20190218
A
CASE AGAINST SECULARISM AND HUMANISM
18 FEBRUARY,
2019, Monday, 6th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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Genesis 4:1-15,25 ©
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The mark of Cain
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The man had intercourse with his wife Eve,
and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. ‘I have acquired a man with the help
of the Lord’ she said. She gave birth to a second child, Abel, the brother of
Cain. Now Abel became a shepherd and kept flocks, while Cain tilled the soil.
Time passed and Cain brought some of the produce of the soil as an offering for
the Lord, while Abel for his part brought the first-born of his flock and some
of their fat as well. The Lord looked with favour on Abel and his offering. But
he did not look with favour on Cain and his offering, and Cain was very angry
and downcast. The Lord asked Cain, ‘Why are you angry and downcast? If you are
well disposed, ought you not to lift up your head? But if you are ill disposed,
is not sin at the door like a crouching beast hungering for you, which you must
master?’ Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let us go out’; and while they were in
the open country, Cain set on his brother Abel and killed him.
The
Lord asked Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’ ‘I do not know’ he replied. ‘Am
I my brother’s guardian?’ ‘What have you done?’ the Lord asked. ‘Listen to the
sound of your brother’s blood, crying out to me from the ground. Now be
accursed and driven from the ground that has opened its mouth to receive your
brother’s blood at your hands. When you till the ground it shall no longer
yield you any of its produce. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer over the
earth.’ Then Cain said to the Lord, ‘My punishment is greater than I can bear.
See! Today you drive me from this ground. I must hide from you, and be a
fugitive and a wanderer over the earth. Why, whoever comes across me will kill
me!’ ‘Very well, then,’ the Lord replied ‘if anyone kills Cain, sevenfold
vengeance shall be taken for him.’ So the Lord put a mark on Cain, to prevent
whoever might come across him from striking him down.
Adam
had intercourse with his wife, and she gave birth to a son whom she named Seth,
‘because God has granted me other offspring’ she said ‘in place of Abel, since
Cain has killed him.’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm
49(50):1,8,16-17,20-21 ©
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Pay your sacrifice of
thanksgiving to God.
The God of gods, the Lord,
has spoken and summoned the
earth,
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
‘I find no fault with your sacrifices,
your offerings are always
before me.’
Pay your sacrifice of
thanksgiving to God.
‘But how can you recite my commandments
and take my covenant on your
lips,
you who despise my law
and throw my words to the
winds?
Pay your sacrifice of
thanksgiving to God.
‘You who sit and malign your brother
and slander your own mother’s
son.
You do this, and should I keep silence?
Do you think that I am like
you?’
Pay your sacrifice of
thanksgiving to God.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Ps94:8
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Harden not your hearts today,
but listen to the voice of the Lord.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Jn14:6
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Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, says
the Lord;
No one can come to the Father except
through me.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 8:11-13 ©
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No sign shall be given to this
generation
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The Pharisees came up and started a
discussion with Jesus; they demanded of him a sign from heaven, to test him.
And with a sigh that came straight from the heart he said, ‘Why does this
generation demand a sign? I tell you solemnly, no sign shall be given to this
generation.’ And leaving them again and re-embarking, he went away to the
opposite shore.
A CASE AGAINST
SECULARISM AND HUMANISM
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ GEN 4:1-15, 25; PS 50:1,8,16-17,20-21; MARK 8:11-13]
Is religion the cause of
division and hinders the
development of humanity? This is the belief of secularists and
humanists. They want to build an earthly paradise without God. They
sincerely believe that religion destroys humanity because it is based on
superstition and naivety and should be removed at all costs if humanity were to
flourish and develop. Secularism, in truth, is not new. It is as
old as humanity. In fact, in the first reading, we read the story of Cain
and Abel. Cain could be said to be the Father of Secularism and
Humanism. He sought to build the earthly paradise without God. He
wanted to do it without relying on God. Does faith in God really impede
the full development of humanity and unity among all? On the contrary, it
is because of a lack of faith in God that men have supplanted themselves in
place of God, causing the world to be more confused because they have lost the
ground of their existence, their origin and their goal in life. Without
faith in God, in the name of autonomy, every man has become his own god. When
there are so many gods in the world, each claiming to be right in his view,
division ensues because of half-truths and deception.
Let us examine Cain, the
exemplar of a secularist and a humanist. He did not offer a pure
sacrifice to God, unlike Abel.
That was why the Lord rejected the offering of Cain because he was not
sincere. “The Lord asked Cain, ‘Why are you angry and downcast? If you
are well disposed, ought you not to lift up your head?” The book of
Proverbs affirms that “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; how much
more when brought with evil intent.” (Prv 21:27) The responsorial psalm echoes
this similar message. “I find no fault with your sacrifices, your
offerings are always before me. But how can you recite my commandments and take
my covenant on your lips, you who despise my law and throw my words to the
winds? You who sit and malign your brother and slander your own mother’s son?”
The response today says,
“Pay your sacrifice of thanksgiving to God.” We are called to offer sacrifices so that
we will not forget that all we have come from Him alone. We do not own
what we have and we should be happy to offer all that we have back to God
because He is the bestowal of all our gifts. Without His graciousness, we would
not have anything in life. So we should recognize Him as the sovereign
giver of gifts. Offering Him sacrifices is to remind ourselves of our
place in this world. Cain was jealous of Abel because he failed to realize
that his gifts were given to him by God. He thought that he earned the
fruits of the harvest himself. When we offer our gifts to Him or give
tithes, it is a way for us to thank Him.
Secondly, because Cain
sought to build himself up without God, he became insecure and this led to
ambition. Because he could
rely on no one but himself, he became jealous of the success of Abel and this
led him to further sins, ending in killing. The Lord warned Cain, “But if
you are ill disposed, is not sin at the door like a crouching beast hungering
for you, which you must master?” Cain allowed sin to devour him and lead him
from one sin to another. St James said. “But if you have bitter
envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the
truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly,
unspiritual, devilish. For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there
will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind” (Jms 3:14-16) Isn’t
ambition and insecurity the cause of division in the world when everyone wants
to grab more for himself? This leads to selfishness, greed, envy,
stealing and killing. When man can only depend on himself, he becomes
inward-looking because self-preservation is a human instinct, since we all fear
death.
Thirdly, he forgot that
life came from God. Cain took the place of God and killed Abel. In killing Abel, he forgot that
only God can take away life because life is bestowed by Him alone. No one
can create life. “‘What have you done?’ the Lord asked. ‘Listen to the sound
of your brother’s blood, crying out to me from the ground. Now be accursed and
driven from the ground that has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s
blood at your hands. When you till the ground it shall no longer yield you any
of its produce. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer over the earth.'”
St John warned us, “We must not be like Cain who was from the evil one and
murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were
evil and his brother’s righteous.” (1 Jn 3:12)
Finally, like many of
us, the loss of faith does not happen overnight. It is always preceded by
the sin of disobedience and pride, ending in hostility against God. The sin of Cain began with pride,
wanting to build an earthly paradise without God. This was a repeat of
the sin of Adam and Eve because they too wanted to be like God without
God. This led them to disobedience because of pride. So we read
that after killing Abel, “Then Cain went away from the presence of
the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.” (Gn 4:16) Eventually, he went away from
the Lord completely. He attempted to build a human civilization without
God. We read further on that his children, Jabal, “the ancestor of those
who live in tents and have livestock”, Jubal, “ancestor of all those who play
the lyre and pipe”, and Tubal-cain, “who made all kinds of bronze and iron
tools.” (Gn 4:20f)
Through their natural
gifts, they sought to develop creation without God until it reached a peak when
technological advancement brought about greater division and disunity. This we read in the story of the
Tower of Babel. “They said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a
tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves;
otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.’
The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals
had built … So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the
face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore it
was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all
the earth.” (cf Gn 11:3-9) Indeed,
without God, man falls into disarray because he lacks guidance, wisdom, virtues
and most of all the capacity to do good.
Today, we are called to
imitate Seth, whom we read was the promoter of religion. “To Seth also a son was born, and
he named him Enosh. At that time people began to invoke the name of
the Lord.” (Gn 4:26) It was
Seth that helped his own family and people to know that God is their Lord and
to acknowledge Him as such. We too must do the same and honour God, which is
the first commandment. Only when God is acknowledged can there be peace
on earth.
It is true that
religions can also divide and impede humanity because of the lack of wisdom and
revelation. However, not all
religions are equally enlightened, just as not all human reasonings are
rational and acceptable. Some religions only have rays of truth and not
the fullness of truth, hence the disagreement among religions on certain
doctrines. This is where dialogue remains the key to unity among
religions and with secularists. It is not true that religion is the cause
of disunity and impedes human development. On the contrary, religion
seeks to grow in the fulness of truth and love. Faith is not against
reason, but reason enlightened by faith will enable all men and women to come
to the fullness of truth and love.
But without faith,
reason alone cannot accept the truth.
This was the situation of the Pharisees who did not have faith in Jesus in
spite of the fact that Jesus had performed many miracles earlier on, the
feeding of the Four Thousand, (Mk 8:1-10) the healing of the man who was deaf
and dumb and delivering the Syrophoenician’s daughter from an evil
spirit. (cf Mk 7:24-31) Jesus’ reaction was one of
sadness and disappointment. “And with a sigh that came straight from the
heart he said, ‘Why does this generation demand a sign? I tell you solemnly, no
sign shall be given to this generation.’ And leaving them again and
re-embarking he went away to the opposite shore.” The people missed a
great opportunity to encounter God and find healing and peace. We too
must not be misled by humanism and secularism that the path to peace and
development is to depend and rely on our intellect and strength alone.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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