SEASON OF GRACE

20170301 SEASON OF GRACE

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Violet.

First reading

Joel 2:12-18 ©

‘Now, now – it is the Lord who speaks –

come back to me with all your heart,

fasting, weeping, mourning.’

Let your hearts be broken, not your garments torn,

turn to the Lord your God again,

for he is all tenderness and compassion,

slow to anger, rich in graciousness,

and ready to relent.

Who knows if he will not turn again, will not relent,

will not leave a blessing as he passes,

oblation and libation

for the Lord your God?

Sound the trumpet in Zion!

Order a fast,

proclaim a solemn assembly,

call the people together,

summon the community,

assemble the elders,

gather the children,

even the infants at the breast.

Let the bridegroom leave his bedroom

and the bride her alcove.

Between vestibule and altar let the priests,

the ministers of the Lord, lament.

Let them say,

‘Spare your people, Lord!

Do not make your heritage a thing of shame,

a byword for the nations.

Why should it be said among the nations,

“Where is their God?”’

Then the Lord, jealous on behalf of his land,

took pity on his people.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 50(51):3-6,12-14,17 ©

Have mercy on us, O Lord, for we have sinned.

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.

Have mercy on us, O Lord, for we have sinned.

My offences truly I know them;

  my sin is always before me

Against you, you alone, have I sinned;

  what is evil in your sight I have done.

Have mercy on us, O Lord, for we have sinned.

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.

Have mercy on us, O Lord, for we have sinned.

Give me again the joy of your help;

  with a spirit of fervour sustain me,

O Lord, open my lips

  and my mouth shall declare your praise.

Have mercy on us, O Lord, for we have sinned.

Second reading

2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2 ©

We are ambassadors for Christ; it is as though God were appealing through us, and the appeal that we make in Christ’s name is: be reconciled to God. For our sake God made the sinless one into sin, so that in him we might become the goodness of God. As his fellow workers, we beg you once again not to neglect the grace of God that you have received. For he says: At the favourable time, I have listened to you; on the day of salvation I came to your help. Well, now is the favourable time; this is the day of salvation.

Gospel Acclamation

Ps50:12,14

Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!

A pure heart create for me, O God,

and give me again the joy of your help.

Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!

Or

cf.Ps94:8

Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!

Harden not your hearts today,

but listen to the voice of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!

Gospel

Matthew 6:1-6,16-18 ©

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Be careful not to parade your good deeds before men to attract their notice; by doing this you will lose all reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give alms, do not have it trumpeted before you; this is what the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win men’s admiration. I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward. But when you give alms, your left hand must not know what your right is doing; your almsgiving must be secret, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.

  ‘And when you pray, do not imitate the hypocrites: they love to say their prayers standing up in the synagogues and at the street corners for people to see them; I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward. But when you pray, go to your private room and, when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in that secret place, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.

  ‘When you fast do not put on a gloomy look as the hypocrites do: they pull long faces to let men know they are fasting. I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that no one will know you are fasting except your Father who sees all that is done in secret; and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.’

SEASON OF GRACE

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ Joel 2:12-18; Ps 50:3-6,12-14,17; 2 Cor 5:20 – 6:2; Mt 6:1-6, 16-18 ]

Are you feeling empty?  Is there something missing in your life even when you are successful and doing well?  Do you feel that there is a vacuum in your life that you cannot explain?  Are you feeling disoriented and edgy?  Why do you get so irritated and angry with small matters?  Is the source of annoyance coming from within or without?  Perhaps, you have no focus in life.  You are just drifting along, not knowing where you should expend your energy and time.  You are doing many things but nothing seems fulfilling.  The real reason is perhaps because you are not happy with yourself.  You are living a double life.  You are living a sinful life, a life of infidelity, cheating, fighting and negative towards people.  You are addicted to anger, envy, sloth and greed, besides lust. You want to break free from the sins that hold on to you but you do not have the strength to come clean and start all over again.

Indeed, deep in our hearts, many of us want to return to the Lord.  We want to recover our sense of direction in life.  We want to take control of our lives.  We are sick of living a life of slavery to sin and our bad habits which are destroying not just our health but taking away our peace, joy and freedom.  If you are feeling this way, then the Church is providing you a time of grace for you to return to the Lord and to find your peace again.  St Paul wrote, “Well, now is the favourable time; this is the day of salvation.”   Indeed, this is the best time to return to God and find joy again.

How can we find our peace if not to be reconciled first with God? There can be no peace in our hearts or with our fellowmen unless we are first at peace with God. Reconciliation with God is the first step towards being reconciled with our fellowmen and within ourself.  St Paul urges us, “We are ambassadors for Christ; it is as though God were appealing through us, and the appeal that we make in Christ’s name is: be reconciled to God.”

Why should we be reconciled with God? St Paul says, “For our sake God made the sinless one into sin, so that in him we might become the goodness of God.” It is God’s desire for us to become like Him in grace and love.  All of us as His children are called to be the goodness of God.  That is why God emptied Himself in Christ Jesus to lead us in the way.  By assuming our humanity, He comes to assure us that He understands our struggles, our pains, our frustrations, our anxieties and fears.   By overcoming all the temptations of life, Jesus is telling us that with God’s grace, we can live the life of God and defeat Satan and his snares.

God desires us to know that we are forgiven. He knows that unless we believe that we are forgiven, we will not have the capacity to forgive others, much less ourselves. We will be living in guilt and fear.  There is no peace in us.   If we cannot forgive and accept our own limitations and weaknesses, what makes us so sure that we can accept and tolerate the mistakes of others?   For Christians, the beginning of peace must come from God.   So, the invitation is to turn to God for forgiveness.  “Turn to the Lord your God again, for he is all tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in graciousness, and ready to relent.”  Indeed, we can be sure of God’s forgiveness.  He will not abandon us or take into account our past.  He readily forgives us because He knows who we are, weak and frail sinners.

Receiving full forgiveness presupposes that we confess our sins explicitly and acknowledge that we are sinners.  This is the first step to finding peace.  We must admit that we are at fault and not blame others for our failures.  We are equally guilty as sinners.  Together with the Israelites, we must confess our sins.  With the psalmist, we say, “My offences truly I know them; my sin is always before me.  Against you, you alone, have I sinned; what is evil in your sight I have done.”   There should be no rationalization of whatever sort. There should be no justification.  Humbly admit our ignorance and selfishness when we confess our sins.

The consequence of contrition of heart and repentance is the reward of joy and peace. Whenever we confess our sins, we find great liberation. This is the experience of every penitent.  That is provided we confess our sins sincerely and with contrition.  The prophet said, “Come back to me with all your heart, fasting, weeping, mourning. Let your hearts be broken not your garments torn, turn to the Lord your God again.”  The greater the contrition and the greater the sincerity in confessing our sins as they are, without justifying, rationalizing or mitigating them, the greater is the healing effect and lasting the conversion.  The joy and freedom from fear and guilt in those who confess their sins is manifested in their recovery of prayer life and the joy of worshipping God.  Before confession, they cannot praise God.  But after confession, their lips open and they begin to praise God easily.  This was the experience of the psalmist.  He said, “O Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall declare your praise.”

The great thing about the season of Lent is that we do not walk alone.  The whole community of Christians walk with us in the journey back to God.  Walking alone is frightening and often when we walk alone, the devil will tempt us back to sin because we are weak.  This is what happened to those who are newly baptized or just returned to the Church.  Without a community to support them, they fall back easily to their old way of life.  They forget that baptism is not just being baptized in Christ but to be baptized into the body of Christ, the Church.  Baptism is to belong to the community of faith.  We need our brothers and sisters to accompany us in our journey of faith.  Alone, we will eventually drop out because we are not living within the ambience of grace.  But with our fellow brothers and sisters encouraging us along the way, we will be able to overcome all trials and temptations.

For this reason, the call to repentance is not just addressed to individuals but to the whole community.  “Order a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly, call the people together, summon the community, assemble the elders, gather the children, even the infants at the breast.”   The whole Church is on retreat and on this faith journey.  Every one of us, from the Pope to the ordinary Catholic, is called to conversion of heart.  We are called to make this pilgrimage together as the People of God, from the land of slavery to the Promised Land.

How can we make our journey if not to use the channels of grace made available to us?  In the gospel, Jesus provides us the ways to come back to Him.  The three pillars of the Lenten program consist of prayer, almsgiving and penance.

If we want to regain our relationship with the Lord, we need to make time for prayer, especially our personal time with the Lord in quiet reflection and contemplation.   “But when you pray go to your private room and, when you have shut the door, pray to your Father who is in that secret place.”   There can be no conversion or renewal of relationship with the Lord if we do not make time for prayer.  Meditation on the Word of God and on the Passion of Christ as in the devotion of the Stations of the Cross will help the person to encounter God’s love and mercy for Him. This will help us find the grace and courage to repent and come back to God.

Secondly, there is a need for penance and mortification.   This is to help us exercise discipline over our body since we lose control of ourselves.  Sin is often our master.  We must exercise self–control, beginning with the sensual needs before we can master our mind and spirit. Fasting is always part of this program.  We are invited to do penance so that we can feel with Christ and our fellowmen in their sufferings.   In this way, we learn to curb our tongue and our senses.  Jesus said, “But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that no one will know you are fasting except your Father.”

Thirdly, we are called to the practice of almsgiving. “But when you give alms, your left hand must not know what your right is doing; your almsgiving must be secret.” Through almsgiving, we learn to open our hearts to the sufferings of others and in the process, encounter the joy of mercy that God wants to give us.  The poor often reveal to us the face of God and give us the joy that money cannot buy.   Charity is the fruit of peace in our hearts and the love of God in our lives.

Indeed, the season of Lent is a season of grace. Let us not waste the grace of God given to us at this time.  St Paul urges us, “We beg you once again not to neglect the grace of God that you have received.”  Let us not delay and postpone further. Let us not lose this opportunity of grace that the Church has given to us but make full use of it.  Let us also encourage each other to live a virtuous life and not tempt each other to sin. Let us walk this journey of 40 days together to the Promised Land.

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