20171021
THE UNFORGIVABLE SIN
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
|
First reading
|
|
Romans 4:13,16-18 ©
|
The promise of inheriting the world was not made to Abraham and
his descendants on account of any law but on account of the righteousness which
consists in faith. That is why what fulfils the promise depends on faith, so
that it may be a free gift and be available to all of Abraham’s descendants,
not only those who belong to the Law but also those who belong to the faith of
Abraham who is the father of all of us. As scripture says: I have made
you the ancestor of many nations – Abraham is our father in the eyes
of God, in whom he put his faith, and who brings the dead to life and calls
into being what does not exist.
Though it
seemed Abraham’s hope could not be fulfilled, he hoped and he believed, and
through doing so he did become the father of many nations exactly
as he had been promised: Your descendants will be as many as the stars.
|
Responsorial Psalm
|
|
Psalm 104(105):6-9,42-43 ©
|
The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or
Alleluia!
O children of Abraham, his servant,
O sons of the Jacob he chose.
He, the Lord, is our God:
his judgements prevail in all the earth.
The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or
Alleluia!
He remembers his covenant for ever,
his promise for a thousand generations,
the covenant he made with Abraham,
the oath he swore to Isaac.
The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or
Alleluia!
For he remembered his holy word,
which he gave to Abraham his servant.
So he brought out his people with joy,
his chosen ones with shouts of rejoicing.
The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or
Alleluia!
|
Gospel Acclamation
|
1S3:9,Jn6:68
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
Speak, Lord, your servant is listening:
you have the message of eternal life.
Alleluia!
|
Or
|
Jn15:26,27
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Spirit of truth will be my witness;
and you too will be my witnesses.
Alleluia!
|
Gospel
|
Luke 12:8-12 ©
|
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘I tell you,
if anyone openly declares himself for me in the presence of men, the Son of Man
will declare himself for him in the presence of the angels. But the man who
disowns me in the presence of men will be disowned in the presence of God’s
angels.
‘Everyone
who says a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but he who blasphemes
against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
‘When they
take you before synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about
how to defend yourselves or what to say, because when the time comes, the Holy
Spirit will teach you what you must say.’
THE UNFORGIVABLE SIN
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ Rom 4:13.16-18; Ps 105:6-9, 42-43; Lk 12:9-12 ]
We always
speak about God’s unconditional love and mercy. Yet in today’s gospel, Jesus
said there is one sin that cannot be forgiven. “Everyone who says a word
against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but he who blasphemes against the Holy
Spirit will not be forgiven.” Is there a contradiction in the message of Jesus?
Why is the sin against the Holy Spirit not forgivable whereas the sin against
Jesus is pardonable?
There are
people who reject Jesus because of various factors. They lack faith in
the Lord. They have not yet had a chance to encounter the Lord. They
might know about Him intellectually but they have not yet arrived at a
conviction in their hearts. Hearing about Jesus does not mean that a
person would have faith. This is true of people from other
religions. They might have known about Jesus because they were educated
in mission schools, or they have read about Him. Yet, they are not
converted to Christianity because they have not arrived at a personal encounter
with the Lord.
For such
people, a general faith in God is sufficient. This is what St Paul says,
“The promise of inheriting the world was not made to Abraham and his
descendants on account of any law but on account of the righteousness which
consists in faith. That is why what fulfils the promise depends on faith,
so that it may be a free gift and be available to all of Abraham’s descendants,
not only those who belong to the Law but also those who belong to the faith of
Abraham who is the father of all of us.” We are saved not by what
we do and by our merits. If that were the case, then God would not have
promised Abraham that he woud be a father of all nations. It was not
because Abraham did anything to earn the promises of God. It was not
because Abraham fulfilled the laws or that he was righteous, but that he simply
put his faith and trust in God’s promises.
But the sin
against the Holy Spirit is different. It is not just a rejection of our
Lord but a rejection of goodness, truth and love. When we are numb to
what is right and wrong, we are closed to the Holy Spirit. Life is such that
when we neglect our prayer life or a relationship with someone, we become
indifferent after some time. It is the lack of touch with our faith, our
prayer life and with God that will cause us to fall into indifference.
When we reject God’s word repeatedly and continue to sin again and again
without any repentance, we will eventually lose sensitivity to the truth.
We will come to a stage of relativism before we arrive at
amorality. This is what is happening in the world. Those who
are without faith rely on their own intellect and judgment. They reject
any judgment that comes from others. Because of pride, they very soon
fall into relativism. Truth becomes a matter of personal judgment
and preferences. Of course, in relativism, one can always rationalize and
convince oneself that what one is doing is right. Our mind can always
adduce reasons for what we want to do. From relativism, one becomes
amoral, because nothing is wrong or right.
When a person
is blind to the truth and what is right, how could he or she repent? If he cannot see that
what he is doing is wrong, there is no reason to change. This is precisely the
sin of many people. They are so sure of themselves, so presumptuous that
they are right that they would not listen to correction. There is totally
no way we can reach out to such people. They insist on doing things their
way and those who disagree with them are all deemed to be wrong and out to
victimize them. Indeed, it is almost impossible to enlighten someone who
has a victimization complex, or show him the way to the truth because he thinks
that the world is against him all the time. This is the sin against the
Holy Spirit.
When a person
arrives at such a stage, no forgiveness is possible. It is not that God
has rejected such a person, but he has rejected God and has shut Him out of His
life.
Those of us who have sinned and are aware of them could still have our sins
forgiven because we know that we have done something wrong. Our inability
to repent is due to our human weakness, particularly the weakness of the
flesh. In our minds, we desire to live a righteous life but our will is
weak and wounded. Consequently, only those who commit sins and are unable
to recognize them as sins even when brought to their attention, cannot be
forgiven; not because God does not want to forgive them but because the sinners
do not want to be forgiven.
Indeed, the
good news is that God does not take into account our sins before He justifies
us. We are forgiven and we do not need to earn merits to be loved and
forgiven. This is what divides us from those religions that underscore
merits and fulfillment of the laws. Christianity speaks of grace that is
unearned and unmerited. We can never earn the love of God. We do
not speak of what we can do for God but what God is doing in our lives.
Grace speaks of what God’s unconditional love and mercy can do to
transform our lives. This is not to say that we continue
sinning. On the contrary, because of His love for us, we stop sinning,
not because we are afraid of punishment or because it is our duty, but because
we love God who loved us first. We are compelled by love.
Conversely,
the laws cannot set us free. They can at most tell us that something is
wrong but they cannot give us the motivation to observe them. All laws are made to
be broken, or else no laws are necessary. We all know the laws and
yet we see crimes and offences committed every day. The rule of thumb is
to break the law but just don’t get caught! The laws cannot give us the
power to fulfill them. On the contrary, the laws tempt us to commit more
sins because what is forbidden is even more desirable. This is how the
Devil tempted Eve. At any rate, after seducing us to sin, the devil
accuses us and makes us feel condemned before God. “The accuser of our
comrades[c] has
been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.” (Rev 12:10b)
So not only does the law condemn us to death but the devil as well.
Hence this
requires faith in His grace on our part. This is why anyone who has the faith of
Abraham would have the promises of God fulfilled in Him. We are called to
trust in His grace alone, not on our efforts. If we depend on our merits,
none of us would ever attain the promises of God. Abraham himself trusted
in God and he was richly rewarded. “Abraham is our father in the eyes of God,
in whom he put his faith, and who brings the dead to life and calls into being
what does not exist.” Indeed, it was Abraham’s faith in God, who is the author
of life and death and the origin of all things, that made it possible for him
to trust in God alone.
The great
thing about Abraham is that even though he did not see all the promises
realized in his time, he continued to have faith that somehow God will fulfill
all His promises. And thus it took another 2000 years later before Jesus the
Messiah was born and another 1500 years before Christianity spread all over the
earth. As Christians, we too are the descendants of Abraham.
“Though it seemed Abraham’s hope could not be fulfilled, he hoped and he
believed, and through doing so he did become the father of many nations exactly
as he had been promised: Your descendants will be as many as the
stars.” This is what the psalmist says, “He remembers his covenant
for ever, his promise for a thousand generations, the covenant he made with
Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac. For he remembered his holy word,
which he gave to Abraham his servant.”
For us,
Christians, Jesus is the incarnation of God’s grace and mercy in person. By His life,
passion, death and resurrection Jesus shows us the face of God. Consequently,
the Lord said, “I tell you, if anyone openly declares himself for me in the
presence of men, the Son of Man will declare himself for him in the presence of
God’s angels. But the man who disowns me in the presence of men will be
disowned in the presence of God’s angels.” If we deny Jesus, we will be
losers in the end because we forfeit the grace to recognize God’s unconditional
love in Christ. But for those of us who testify to Christ, our faith will
increase by leaps and bounds. The Holy Spirit will inspire us and lead us
to a deeper conviction of Christ as our savior. In our helplessness, we
find the power of God at work in our lives. “When they take you before
synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how to defend
yourselves or what to say, because when the time comes, the Holy Spirit will
teach you what you must say.” When we surrender our lives to God, He will
do the impossible. With God, all things are possible. But we can
know this only when we entrust our lives to Him and take His Word and promises
in faith as Abraham did. So long as we depend on our strength and efforts
alone, we can do things for God, but if we rely on Him, He can do great things
for us and through us.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment