20170910
THE BURDEN OF KNOWLEDGE
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
|
First reading
|
Ezekiel 33:7-9 ©
|
The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows: ‘Son of man,
I have appointed you as sentry to the House of Israel. When you hear a word
from my mouth, warn them in my name. If I say to a wicked man: Wicked wretch,
you are to die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked man to renounce his
ways, then he shall die for his sin, but I will hold you responsible for his
death. If, however, you do warn a wicked man to renounce his ways and repent,
and he does not repent, then he shall die for his sin, but you yourself will
have saved your life.’
|
Responsorial Psalm
|
|
Psalm 94(95):1-2,6-9 ©
|
O that today you would listen to his voice!
‘Harden not your hearts.’
Come, ring out our joy to the Lord;
hail the rock who saves us.
Let us come before him, giving thanks,
with songs let us hail the Lord.
O that today you would listen to his voice!
‘Harden not your hearts.’
Come in; let us bow and bend low;
let us kneel before the God who made us:
for he is our God and we
the people who belong to his pasture,
the flock that is led by his hand.
O that today you would listen to his voice!
‘Harden not your hearts.’
O that today you would listen to his voice!
‘Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as on that day at Massah in the desert
when your fathers put me to the test;
when they tried me, though they saw my work.’
O that today you would listen to his voice!
‘Harden not your hearts.’
|
Second reading
|
Romans 13:8-10 ©
|
Avoid getting into debt, except the debt of mutual love. If you
love your fellow men you have carried out your obligations. All the
commandments: You shall not commit adultery, you shall not kill, you
shall not steal, you shall not covet, and so on, are summed up in this
single command: You must love your neighbour as yourself. Love
is the one thing that cannot hurt your neighbour; that is why it is the answer
to every one of the commandments.
|
Gospel Acclamation
|
Jn17:17
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your word is truth, O Lord:
consecrate us in the truth.
Alleluia!
|
Or
|
2Co5:19
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself,
and he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled.
Alleluia!
|
Gospel
|
|
Matthew 18:15-20 ©
|
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If your brother does something
wrong, go and have it out with him alone, between your two selves. If he
listens to you, you have won back your brother. If he does not listen, take one
or two others along with you: the evidence of two or three witnesses is
required to sustain any charge. But if he refuses to listen to these, report it
to the community; and if he refuses to listen to the community, treat him like
a pagan or a tax collector.
‘I tell you
solemnly, whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven;
whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.
‘I tell you
solemnly once again, if two of you on earth agree to ask anything at all, it
will be granted to you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three meet in
my name, I shall be there with them.’
THE BURDEN OF KNOWLEDGE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [EZ 33:7-9; ROM 13:8-10; MT 18:15-20 ]
What do we do
when we see that something is wrong or that one of our brothers or sisters is
doing something wrong or going the wrong way? What makes it even more
difficult is when that person is a loved one, our superior or colleague.
To speak out might result in a soured relationship, and we do not want to break
up a good relationship. At the same time, knowing that the person is
harming himself and others put us at unease. Sometimes the situation
becomes more difficult when exposing the wrong means causing friction and
scandal. So we are in a dilemma either way. This is what the burden
of knowledge is all about.
This
precisely was the tension that Ezekiel spoke about in the first reading.
The truth is that we are our brother’s keeper. “The word of the Lord
was addressed to me as follows, ‘Son of man, I have appointed you as sentry to
the House of Israel. When you hear a word from my mouth, warn them in my
name.’” The knowledge of what is right and wrong imposes an obligation on
us to speak the truth. Failure to do so would cause harm to the person
who is living a sinful life. We in turn will suffer the sin of omission
and our conscience will prick us for not doing the right thing to warn the
person who could be ignorant or entrapped by sin. “If I say to a wicked
man: Wicked wretch, you are to die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked man
to renounce his ways, then he shall die for his sin, but I will hold you
responsible for his death.”
Exposing
falsehood is not always welcome. Indeed, in this age of individualism and
relativism, all of us hold different views of life, of morality and of
truth. So when we seek to speak the truth, we can expect strong
opposition and defense. They will seek to justify themselves. Few
would take our correction humbly. Right from the outset, we must remember
that our task is not to convert them, because that is the work of the Holy
Spirit. Our role is simply to be a sentry and a spokesman for God to
enlighten the person who is doing wrong. Once that is done, our
conscience is clear. We should not feel responsible when the person
refuses to change and as a result harm himself eventually. This is what
Ezekiel is saying. “If, however, you do warn a wicked man to renounce his
ways and repent, and he does not repent, then he shall die for his sin, but you
yourself will have saved your life.”
In the final
analysis, the heart of fraternal correction must be rooted in love of
neighbor. Those of us who desire to offer correction must do so only out of
love for our errant brothers and sisters. This is what St Paul teaches in
the second reading. “Avoid getting into debt, except the debt of mutual love.
If you love your fellow men you have carried out your obligations. All the
commandments … are summed up in this single command: You must love your
neighbour as yourself. Love is the one thing that cannot hurt your neighbour;
that is why it is the answer to every one of the commandments.”
Hence, those
of us who feel the call to correct those whom we think are going the wrong way,
must examine our motivation. If we are motivated by self-interest because our rights are
violated, then we are seeking justice rather than fraternal correction.
We are speaking out not to help the other person but simply to protect our
turf. It is motivated by self-love rather than love for
others. If we are motivated by self-righteousness, then we are motivated
by pride and presumption. Some of us think so highly of ourselves and our
opinions, so much so that when others disagree with us, they are deemed to be
wrong. We are deceived by pride.
So before we
seek to correct our errant brothers or sisters, we must desire to do so because
we love them sincerely and do not wish to see them destroying themselves. Unless it is motivated by a
genuine love for them, we lack charity and sobriety in helping them to walk the
way of truth. When they perceive that we are their enemies rather than
their friends, they will also not listen to us as they will become
defensive. But when we correct out of love, then we will be more
sensitive to their feelings. We will speak or write with gentleness,
compassion and understanding. Those who are judgmental and angry in correcting
their brothers and sisters have lost their objectivity in looking at the
situation.
For this
reason, we must pray before we make any decision or undertake to initiate the
process to correct the wrong doer. Prayer is very important to discern our
motivations for wanting to correct our brothers or sisters. In prayerful
discernment, we purify our motives in wishing to correct the other
person. At the same time, we become more aware of our feelings and
motives in what we seek to do. The process must begin with prayer
and continues throughout with prayer so that we seek only the will of God and
not ours. We want to correct a person with charity and compassion whilst
seeking the truth.
The way of
charity is marked by a process. When we genuinely seek to help someone,
we would take courage to approach the person privately. This is what the Lord
advises us to do. He said, “If your brother does something wrong,
go and have it out with him alone, between your two selves. If he listens to
you, you have won back your brother.” This is to give space and privacy
for dialogue and understanding. At the same time, if what we see is true,
it gives dignity to the person to correct his or her fault quietly without
being shamed or embarrassed in public. Those who seek to correct others
in the wrong by airing their complaints and grievances publicly are not doing
it out of charity but out of revenge. There is no love for those who have
done wrong. All they are seeking is to destroy them rather than to help them to
be better. In such situations, the issue is made worse because those who
are hurt will retaliate in return.
But sometimes
a personal dialogue between two parties fails. Or one might find it difficult
to speak to the person directly because of expected hostility. In such a
situation, Jesus advises us accordingly, “If he does not listen, take one or
two others along with you: the evidence of two or three witnesses is required
to sustain any charge.” There are some conflicts we cannot settle by
ourselves. We need good mediators who are neutral to find some common
ground for dialogue. At this stage, the correction is still done
privately so that no one has to be on the defensive. It is still part of
the process to enlighten, explain and find a middle ground. It is hoped
that with good moderators, the conflict can be resolved and all parties are
satisfied.
Only as a
last resort and out of love is the case brought up officially to the community. And this is done only when
all other attempts at dialogue have failed. Again those who go directly
to the authorities are those who are not interested in dialogue. They have
already pronounced judgement and expect everyone to agree with them. What
they are seeking is the endorsement of their opinions by those in authority and
to punish the wrongdoers, expose, reprimand and shame them publicly by way of
getting even with them. This is not done out of love but out of spite,
self-righteousness and anger. By skipping the process of inter-personal
dialogue, they are not giving dialogue a chance. And if the authorities
do not side with their views, they turn against the authority for failing to do
their job. At any rate, when the case goes up to the highest authority,
there is no recourse for appeal and the decision is final as there is no higher
court to refer to.
However if
the process is followed, then the authority representing the community has to
make a conscientious decision after listening to all the views. The
decision will be binding. “I tell you solemnly, whatever you bind on earth shall be
considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered
loosed in heaven.” If the decision is negative, the person who refuses to
accept the judgment may be excommunicated. “But if he refuses to listen
to these, report it to the community; and if he refuses to listen to the
community, treat him like a pagan or a tax collector.” Again, it must be
noted that the juridical process of excommunication is not a punishment per se,
but an attempt to awaken the sinner to a consciousness of the gravity of his or
her sin so that the person would reflect seriously on his or her actions; and
then seek repentance.
In this whole
process, we
must ask ourselves whether we are attentive to the voice of God.
Whether with respect to the one who is reporting the offence or the accused, or
those mediating, it is necessary that all the parties concerned be available to
a prayerful discernment at every stage of the process. The responsorial
psalm urges us, “O that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your
hearts as at Meribah, as on that day at Massah in the desert when your fathers
put me to the test; when they tried me, though they saw my work.” If
we are all listening to the Lord together, He will provide us the way out of
the situation. For the Lord said, “I tell you solemnly once again, if two
of you on earth agree to ask anything at all, it will be granted to you by my
Father in heaven. For where two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with
them.”
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment