TENSION BETWEEN COMPASSION AND JUSTICE/DISCIPLINE

20160905 TENSION BETWEEN COMPASSION AND JUSTICE/DISCIPLINE

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Green.

First reading

1 Corinthians 5:1-8 ©

I have been told as an undoubted fact that one of you is living with his father’s wife. This is a case of sexual immorality among you that must be unparalleled even among pagans. How can you be so proud of yourselves? You should be in mourning. A man who does a thing like that ought to have been expelled from the community. Though I am far away in body, I am with you in spirit, and have already condemned the man who did this thing as if I were actually present. When you are assembled together in the name of the Lord Jesus, and I am spiritually present with you, then with the power of our Lord Jesus he is to be handed over to Satan so that his sensual body may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.

  The pride that you take in yourselves is hardly to your credit. You must know how even a small amount of yeast is enough to leaven all the dough, so get rid of all the old yeast, and make yourselves into a completely new batch of bread, unleavened as you are meant to be. Christ, our passover, has been sacrificed; let us celebrate the feast, then, by getting rid of all the old yeast of evil and wickedness, having only the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 5:5-7,12 ©

Lead me, Lord, in your justice.

You are no God who loves evil;

  no sinner is your guest.

The boastful shall not stand their ground

  before your face.

Lead me, Lord, in your justice.

You hate all who do evil;

  you destroy all who lie.

The deceitful and bloodthirsty man

  the Lord detests.

Lead me, Lord, in your justice.

All those you protect shall be glad

  and ring out their joy.

You shelter them; in you they rejoice,

  those who love your name.

Lead me, Lord, in your justice.

Gospel Acclamation

Ps118:105

Alleluia, alleluia!

Your word is a lamp for my steps

and a light for my path.

Alleluia!

Or

Jn10:27

Alleluia, alleluia!

The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice,

says the Lord,

I know them and they follow me.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Luke 6:6-11 ©

On the sabbath Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees were watching him to see if he would cure a man on the sabbath, hoping to find something to use against him. But he knew their thoughts; and he said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Stand up! Come out into the middle.’ And he came out and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, ‘I put it to you: is it against the law on the sabbath to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to destroy it?’ Then he looked round at them all and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He did so, and his hand was better. But they were furious, and began to discuss the best way of dealing with Jesus.

TENSION BETWEEN COMPASSION AND JUSTICE/DISCIPLINE

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [  1 COR 5:1-8; PS 5:5-7, 12; LK 6:6-11 ]

In the responsorial psalm, we read that sin and holiness are totally incompatible in the eyes of God.  This explains why the Scribes and Pharisees sought to keep the laws faithfully because they wanted to be true to the Covenant.  Indeed, the word “Pharisee” means to be separated from the world.   They held fast to the laws dearly and they strove to keep them as meticulously as possible.  Unfortunately, it could lead to legalism.

In the first reading too, we read of the scandal in the Christian community of Corinth.  St Paul was furious that the community tolerated the scandal and failed to take action against the man who committed the sexual impropriety, probably by sleeping with his step-mother, as Paul named her as the “father’s wife.”  We can appreciate the situation in Corinth because the pagans in those days were free with sexual practices.  There was no inkling of chastity or fidelity.  It was common in pagan culture to indulge in sexual immorality.  Such practices contradict not just the gospel values but were forbidden by the Law of Moses.  (cf Lev 18:8)  It was a shock to St Paul that the community could tolerate the scandal as if nothing had happened.

In St Paul’s view, that person should be excommunicated. He wrote, “A man who does a thing like that ought to have been expelled from the community.”  Was St Paul rather too harsh in recommending the measure that should be taken?  The truth is that the Church is called to be a sign of holiness in the world.  If the members are living double lives and failing to live up to what the gospel commands us, then we would lose credibility as a Church.  If we are not a redeemed people, no one would believe that Jesus is our redeemer.   So it is important that Christians must observe a life of discipline and in accordance with the teachings of our Lord.

Secondly, he warned that if no action was taken, then the consequences would be grave.  By not taking action and demanding discipline among the Christians, then others would follow suit and eventually, the whole community would be infected by the sin.  Others who see that their actions are overlooked might also be tempted to do likewise because they would think that they can get away with it and still remain within the community.  Living a double life not only does no one any good, but it would be a counter witness to the gospel and a scandal to the Church.

Indeed, the Catholic Church was once very strict with regard to the observance of the Church laws.  We used to have many laws governing the reception of the sacraments, the celebration of the liturgy and of laws on morality.  Failure to observe them meticulously would constitute a sin e.g. coming late for Mass, not observing the fast for Holy Communion, eating meat on Fridays, etc.   Now the laws are simplified and no longer observed at times even.  For some, the Church has become rather complacent and too lax.

Indeed, the traditionalists feel the Church has made too many compromises and the hierarchy have failed to uphold the laws and the necessary discipline of the members.  These could involve major to minor issues.  With respect to the liturgy, many are disturbed by the sloppy and improper attire for those who come for the Eucharist.  Many have no reverence for the Eucharist and even receive communion when in serious sin.  Even in marriage and sexual morality, they perceive the Church to be weak in insisting on the traditional teachings of the Church, such as that concerning the use of contraceptives, abortion, indissolubility of marriage and even mixed marriages.  Last of all, the Church seems to even tolerate same sex unions.  Above all, the Church welcomes such sinners without requiring them to change their ways or penalizing them for their misconduct.

So the question is:  have we indeed become more immune to sin?  Has the Church become less holy today?  Is the Church losing credibility and its prophetic role in a secular and materialistic world?  From the judgment of the traditionalists, indeed, this is the case.  Less and less people are going for the sacrament of reconciliation, the faith is not lived religiously, and the gospel values are not followed.  This also has caused some quarters of the Church to return to its roots.  Interestingly, the more conservative and traditional religious congregations and institutes seem to be attracting more vocations than those who have given up their traditions, e.g. the habits, the radical observance of the evangelical counsels, and the liturgy.  More significantly, those who join them or are returning to the traditions of the Church are young people.  They feel that the established religious congregations have watered down the radical values of the gospel.  They are no longer attractive and a sign of contradiction to the world.  When our Church and religious orders become too secular, they lose their attractiveness to those who desire to live the gospel radically.  This phenomenon is something for the Church to reckon with.  What sign are we giving to our times?  How is it to be interpreted?

At the other end of the spectrum, we have the liberals who feel that the Church is not doing enough to show compassion for sinners, especially those caught in divorce, the use of contraceptives or those who seek same sex union.  They want the Church to approve what the bible condemns; failure to do so shows that the Church is out of sync with the modern times.   They accuse the Church of being too legalistic and unrealistic in today’s world.  Most of all, because such practices are disapproved by the Church, those who are on the wrong side of the laws feel unworthy to come to Church, for they are made to feel like hypocrites, rejects and traitors to the Church.

Who is right and who is wrong?  The truth is that both are not wrong.   If we are too lax in our discipline, then the Church will fall into permissiveness.   Most of all, St Paul warns us that if we do not deal with the problems head-on, the disease will spread to the rest.  The lack of discipline among the members will lead the Church to decadence. The younger ones will learn all the bad examples.  If an organization were to do well, it needs to set a high benchmark for its members to reach.  By admitting sinners into our community, we will also suffer the loss of credibility.  When we compromise the truth, the Church loses its differentiating factor from the rest of the society.  We become counter-witness.  Perhaps, this could explain why the more conservative orders and institutes that seek to be faithful to the traditional teaching of the Church are drawing more of our young people to join them.  It could be an indication that there is a thirst for greater authenticity and fidelity to the truth.

On the other hand, if we follow the way of St Paul without qualifications and that of the Jewish religious leaders, then that failure to realize that there is a real difference between the law of gradualness and the gradualness of the law.  The latter speaks of the necessity for us to grow in authenticity and in the truth.  The former rejects the notion that the Church possesses the truth and like the world, we have not found the truth and thus our doctrines can change and are not binding for all time.  No one can live the gospel fully overnight.  Even St Peter was given time to love Jesus with a human love before he could love Him with a godly love.  The gospel truth remains a goal and our destiny.  Furthermore, if we separate ourselves from sinners and cut them off completely, we might never be able to reach out to them and bring them back to the fold.  It must be realized that when St Paul spoke of the need to excommunicate them, it was not an action taken out of revenge but out of love, in the hope that the errant member would see the seriousness of his sin and seek repentance of heart.  Worst of all, such separation only makes us self-righteous, thinking that we are the saved ones.

In the gospel, Jesus was not against the observance of the laws.  But He was against a slavish observance of the laws, more out of pride than love for God.  Healing the man with the withered hand on a Sabbath was an exception. The Sabbath Law was meant to celebrate life by insisting that human beings must take a break from work and making money so that they could have time for God and for the family.  Thus, the healing of the withered man was for the sake of saving a life and those connected with the man.  In no way did Jesus intend to break the law but in this instance by breaking the law, He kept the law.  Not to do so would actually have gone against the law, since the law was given for our good.  That is why we need prudence to decide when to break the law for a greater good, which is for the protection of life and for the salvation of our souls.  The virtue of prudence enables us to determine when we should apply the law and when we should excuse ourselves because of compassion.  It is significant that with the Pharisees, the Scribes and the priests, Jesus was rather harsh and direct without mincing His words.  But with the lay and ordinary sinners, He was always full of compassion, gentleness and forgiveness. So let us pray for prudence and a discerning heart of compassion.

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