20170821
HISTORY IS AN INTERPLAY OF SIN AND GRACE
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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Judges 2:11-19 ©
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The sons of Israel did what displeases the Lord, and served the
Baals. They deserted the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them
out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods from the gods of the peoples
round them. They bowed down to these; they provoked the Lord; they deserted the
Lord to serve Baal and Astarte. Then the Lord’s anger flamed out against
Israel. He handed them over to pillagers who plundered them; he delivered them
to the enemies surrounding them, and they were not able to resist them. In
every warlike venture, the hand of the Lord was there to foil them, as the Lord
had warned, as the Lord had sworn to them. Thus he reduced them to dire
distress.
Then the
Lord appointed judges for them, and rescued the men of Israel from the hands of
their plunderers. But they would not listen to their judges. They prostituted
themselves to other gods, and bowed down before these. Very quickly they left
the path their ancestors had trodden in obedience to the orders of the Lord;
they did not follow their example. When the Lord appointed judges for them, the
Lord was with the judge and rescued them from the hands of their enemies as
long as the judge lived, for the Lord felt pity for them as they groaned under
the iron grip of their oppressors. But once the judge was dead, they relapsed
and behaved even worse than their ancestors. They followed other gods; they
served them and bowed before them, and would not give up the practices and
stubborn ways of their ancestors at all.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 105(106):34-37,39-40,43-44 ©
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O Lord, remember me out of the love you have for
your people.
They failed to destroy the peoples
as the Lord had given command,
but instead they mingled with the nations
and learned to act as they did.
O Lord, remember me out of the love you have for
your people.
They worshipped the idols of the nations
and these became a snare to entrap them.
They even offered their own sons
and their daughters in sacrifice to demons.
O Lord, remember me out of the love you have for
your people.
So they defiled themselves by their deeds
and broke their marriage bond with the Lord
till his anger blazed against his people;
he was filled with horror at his chosen ones.
O Lord, remember me out of the love you have for
your people.
Time after time he rescued them,
but in their malice they dared to defy him.
In spite of this he paid heed to their distress,
so often as he heard their cry.
O Lord, remember me out of the love you have for
your people.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Ps118:24
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Train me, Lord, to observe your law,
to keep it with my heart.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Mt5:3
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Alleluia, alleluia!
How happy are the poor in spirit:
theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 19:16-22 ©
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There was a man who came to Jesus and asked, ‘Master, what good
deed must I do to possess eternal life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you ask me
about what is good? There is one alone who is good. But if you wish to enter
into life, keep the commandments.’ He said, ‘Which?’ ‘These:’ Jesus replied ‘You
must not kill. You must not commit adultery. You must not bring false witness.
Honour your father and mother,and: you must love your neighbour as
yourself.’ The young man said to him, ‘I have kept all these. What
more do I need to do?’ Jesus said, ‘If you wish to be perfect, go and sell what
you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven;
then come, follow me.’ But when the young man heard these words he went away
sad, for he was a man of great wealth.
HISTORY IS AN INTERPLAY OF SIN AND GRACE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ Jdg 2:11-19; Ps 106:34-37,39-40,43-44; Mt 19:16-22 ]
In the first
reading, we read about the existential struggle of every human person. We see the history of
man’s infidelity towards God and his fellowmen. We are fundamentally
sinners, ignorant and weak. We are ungrateful and unrepentant, until we
suffer the consequences of our sins, then we repent and behave ourselves.
But eventually, such things are forgotten and we once again repeat our
sins. This has been the state of humanity since the beginning of
time.
Indeed, our
attitudes are no different from that of the Israelites. So before we condemn them,
let us remember that we will also repeat their mistakes and history. Like
them, we are blind, ignorant or too weak to resist the temptation to serve
false gods. Instead of acknowledging that God is our only Lord we serve
other gods in our lives. “The sons of Israel did what displeases the Lord and
served the Baals. They deserted the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who
had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods from the
gods of the peoples round them. They bowed down to these; they provoked
the Lord; they deserted the Lord to serve Baal and Astarte.” The god of
Baals were gods of fertility and that of the vegetation. The sons of
Israel were no longer nomads and so they sought the pagan gods to protect their
crops. Astarte was also the goddess of love, hatred, wars and
fertility. She was important for their protection from their
enemies. We too worship what we seek in life. We seek power,
glory and wealth hoping that these things could give us the security and
satisfy our yearnings.
Then we are
punished accordingly. This is because what we sow is what we reap. “Do not be deceived; God is
not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to
his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the
Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” (Gal 6:8f)
Truly, the
Lord behaves like a father who disciplines His child. “It is for discipline
that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons; for what son is there
whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in
which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
Besides this, we have had earthly fathers to discipline us and we respected them.
Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they
disciplined us for a short time at their pleasure, but he disciplines us for
our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment, all discipline
seems painful rather than pleasant; later it yields the peaceful fruit of
righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (Heb 12:7-11)
After the
discipline, the Lord who loves us all the same would then send His messengers to offer
us salvation and freedom. This is the constant experience of
humanity with regard to the love and mercy of God, provided we are receptive of
His mercy and forgiveness. This is what the psalmist expressed of our
situation. “Time after time he rescued them, but in their malice they
dared to defy him. In spite of this he paid heed to their distress,
so often as he heard their cry. When the Lord appointed judges for them,
the Lord was with the judge and rescued them from the hands of their enemies as
long as the judge lived, for the Lord felt pity for them as they groaned under
the iron grip of their oppressors.” God is always forgiving and He
is always there to assure us of His forgiveness. He hears our cry
for liberation from sin and from the clutches of the Evil One. He is with
us in our struggles and loneliness.
Then this
history of infidelity repeats itself. “But once the judge was dead, they relapsed and behaved
even worse than their ancestors. They followed other gods; they served
them and bowed before them, and would not give up the practices and stubborn
ways of their ancestors at all.” This, then, is the ongoing cycle of sin
and the prevalence of grace. Regardless of what situation we are in, the
Lord remains faithful to us. He will not abandon us but He will
allow the punishment to unfold itself because of the consequences of our
actions. “Then the Lord appointed judges for them, and rescued the men of
Israel from the hands of their plunderers. But they would not listen to
their judges. They prostituted themselves to other gods, and bowed down
before these. Very quickly they left the path their ancestors had trodden
in obedience to the orders of the Lord; they did not follow their example.”
We learn the
hard way. This is the reality of life. Experience is the best
teacher but we have to pay an exorbitant price for the experience. Somehow, we are slow
learners and often forgetful of the mistakes we make. What
lessons can we learn from the Israelites?
Firstly,
serving false gods will lead us to other sins. When we worship the
illusions of our lives, we tend to forget the more essential dimensions of
life, such as a clear conscience, love and right relationships. When we
begin to worship the means and forget the ends of all that we do, we are
worshipping the false gods of our lives. All other things can die
or disintegrate but not God. To worship false gods is to worship an
illusion. Only the love of God is true.
Secondly,
there is a need to accommodate the beliefs of other religions, especially in
this secular global village. However, secularization can lead us to
sin if we are not discerning as to what is good and what is bad. “They failed to destroy the
peoples as the Lord had given command, but instead they mingled with the
nations and learned to act as they did. They worshipped the idols of the
nations and these became a snare to entrap them. They even offered their
own sons and their daughters in sacrifice to demons. So, they defiled themselves
by their deeds and broke their marriage bond with the Lord till his anger
blazed against his people; he was filled with horror at his chosen ones.”
That was why the laws in those days were very strict with respect to mingling
with people of other religions.
Today,
because of better communication and dialogue with other religions, we are able
to accommodate and learn from them as much as they from us. “The Catholic Church rejects
nothing that is true and holy in these religions. She regards with sincere
reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings
which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth,
nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men. Indeed,
she proclaims, and ever must proclaim Christ “the way, the truth, and the life”
(John 14:6),
in whom men may find the fullness of religious life, in whom God has reconciled
all things to Himself.” (Nostra Aetate, 2) We must seek out
what is true and noble for the development of humanity. That is why
we must affirm our common goal of building a united family of peoples.
But we must be judicious.
But life is
more than not just getting into trouble. It is more than obeying
the commandments to worship God alone. This call to worship God alone is spelt out concretely also
in the love of our fellowmen. This is where Jesus brings us further in
the application of the observance of God’s commandments. When the rich
man asked the Lord, “’Master, what good deed must I do to possess eternal
life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you ask me about what is good.
There is one alone who is good. But if you wish to enter into life, keep
the commandments.’” What are these commandments?
Significantly, it concerns an authentic love of self and for
others. Jesus listed the commandments in terms of authentic justice
towards our fellowmen. “You must not kill. You must not commit
adultery. You must not steal. You must not bring false
witness. Honour your father and mother, and: You must love your neighbour
as yourself.” It is the love of our fellowmen, practicing mercy and
compassion that puts us in the right religion. Jesus sums up, “Do this
and we will have life.”
However, if
we want to find a perfect life, then Jesus tells us, “go and sell what you own
and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then
come, follow me.” This is a very tall order. It is not everyone’s
calling to do that. Indeed, this was too much for the young man, for he
was attached to his wealth. He had not come to the state of totally
falling in love with Jesus, or have the faith to entrust our his life totally
to the providence of God. That is why some of us feel incomplete in life even
though we have everything we want. Many of us are attached to the
luxurious lifestyle, food and creature comforts. It is a lifelong process
of submitting everything under the Lordship of Christ. In this way, the
worship of God is the ultimate commandment because it leads to living a life of
authentic love and compassion for our brothers and sisters.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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