his wife was the turning point of his career. As in all things, and
as in the case of the Israelites, God allows tragedy in life to mould us
according to His designs for us. God wants to transform us into His
image. Leo Tolstoy once remarked, “It is by those who suffer that the
world has been advanced.”
This faith in the triumph
of goodness is possible because God is faithful to His name and His
covenant. That was how Jeremiah and the psalmist prayed. “For your
name’s sake do not reject us, do not dishonour the throne of your glory. Remember
us; do not break your covenant with us.” Jeremiah appealed to God’s power
as the basis for this surety of God’s promise, “Can any of the pagan Nothings
make it rain? Can the heavens produce showers? No, it is you Lord our God, you
are our hope, since it is you who do all this.” So too we pray with the
psalmist, “For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights
Reserved
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