20170310 RECONCILIATION
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
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First reading
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Ezekiel 18:21-28
©
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Thus says the Lord:
‘If the
wicked man renounces all the sins he has committed, respects my laws and is
law-abiding and honest, he will certainly live; he will not die. All the sins
he committed will be forgotten from then on; he shall live because of the
integrity he has practised. What! Am I likely to take pleasure in the death of
a wicked man – it is the Lord who speaks – and not prefer to see him
renounce his wickedness and live?
‘But if
the upright man renounces his integrity, commits sin, copies the wicked man and
practises every kind of filth, is he to live? All the integrity he has
practised shall be forgotten from then on; but this is because he himself has
broken faith and committed sin, and for this he shall die. But you object,
“What the Lord does is unjust.” Listen, you House of Israel: is what I do
unjust? Is it not what you do that is unjust? When the upright man renounces
his integrity to commit sin and dies because of this, he dies because of the
evil that he himself has committed. When the sinner renounces sin to become
law-abiding and honest, he deserves to live. He has chosen to renounce all his
previous sins; he shall certainly live; he shall not die.’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 129(130) ©
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If you, O Lord,
should mark our guilt, Lord, who would survive?
Out of the depths I
cry to you, O Lord,
Lord,
hear my voice!
O let your ears be
attentive
to the
voice of my pleading.
If you, O Lord,
should mark our guilt, Lord, who would survive?
If you, O Lord,
should mark our guilt,
Lord, who
would survive?
But with you is found
forgiveness:
for this
we revere you.
If you, O Lord,
should mark our guilt, Lord, who would survive?
My soul is waiting for
the Lord.
I count
on his word.
My soul is longing
for the Lord
more than
watchman for daybreak.
(Let the watchman
count on daybreak
and
Israel on the Lord.)
If you, O Lord,
should mark our guilt, Lord, who would survive?
Because with the Lord
there is mercy
and
fullness of redemption,
Israel indeed he will
redeem
from all
its iniquity.
If you, O Lord,
should mark our guilt, Lord, who would survive?
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Gospel
Acclamation
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cf.Amos5:14
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Praise to you, O
Christ, king of eternal glory!
Seek good and not
evil so that you may live,
and that the Lord God
of hosts may really be with you.
Praise to you, O
Christ, king of eternal glory!
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Or
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Ezk18:31
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Praise to you, O
Christ, king of eternal glory!
Shake off all your
sins – it is the Lord who speaks –
and make yourselves a
new heart and a new spirit.
Praise to you, O
Christ, king of eternal glory!
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Gospel
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Matthew 5:20-26 ©
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Jesus said to his
disciples: ‘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.’
RECONCILIATION
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ EZEKIEL 18:21-28;
MT 5:20-26 ]
Are you at peace? Why
is there no peace? The root of our unhappiness is division.
Externally, this division is manifested in our estranged relationship with our
fellowmen. Spiritually, it is manifested in the absence of God in our
lives. Personally, this division is rooted within ourselves. In
other words, the absence of inner peace and joy springs from the lack of
integrity. This is what the prophet said, “he shall live because of the
integrity he has practiced.” So our misery comes from the fact that
we live contradictory lives. We are confused ourselves and as a
consequence, the inner division within us is expressed in our lack of
understanding, charity and justice in our dealings with our fellowmen.
Indeed,
finding inner peace and joy is the basis for anyone who truly wants to
live. Otherwise, such a life is as good as a living death. This is
what Ezekiel tells us. Death is the result of our own doing, our own
sinfulness and not because of God. Sin, which is anti-love, brings about
death. God wants us to live. Many of us might be physically alive
but are really dead because there is no love in our lives. We substitute
love with power and pleasure. Without love, we are not alive.
How then can we find
ourselves? Finding ourselves is what integrity is all about. The
antidote to integrity is reconciliation. That is why the gospel speaks on
the theme of reconciliation, which is fundamental to Lent. In the second
reading of Ash Wednesday, Paul tells us “Be Reconciled.” And so we are
called to be reconciled with God, within ourselves and with others.
How can this reconciliation be brought about so that we can live more
integrated lives?
In the
first place, we need to acknowledge our sins, our lack of integrity. This
is what Ezekiel is calling us to do. Without recognizing that we lack
integrity in the way we live, we cannot speak of any reconciliation. “If the
wicked man renounces all the sins he has committed, respects my laws and is
law-abiding and honest, he will certainly live; he will not die. But if the
upright man renounces his integrity, commits sin, copies the wicked man and
practices every kind of filth … All the integrity he has practiced shall be
forgotten … and for this he shall die.” So before we can speak of
reconciliation, we must first be ready to renounce our sins. So long as
we are not humble and courageous or desire to do so, we cannot begin the path
to integrity. Reconciliation, or coming to terms with oneself, is
the first step to integrity.
Secondly,
we need to be reconciled with our neighbours, especially our brothers and
sisters, as Jesus taught in the gospel. We cannot have peace within
ourselves if we continue to hold grudges against those who have hurt us; or
when we know that someone holds grudges against us. We may pretend that
we are not bothered. But the fact is that they do bother us.
Whenever we think of them, or we come across them, or when our memories
surface, then we cannot but feel hurt all over again. The wound never
really heals; only buried. Deep in our unconscious, the heart is dis-eased.
It is sick and wounded because when we are separated from others, especially
those who are closest to us, we cannot but feel empty and lost. One of
the greatest regrets in life is that we were never able to make peace with
people whom we had quarrels or misunderstandings. When the relationship
is not properly healed or closed, whenever memories of them come to mind, we
would feel sad and kind of regret. Worse still, if by the time we want to
be reconciled, and that person is no longer around, because of death or simply
loss of contact, then we would have to live with the guilt we carry in our
hearts till death. To know that you have never really been forgiven or
that the person is still hurting because you have not forgiven, is a memory that
you would not like to burden yourself with.
Whatever
the case, if we are not at peace with our fellowmen, we cannot be at peace with
God either. This is because God reaches out to us through our
fellowmen. The way to experience God’s love is through others. So
long as we are not healed, we tend to withdraw from others. When someone
has betrayed our trust, our conclusion is that no one else can be trusted
anymore; more so if that person is closest to us or is a representative of an
institution, as in the case of those who are hurt by priests and religious
leaders. No one can hurt us most than our brothers and sisters as Jesus
specifically singled them out in the gospel. Aren’t the biggest pain in
our hearts those inflicted by our loved ones? Family feuds, quarrels and
misunderstandings are often carried in our hearts for years and even
generations. The most difficult people to forgive or ask for forgiveness
from are our loved ones, especially when we have been badly hurt. Those
who have been so badly wounded by religious leaders have either left the Church
or never got involved again in ministry, because they are afraid to get hurt
again. By so doing, they are depriving themselves of ways in which God
wants to reach out to us. We put obstacles in the paths of God.
Understandably
we can appreciate why Jesus is adamant about the need to be first reconciled
with our brother before we can even present the gift at the altar.
Furthermore, Jesus speaks of the last penny to be paid. That is to
say, so long as we do not make peace with those who have hurt us, we will
remain their slaves, since memories of them will always make us feel pain, ache
and anger. Our enemies whom we do not set free ironically are the ones
whom we have given power to weigh us down emotionally and spiritually. We can
never let these sore feelings go until we are reconciled with them; only then
are we set free.
But how can we find the
grace to acknowledge our sins, forgive ourselves and forgive others or ask for
forgiveness? Not without God’s grace. The capacity to forgive
others presupposes that we have forgiven ourselves. And we can forgive
ourselves only when we have received God’s forgiveness. Today’s assurance of
the prophet about God’s forgiveness therefore must be the starting point of
reconciliation and the path to integrity. The Lord says, “Am I likely to
take pleasure in the death of a wicked man – it is the Lord who speaks – and
not prefer to see him renounce his wickedness and live? … When the sinner
renounces sin to become law-abiding and honest, he deserves to live. He has
chosen to renounce all his previous sins, he shall certainly live; he shall not
die.” The psalmist says, “If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, Lord, who can
stand? But with you is forgiveness, that you may be revered.” God does
not ask us to forgive others without first forgiving us. Forgiving our
brothers and sisters is at times simply impossible, especially when we have
suffered so much humiliation, pain, loss of property and even physical injury.
God forgives us not once, but again and again. He only wants us to repent
so that we will live.
Let us therefore turn to
the Lord during this time of Lent to ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten us in our
ignorance and to lead us to experience His love. With the healing love
from Him, we can then find the strength to let go and let God take over.
The gospel today, when read within a Christian context, suggests that we let
the Eucharist be the source of that love and the path to reconciliation, since
from that we receive love and healing by the Lord. We want to be reconciled
with our brothers and sisters so that this union with Him is perfected in our
reconciliation and union with them. “If you are bringing your offering to the
altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave
your offering before the altar, go and be reconciled with your brother first,
and then come back and present your offering.” Our desire to receive the
Lord in the Eucharist will be the motivation for asking for forgiveness for our
sins; and the Eucharist will give us the strength to be reconciled with our
brothers. The Eucharist truly, then, is the source of unity and love with God,
ourselves and with others.
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