UNDAUNTED IN WORKS OF MERCY AND RIGHTEOUSNESS

20170605 UNDAUNTED IN WORKS OF MERCY AND RIGHTEOUSNESS

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Red.

First reading

Tobit 1:3,2:1-8 ©

I, Tobit, have walked in paths of truth and in good works all the days of my life. I have given much in alms to my brothers and fellow countrymen, exiled like me to Nineveh in the country of Assyria.

  In the reign of Esarhaddon I returned home, and my wife Anna was restored to me with my son Tobias. At our feast of Pentecost (the feast of Weeks) there was a good dinner. I took my place for the meal; the table was brought to me and various dishes were brought. Then I said to my son Tobias, ‘Go, my child, and seek out some poor, loyal-hearted man among our brothers exiled in Nineveh, and bring him to share my meal. I will wait until you come back, my child.’ So Tobias went out to look for some poor man among our brothers, but he came back again and said, ‘Father!’ I answered, ‘What is it, my child?’ He went on, ‘Father, one of our nation has just been murdered; he has been strangled and then thrown down in the market place; he is there still.’ I sprang up at once, left my meal untouched, took the man from the market place and laid him in one of my rooms, waiting until sunset to bury him. I came in again and washed myself and ate my bread in sorrow, remembering the words of the prophet Amos concerning Bethel:

Your feasts will be turned to mourning,

and all your songs to lamentation.

And I wept. When the sun was down, I went and dug a grave and buried him. My neighbours laughed and said, ‘See! He is not afraid any more.’ (You must remember that a price had been set on my head earlier for this very thing.) ‘The time before this he had to flee, yet here he is, beginning to bury the dead again.’

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 111(112):1-2,3b-6 ©

Happy the man who fears the Lord.

or

Alleluia!

Happy the man who fears the Lord,

  who takes delight in all his commands.

His sons will be powerful on earth;

  the children of the upright are blessed.

Happy the man who fears the Lord.

or

Alleluia!

  his justice stands firm for ever.

He is a light in the darkness for the upright:

  he is generous, merciful and just.

Happy the man who fears the Lord.

or

Alleluia!

The good man takes pity and lends,

  he conducts his affairs with honour.

The just man will never waver:

  he will be remembered for ever.

Happy the man who fears the Lord.

or

Alleluia!

Gospel Acclamation

cf.Col3:16a,17

Alleluia, alleluia!

Let the message of Christ, in all its richness,

find a home with you;

through him give thanks to God the Father.

Alleluia!

Or

cf.Rv1:5

Alleluia, alleluia!

You, O Christ, are the faithful witness,

the First-born from the dead;

you have loved us and have washed away our sins with your blood.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Mark 12:1-12 ©

Jesus began to speak to the chief priests, the scribes and the elders in parables: ‘A man planted a vineyard; he fenced it round, dug out a trough for the winepress and built a tower; then he leased it to tenants and went abroad. When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce from the vineyard. But they seized the man, thrashed him and sent him away empty-handed. Next he sent another servant to them; him they beat about the head and treated shamefully. And he sent another and him they killed; then a number of others, and they thrashed some and killed the rest. He had still someone left: his beloved son. He sent him to them last of all. “They will respect my son” he said. But those tenants said to each other, “This is the heir. Come on, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.” So they seized him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. Now what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and make an end of the tenants and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this text of scripture:

It was the stone rejected by the builders

that became the keystone.

This was the Lord’s doing

and it is wonderful to see?

And they would have liked to arrest him, because they realised that the parable was aimed at them, but they were afraid of the crowds. So they left him alone and went away.

UNDAUNTED IN WORKS OF MERCY AND RIGHTEOUSNESS

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ TB 1:3; 2:1-8; PS 111:1-2,3-6; MK 12:1-12  ]

In the first reading, we read about Tobit, the righteous and compassionate servant of God.  Truly, such a good man is rare to find in this world.  Here he was, about to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost with a great dinner.  Even before he began the dinner, he was thinking of those unfortunate people who had no food.  He instructed his son Tobias, “Go, my child, and seek out some poor, loyal-hearted man among our brothers exiled in Nineveh, and bring him to share my meal.  I will wait until you come back, my child.”  Such was the solidarity that Tobit had with the poor of his people.   He even waited for them before he started to eat.  Even then he did not get to enjoy his meal because hearing that one of his countrymen was killed, he immediately set out to fetch his body back for burial in spite of previous threats to his life.  He was not only compassionate and generous but he had the courage to do the right thing regardless of the dangers ahead of him.

Indeed, his generosity and loyalty to his countrymen in exile in Babylon was incomparable. This is even more remarkable when we read further how he became blind because of the droppings of the sparrows that fell on his eyes whilst he was sleeping.  Deprived of his eyesight and his ability to work and bring money to the family, and although poor, he refused to eat the goat which was given to his wife for the work she did until he was satisfied that the goat was not stolen.  He was truly a just man in good times and in bad times.  It is easy to be generous and helpful when we are rich or doing well in life.  But in bad times when we are suffering, many of us would not be able to think beyond ourselves and our needs.  Tobit was different.  His heart was always with his people.  He strived to do the right thing and remained undaunted in his works of mercy.  He was undeterred by the trials and misfortunes of life.  Instead, he continued to trust in God’s righteousness and mercy.

In contrast, we have the tenants in today’s parable of the vineyard.  Not only were they ungrateful for being given the land to produce grapes, but instead of paying the landowner his dues, they were unjust, unreasonable and selfish.  They wanted everything for themselves.  They refused to share their produce.  As if it was not bad enough, they beat up all the servants and even killed some of them that the master sent to collect his rent.  Most of all, when the master sent his own son to collect the rent, they had him killed so that they could take over his inheritance.  This was the way they repaid the landlord.  Of course, we know that Jesus was hinting at the religious leaders who killed the prophets that God sent to them one after another.  And soon, they too would kill God’s only Son, thinking that by getting rid of Him once and for all, they would be able to continue in their sins and hypocrisy.

There are many people like them in our world today.  Few are grateful for what has been done for them.  Children turn against their parents, especially when they are old, sickly or dependent.  They treat them like nuisance in their lives.  When they were young, their parents did everything for them without complaint.  Now when they are asked to do a small thing for them, they pull long faces and would not lift a finger to help them.  When they were young, they received much from their parents but now that their parents are no longer earning, they would not contribute to the household or to their parents’ upkeep.  Many care only for themselves.  It is always about their interests, their needs, their holidays, their bank accounts, their savings, and their convenience.  Few would stand up for what is right and good, especially if their future is compromised. This is particularly true in the workplace. We dare not speak out for the weak and those unfairly treated.

Why should we do good and the right thing?  Some do good and help the poor only because they feel guilty.  They are afraid that God will not bless them if they do not bless others. Some fear that they would be condemned when they meet the Lord, like the rich man and Lazarus in the gospel.  In other words, many act out of fear so that they would not be punished or miss out on a reward.  Their good works are not done out of sincere love for the poor or for others but more to escape retribution from God.

We are called to imitate Tobit who helped his fellowmen purely out of love and compassion and because it was the right thing to do, for others and for the glory of God.  He did not do what he did out of fear or reward but simply because he wanted to walk the way of the Lord.  He was the good man as mentioned in the responsorial psalm.  “Happy the man who fears the Lord, who takes delight in all his commands. His sons will be powerful on earth; the children of the upright are blessed. His justice stands firm forever. He is a light in the darkness for the upright: he is generous, merciful and just. The good man takes pity and lends, he conducts his affairs with honour. The just man will never waver:  he will be remembered for ever.”   Indeed, the Lord remembered Tobit for all the good works he did.  At the end of the story, he was vindicated, his son got married, his eyes were healed and his sight was restored and his wealth too.

God is always on the side of the just.  Perhaps we might not see the justice of God now or even on earth.  But time will manifest the righteousness of God.  Those who do evil, even if we do nothing to retaliate or punish them, their evil works and selfishness will be like a boomerang that returns to destroy them.  This was what the Lord said in the gospel.  “Now what will the owner of the vineyard do?  He will come and make an end to the tenants and give the vineyard to others.  Have you not read this text of scripture: It was the stone rejected by the builders that became the keystone. This was the Lord’s doing and it is wonderful to see’”.  Indeed, those who reject us and the truth will live to find out that they were wrong.  What they sow is what they reap.  That is why St Paul urges us, “So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.”  (Gal 6:9f)

Indeed, this is the power of grace at work in disgrace.  God transforms all sins, infidelities and failures into means by which He demonstrates the justice of God.  Those who killed the prophets and His only begotten Son thought that they could get rid of them forever.  God’s love and patience triumphs at the end of the day.  In spite of continuous rejections by His people from the beginning of creation, God does not stop loving and appealing to us to repent and walk the way of justice and love.  He would even go to the extent of sacrificing His only Son to save us all.  He used the rejections of humanity for the power of grace to show Himself even more powerfully.  Nothing can hamper the power of God’s love and His grace.   God knows that love conquers all.   Only love can triumph over hatred and evil.

We too must never give up hope, especially when we seek to do the right thing.   We must be like God who did not stoop so low as to return an eye for an eye in dealing with the enemies of the gospel.  He transcended them by returning good for evil as St Paul exhorts us. “Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.  If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”  (Rom 12:17-21)  We must avoid making the same mistakes of the religious leaders who were seeking to destroy Jesus to save their skins. Instead, let us take the path of compassion and righteousness as we continue to walk the way of Jesus, the way of Tobit, knowing that God is on our side.  He is with us always.

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