20170212 LIVE BY THE WISDOM OF CHRIST; NOT SIMPLY BY THE LAW
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Ecclesiasticus
15:16-21 ©
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If you wish, you can
keep the commandments,
to behave
faithfully is within your power.
He has set fire and
water before you;
put out
your hand to whichever you prefer.
Man has life and
death before him;
whichever
a man likes better will be given him.
For vast is the
wisdom of the Lord;
he is
almighty and all-seeing.
His eyes are on those
who fear him,
he notes
every action of man.
He never commanded
anyone to be godless,
he has
given no one permission to sin.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm
118(119):1-2,4-5,17-18,33-34 ©
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They are happy who
follow God’s law!
They are happy whose
life is blameless,
who follow
God’s law!
They are happy who do
his will,
seeking
him with all their hearts.
They are happy who
follow God’s law!
You have laid down
your precepts
to be
obeyed with care.
May my footsteps be
firm
to obey
your statutes.
They are happy who
follow God’s law!
Bless your servant
and I shall live
and obey
your word.
Open my eyes that I
may see
the
wonders of your law.
They are happy who
follow God’s law!
Teach me the demands
of your statutes
and I
will keep them to the end.
Train me to observe
your law,
to keep
it with my heart.
They are happy who
follow God’s law!
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Second reading
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1 Corinthians
2:6-10 ©
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We have a wisdom to
offer those who have reached maturity: not a philosophy of our age, it is true,
still less of the masters of our age, which are coming to their end. The hidden
wisdom of God which we teach in our mysteries is the wisdom that God
predestined to be for our glory before the ages began. It is a wisdom that none
of the masters of this age have ever known, or they would not have crucified
the Lord of Glory; we teach what scripture calls: the things that no eye has
seen and no ear has heard, things beyond the mind of man, all that God has
prepared for those who love him.
These are
the very things that God has revealed to us through the Spirit, for the Spirit
reaches the depths of everything, even the depths of God.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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1S3:9,Jn6:68
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Speak, Lord, your
servant is listening:
you have the message
of eternal life.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Mt11:25
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are you,
Father,
Lord of heaven and
earth,
for revealing the
mysteries of the kingdom
to mere children.
Alleluia!
EITHER:
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Gospel
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Matthew 5:17-37 ©
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Jesus said to his
disciples: ‘Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to complete them. I tell you solemnly, till
heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, shall disappear
from the Law until its purpose is achieved. Therefore, the man who infringes
even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same
will be considered the least in the kingdom of heaven; but the man who keeps
them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven.
‘For I
tell you, if your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.
‘You have
learnt how it was said to our ancestors: You must not kill; and if
anyone does kill he must answer for it before the court. But I say this to you:
anyone who is angry with his brother will answer for it before the court; if a
man calls his brother “Fool” he will answer for it before the Sanhedrin; and if
a man calls him “Renegade” he will answer for it in hell fire. So then, if you
are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your brother
has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, go and
be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back and present your
offering. Come to terms with your opponent in good time while you are still on
the way to the court with him, or he may hand you over to the judge and the
judge to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison. I tell you solemnly,
you will not get out till you have paid the last penny.
‘You have
learnt how it was said: You must not commit adultery. But I say this to
you: if a man looks at a woman lustfully, he has already committed adultery
with her in his heart. If your right eye should cause you to sin, tear it out
and throw it away; for it will do you less harm to lose one part of you than to
have your whole body thrown into hell. And if your right hand should cause you
to sin, cut it off and throw it away; for it will do you less harm to lose one
part of you than to have your whole body go to hell.
‘It has
also been said: Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a writ of
dismissal. But I say this to you: everyone who divorces his wife, except
for the case of fornication, makes her an adulteress; and anyone who marries a
divorced woman commits adultery.
‘Again,
you have learnt how it was said to our ancestors: You must not break your
oath, but must fulfil your oaths to the Lord. But I say this to you: do not
swear at all, either by heaven, since that is God’s throne; or by the earth,
since that is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, since that is the city of the
great king. Do not swear by your own head either, since you cannot turn a
single hair white or black. All you need say is “Yes” if you mean yes, “No” if
you mean no; anything more than this comes from the evil one.’
OR:
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Alternative
Gospel
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Matthew
5:20-22,27-28,33-34,37 ©
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Jesus said to his
disciples: ‘I tell you, if your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes
and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.
‘You have
learnt how it was said to our ancestors: You must not kill; and if
anyone does kill he must answer for it before the court. But I say this to you:
anyone who is angry with his brother will answer for it before the court.
‘You have
learnt how it was said: You must not commit adultery. But I say this to
you: if a man looks at a woman lustfully, he has already committed adultery
with her in his heart.
‘Again,
you have learnt how it was said to our ancestors: You must not break your
oath, but must fulfil your oaths to the Lord. But I say this to you: do not
swear at all. All you need say is “Yes” if you mean yes, “No” if you mean no;
anything more than this comes from the evil one.’
LIVE BY
THE WISDOM OF CHRIST; NOT SIMPLY BY THE LAW
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ ECC 15:15-20; PS 118:1-2,4-5,17-18,33-34; 1 COR 2:6-10; MT 5:17-37 (or ><
5:20-22.27-28.33-34.37) ]
All are called to
holiness. Every religion teaches this. To be holy is to
reflect the love of God in our lives. This is normally done through the
observance of laws from sacred scriptures, or the teaching of their
founders. Regardless of our faith, we are called to live a life of love,
mercy and compassion based on truth and justice.
What, then, is the
uniqueness of Christ’s way to holiness? For Christ holiness is more than
mere external observance of the laws. He warned His disciples, “I tell
you, if your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you
will never get into the kingdom of heaven.” Indeed, the Jewish
leaders were meticulous in the application of the laws to the extent that they
became legalistic, lacking compassion and understanding. In their desire
to be perfect, they became heartless and hypocritical. Instead of finding true
happiness and joy in life, they became anxious, judgmental and fault finding.
This is not to say that
Jesus was discounting the value of the laws. They were given by God and
therefore the laws remained important and helpful for anyone who wanted to live
the life of the Kingdom. To dismiss such thoughts, He reiterated, “Do not
imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to
abolish them but to complete them. I tell you solemnly, till heaven and earth
disappear, not one dot, one little stroke, shall disappear from the Law until
its purpose is achieved.”
How does one perfect the
Law and how does one’s virtues “go deeper than that of the scribes and
Pharisees”? Jesus perfected the Law by going back to the Spirit, not the
letter of the laws. It is the Spirit of love, mercy, compassion and
forgiveness. This is how the laws must be used, not to condemn but to
help others to grow in love and in justice. This is the wisdom of God St
Paul speaks about. “It is a wisdom that none of the masters of this age
have ever known, or they would not have crucified the Lord of
Glory.” Christ died on the cross for us to show that love is
stronger than hatred; life is stronger than death. It is the love of God
in Christ’s death, crucifixion and resurrection that wins us over to
conversion; not His punishment or anger. For this reason we must be
motivated by love, not by the laws. Laws are guidelines and are means to
the end. They are meant for the converted.
Nonetheless, laws are
important and should not be discarded as we need the structures to give us the
capacity to love, especially when our capacity to love is unpredictable.
Jesus warns us, “Therefore, the man who infringes even one of the least of
these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the
least in the kingdom of heaven; but the man who keeps them and teaches them
will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven.” The psalmist speaks of the
beauty of God’s laws. He said, “They are happy who follow God’s
law! They are happy whose life is blameless, who follow God’s
law!” So the Law is good but it is not enough without the spirit of
love. Only when used with the Spirit of love can the law be productive.
But we must go deeper than
mere external or blind observance, otherwise the law will not give us
life. In this context, Jesus illustrates with some examples how to go
deeper than the laws. These examples are not exhaustive but they help us to
understand the Spirit of the laws.
With respect to anger,
Jesus said, “But I say this to you: anyone who is angry with his brother will
answer for it before the court; if a man calls his brother ‘Fool’ he will
answer for it before the Sanhedrin; and if a man calls him ‘Renegade’ he will
answer for it in hell fire.” Being angry with our brother, in Jesus’
understanding, is already the beginning of killing. Anger, when
uncontrolled, will lead to insult, eventually to violence and killing. So
not only must we avoid killing, we must not even allow ourselves to be overcome
by anger and insult.
With respect to
reconciliation, Jesus said, “So then, if you are bringing your offering to the
altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave
your offering there before the altar, go and be reconciled with your brother first,
and then come back and present your offering. Come to terms with your opponent
in good time while you are still on the way to the court with him, or he may
hand you over to the judge and the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown
into prison. I tell you solemnly, you will not get out till you have paid the
last penny.”
With respect to lust and
adultery, the Lord said, “You have learnt how it was said: You must not commit
adultery. But I say this to you: if a man looks at a woman lustfully, he has
already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Again, Jesus goes
beyond the external act itself to the underlying motivation. In Jesus’
view, it does not matter whether one carries out the action or not. So
long as a thought and desire is conceived, it is a question of time and
opportunity before it gives birth to action. So, to desire itself is
already sowing the seed of sin, waiting for the time to harvest it.
The root of every sin always begins with an idea and a desire. Even
if one does not do it, it does not mean that we are exonerated as the
opportunity was simply not available at that point in time. In the eyes
of the world, it is not yet wrong, but God sees through us.
With regard to divorce, the
Lord is also adamant about the indissolubility of marriage. “It has also
been said: Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a writ of dismissal. But
I say this to you: everyone who divorces his wife, except for the case of
fornication, makes her an adulteress; and anyone who marries a divorced woman
commits adultery.”
Finally, with regard to
oath taking, Jesus is against taking an oath in the name of God just to earn
some credibility from others. In Jesus’ view, we only need to act
sincerely and honestly at all times, without fear or favour with God and men.
“But I say this to you: do not swear at all, either by heaven, since that is
God’s throne; or by the earth, since that is his footstool. Do not swear by
your own head either, since you cannot turn a single hair white or black. All
you need say is “Yes” if you mean yes, “No” if you mean no; anything more than
this comes from the evil one.’” Oath-taking is no guarantee that we are
truthful. What proves that what we say is true is not the oath-taking but
that in every situation we are ready to mean what we say and do what we mean.
Indeed,
so radical is Jesus’ invitation to live an authentic life of purity in love
that He suggested that “If your right eye should cause you to sin, tear it out
and throw it away; for it will do you less harm to lose one part of you than to
have your whole body thrown into hell.” The path of Jesus to holiness is
not external performance or display but a real change of heart. He is not
contented with words and cosmetic performances. What matters to Jesus is
what our heart feels and thinks. As far as Jesus is concerned,
keeping ourselves pure and true to our conscience is what sets us free for
life. Otherwise, we live a life without joy.
If this call to live our
holiness more radically applies to all Christians, more so for us who are
called to be His priests, religious, and those who are parents, teachers and
leaders. We need to live a virtuous life and set an example to those
under our care. We are called to be mentors of Christian living and holiness.
Do we live our lives in such a way that we inspire others around us, our family
members, our colleagues, our friends to imitate us? Are we seen to be
living a life of wisdom, love and compassion? Unless our lifestyles transcend
that of the values and the ways of the world, then we are no different from
unbelievers, which means that our faith in Christ makes no difference to our
lives.
What is the secret of
holiness in life? It is to be in touch with God’s spirit and His
love. St Paul says, “We teach what scripture calls: the things that no
eye has seen and no ear has heard, things beyond the mind of man, all that God
has prepared for those who love him. These are the very things that God has
revealed to us through the Spirit, for the Spirit reaches the depths of
everything, even the depths of God.” This was the secret of St
Francis. He gave all away when he encountered the crucified Christ and
His love for him. Hence, he lived a life contradictory to his time, not
according to the wisdom of the world but of Christ. We too can live a
life of holiness only when we encounter the love of Christ. We can then
understand the laws from the eyes of love.
The decision is ours and we
must make that choice for life or death. The first reading from Sirach
challenges us, “If you wish, you can keep the commandments, to behave
faithfully is within your power. He has set fire and water before you;
put out your hand to whichever you prefer. Man has life and death before him;
whichever a man likes better will be given him.” If we live the
wisdom of God by following the life of Christ, lived in a radical way, we find
the fullness of life. But if we compromise the values of the gospel then
we cannot expect a life of joy.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights
Reserved
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