20180126
THE MYSTERY OF EVIL AND THE MYSTERY OF GRACE
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First reading
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2 Timothy 1:1-8 ©
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From Paul, appointed by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus in
his design to promise life in Christ Jesus; to Timothy, dear child of mine,
wishing you grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Christ Jesus
our Lord.
Night and day I thank God, keeping my conscience clear
and remembering my duty to him as my ancestors did, and always I remember you
in my prayers; I remember your tears and long to see you again to complete my
happiness. Then I am reminded of the sincere faith which you have; it came
first to live in your grandmother Lois, and your mother Eunice, and I have no
doubt that it is the same faith in you as well.
That is why I am reminding you now to fan into a flame
the gift that God gave you when I laid my hands on you. God’s gift was not a
spirit of timidity, but the Spirit of power, and love, and self-control. So you
are never to be ashamed of witnessing to the Lord, or ashamed of me for being
his prisoner; but with me, bear the hardships for the sake of the Good News,
relying on the power of God who has saved us and called us to be holy.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 95(96):1-3,7-8,10 ©
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Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among all the
peoples.
O sing a new song to the Lord,
sing to the Lord all the earth.
O sing to the Lord, bless his name.
Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among all the
peoples.
Proclaim his help day by day,
tell among the nations his glory
and his wonders among all the peoples.
Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among all the
peoples.
Give the Lord, you families of peoples,
give the Lord glory and power;
give the Lord the glory of his name.
Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among all the
peoples.
Proclaim to the nations: ‘God is king.’
The world he made firm in its place;
he will judge the peoples in fairness.
Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among all the
peoples.
Luke 10:1-9New International Version (NIV)
Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-Two
10 After this
the Lord appointed seventy-two[a] others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he
was about to go. 2 He told
them, “The harvest is plentiful,
but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out
workers into his harvest field. 3 Go! I am sending you out
like lambs among wolves. 4 Do not take a purse or bag
or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.
5 “When you enter a house,
first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ 6 If someone
who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will
return to you. 7 Stay there, eating and
drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.
8 “When you enter a town and
are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. 9 Heal the
sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
THE MYSTERY OF EVIL AND THE MYSTERY OF GRACE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 SM 24:3-21; MK 3:13-19
]
The theme of
today’s scripture readings concerns the mystery of evil and the mystery of
grace. In the first reading, the mystery of evil is illustrated in the
life of King David. The reality of evil is that if it is not
dealt with, it will grow from strength to strength until it envelops and
destroys the person. This was the case with King David who, in a
moment of weakness, lusted after the wife of Uriah. From lust, he became
possessive and committed adultery. But the evil did not stop there.
He became manipulative, malicious and destructive and finally murdered an
innocent man.
Such is the
power of evil in our own lives too. This is evident in our
inter-personal relationships for example. We begin by simply having a
dislike for a person. But because we allow that aversion to grow in us,
we begin to harbour grudges, bitterness and resentment against that person
until finally it develops into hatred, which can lead to harmful words and
actions. Yes, evil if not dealt with, will inevitably consume and destroy
us.
In the face of
such oppression, either within ourselves or from the evil around us, we cannot
but feel dismayed. We wonder why God does not
intervene. This was the predicament the early Christians were
in. Being a small minority, they were threatened by persecutions from
both the Jews and the Romans. Confronted by scandals, injustices,
oppression and innocent suffering, they asked the same question: why is it that
God does not care?
It is in
response to this question that St Mark narrated the parable of the seed growing
by itself. The point of this parable is that God does care. He
is guiding us by His providence, just as he takes care of the
seed. Everything is in control and is sustained by the providence of
God. This is the mystery of grace. We need not grow impatient or
anxious because God will see to it that everything will be in accordance with
His plans. Grace is always working in our lives even though we
cannot see it. But we can be certain that it is working because if we
remain patient and have faith, the results will come one day.
This
imperceptible working of grace can be verified in our own lives. Very often we feel
that God is not helping us in our struggles. Perhaps, we are contending
with some personal weaknesses, and we try our best to overcome them. But
we feel hopeless because we keep falling again and again in spite of the fact that
we pray fervently. At times we feel like giving up because the situation
does not seem to improve, notwithstanding our prayers and efforts to
change. Yet, the truth is that if we persevere, we will one day emerge
from this seemingly vicious circle considerably stronger. When we look
back at our struggles, we will recognize the hand of God at work in our lives
and say, “Thank you Lord for the trials that have come my way!”
However, if
it were true that the grace of God is working imperceptibly in our lives, how is
it that we do not feel its power and we cannot see the changes? In
other words, if the grace of God is so powerful, how is it that it appears to
be so small and insignificant in our lives? The second parable of the
mustard seed speaks of the power of grace. It tells us two things.
Firstly, the
grace of God will overcome evil in the end. It might begin in a small
way, but it will end in a mighty way, just like the mustard seed that becomes a
giant tree, giving shelter to all. This is portrayed in the life of King
David. It is true that King David appeared to have had the upper hand
initially when he killed Uriah. But in the end, justice and truth
prevailed. We know that the ensuing episode shows how David had to pay a
price for his sins through the death of his son. The morale of the story
is that evil does not have the last word but grace. That is why we
must take heart and learn to trust in God even when we do know how God is
working in our lives.
Secondly, the
parable also teaches us that there is grace in disgrace. No
matter how evil we are; no matter what mistakes we make in life; we need not
feel disheartened nor condemn ourselves. So long as we are ready to
repent, then even sin and human weaknesses can mould us to be better
people. Again this is shown in the life of David. After his
repentance, David became a better and more devout king. His foolish deed
had taught him the greatest lesson of his life. We too can transform
disgrace into grace. We need not see our mistakes as obstacles to growth,
but as stepping-stones for life. If we do, then, like the mustard seed
that became a shelter for all, we too will be able to use our past mistakes for
the growth of others as well. This is the way that grace works.
Yes, we can feel
encouraged today that even when things do not seem to change, they are in fact
changing. The grace of God is imperceptible but powerfully at work in us,
transforming our weaknesses into agents of growth for our holiness.
His grace will never fail us so long as we co-operate with Him as much
as is humanly possible, for God will then do the rest.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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