20170210 SENSITIVITY AND RESPECT FOR THE DIGNITY OF THE SINNER
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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Genesis 3:1-8 ©
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The serpent was the
most subtle of all the wild beasts that the Lord God had made. It asked the
woman, ‘Did God really say you were not to eat from any of the trees in the
garden?’ The woman answered the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees in
the garden. But of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden God said,
“You must not eat it, nor touch it, under pain of death.” ‘ Then the serpent
said to the woman, ‘No! You will not die! God knows in fact that on the day you
eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good and
evil.’ The woman saw that the tree was good to eat and pleasing to the eye, and
that it was desirable for the knowledge that it could give. So she took some of
its fruit and ate it. She gave some also to her husband who was with her, and
he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they realised that
they were naked. So they sewed fig-leaves together to make themselves
loin-cloths.
The man
and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool
of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm
31(32):1-2,5-7 ©
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Happy the man
whose offence is forgiven.
Happy the man whose
offence is forgiven,
whose sin
is remitted.
O happy the man to
whom the Lord
imputes
no guilt,
in whose
spirit is no guile.
Happy the man
whose offence is forgiven.
But now I have
acknowledged my sins;
my guilt
I did not hide.
I said: ‘I will
confess
my
offence to the Lord.’
And you, Lord, have
forgiven
the guilt
of my sin.
Happy the man
whose offence is forgiven.
So let every good man
pray to you
in the
time of need.
The floods of water
may reach high
but him
they shall not reach.
Happy the man whose
offence is forgiven.
You are my hiding
place, O Lord;
you save
me from distress.
You surround me with
cries of deliverance.
Happy the man
whose offence is forgiven.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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cf.Jn6:63,68
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Your words are
spirit, Lord, and they are life;
you have the message
of eternal life.
Alleluia!
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Or
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cf.Ac16:14
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O
Lord,
to accept the words
of your Son.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 7:31-37 ©
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Returning from the
district of Tyre, Jesus went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, right
through the Decapolis region. And they brought him a deaf man who had an
impediment in his speech; and they asked him to lay his hand on him. He took
him aside in private, away from the crowd, put his fingers into the man’s ears
and touched his tongue with spittle. Then looking up to heaven he sighed; and
he said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.’ And his ears were opened,
and the ligament of his tongue was loosened and he spoke clearly. And Jesus
ordered them to tell no one about it, but the more he insisted, the more widely
they published it. Their admiration was unbounded. ‘He has done all things
well,’ they said ‘he makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.’
SENSITIVITY
AND RESPECT FOR THE DIGNITY OF THE SINNER
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ GEN 3:1-8; PS 31:1-2,5-7; MARK 7:31-37 ]
How do we treat
sinners? Quite often, we behave like self-righteous people. We
despise them and look down on them. This was the way the religious
leaders regarded sinners during Jesus’ time. They were treated as
outcasts of society and accordingly marginalized.
Yet, we all know that when
we sin, we feel ashamed of ourselves. This was how the first couple
felt. Instead of rejoicing that our cravings have been satisfied or
feeling great about ourselves, we feel worse than ever. We feel
ashamed. This is the worst of all punishments.
In the first instance, we
are ashamed before our fellowmen. This is symbolized by the feeling of
nakedness. “They realised that they were naked. So they sewed fig-leaves
together to make themselves loin-cloths.” Indeed, we hate ourselves for
doing what is wrong. We are disgusted with ourselves for not acting
rightly even though we know what should be doing. We are afraid of what
people might say or think about us. If our crime were reported in the
papers, we would be too ashamed to meet anyone, especially our relatives and
friends. Some may even commit suicide because of shame.
Secondly,
we feel ashamed before God. This is the reason why people turn away from
God and even those whom they have hurt or betrayed. They have no dignity
to look at God or their fellowmen. This, too, was the reason why Adam and
Eve hid from the Lord. Because of shame, many Catholics are not willing to go
for the sacrament of reconciliation. They are afraid the priest might
know their sins. All the excuses we make for not going to a priest for
confession are merely due of pride! We do not want our fellowmen to
despise us. And so we conveniently say we must go to God directly.
But we all need to hear the
words of forgiveness. We need to know that God has forgiven us and our
fellowmen as well. We all seek forgiveness as in the case of King
David. We know our wrongs. The psalmist says, “Happy the man
whose offence is forgiven. But now I have acknowledged my sins; my guilt
I did not hide.”
In the gospel Jesus came to
restore the beauty of creation disfigured by sins. St Mark wrote,
“Their admiration was unbounded. ‘He has done all things well’” But
how did He do it? He did it with great sensitivity and with respect for
the dignity of the sinner.
Firstly,
we note that Jesus did not treat the deaf man as a case but as an individual
who needed help. The man could not hear and therefore could not speak
properly. Unlike the other healing miracles, Jesus, recognizing the sensitivity
of the situation took him aside. Secondly, He was aware of his
embarrassment; not knowing what others were saying about him, and his inability
to articulate himself. Sensitive to his shame, Jesus took him aside from
the crowd to heal him. “He took him aside in private, away from the crowd,
put his fingers into the man’s ears and touched his tongue with spittle.”
Thirdly,
Jesus used spittle to heal him as it was common in the days of old when the
people believed in the power of spittle to heal. Indeed, there is much
truth in this. This explains why when animals are wounded they would lick
themselves. We remember how the dogs licked the wounds of Lazarus in the
gospel. Jesus too would heal him in a sacramental way. He could
have healed without the spittle but He wanted to give the man the experience of
being healed. By touching his tongue with spittle, Jesus mediated the
healing grace of God to him. Truly, we all need the sense of touch
in life. We need to be touched and to hear. This is part of the
human way of being restored. We need sacramentals because we are human
beings with a body and not pure spirit.
Fourthly,
we read that Jesus turned to heaven and prayed. “Then looking up to
heaven he sighed; and he said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be
opened’” In other words, healing must come from God alone and not
from man. We do not have the power to heal; only God has the power.
Jesus turned to His heavenly Father to heal so that the people will come to
know His Father’s love and mercy.
What we see in this whole
process of healing is precisely how we should also heal and reconcile sinners.
Firstly,
we must see them as individuals. No one is the same when it comes to
temptation. We cannot say to someone, “If I can, why can’t you?” We
are just different and we all have different weaknesses because of upbringing
and past experiences in life. We are wounded not just by sin but by the
consequences of sin that come from ourselves and those who hurt us.
Secondly, sinners feel
great shame for their sins. They must be treated with great compassion
and sensitivity to save their dignity. They are already so embarrassed
for what they did. We should not scold them further or use harsh words on
them because we will only make them hate themselves even more. This is
counterproductive. Instead of making the penitent better, he will commit
more sins because he lacks respect and authentic love for himself. This
is important, especially when we discipline our erring children.
Thirdly,
the best way to prevent someone from sinning again is to embrace the sinner in
love and compassion and not condemnation. Healing his emotional wounds
prevent him from repeating his sins. We must help him to experience the gentle
and loving compassion of our Lord through our compassion and the desire to protect
them. This is precisely what Jesus the Good Shepherd did in His
relationship with sinners. He was always encouraging, affirming, understanding,
forgiving and accepting.
This whole process of
healing is beautifully celebrated in the sacrament of reconciliation when the
sinner is away from the crowd and in total confidence in the secrecy of the
confessional; the penitent is given the opportunity to confess his sins
completely without fear of shame to a priest. And the priest, using the
human words of forgiveness on behalf of the Church and in the name of the Holy
Trinity, forgives the sins of the sinner. When we exercise the ministry
in this way, then we bring healing and forgiveness to the sinner.
Indeed,
Catholics and Christians who reject the sacrament of reconciliation, saying
that they should not confess to a priest who is only a human being but only
directly to God, are denying that we need a human mediator to hear us out and
be affirmed of God’s love and mercy. Otherwise, there is no need for the
incarnation as we can, like the Jews, confess directly to God for our sins to
be forgiven. Of course, it remains true also that this does not preclude
that we should confess directly to God as well. This practice of
confession was already something that was being practiced right at the
beginning of the Church when St James said, “Therefore confess your sins to one
another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the
righteous is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16)
The real problem, I
believe, is that quite often, some confessors lack compassion and sensitivity
and this has put fear into the hearts of penitents, causing them to avoid this
beautiful sacrament of healing. Some confessors unfortunately cause more
hurts to penitents by their callousness, as when they lack mercy, sensitivity,
patience, compassion and encouragement in hearing the confession of their
penitents. Instead of being healed, they feel that they are sentenced to
doom and that God has given up hope on them. But if the sacrament of
reconciliation is celebrated with great sensitivity and compassion, then every
penitent can declare with the psalmist, “And you, Lord, have forgiven the guilt
of my sin.”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights
Reserved
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