20180131
SAINTLY SINNERS
31 JANUARY, 2018, Wednesday, 4th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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2 Samuel 24:2,8-17 ©
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King David said to Joab and to the senior army officers who were
with him, ‘Now go throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and
take a census of the people; I wish to know the size of the population.’ Having
covered the whole country, they returned to Jerusalem at the end of nine months
and twenty days. Joab gave the king the figures for the census of the people;
Israel numbered eight hundred thousand armed men capable of drawing sword, and
Judah five hundred thousand men.
But
afterwards David’s heart misgave him for having taken a census of the people.
‘I have committed a grave sin’ David said to the Lord. ‘But now, Lord, I beg
you to forgive your servant for this fault. I have been very foolish.’ But when
David got up next morning, the following message had come from the Lord to the
prophet Gad, David’s seer, ‘Go and say to David, “the Lord says this: I offer
you three things; choose one of them for me to do to you.”’
So Gad went
to David and told him. ‘Are three years of famine to come on you in your
country’ he said ‘or will you flee for three months before your pursuing enemy,
or would you rather have three days’ pestilence in your country? Now think, and
decide how I am to answer him who sends me.’ David said to Gad, This is a hard
choice. But let us rather fall into the power of the Lord, since his mercy is
great, and not into the power of men.’ So David chose pestilence.
It was the
time of the wheat harvest. The Lord sent a pestilence on Israel from the
morning till the time appointed and plague ravaged the people, and from Dan to
Beersheba seventy thousand men of them died. The angel stretched out his hand towards
Jerusalem to destroy it, but the Lord thought better of this evil, and he said
to the angel who was destroying the people, ‘Enough! Now withdraw your hand.’
The angel of the Lord was beside the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
“When David saw the angel who was ravaging the people, he spoke to the Lord.
‘It was I who sinned;’ he said ‘I who did this wicked thing. But these, this
flock, what have they done? Let your hand lie heavy on me then, and on my
family.’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 31(32):1-2,5-7 ©
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Forgive, Lord, the guilt of my sin.
Happy the man whose offence is forgiven,
whose sin is remitted.
O happy the man to whom the Lord
imputes no guilt,
in whose spirit is no guile.
Forgive, Lord, the guilt of my sin.
But now I have acknowledged my sins;
my guilt I did not hide.
I said: ‘I will confess
my offence to the Lord.’
And you, Lord, have forgiven
the guilt of my sin.
Forgive, Lord, the guilt of my sin.
So let every good man pray to you
in the time of need.
The floods of water may reach high
but him they shall not reach.
Forgive, Lord, the guilt of my sin.
You are my hiding place, O Lord;
you save me from distress.
You surround me with cries of deliverance.
Forgive, Lord, the guilt of my sin.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Mt4:4
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Jn10:27
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice,
says the Lord,
I know them and they follow me.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 6:1-6 ©
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Jesus went to his home town and his disciples accompanied him.
With the coming of the sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue and most of
them were astonished when they heard him. They said, ‘Where did the man get all
this? What is this wisdom that has been granted him, and these miracles that
are worked through him? This is the carpenter, surely, the son of Mary, the
brother of James and Joset and Jude and Simon? His sisters, too, are they not
here with us?’ And they would not accept him. And Jesus said to them, ‘A
prophet is only despised in his own country, among his own relations and in his
own house’; and he could work no miracle there, though he cured a few sick
people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.
SAINTLY SINNERS
Holiness is
understood by many as impeccability, perfection, without sin. By this
definition, no one can be considered as holy. No wonder, many of us fight shy when
people say that we are holy. Some of us even presume that holiness is for
a few and most of us are not called to holiness. Of course, this is
an ongoing process. The point of arrival can only be attained upon
death. But we are already saints on earth if we accept our humanity and
limitations humbly with a view to continually striving to perfect oneself in
faith and love with the grace of God. St Paul himself speaks of this
perseverance in holiness. (cf Phil 3:12-14)
Indeed,
holiness is not something we reach with our own strength but through His grace
alone. We “are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of
atonement by his blood, effective through faith.” (Rom 3:24f)
This too was the discovery of Martin Luther when he came to realize that
holiness is not through the observance of the laws. (cf Phil 3:8f)
This was why he could claim paradoxically that a justified person is a saint
and a sinner at the same time. On our own strength, we will forever be
sinners but with God’s grace and mercy, we are saints in His sight.
We see this
truth played out in the life of David. Samuel said that “the Lord has sought out a man
after his own heart; and the Lord has appointed him to be ruler over
his people.” (1 Sm 13:14) David was said to be that man. But did
he really have a heart of God? When we look at his life, he was a man
with as many human frailties and faults as anyone of us. He was
definitely not a man who was impeccable, without faults and obedient to the commands
of the Lord all the time. He too failed in his obedience to the
Lord. He committed adultery with Bathsheba, which consequently led to his
murder of Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, who was one of his most loyal officers,
in order to cover up his crime. (2 Sm 11)
In today’s
first reading, he showed himself to be proud and arrogant. Instead of relying on
the strength and power of God, he wanted to show his might and power by taking
a census of the strength of his army despite the warning of his right-hand man,
Joab. (cf 2 Sm 24:3f) And so the census was taken to God’s
displeasure, for not believing that He is the Lord of Hosts and not David and
his men. He thought the success of his military campaigns were due to him
and his soldiers. He forgot that God was behind his success and his
battles. As a consequence, God sent the prophet Gad to warn him of the punishments
ahead. David was given three choices of punishment that he would like God
to inflict on him and his people.
This too was
the case of Jesus’ townsfolks as well. They were unable to see the holiness in
Jesus because they knew Him too well as a child. They said, “Where did the man
get all this? What is this wisdom that has been granted him, and these
miracles that are worked through him? And they would not accept him.”
They were too proud to listen to Jesus or to see the glory of God in and through
Him. They were blinded by their prejudice, pride and lack of faith to
acknowledge that Jesus was holier and more enlightened than them.
We too are no
better than King David and the relatives and contemporaries of Jesus. We too suffer the sin
of pride, thinking we know better than anyone else, unable to listen to our
superiors, or lesser still, our subordinates. We lack objectivity and
wisdom to discern what is good and true. We cling to our narrow mindsets
and vested interests. We too are often tempted by the sin of lust.
In this promiscuous world, it is difficult to resist sexual
temptation. So in truth, we are also exposed to the same sins that
tempted King David and the rest of the so-called chosen people of God and the
chosen leaders.
But there is
a big difference between King David and many of us. He was quick to
acknowledge his faults and ask for forgiveness. When confronted with
his wrongdoings, he was quick to admit his failings and ask for pardon.
When confronted by Prophet Nathan over his adulterous affair with Bathsheba and
the murder of her husband, King David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against
the Lord.” (2 Sm 12:13) He did not make any excuses or tried to
justify himself. In humility, he confessed his sins and asked for
forgiveness. So too, in today’s reading, he also recognized his arrogance
and impetuosity in carrying out the census. He said to the Lord, ‘I have
committed a grave sin. But now, Lord, I beg you to forgive your servant
for this fault. I have been very foolish.”
Secondly, he
was ready to accept the consequences of his sins. He said, “While the
child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who knows?
The Lord may be gracious to me, and the child may live.’ But
now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to
him, but he will not return to me. (2 Sm 12:22f)
In today’s episode, again he showed himself a man ready to accept God’s
punishment. “David said to Gad, ‘This is a hard choice. But let us
rather fall into the power of the Lord, since his mercy is great, and not into
the power of men.’ So David chose pestilence.”
Thirdly, he
was ready to assume full responsibility for his mistakes and spare his men from
the consequences of his actions. He did not blame anyone for his mistakes or justified
himself. Instead, he took the burden of his sins graciously.
When King David was insulted by one of the Benjaminite who cursed him, his
reply to his men was, “My own son seeks my life; how much more now may this
Benjaminite! Let him alone, and let him curse; for the Lord has
bidden him. It may be that the Lord will look on my distress, and
the Lord will repay me with good for this cursing of me
today.” (2 Sm 16:11f) Again today when he saw the sufferings of
his people, he pleaded with the Lord, “It was I who sinned; who did this wicked
thing. But these, this flock, what have they done? Let your hand
lie heavy on me then, and on my family.” He was ever ready to defend his
people and carry his own sins and that of his people.
Fourthly, he
was sincere in offering repentance and atonement for his sins. When he was asked by the
Prophet Gad to offer burnt offerings to the Lord as an act of repentance, he
refused to take the piece of land and the animals for free from Araunah.
Instead, he said, “No, but I will buy them from you for a price; I will not
offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.” (2 Sm 24:24)
He was sincere that any offering must come from his heart. There must be
some sacrifice on his part, otherwise it would not be truly a sacrificial
offering even though he was offered the plot of land for free to build an altar
of sacrifice to the Lord. (cf 2 Sm 24:18-25)
Today, we are
called to find hope and encouragement from King David. We are sinners
like him. But God accepts us all the same. So long as our heart
is with God in sincerity, God will overlook our sins and weaknesses. This
does not mean that we do not have to pay the price of our folly because what we
sow is what we reap. But God will not abandon us. He will give us
the grace to overcome all our trials and sufferings because of our
mistakes. We must learn from David to trust in God’s mercy. We are
justified by His grace through faith in God’s mercy in Christ Jesus. It
is better to trust in God’s mercy than man. This is what David said, “let
us rather fall into the power of the Lord, since his mercy is great, and not
into the power of men.” We need to have faith in Jesus if we want Him to
work miracles in our lives. The people did not have faith and hence, “he
could work no miracle there, though he cured a few sick people by laying his
hands on them.”
Following
Jesus and David, let us give our lives in total dedication to God and for His
people.
If we do that, we will never go wrong. St Peter reminds us “love
covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pt 4:8)
Even if we sin, then let us be humble and acknowledge our sins. With
David, we only need to turn to God and say, “Forgive, Lord, the guilt of my
sin. Happy the man whose offence is forgiven, whose sin is remitted. O
happy the man to whom the Lord imputes no guilt, in whose spirit is no guile.
But now I have acknowledged my sins; my guilt I did not hide.”
Finally, let
us also be forgiving and tolerant of others, especially our leaders who fail us
in their personal life. This is particularly true of our priests and lay
leaders. We are not perfect because we are human. “Every high
priest chosen from among mortals is put in charge of things pertaining to God
on their behalf, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to
deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is subject to
weakness; and because of this he must offer sacrifice for his own sins as well
as for those of the people.” (Heb 5:1-3)
We must overlook their failings in living the gospel life, especially the
virtues of humility, chastity, and generosity. Rather, let us recognize
that they are weaklings like the rest of humanity. But we must encourage
them to grow in holiness. So long as they put their hearts in the right
place, which is their sincere desire to devote their lives to God and to the
service His people above themselves, we should be more forgiving and tolerant
of their human frailties. After all, we are all saintly sinners.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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