20170114
BEING IDENTIFIED WITH SINNERS AND THE SICK
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Hebrews 4:12-16 ©
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The word of God is
something alive and active: it cuts like any double-edged sword but more
finely: it can slip through the place where the soul is divided from the
spirit, or joints from the marrow; it can judge the secret emotions and
thoughts. No created thing can hide from him; everything is uncovered and open
to the eyes of the one to whom we must give account of ourselves.
Since in
Jesus, the Son of God, we have the supreme high priest who has gone through to
the highest heaven, we must never let go of the faith that we have professed.
For it is not as if we had a high priest who was incapable of feeling our
weaknesses with us; but we have one who has been tempted in every way that we
are, though he is without sin. Let us be confident, then, in approaching the
throne of grace, that we shall have mercy from him and find grace when we are
in need of help.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm
18(19):8-10,15 ©
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Your words are
spirit, Lord, and they are life.
The law of the Lord
is perfect,
it
revives the soul.
The rule of the Lord
is to be trusted,
it gives
wisdom to the simple.
Your words are
spirit, Lord, and they are life.
The precepts of the
Lord are right,
they
gladden the heart.
The command of the
Lord is clear,
it gives
light to the eyes.
Your words are
spirit, Lord, and they are life.
The fear of the Lord
is holy,
abiding
for ever.
The decrees of the
Lord are truth
and all
of them just.
Your words are
spirit, Lord, and they are life.
May the spoken words
of my mouth,
the
thoughts of my heart,
win favour in your
sight, O Lord,
my
rescuer, my rock!
Your words are spirit,
Lord, and they are life.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Ps118:36,29
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Bend my heart to your
will, O Lord,
and teach me your
law.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Lk4:17
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord has sent me
to bring the good news to the poor,
to proclaim liberty
to captives.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 2:13-17 ©
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Jesus went out to the
shore of the lake; and all the people came to him, and he taught them. As he
was walking on he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus, sitting by the customs house,
and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.
When
Jesus was at dinner in his house, a number of tax collectors and sinners were
also sitting at the table with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many of
them among his followers. When the scribes of the Pharisee party saw him eating
with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does he eat
with tax collectors and sinners?’ When Jesus heard this he said to them, ‘It is
not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. I did not come to call the
virtuous, but sinners.’
BEING
IDENTIFIED WITH SINNERS AND THE SICK
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ HEB 4:12-16; PSALM 18:8-10,15; MK 2:13-17 ]
The gospel today presents
to us the call and conversion of Matthew. We read that he was doing his
business at the customs house as usual when the Lord called him to be His
disciple.
The response of Matthew was
immediate. It was instant because it was the Lord who called.
When God commands, we are expected to obey straightaway. Only God’s
command requires an immediate response. Obedience is the appropriate response
to the word of God.
But Matthew least expected
Jesus to call him because he was totally unworthy of being a disciple of
Jesus. He knew very well that tax collectors were much hated and
despised by the Jews for three reasons. Firstly, they were perceived as
traitors of the Jews as they worked for the Roman conquerors. Secondly,
the taxes collected were used to support the Roman empire and some of them were
even used to finance the pagan religions and temples. Thirdly, the tax
collectors often overcharged the merchants as they needed to make a commission
for themselves from the taxes collected. It was not surprising that the
Jews regarded the tax collectors as their worst enemies and most of all,
unscrupulous people. Such people did not deserve a place in the kingdom
of God.
Indeed, the call of Matthew
was simply unthinkable and marvelous. No rabbi or religious leader would
ever think of calling someone like Matthew to be his disciple. Yet, Jesus
did. Jesus could see the potential in every human person. In His eyes no
one is lost or beyond redemption. Jesus sought to reach out especially to
the marginalized, the sinners, the lost and the wounded. Jesus saw the
goodness in each sinner and broken person.
As Christians, we too are
called to reach out especially to the poor, which includes all who are
spiritually poor, materially poor and emotionally poor. There are many
who are spiritually empty in life. Although rich and successful in the
corporate world, they lack meaning and purpose. Their lives are in a mess
and they live in loneliness, fear and anxiety. They seek true meaning and
purpose in life but know not where to find. Some of them just bury
themselves either in their career and business, or indulge themselves in the
pleasures of the world. Yet ,deep within them, there is a
vacuum. Others are materially poor or physically not well.
They too seek help, as in the time of Jesus. They turned to the Lord for
healing, whether of their sight, hearing or mobility. Today, there
are many people who are carrying upon themselves all kinds of affliction.
They are mentally sick or physically struck down with illnesses but unable to
afford the medical bills. There are those who are physically or mentally
disadvantaged, the abandoned and underprivileged in society. Finally, we
have so many elderly people today who feel so alone at home because their
children have moved out of the house or do not have time for them. Some
of them are immobile and so are imprisoned within the four walls of their
homes. Every day, they wake up not knowing what to do with their time and
there is no one to talk to. In such situations, we can appreciate how
much they wish they could die as there is no meaning and purpose in life for
them.
What can we do to help such
people? In the first place, we need to be identified with them.
Identification with sinners, the marginalized and the weak is the
presupposition for us wanting to reach out to them. If Jesus was a
compassionate person, full of empathy for the weak and the suffering, it was
because He carried within Himself our pain, suffering and sorrows in His
body. He suffered with us in every way except that He was without
sin. The author of the letter to the Hebrews captures the compassion of
Jesus succinctly when he wrote, “For it is not as if we had a high priest who
was incapable of feeling our weaknesses with us; but we have one who has been
tempted in every way that we are, though he is without sin.” Truly,
because Jesus was truly a man although He was God, He could identify with every
one of us in our sickness, hunger and loneliness. It is for this reason,
the author says, “Let us be confident, then, in approaching the throne of
grace, that we shall have mercy from him and find grace when we are in need of
help.” Jesus is the throne of grace to which we can turn to for help and
for mercy since He understands more than anyone else our woes. We too
cannot feel for the poor and for sinners unless we are identified with them.
It is important therefore
that we learn to reach out to such people and be with them, to hear them
out. If we just sit in our office, we can never feel with the sufferings
of the ordinary man. That is why politicians must go on “walkabouts” in
their constituency or hear petitions during the weekly “meet the people”
session so that they can hear for themselves personally the difficulties their
constituents are going through. It is the same for priests as well.
Unless, he visits his people, conducts retreats, hears confession, do
counselling, he will not understand the struggles of his parishioners.
Only when we hear these stories first-hand, or when we journey with those who
are broken, wounded and disheartened, can we then feel with them and for
them. Empathy is but the first step in the work of charity and
compassion.
Invariably, those of us who
are not in touch with such people tend to be judgmental. When we are rich
and healthy, we do not understand the sufferings and anxieties of the poor and
the sick. Some of us are not patient with our elderly because they are
slow and forgetful; one day we too will become old, and then we will find
ourselves losing our faculties. If we are heartless, it is because
we live in our own world. The approach of Jesus was not one of
condemnation but understanding and sympathy. But more than that, Jesus
actively sought to offer His friendship and assistance as He did to Levi.
We need to step out of our
world and enter into the world of the poor, the suffering and the
sinners. That was what Jesus did. He had no office. His
office was in the fields, in the homes, in the streets. He was always
with the ordinary and poor people. He did not live in a palace. He
had no place to lay His head. He was with the fishermen in the boat and
with the sinners in their houses. Jesus took every opportunity to reach
out. He did not wait for them to come to Him. Instead He took the
initiative to call sinners and reach out to the sick, the blind and the
lame. Jesus did not shun the tax-collectors but He took the occasion to
join them, be one with them, feel with them and reach out to them as friends.
If we seek them out then those
who are converted in turn will bring their friends to the Lord as well.
This was the case with Levi. He wanted to celebrate his conversion and
his new life. So, he invited his friends to meet the Lord.
Whenever, we have a beautiful encounter with God or a new life, we want to
celebrate, as in a wedding, or when we find new happiness. As we
reach out to the suffering, the poor and those who have turned away from God,
coming to them as sincere friends, not as a judge and never in a condescending
way, we too will win them over by our empathy and compassion. This
was the way of our Lord and this should also be the path we take as well.
Like Jesus, “who has been tempted in every way that we are, though he is
without sin”, we too who are tempted like them, but have overcome sin, must
show them the way out of their misery, suffering and the snares that entrap
them.
We can do this only if we
ourselves are rooted in the Word of God. To come to Jesus for inspiration
and enlightenment, we need to let the Word of God inspire us, as the author to
Hebrews invites us. “The word of God is something alive and active: it
cuts like any double-edge sword but more finely: it can slip through the place
where the soul is divided from the spirit, or joints from the marrow; it can
judge the secret emotions and thoughts. No created thing can hide from
him; everything is uncovered and open to the eyes of the one to whom we must
give account of ourselves.” Only the Word of God can purify us in the way
we reach out to the suffering and the needy. As workers of Christ,
we too need to purify our motives in serving Him and His people.
Only the Word of God can touch our emotions and make us feel with
the suffering.
In the final analysis, let
us cling on to Jesus as the author encourages us. Our good works
must be founded on Christ and not on our own strength. “Since in
Jesus, the Son of God, we have the supreme high priest who has gone through to
the highest heaven, we must never let go of the faith that we have professed.”
Only faith in Jesus would help us to overcome every trial and challenge as we
reach out to those who are in need. There are many problems we cannot
resolve but if we bring to Jesus the compassionate high priest, He will help us
because as the throne of grace and mercy, He will somehow give us the grace and
means to accomplish His will and do what He did when He was on earth.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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