20180116
NOT THE APPEARANCES BUT THE INTENTIONS OF THE
LAWS
16 JANUARY, 2018, Tuesday, 2nd Week, O Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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1 Samuel 16:1-13 ©
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David anointed king
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The Lord said to Samuel, ‘How long will you go on mourning over
Saul when I have rejected him as king of Israel? Fill your horn with oil and
go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have chosen myself a king
among his sons.’ Samuel replied, ‘How can I go? When Saul hears of it he will
kill me.’ Then the Lord said, ‘Take a heifer with you and say, “I have come to
sacrifice to the Lord.” Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and then I myself will
tell you what you must do; you must anoint to me the one I point out to you.’
Samuel did
what the Lord ordered and went to Bethlehem. The elders of the town came
trembling to meet him and asked, ‘Seer, have you come with good intentions
towards us?’ ‘Yes,’ he replied ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Purify yourselves
and come with me to the sacrifice.’ He purified Jesse and his sons and invited
them to the sacrifice.
When they
arrived, he caught sight of Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the Lord’s anointed one
stands there before him’, but the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Take no notice of his
appearance or his height for I have rejected him; God does not see as man sees;
man looks at appearances but the Lord looks at the heart.’ Jesse then called
Abinadab and presented him to Samuel, who said, ‘The Lord has not chosen this
one either.’ Jesse then presented Shammah, but Samuel said, ‘The Lord has not
chosen this one either.’ Jesse presented his seven sons to Samuel, but Samuel
said to Jesse, ‘The Lord has not chosen these.’ He then asked Jesse, ‘Are these
all the sons you have?’ He answered, ‘There is still one left, the youngest; he
is out looking after the sheep.’ Then Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Send for him; we
will not sit down to eat until he comes.’ Jesse had him sent for, a boy of
fresh complexion, with fine eyes and pleasant bearing. The Lord said, ‘Come,
anoint him, for this is the one.’ At this, Samuel took the horn of oil and
anointed him where he stood with his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord
seized on David and stayed with him from that day on. As for Samuel, he rose
and went to Ramah.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 88(89):20-22,27-28 ©
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I have found David, my servant.
Of old you spoke in a vision.
To your friends the prophets you said:
‘I have set the crown on a warrior,
I have exalted one chosen from the people.
I have found David, my servant.
‘I have found David my servant
and with my holy oil anointed him.
My hand shall always be with him
and my arm shall make him strong.
I have found David, my servant.
‘He will say to me: “You are my father,
my God, the rock who saves me.”
And I will make him my first-born,
the highest of the kings of the earth.’
I have found David, my servant.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Ps118:18
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Open my eyes, O Lord, that I may consider
the wonders of your law.
Alleluia!
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Or
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cf.Ep1:17,18
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Alleluia, alleluia!
May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
enlighten the eyes of our mind,
so that we can see what hope his call holds for us.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 2:23-28 ©
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The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath
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One sabbath day, Jesus happened to be taking a walk through the
cornfields, and his disciples began to pick ears of corn as they went along.
And the Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why are they doing something on the
sabbath day that is forbidden?’ And he replied, ‘Did you never read what David
did in his time of need when he and his followers were hungry – how he
went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the loaves of
offering which only the priests are allowed to eat, and how he also gave some
to the men with him?’
And he said
to them, ‘The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath; the Son of Man
is master even of the sabbath.’
rdinary Time
NOT THE APPEARANCES BUT THE INTENTIONS OF THE LAWS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ 1 SM 16:1-13; PS 89:20-22,27-28; MK 2:23-28
]
Most of us
tend to see things from appearances. This was the case of Samuel when he was asked to choose the
next king of Israel. “When they arrived, he caught sight of Eliab and
thought, ‘Surely the Lord’s anointed one stands there before him,’ but the Lord
said to Samuel, ‘Take no notice of his appearance or his height for I have
rejected him; God does not see as man sees; man looks at appearances but the
Lord looks at the heart.’” Instead, God chose David. He was “a boy
of fresh complexion, with fine eyes and pleasant bearing. The Lord said,
‘Come, anoint him, for this is the one.’ At this Samuel took the horn of
oil and anointed him where he stood with his brothers; and the spirit of the
Lord seized on David and stayed with him from that day on.”
Why do we
tend to judge things from the external and what is physical? This is because of
the conditioning of the world. Often, the world would stereotype certain
types of people as successful, capable and intelligent. The world seeks
to impress from the way the person dresses, his or her looks, the car he or she
drives, and the company they mix with. That is how the world measures a
person’s capability and effectiveness. This was true also of Samuel
when he was asked to look for Saul’s successor. Most likely, Samuel was
influenced by Saul’s image because he was tall and handsome. Hence, when
looking for his replacement, he was conditioned into thinking that the next
King should also be someone with the stature of King Saul so that he would
stand up among the rest.
This is also
true with respect to the observance of the Sabbath Laws. “One Sabbath day Jesus
happened to be taking a walk through the cornfields, and his disciples began to
pick ears of corn as they went along. And the Pharisees said to him,
‘Look, why are they doing something on the Sabbath day that is
forbidden?’” The Pharisees were more concerned about the Sabbath Law than
what the Sabbath intended to do for man. For them, the observance of the
Sabbath was more important than the person observing it. So in their view,
the act of plucking corn from the fields was in their estimation, ‘work’.
And of course, the Law does not allow any work to be done on the Sabbath.
They were splitting hairs on how the Sabbath Law was to be applied, rather than
whether it was serving its intended purpose. So long as they plucked a
corn from the field, that constituted some form of labour.
For Jesus,
what is paramount is the original purpose and intention of the law. He was clear about the
intention of the Sabbath. It was more than just a law imposed on the
people, as was the case of marriage and divorce. “And Pharisees came up
to him and tested him by asking, ‘Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any
cause?’ He answered, ‘Have you not read that he who made them from the
beginning made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall
leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become
one’?” (Mt 19:3-5) So for Jesus, what is important in deciding
how the law is to be applied is the original intent of the legislator of the
law. In this instance, it is God who gave the laws.
In the case of
the Sabbath Law, as Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for
the Sabbath; so the Son of Man is master even of the Sabbath.”
The Sabbath was not made for God but in order that man could rest his
body and mind so that he would remain healthy and strong to work for the rest
of the week. Our bodies are not machine and we need proper physical
rest. Not just physical rest, but we also need to make time for our loved
ones, being with the family and most of all, making time for God and the
Christian community. Without God and being focused on Him, we become more
anxious.
This same
principle must be applied to the way we judge situations in daily life as
well. This is particularly relevant when it comes to the application of
the laws instituted by God and by man. Very often, we take the laws
as they are, according to its letter, without considering the context.
This is especially urgent today in the context of inter-religious dialogue and
mutual respect for peoples of other religions. In the ancient days, when there
was a lack of understanding and when literacy was very low, human beings could
only seek to implement laws that safeguarded the interests of the community
under their charge. In the ancient days as well, peoples were divided into
tribes and clans. Consequently, those outside their tribes and clans were
perceived with suspicion and prejudice.
Hence,
archaic laws such as the killing of our enemies, can no longer apply to our
situation.
In the Old Testament, we have many of such texts that sanction the destruction
of God’s enemies. We see how the Ban was practiced during the time
of Moses and the Judges. “So the Lord our God gave into our hand Og also, the
king of Bashan, and all his people; and we smote him until no survivor was left
to him. And we utterly destroyed them, as we did to Sihon the king of Heshbon,
destroying every city, men, women, and children.” (Dt 3:3, 6)
Upon entering the Canaan, the command of the Lord was to “utterly destroy them;
you shall make no covenant with them, and show no mercy to them. You shall not
make marriages with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their
daughters for your sons. For they would turn away your sons from following me,
to serve other gods; then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you,
and he would destroy you quickly.” (Dt 7:2-4;
cf Jos 6:16-20; Jos 8:1-2; 1 Sm 15:1-3)
Indeed, when
it came to the time of Jesus, He taught us to love all men and women, even the
pagans.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your
enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun
rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the
unjust.” (Mt 5:43-45) St Paul urges prayers for the non-believers,
especially for leaders. “First of all, then, I urge that supplications,
prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and
all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life,
godly and respectful in every way. This is good, and it is acceptable in the
sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the
knowledge of the truth.” (1 Tim 2:1-3)
Jesus Himself taught us to “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are
Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Mt 22:21)
Should we
then not be careful that we do not perpetuate those laws found in scriptures
that are no longer applicable in our present context? To insist on a literal
application of the laws without taking into consideration the context would be
to do injustice to the original intention of the legislator, as well as those
who are subject to the laws. A case in point would be slavery during the time
of St Paul, where slavery was permitted but today it is no longer the
case. Another recent example is the question of the death penalty.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, “Assuming that the guilty party’s
identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional
teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this
is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the
unjust aggressor. If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend
and protect people’s safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to
such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the
common good and more in conformity to the dignity of the human person. Today,
in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for
effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense
incapable of doing harm – without definitely taking away from him the
possibility of redeeming himself – the cases in which the execution of the
offender is an absolute necessity “are very rare, if not practically
nonexistent.” (CCC 2267) Indeed, the current position of the Church
is that the case for death penalty is “very rare, if not practically
nonexistent.”
Indeed, this
debate continues within and without the Church, especially on liturgical,
doctrinal and moral issues. The Church has been slowly changing her position on such
issues over the years, not the principles as such, but the way the principles
should be applied in specific situations. Indeed, the doctrine that
outside Christ and His Church, there is no salvation still holds.
However, there are many qualifications to this statement as to what it means to
be outside Christ and His Church. We have the implicit acceptance of
Christ through the desire for truth and love. The Holy Father’s
encyclical “Amoris Laetitia” is another attempt to put the laws in
context. But this has resulted in ambiguity and caused a certain amount
of confusion in the Church as pastors differ in judgment as to how the
unchanging principles could be applied to situations, as in divorce couples
having their second marriage ratified and permitted to receive Holy Communion
without denying the doctrine of the indissolubility of marriage.
This is the pastoral and doctrinal challenge to the Church today in
representing our doctrines to accommodate the new situations without compromising
on the truths of the gospel.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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