20180226 RECEIVING FORGIVENESS AND HEALING
26 FEBRUARY, 2018, Monday, 2nd Week of Lent
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
|
First reading
|
|
Yours is the integrity, Lord; ours the shame
|
O Lord, God great and to be feared, you keep the covenant and have
kindness for those who love you and keep your commandments: we have sinned, we
have done wrong, we have acted wickedly, we have betrayed your commandments and
your ordinances and turned away from them. We have not listened to your
servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, our
ancestors, and to all the people of the land. Integrity, Lord, is yours; ours
the look of shame we wear today, we, the people of Judah, the citizens of
Jerusalem, the whole of Israel, near and far away, in every country to which
you have dispersed us because of the treason we have committed against you. To
us, Lord, the look of shame belongs, to our kings, our princes, our ancestors,
because we have sinned against you. To the Lord our God mercy and pardon
belong, because we have betrayed him, and have not listened to the voice of the
Lord our God nor followed the laws he has given us through his servants the prophets.
|
Responsorial Psalm
|
Do not treat us according to our sins, O Lord.
Do not hold the guilt of our fathers against us.
Let your compassion hasten to meet us;
we are left in the depths of distress.
Do not treat us according to our sins, O Lord.
O God our saviour, come to our help.
Come for the sake of the glory of your name.
O Lord our God, forgive us our sins;
rescue us for the sake of your name.
Do not treat us according to our sins, O Lord.
Let the groans of the prisoners come before you;
let your strong arm reprieve those condemned to die.
But we, your people, the flock of your pasture,
will give you thanks for ever and ever.
We will tell your praise from age to age.
Do not treat us according to our sins, O Lord.
|
Gospel Acclamation
|
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
The seed is the word of God, Christ the sower;
whoever finds this seed will remain for ever.
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
|
Or
|
cf.Jn6:63,68
|
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life;
you have the message of eternal life.
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
|
Gospel
|
|
Grant pardon, and you will be pardoned
|
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Be compassionate as your Father is
compassionate. Do not judge, and you will not be judged yourselves; do not
condemn, and you will not be condemned yourselves; grant pardon, and you will
be pardoned. Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed
down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap; because
the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back.’
RECEIVING FORGIVENESS AND HEALING
We are
sinners and in need of forgiveness and healing. None of us can say
that we have not hurt others or broken any of the commandments of God.
Healing comes through forgiveness, received and given. What we all need
most is forgiveness. However, not many people seek healing although they
know they are wounded and hurt.
The main
obstacle to people availing themselves of healing through forgiveness is
because of pride. It is the lack of humility to ask for forgiveness because of the
fear of shame. This is the ultimate reason why many Catholics do not go
for the sacrament of reconciliation. They would give all kinds of
excuses, apparently logical reasons, why they do not need the sacrament of reconciliation.
They want to forgive themselves. On that count, they should have just
baptized themselves as well, since baptism is for the forgiveness of
sins. St James exhorts, “Therefore confess your sins to one another, and
pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has
great power in its effects.” (Jms 5:16) And the Lord said to His
disciples, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they
are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” (Jn 20:22f)
Then there
are those who go for the sacrament of reconciliation but they also do not find
real and lasting healing. As a result, some claim that going for confession is a waste of
time as the healing effects of the sacrament does not last. Why is this
so? This is because many do not have the right disposition when
celebrating the sacrament of reconciliation. Some go for confession out
of devotion and habit but they have no intention of giving up their sins.
Of course, if we are not serious about giving up our sins, the grace of
absolution will not work in our lives because grace demands human cooperation.
Many go for confession without any preparation, both in the heart and in
the examination of their conscience. This explains why the Penitential
Service held in our churches, although beautiful and meaningful in bringing the
community together to celebrate God’s mercy and forgiveness, often because of
time constraint, is done in haste, often without much preparation and
recollection or even the opportunity to confess one’s sin sincerely and deeply.
To address
this situation, the scripture readings today can help us to prepare for a
beautiful sacrament of reconciliation.
In the first
place, we are called to praise God for His mercy and goodness, especially in
acknowledging that His commandments are good. The prophet began by saying,
“Lord, our God great and to be feared, you keep the covenant and have kindness
for those who love you and keep your commandments.” Unless we see that
His commandments are not meant to make our lives miserable but to set us free
to live a life of wisdom, we will not be able to feel sorry for breaking His
commandments. Moses said, “For what great nation is there that has a god
so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? And what
great nation is there, that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all
this law which I set before you this day?” (Dt 4:7f) Even St Paul agrees on this point. “We know that the
law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin. I do not understand my own
actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I
do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good.” (Rom 7:14-16) By acknowledging that His commandments are just and
fair, we condemn our sins. Only when we condemn our sins, will we be less
likely to commit them in future. So it is important that we need to
sensitize our conscience to condemn the sins we committed.
Secondly, we
need to acknowledge our sins without justifying ourselves. Many of us when confessing
our sins, seek to justify ourselves, and often like Adam and Eve, push the
blame to others. Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the Devil! Instead,
true contrition of heart is to confess our sins without excuse, just as King David
did when he was confronted by the prophet Nathan. He simply said without
any excuse on his part, “I have sinned against the Lord.” (2 Sm 12:13) Again, this was what the prophet Daniel confessed on behalf of
his people, “we have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly, we
have betrayed your commandments and your ordinances and turned away from
them.” That is why when we go before the priest, right at the outset, we
begin by saying, “Bless me Father for I have sinned”, not that others have
sinned against me! Some go for confession to confess the sins of others
rather than their own!
Thirdly, we
must confess our sins sincerely without hiding them in generalities. Many of us try to
hide our shame by just confessing sins in a general manner. When we are
not explicit in naming our sins, we cannot exorcise the demon out from
us. Naming our sins as they are, calling a spade a spade is what will
bring us healing. That is why those penitents who try to couch their sins
by oversimplifying them often do not find real healing because they did not
allow themselves to articulate their guilt and their pain. Only when we
can articulate our sins the way we committed them, in all its shame, can our
fear be removed completely. This was how Daniel confessed to God.
“We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to
our kings, our princes, our ancestors, and to all the people of the land.”
Fourthly, we
accept the judgement of God. We accept the judgement of God against sins, not our judgement of
what sin is. “Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is
evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless
when you pass judgment.” (Ps 51:4) True repentance and sorrow for our sins means the
willingness to accept the consequences of our sins. This was what Daniel
prayed, “Integrity, Lord, is yours; ours the look of shame we wear today, we,
the people of Judah, the citizens of Jerusalem, the whole of Israel, near and
far away, in every country to which you have dispersed us because of the
treason we have committed against you. To us, Lord, the look of shame belongs,
to our kings, our princes, our ancestors, because we have sinned against
you.” King David also accepted the punishment for his sin when his son
conceived out of lust died. 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)
Finally, we
turn to Him for forgiveness and pardon. We are called to trust in His
mercy.
Daniel pleaded, “To the Lord our God mercy and pardon belong, because we have
betrayed him, and have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God nor followed
the laws he has given us through his servants the prophets.” With
the psalmist, we pray as well, “Do not treat us according to our sins, O Lord.
Do not hold the guilt of our fathers against us. Let your compassion
hasten to meet us; we are left in the depths of distress.” The gospel
assures us that the Father is all forgiving because He is compassionate and
just.
However,
whilst forgiveness is given when we go for the Sacrament of Reconciliation,
healing is not complete until we render forgiveness to those who have hurt
us. Jesus
said to His disciples: “Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate.
Do not judge, and you will not be judged yourselves; do not condemn, and you
will not be condemned yourselves; grant pardon, and you will be pardoned.”
Indeed, if we want to seek forgiveness and healing, we must be ready to forgive
those who have hurt us. This is the most important condition for
healing. This explains why many go for confession but are not
healed. If they cannot forgive others as God has forgiven us, we continue
to make ourselves prisoners of our enemies and our past. If we
condemn others, we are condemning ourselves, for if we cannot forgive others
for what they had done, how can we forgive ourselves in the same vein. This is
why, the Lord said, “Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full
measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into
your lap; because the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given
back.” Forgiveness of others is what ultimately heals us in the end.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment