20170305 CHRIST THE WORD OF GOD ENABLES US TO OVERCOME SIN
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
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First reading
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Genesis
2:7-9,3:1-7 ©
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The Lord God
fashioned man of dust from the soil. Then he breathed into his nostrils a
breath of life, and thus man became a living being.
The Lord
God planted a garden in Eden which is in the east, and there he put the man he
had fashioned. The Lord God caused to spring up from the soil every kind of
tree, enticing to look at and good to eat, with the tree of life and the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil in the middle of the garden.
Now 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.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm
50(51):3-6,12-14,17 ©
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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.
EITHER:
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Second reading
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Romans 5:12-19 ©
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Sin entered the world
through one man, and through sin death, and thus death has spread through the
whole human race because everyone has sinned. Sin existed in the world long
before the Law was given. There was no law and so no one could be accused of
the sin of ‘law-breaking’, yet death reigned over all from Adam to Moses, even
though their sin, unlike that of Adam, was not a matter of breaking a law.
Adam
prefigured the One to come, but the gift itself considerably outweighed the
fall. If it is certain that through one man’s fall so many died, it is even
more certain that divine grace, coming through the one man, Jesus Christ, came
to so many as an abundant free gift. The results of the gift also outweigh the
results of one man’s sin: for after one single fall came judgement with a
verdict of condemnation, now after many falls comes grace with its verdict of
acquittal. If it is certain that death reigned over everyone as the consequence
of one man’s fall, it is even more certain that one man, Jesus Christ, will
cause everyone to reign in life who receives the free gift that he does not
deserve, of being made righteous. Again, as one man’s fall brought condemnation
on everyone, so the good act of one man brings everyone life and makes them
justified. As by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man’s
obedience many will be made righteous.
OR:
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Alternative
Second reading
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Romans
5:12,17-19 ©
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Sin entered the world
through one man, and through sin death, and thus death has spread through the
whole human race because everyone has sinned. If it is certain that death
reigned over everyone as the consequence of one man’s fall, it is even more
certain that one man, Jesus Christ, will cause everyone to reign in life who
receives the free gift that he does not deserve, of being made righteous.
Again, as one man’s fall brought condemnation on everyone, so the good act of
one man brings everyone life and makes them justified. As by one man’s
disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man’s obedience many will be
made righteous.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Mt4:4
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Praise to you, O
Christ, king of eternal glory!
Man does not live on
bread alone,
but on every word
that comes from the mouth of God.
Praise to you, O
Christ, king of eternal glory!
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Gospel
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Matthew 4:1-11 ©
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Jesus was led by the
Spirit out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty
days and forty nights, after which he was very hungry, and the tempter came and
said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to turn into
loaves.’ But he replied, ‘Scripture says:
Man does not live
on bread alone
but on every word
that comes from the mouth of God.’
The devil then took
him to the holy city and made him stand on the parapet of the Temple. ‘If you
are the Son of God’ he said ‘throw yourself down; for scripture says:
He will put you in
his angels’ charge,
and they will
support you on their hands
in case you hurt
your foot against a stone.’
Jesus said to him,
‘Scripture also says:
You must not put
the Lord your God to the test.’
Next, taking him to a
very high mountain, the devil showed him all the kingdoms of the world and
their splendour. ‘I will give you all these’ he said, ‘if you fall at my feet
and worship me.’ Then Jesus replied, ‘Be off, Satan! For scripture says:
You must worship
the Lord your God,
and
serve him alone.’
CHRIST
THE WORD OF GOD ENABLES US TO OVERCOME SIN
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ GEN 2:7-9,3:1-7; ROM 5:12-19 (OR 12,17-19);
MT 4:1-11 ]
Today
we read of the Temptations of Jesus in the desert. However, not only are
the miracles of Jesus and the question of the existence of the Devil put in
question by the modern man, but even the question of sin has become an issue.
The greater concern is whether we accept the reality of sin. With
the prevailing climate of relativism, many have come to the conclusion that
there are no objective moral laws. There is no objective norm to
measure what is right or wrong. Everything depends on the subjective
preference of the individual.
So the real challenge today
is not temptations and our struggle against sin but whether sin exists.
This explains why sin is watered down to a matter of personal judgement.
Everyone seeks to justify and rationalize what he does. Even sins are
justified as good and permissible. Today, the end even justifies the
means, like killing drug addicts to save others. So if our conscience is
disturbed, we just need to justify ourselves for what we do, whether it is
abortion, killing or stealing. This is what the world is doing, seeking
to give justifications for their actions. But the truth is that we can
cheat people but we cannot cheat ourselves. Deep inside us, we know it is
not right because our conscience will rebuke us. We know what we do is
evil and selfish regardless of the reasons we give.
So, whether we believe that
there is such a thing as sin or not, the best argument is not a philosophical
or even a theological premise but the existential effects of what we do.
This is what St Paul seeks to tell us in his letter to the Romans, “Sin entered
the world through one man, and through sin death, and thus death has spread
through the whole human race because everyone has sinned.” In other
words, regardless whether we know the laws or not, the fact that we suffer the
consequences of our sinful action, leading to death, is proof that sin
exists.
The reality of sin is not
proven in an academic discourse but by the fact that we can see the effects of
sin in the world. If the effects are negative, not just in the short term
but more importantly in the long term, then we will pay the price for our sins
or what others call pragmatism. We are feeling the effects of
pragmatism as seen in the destruction of ecology. What is
relativism doing to our people? They have lost the basis for all values
and hence the world cannot agree on anything. In many countries we can
see the great divide getting more and more pronounced; the relativists against
those who believe in moral values. We can see how our marriages and
families are breaking down. We can see the loss of faith in
institutions today, whether religious or political. No one trusts
authority anymore. When the authority of leaders is put in question, they
can no longer lead the people. Looking at the world, we know that
relativism has caused the world to lose those foundations of truth and love
that guided our forefathers.
We can see these
consequences of sin in the history of salvation. Once Adam and Eve gave
in to the temptation, their eyes opened and “they realized that they were
naked.” This is more than just the sin of lust but it refers to the
concupiscence of humanity. The sin of lust leads to the sin of greed,
envy, anger and pride, which we see in the sins of Cain and Abel and the Tower
of Babel. One sin leads to another. Sin causes misery in our
lives. Because sin is rooted in pride and selfishness, it leads to
division and competition. Sin makes us anxious, worried and angry.
It leads to quarrels, cheating and even killing. Sin is a worship
of self. It is idolatry. Indeed, St Paul wrote to the Galatians,
“Those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” (cf Gal 5:19-21)
This is the basis for the
doctrine of original sin. From the reality of sin in the world and in
every human person, we recognize that we all have a fallen and wounded
nature. Regardless how we try to do good and avoid evil, we still fall
into sin. The conclusion is that we cannot save ourselves. Laws
cannot change us even if we know them. For the Christian, the way out of
sin is to accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord. He is the Way, the Truth
and the Life. Only in and through Him, are we assured of God’s forgiveness
and His grace to help us live a good Christian life.
In the face of the
confusing values of relativism, how do we find our direction? Do we just
listen to the diverse opinions of the world and choose one from among them that
fits our thinking? If truth must agree with our intellect and own
reasoning, then we are saying that we are the norm and measure of truth.
Anything that we disagree is not true. But the truth is that we are not
the absolute norm in life. We are contingent beings. We do not even
exist on earth forever. Rather, God must be the absolute norm. That
is why we must defer to the Word of God revealed to us through the prophets and
our Lord Jesus Christ. St Paul told the Thessalonians, “when you received
the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men
but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you
believers.” (1 Th 2:13)
Only the Word of God can help us to discern the truth and prevent us from
falling into the deceptive arguments of the world, as illustrated in the
temptation story of Adam and Eve when the Devil slowly won over Eve by
suggesting to her that it was justified for her to eat the forbidden fruit.
Many of us are like Eve. We prefer to listen to the Evil One rather than
the Lord. We prefer to discuss our moral issues with the world than with
our Lord. Today, we must learn from the Lord to say, “Be off, Satan!”
If we want to be saved from
our sins, we must come to Jesus who is the Word of God in person.
We must make Jesus the center of our lives. Only the Word of God can tell
us what is truth. Indeed, when Jesus was tempted by the Evil One to
change stone into bread, He took His direction from the Word of God.
Citing Scripture, He said, “Man does not live on bread alone but on every word
that comes from the mouth of God.” The basis of Jesus’ clarity of
mind on what is right or wrong, good or evil was His absolute confidence in the
Word of God. In all His decisions, He referred to the Word of God.
In His response to the first temptation, Jesus underscored the importance of
living from the Word of God. What gives life is not food and pleasure but
living the will of God and doing what is true and loving. In the second
temptation, when He was asked to jump from the parapet of the Temple, Jesus
made it clear that one should never test the power and love of God.
Instead we should simply trust in His divine providence. Again, citing
scripture, He said, “You must not put the Lord your God to the
test.” Then in the third temptation, when He was offered the
kingdoms of the world, Jesus citing scripture reiterated that “You must worship
the Lord your God, and serve him alone.”
The second step to overcome
temptation and sin is to obey. Our first parents were disobedient to
God’s command. They wanted to choose their own ways. By being
stubborn and self-willed, they exposed themselves to sin and caused themselves
and their descendants misery. Sin always brings pain and misery. So
instead of following their bad example, we must follow the Lord, who was
obedient to His Father, even unto death on the cross. Jesus truly lived
His divine sonship as one who came from the Father and lived from and of the Father.
St Ignatius of Loyola said, “It is not hard to obey when we love the One whom
we obey.” Indeed, when we love, we obey easily, just as our Lord loved
His Father. Consequently, today we are called to make an election for the
Lord. Would we choose Him above all things and let our lives be directed
by Him, or do we choose Satan, the pleasures and glory of the world?
If we choose the world,
then the world will consume us and determine our focus in life. If we
live for the things of this world, our life will be reduced to that of an
animal’s because we will live merely on the sensual level. We will allow
ourselves to become anxious, insecure, jealous, envious, avaricious and angry
with the world. But if you make Jesus the center of your life, you will
find peace, joy and love because you will live a life with a purpose, which is
to live for love and service. Only true and unconditional love and
relationship with our fellowmen and with God can bring us true freedom and
joy.
Finally, we cannot depend on
ourselves and our strength to choose the Lord. Because we need His love,
we must yearn and thirst for Him. The Lord went to the desert and fasted
for forty days. He wanted to strip Himself from the non-essentials
of life and enter into the depth of His heart which is a deep longing for His
Father’s love. If we want to be focused on the Lord, we, too, need to
enter into our desert, especially in quiet prayer and contemplation with some
mortifications, so that the Lord can quench our thirst for the living
water. And we can be sure that He will help us and satisfy us, for St
Paul says, “If it is certain that through one man’s fall so many died, it is
even more certain that divine grace, coming through the one man, Jesus Christ,
came to so many as an abundant free gift.” During this season of Lent,
let us strengthen ourselves spirituality with prayer, penance and almsgiving
together with the whole Church, dying to ourselves so that we are disposed to
listen to the Lord and giving Him a home in our hearts.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights
Reserved
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