20160911 BE AN APOSTLE OF MERCY
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Exodus
32:7-11,13-14 ©
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The Lord spoke to
Moses, ‘Go down now, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have
apostatised. They have been quick to leave the way I marked out for them; they
have made themselves a calf of molten metal and have worshipped it and offered
it sacrifice. “Here is your God, Israel,” they have cried “who brought you up
from the land of Egypt!”’ the Lord said to Moses, ‘I can see how headstrong
these people are! Leave me, now, my wrath shall blaze out against them and
devour them; of you, however, I will make a great nation.’
But Moses
pleaded with the Lord his God. ‘Lord,’ he said ‘why should your wrath blaze out
against this people of yours whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with arm
outstretched and mighty hand? Remember Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, your servants
to whom by your own self you swore and made this promise: “I will make your
offspring as many as the stars of heaven, and all this land which I promised I
will give to your descendants, and it shall be their heritage for ever.”’
So the
Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm
50:3-4,12-13,17,19 ©
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I will leave this
place and go to my father.
Have mercy on me,
God, in your kindness.
In your
compassion blot out my offence.
O wash me more and
more from my guilt
and
cleanse me from my sin.
I will leave this
place and go to my father.
A pure heart create
for me, O God,
put a
steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away
from your presence,
nor
deprive me of your holy spirit.
I will leave this
place and go to my father.
O Lord, open my lips
and my
mouth shall declare your praise.
My sacrifice is a
contrite spirit.
A
humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn.
I will leave this
place and go to my father.
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Second reading
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1 Timothy
1:12-17 ©
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I thank Christ Jesus
our Lord, who has given me strength, and who judged me faithful enough to call
me into his service even though I used to be a blasphemer and did all I could
to injure and discredit the faith. Mercy, however, was shown me, because until
I became a believer I had been acting in ignorance; and the grace of our Lord
filled me with faith and with the love that is in Christ Jesus. Here is a
saying that you can rely on and nobody should doubt: that Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners. I myself am the greatest of them; and if mercy
has been shown to me, it is because Jesus Christ meant to make me the greatest
evidence of his inexhaustible patience for all the other people who would later
have to trust in him to come to eternal life. To the eternal King, the undying,
invisible and only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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cf.Ep1:17,18
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Alleluia, alleluia!
May the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ
enlighten the eyes of
our mind,
so that we can see
what hope his call holds for us.
Alleluia!
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Or
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2Co5:19
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Alleluia, alleluia!
God in Christ was
reconciling the world to himself,
and he has entrusted
to us the news that they are reconciled.
Alleluia!
EITHER:
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Gospel
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Luke 15:1-32 ©
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The tax collectors
and the sinners were all seeking the company of Jesus to hear what he had to
say, and the Pharisees and the scribes complained. ‘This man’ they said
‘welcomes sinners and eats with them.’ So he spoke this parable to them:
‘What man
among you with a hundred sheep, losing one, would not leave the ninety-nine in
the wilderness and go after the missing one till he found it? And when he found
it, would he not joyfully take it on his shoulders and then, when he got home,
call together his friends and neighbours? “Rejoice with me,” he would say “I
have found my sheep that was lost.” In the same way, I tell you, there will be
more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine
virtuous men who have no need of repentance.
‘Or
again, what woman with ten drachmas would not, if she lost one, light a lamp
and sweep out the house and search thoroughly till she found it? And then, when
she had found it, call together her friends and neighbours? “Rejoice with me,”
she would say “I have found the drachma I lost.” In the same way, I tell you,
there is rejoicing among the angels of God over one repentant sinner.’
He also
said, ‘A man had two sons. The younger said to his father, “Father, let me have
the share of the estate that would come to me.” So the father divided the
property between them. A few days later, the younger son got together
everything he had and left for a distant country where he squandered his money
on a life of debauchery.
‘When he
had spent it all, that country experienced a severe famine, and now he began to
feel the pinch, so he hired himself out to one of the local inhabitants who put
him on his farm to feed the pigs. And he would willingly have filled his belly
with the husks the pigs were eating but no one offered him anything. Then he
came to his senses and said, “How many of my father’s paid servants have more
food than they want, and here am I dying of hunger! I will leave this place and
go to my father and say: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you;
I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as one of your paid
servants.” So he left the place and went back to his father.
‘While he
was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran to
the boy, clasped him in his arms and kissed him tenderly. Then his son said,
“Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to
be called your son.” But the father said to his servants, “Quick! Bring out the
best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
Bring the calf we have been fattening, and kill it; we are going to have a
feast, a celebration, because this son of mine was dead and has come back to
life; he was lost and is found.” And they began to celebrate.
‘Now the
elder son was out in the fields, and on his way back, as he drew near the
house, he could hear music and dancing. Calling one of the servants he asked
what it was all about. “Your brother has come” replied the servant “and your
father has killed the calf we had fattened because he has got him back safe and
sound.” He was angry then and refused to go in, and his father came out to
plead with him; but he answered his father, “Look, all these years I have
slaved for you and never once disobeyed your orders, yet you never offered me
so much as a kid for me to celebrate with my friends. But, for this son of
yours, when he comes back after swallowing up your property – he and his
women – you kill the calf we had been fattening.”
‘The
father said, “My son, you are with me always and all I have is yours. But it
was only right we should celebrate and rejoice, because your brother here was
dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found.”’
BE AN
APOSTLE OF MERCY
The theme of mercy and
forgiveness runs through all the three scripture readings today. In fact,
other than the recurrent motif of love in the bible, mercy is the next most
important theme. The mercy spelt in today’s liturgy is in relationship to
the forgiveness of sins and for those who are lost in life. The basis for
being merciful is primarily the mercy of God. It is God who always takes
the initiative, not us.
In the
second reading, we have St Paul who considered himself to be an exemplar of
God’s abundant and inexhaustible mercy. Truly, one cannot imagine a
greater sinner than Paul. Humanly speaking, he deserved the most severe of
punishments because many Christians and the lives of their loved ones were
wrecked by his persecution of the Church. Yet, not only did God forgive
him but He even made him His apostle. This is unthinkable if not
scandalous. “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, and who
judged me faithful enough to call into his service even though I used to be a
blasphemer and did all I could to injure and discredit the faith.”
In the first reading, we
also read of God’s restraint in punishing His people. We can imagine how
broken hearted the Lord was. He had rescued them from slavery in Egypt,
intending to bring them to the Promised Land. But the people were
impatient and always grumbling. Those of us who are parents and superiors will
understand what it means to have our hands bitten by those whom we feed. Indeed,
ingrates are hard to stomach at times and they hurt us deeply especially when
we have made much sacrifices and done so much for them. So we can imagine
how much God grieved over His unfaithful people. He said, “I can see how
headstrong these people are! Leave me, now, my wrath shall blaze out against
them and devour them.” But in the end, He “relented and did not bring on
his people the disaster he had threatened.”
In the gospel, we have
three stories of those who were lost and found. In the first story, we
read of how the shepherd went in search of the lost sheep. One might
wonder how he could have left the ninety-nine behind and went looking for the
lost sheep. This is because we are thinking in terms of the monetary
value of a sheep. If you think that the sheep is just a thing that can be
disposed of without any emotional ties, then perhaps, one should not spend too
much time looking for the lost sheep. But for God, we are not just
sheep. We are His people and His children. Everyone is individually and
personally important to Him, just as a mother loves all her children regardless
how intelligent or slow; pretty or ugly they are. Even those children who
are mentally and physically challenged are loved, if not more, by the mother.
In the eyes of the mother, every one of her children is the prettiest and
loveliest. So, too, with God in the way He values us.
Hence, God comes to search
for us more than we search for Him. As St Augustine says, unless He has
first found us, we would not be able to find Him. And when He finds us,
He will joyfully bring us back. Every lost sheep, every lost soul,
is important to the Lord. No one is without hope and no one is to be
thought of as insignificant. That is why no one should fall into despair
or think that they cannot be saved or that God no longer loves them. They
only have to stop resisting the love and mercy of God.
In the second parable, we
have the story of the lost coin. Many of us might wonder what was the big
deal about a lost coin. The truth is that it was more than a coin.
That coin was part of a headdress given to a bride on her wedding day, just as
we exchange rings today. It was made of ten coins linked together by a
sliver chain. To lose one of the coins would make the chain incomplete.
So it has a sentimental value that even money cannot buy. Anyone who is
married and loves his or her spouse deeply would be in distress if one loses
the wedding ring. It cannot be simply replaced because it holds the
memory of the joy of the wedding day. Such things again cannot be seen in
a materialistic way. So, too, God’s love for us. We are more than a
coin in His eyes; we are precious to Him. Even if one of His children
were lost, He would be sad. Indeed, when someone has left us because of
death, divorce or misunderstanding, we cannot but feel incomplete every time we
gather for a meal, especially on special occasions and festivals. When
one of our loved ones is not with us, even if we have all the rest, we are not
truly happy. We are only happy when all our loved ones are reunited in
love. So too, our God will not rest till all of us are found.
In the third parable, we
have the famous story of the Prodigal Father. Again, we see the
magnanimity of the Father’s love and abundant mercy. In spite of the
insensitive and selfish action of the prodigal son, the Father continued to
wait for Him, love Him and hope for his return. And “while he was still a
long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran to the boy,
clasped him in his arms and kissed him tenderly.” Such was the love of
the Father. He did not even wait for him to complete his rehearsed
apology. Instead, without interrogating or reprimanding him, the Father
gave him back his dignity. “Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on
him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.” This indeed is
the patient love of the Father. Unlike the earlier two parables where God
actively sought out the sinners, in this instance He waited. This is to
underscore that God is patient in love and does not force us to respond against
our will. When we are ready and come to our senses like the young son, He
will give us the grace to be reconciled and our dignity restored.
Consequently, today,
particularly in this jubilee year of mercy, we are called to act like the
Heavenly Father. Like St Paul, we are called to be an apostle of
mercy. We are to be merciful because our Father is merciful. How,
then, can we be apostles of mercy? Firstly, we need to welcome
them. The preface to chapter 15 informs us that these parables were
addressed not to the sinners but specifically to the so-called righteous
Pharisees and the scribes because they were complaining that “This man welcomes
sinners and eats with them.” Like the elder son, many of us are
self-righteous and judgmental. We condemn sinners and ostracize
them. We read that the elder son refused to enter into the house of his
father to celebrate the return of his younger brother. He even denied all
relationship with him by addressing him as the son of his father but not his
brother. This parable reinforces that we must be forgiving, tolerant and
welcoming towards fellow sinners as we are not perfect either; and if we can
live a holy life, it is only by the grace of God.
Secondly, we must realize
that people sin because of ignorance. St Paul himself explained that he
was acting in ignorance. “Mercy, however, was shown me, because until I
became a believer I had been acting in ignorance; and the grace of our Lord
filled me with faith and with the love that is in Christ Jesus.” In the
gospel, we are told that the younger son came to his senses during the time of
famine. Often, through our sufferings that come from the consequence of our
sins, we come to full realization, leading to sorrow and repentance.
Hence, at the cross, Jesus said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what
they do.” (Lk 23:34
)
)
Thirdly, many sin because
of fear. In the first reading, we can appreciate the weakness of the
people. Moses had left them behind and went up to the Mountain for 40
days and nights. So they became restless and anxious about Moses. They
needed the presence of God. Hence, without Moses, they pressured Aaron to
make for them a calf of molten metal so that they could offer worship and
sacrifices to it. Indeed, all the seven capital sins are rooted in fear
-of our enemies, competitors and that we will never have enough or that we are
not loved totally.
To be able to enter into
the spirit of mercy and forgiveness of our Heavenly Father, the only
pre-requisite is that we must first be recipients of God’s mercy. We
cannot give what we have not got. Unless we know God’s mercy, how can we
render mercy? The reception of God’s mercy begins with acknowledgment of
our own sins and imperfections, like King David who confessed humbly to his sin
of adultery: “Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness. In your compassion blot
out my offence. O wash me more and more from my guilt and cleanse me from my
sin. A pure heart create for me, O God, put a steadfast spirit within me. Do
not cast me away from your presence, nor deprive me of your holy spirit. O
Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall declare your praise. My sacrifice is a
contrite spirit. A humbled, contrite heart you will not
spurn.” So let us be like St Paul and King David in coming to the
Lord with a contrite and humble heart. Receiving His mercy and
forgiveness, we can then go out to do the same.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights
Reserved
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