20170203 SENSITIVITY TO ONE’S CONSCIENCE AS A PREREQUISITE FOR
GROWTH IN CHRISTIAN LIFE
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Hebrews 13:1-8 ©
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Continue to love each
other like brothers, and remember always to welcome strangers, for by doing
this, some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Keep in mind
those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; and those who
are being badly treated, since you too are in the one body. Marriage is to be
honoured by all, and marriages are to be kept undefiled, because fornicators
and adulterers will come under God’s judgement. Put greed out of your lives and
be content with whatever you have; God himself has said: I will not fail you
or desert you, and so we can say with confidence: With the Lord to help
me, I fear nothing: what can man do to me?
Remember
your leaders, who preached the word of God to you, and as you reflect on the
outcome of their lives, imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same today as he
was yesterday and as he will be for ever.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm
26(27):1,3,5,8-9 ©
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The Lord is my
light and my help.
The Lord is my light
and my help;
whom
shall I fear?
The Lord is the
stronghold of my life;
before
whom shall I shrink?
The Lord is my
light and my help.
Though an army encamp
against me
my heart
would not fear.
Though war break out
against me
even then
would I trust.
The Lord is my
light and my help.
For there he keeps me
safe in his tent
in the
day of evil.
He hides me in the
shelter of his tent,
on a rock
he sets me safe.
The Lord is my
light and my help.
It is your face, O
Lord, that I seek;
hide not
your face.
Dismiss not your
servant in anger;
you have
been my help.
The Lord is my
light and my help.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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cf.Lk8:15
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are those
who,
with a noble and
generous heart,
take the word of God
to themselves
and yield a harvest
through their perseverance.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 6:14-29 ©
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King Herod had heard about
Jesus, since by now his name was well-known. Some were saying, ‘John the
Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work
in him.’ Others said, ‘He is Elijah’; others again, ‘He is a prophet, like the
prophets we used to have.’ But when Herod heard this he said, ‘It is John whose
head I cut off; he has risen from the dead.’
Now it
was this same Herod who had sent to have John arrested, and had him chained up
in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife whom he had married.
For John had told Herod, ‘It is against the law for you to have your brother’s
wife.’ As for Herodias, she was furious with him and wanted to kill him; but
she was not able to, because Herod was afraid of John, knowing him to be a good
and holy man, and gave him his protection. When he had heard him speak he was
greatly perplexed, and yet he liked to listen to him.
An
opportunity came on Herod’s birthday when he gave a banquet for the nobles of
his court, for his army officers and for the leading figures in Galilee. When
the daughter of this same Herodias came in and danced, she delighted Herod and
his guests; so the king said to the girl, ‘Ask me anything you like and I will
give it you.’ And he swore her an oath, ‘I will give you anything you ask, even
half my kingdom.’ She went out and said to her mother, ‘What shall I ask for?’
She replied, ‘The head of John the Baptist’ The girl hurried straight back to
the king and made her request, ‘I want you to give me John the Baptist’s head,
here and now, on a dish.’ The king was deeply distressed but, thinking of the
oaths he had sworn and of his guests, he was reluctant to break his word to
her. So the king at once sent one of the bodyguard with orders to bring John’s
head. The man went off and beheaded him in prison; then he brought the head on
a dish and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. When John’s
disciples heard about this, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
SENSITIVITY
TO ONE’S CONSCIENCE AS A PREREQUISITE FOR GROWTH IN CHRISTIAN LIFE
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ HEB 13:1-8; MK 6:14-29 ]
Christians are called to
imitate Christ the High Priest in perfection and holiness. To grow in
holiness presupposes that we are purified of our sins, which means in the first
place that we need to grow in sensitivity to our conscience. This is
particularly important, especially with regard to the question of justice and
truth. Hence, the gospel presents to us the different kinds or levels of
conscience which one can grow or diminish in our spiritual life.
The conscience that most of
us have is that of Herod’s, which is a weak and feeble conscience. When we
examine the interior struggles of Herod, we find that actually he was not a bad
man. In fact, he was a generous man who wanted to walk in the
truth. He was not a man without conscience at all. Indeed, Mark
recounts, “Herod was afraid of John, knowing him to be a good and holy man, and
gave him his protection. When he had heard him speak he was greatly perplexed,
and yet he liked to listen to him.” He wanted to live an authentic
life. But he was torn between being true to himself and gaining the
respect of others.
Unfortunately,
he was a man who chose to please everyone for love of himself, his pride and
reputation. The fact that he could, without thinking, offer the daughter
of Herodias anything she asked for, even “half of his kingdom”, shows that he
must have been quite a show off. Of course, he had to pay a high price
for such an irresponsible act, since it cost the head of John the Baptist,
which was not what he wanted. This made him “deeply distressed, but
thinking of the oaths that he had sworn, and of what his guests would think of
him, he was reluctant to break his word to her.” Here again, we see the
tension between his conscience and his desire to please, and also the need to
protect his ego.
We can
easily identify with Herod. Like him, we want to please everyone.
We have generally a good heart. But we tend to compromise because of our
weakness in love. We do not know, or rather, we do not have the heart to
say “no” to things that are wrong, or anything that would compromise our
vocation. Like Herod, we compromise in our irregular relationships with others;
we compromise when it comes to honesty with regard to money or things entrusted
to our care; we compromise by being hypocritical, saying nice things to people
in front of them but destroying their character behind their backs.
For
this reason, we suffer guilt and fear, like Herod, whose conscience continued
to haunt him throughout his life, for whenever he heard of John the Baptist he
would say, ‘It is John whose head I cut off; he has risen from the
dead.’ We too will suffer the same fate with him if we are
not careful.
But
what is even more dangerous is that a person who has a weak and feeble
conscience can end up with a lax, evil and immoral conscience. Sin
increases and snowballs if we do not deal with it head-on. In living a
hypocritical lifestyle, we are actually living in darkness. Those who live
in the dark always fear the light; those who are living in sin fear the
truth. This was certainly the situation of Herodias. When the truth
was exposed, she became defensive and vindictive. Because her security,
ego and interests were threatened, she began to plot the death of John the
Baptist: “she was furious with him and wanted to kill him; but she was not able
to, because Herod was afraid of John.” The only reason she did not carry
out her act was because the opportunity was not available, but she had already
murdered him in her heart. So she began to scheme and wait for a chance
to take her revenge.
The
same thing will also happen to us. We know that dishonest and immoral
living will somehow come to surface in due time. What is hidden cannot be
kept for long. It is understandable that when such wrongs are exposed, whoever
is accused would want to defend and justify himself at all costs. Few
would have the courage and humility to admit the truth, because like Herodias,
we need to save face. Even Herod, who made the foolish promise to
Herodias’ daughter, came under pressure to give in so as to show himself a man
of his word before his nobles and army officers.
Of
course, the tragedy is that an unscrupulous conscience does not stop
here. One would think that Herodias must have been the most evil and
deceitful woman with the worst kind of conscience one could think of.
Yet, even for Herodias, there is still hope for salvation because she was
simply insecure and angry to the point of being revengeful. Hatred had
consumed and blinded her. The danger for us all is that, like her, hatred
and revenge can overwhelm us in such a way that we can no longer differentiate
between what is right and wrong anymore.
The daughter of Herodias
exemplifies this outcome of a conscience that has turned lax and then
dead. She must have been so influenced by Herodias’ plotting and scheming
that she could no longer distinguish between truth and falsehood. She had
an indifferent conscience, oblivious to truth and goodness. With such a
conscience, one does not think anymore. One acts according to one’s whims
and fancies. It is good to take note that she had no part in the
condemnation of John the Baptist. In fact, she was not even an enemy of
John the Baptist. Yet, when her mother told her to ask for the head of
John the Baptist, she could obey without even thinking of the
consequences. Such indifference is brought out so poignantly today when
Mark narrates how the executioner, after beheading John the Baptist in prison;
“brought the head on a dish and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to
her mother.” How can a person be so unfeeling at the sight of a
decapitated head and yet show no emotion? It was all done in a
perfunctory and nonchalant manner. She could even give up half the
kingdom that could have been hers, just for the head of John the Baptist!
She must be the epitome of apathy towards the values of life.
We, too, can also become as
dead to our conscience after some time. This is true for those of us who
rationalize our sinful actions. The truth is that one sin always leads to
another. This has been true since the days of Adam and Eve. The
first sin of disobedience led to murder by Cain. Indeed, it is said that
the trauma one feels the first time one kills another person, as in a war, is
the most acute. But after the first killing, the killer is no longer
restrained. He becomes more courageous and numbed as he goes on to kill
more and more. This is very true of murderers.
In
contrast we have the exemplary Christian life of John the Baptist. He was
a man who was so true to himself and to his conscience. He bore all the
characteristics that the Jewish Christians were exhorted to practice in their
lives in the first reading. For Indeed, John the Baptist loved everyone like
brothers, even when they were strangers, unrelated to him. This explains why he
spoke out against Herod for betraying his brother, Philip. John the Baptist
wanted to protect the sanctity of marriage for the good of society. He
recognized that “marriage is to be honoured by all, and marriages are to be
kept undefiled, because fornicators and adulterers will come under God’s
judgement.” Finally, John the Baptist understood what it means to care
for prisoners, for he himself was in prison for the sake of the truth.
Certainly, the exhortation to “keep in mind those who are in prison, as though
you were in prison with them; and those who are being badly treated, since you
too are in the one body” must have been part of his outlook in life.
No
wonder, the life of John the Baptist is often seen as parallel to that of
Jesus. He was the forerunner of Jesus in a very real way. For like
Jesus, he was a prophet; condemned to an innocent death although his executor
reluctantly consented to his killing; his accusers were members of his own
family and race; he was buried by his disciples and allegedly raised from the
dead. Indeed, the tragic ending of John prepares us for the fate of
Jesus.
Today,
John the Baptist shows himself to be the true and authentic Christian.
Let us take heed of the advice of the author in the first reading to “remember
your leaders, who preached the word of God to you, and as you reflect on the
outcome of their lives, imitate their faith.” Yes, if we are to be faithful
to Jesus and to our Christian conscience, then we must be like the Jewish
Christians who affirmed with confidence that God would not fail or desert
them. With them, we must say, “with the Lord to help me, I fear nothing:
what can man do to me? … Jesus Christ is the same as he was
yesterday and as he will be for ever.”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights
Reserved
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