20190219
DULLNESS
OF MIND
19 FEBRUARY,
2019, Tuesday, 6th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
|
First reading
|
|
Genesis 6:5-8,7:1-5,10 ©
|
|
Noah's Ark
|
The Lord saw that the wickedness of man
was great on the earth, and that the thoughts in his heart fashioned nothing
but wickedness all day long. The Lord regretted having made man on the earth,
and his heart grieved. ‘I will rid the earth’s face of man, my own creation,’
the Lord said ‘and of animals also, reptiles too, and the birds of heaven; for
I regret having made them.’ But Noah had found favour with the Lord.
The
Lord said to Noah, ‘Go aboard the ark, you and all your household, for you
alone among this generation do I see as a good man in my judgement. Of all the
clean animals you must take seven of each kind, both male and female; of the
unclean animals you must take two, a male and its female (and of the birds of
heaven also, seven of each kind, both male and female), to propagate their kind
over the whole earth. For in seven days’ time I mean to make it rain on the
earth for forty days and nights, and I will rid the earth of every living thing
that I made.’ Noah did all that the Lord ordered.
Seven
days later the waters of the flood appeared on the earth.
|
Responsorial Psalm
|
|
Psalm 28(29):1-4,9-10 ©
|
The Lord will bless his
people with peace.
O give the Lord, you sons of God,
give the Lord glory and power;
give the Lord the glory of his name.
Adore the Lord in his holy
court.
The Lord will bless his
people with peace.
The Lord’s voice resounding on the waters,
the Lord on the immensity of
waters;
the voice of the Lord, full of power,
the voice of the Lord, full of
splendour.
The Lord will bless his
people with peace.
The God of glory thunders.
In his temple they all cry:
‘Glory!’
The Lord sat enthroned over the flood;
the Lord sits as king for
ever.
The Lord will bless his
people with peace.
|
Gospel Acclamation
|
cf.Ac16:14
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O Lord,
to accept the words of your Son.
Alleluia!
|
Or:
|
Jn14:23
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him.
Alleluia!
|
Gospel
|
Mark 8:14-21 ©
|
|
Be on your guard against the yeast of
the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod
|
The disciples had forgotten to take any
food and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. Then he gave them this
warning, ‘Keep your eyes open; be on your guard against the yeast of the
Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.’ And they said to one another, ‘It is because
we have no bread.’ And Jesus knew it, and he said to them, ‘Why are you talking
about having no bread? Do you not yet understand? Have you no perception? Are
your minds closed? Have you eyes that do not see, ears that do not hear? Or do
you not remember? When I broke the five loaves among the five thousand, how
many baskets full of scraps did you collect?’ They answered, ‘Twelve.’ ‘And
when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of
scraps did you collect?’ And they answered, ‘Seven.’ Then he said to them, ‘Are
you still without perception?’
DULLNESS OF MIND
When Jesus was on the cross, He said this
prayer for those who asked for His death and the executioners who brought about
His death, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are
doing.” (Lk 23:34) Indeed,
this is the secret of God’s forgiveness. If Jesus could forgive His
enemies, it was because He was convinced that they were ignorant of what they
were doing, even though objectively they did grave injustice towards Him by
condemning Him to death for a political crime, or for that matter, a religious
crime that He did not commit.
Indeed, this is true for
us as well. If we cannot forgive those who have hurt us and even if they
hurt us grievously, it is because we really believe that they did it deliberately
and purposefully. Logically,
no one in Singapore should commit a crime, especially of molestation, rape,
murder or fraud because the chance of being caught and receiving a heavy
sentence is almost certain. Yet, why do they take chances, smuggling
drugs and committing crimes, hoping that they could get away? At
the bottom of all human actions is the lack of perception. It is our
ignorance of the depth and folly of our sinful actions that we commit sin.
Indeed, sin is deceitful
and this is why many of us are tempted to sin. This is what the letter of Hebrews
tells us. “Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you may have an
evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But exhort
one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” so that none of you may
be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” (Heb 3:12f) Again, the book of Wisdom makes it
clear, “wisdom will not enter a deceitful soul, or dwell in a body enslaved to
sin.” (Wisdom 1:4) And the prophet Jeremiah says,
“The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse – who can understand
it? I the Lord test the mind and search the heart, to give to
all according to their ways, according to the fruit of their doings.” (Jer 17:9f)
If we are foolish, it is
because of ignorance and the dullness of the intellect, which is the
consequence of original sin. Adam and Eve were tricked by the Devil to eat of the
fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden so that their eyes would be
opened and they would be like God. Indeed, “the eyes of both were opened,
and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made
loincloths for themselves.” They lost their innocence and their ability
to see goodness in everyone and in everything. Instead, their minds
dulled, they must now choose between what is good and what is evil.
Because they lost the preternatural gift of infused knowledge, they could not
distinguish clearly what is good and evil, much less the power and capacity to
do good when they know it.
Indeed, this was the
case of the first generations of the human race. After the sin of Adam
and Eve, sin increased. From the sin of Cain, it grew until man became so
wicked. “The
Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that the
thoughts in his heart fashioned nothing but wickedness all day long. The Lord
regretted having made man on the earth, and his heart grieved.”
God, who is the God of love, cannot but feel sorry for humanity when He saw how
they were hurting each other and destroying themselves, just as parents feel grieved
for their wayward children. The regret of God was not so much that He
regretted creating man but that man did not respond to His invitation to share
in His love and life. Is not this how we feel when our loved ones go
astray? We try to save him or her but they would not respond to our love.
We cause so much grief to those who love us when we continue to choose the
wrong path. However, no one grieves as much as God because His love for
us is complete and unconditional.
Nevertheless, not only
those who sinned are ignorant.
There is a more insidious and subtle form of sin in disguise under
hypocrisy. This is another form of ignorance, of oneself and one’s motive
in trying to be good. Jesus warned the disciple of the sin of hypocrisy.
He said, “Keep your eyes open; be on your guard against the yeast of the
Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.” The Pharisees in truth were actually
good people. They may be likened to our priests, religious and all the
pious and holy men and women in our church. They sought to live the
commandments of Moses. They sincerely wanted to live a righteous
life. They knew that they could not fulfill the commandments
themselves. They too broke the law.
But it was rather
difficult for them to admit that they were sinners. After all, they were the ones
preaching and teaching others to observe the laws. As a result, they
lived a double life. In public, they appear to be holy and
righteous. However, in their personal life, they live a life of
sin. This explains why St Paul told the Jews, “you, then, that teach
others, will you not teach yourself?’ (cf Rom 2:17-24) This explains the hypocrisy
among priests, religious and so-called pious Catholics. It is
embarrassing to admit before others that we are sinners, that we have sinned
and broken the commandments. This is because we want people to respect us
and think well of us, just like the Pharisees. Without acknowledging our
sins and confessing them in humility, we cannot grow in life.
Then there are those who
are impatient and ignorant of the mercy and love of God. We think that
the best way to rid of evil is to get rid of evil people and remove them from
the face of the earth. The
attempt to purify the world by getting rid of evil men from the face of the
earth obviously did not work. The Lord said, “I will rid the earth’s face of
man, my own creation and of animals also, reptiles too, and the birds of
heaven; for I regret having made them.” The truth that even in the most
evil of worlds and even of men, there is a tinge of goodness as well. We
read that in the midst of so many evil men, “Noah had found favour with the
Lord.” So the world will never be completely without grace and good holy
people, just as we cannot avoid the presence of evil and sinful men. God
said later, “I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, for the
inclination of the human heart is evil from youth; nor will I ever again
destroy every living creature as I have done.” (Gn 8:21) We must therefore allow good
and evil to co-exist and let them be purified by each other till they become
perfected in Christ. The master said, “No; for in gathering the weeds you
would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together
until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, ‘Collect the
weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my
barn.'” (cf Mt 13:24-30)
However, not only were
the sinners and the Pharisees ignorant, the disciples were no better because
they could not yet come to understand that Jesus was their Lord and master. Jesus reprimanded them, “Why are
you talking about having no bread? Do you not yet understand? Have you no
perception? Are your minds closed? Have you eyes that do not see, ears that do
not hear? Or do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves among the five
thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you collect?” “They answered,
‘Twelve.’ ‘And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many
baskets full of scraps did you collect?’ And they answered, ‘Seven.’ Then he
said to them, ‘Are you still without perception?'” They were so blind that they
could not recognize that in the multiplication of loaves, the New Moses was
before them, feeding them with the New Manna from heaven, the bread of
life. Jesus was their teacher and was delivering them from slavery to sin
and bringing them to the Promised Land of grace and salvation.
So let us ask the Lord
for wisdom and understanding so that we might be patient, longsuffering and
merciful in the face of sin and evil. With the psalmist, let us “give the Lord
glory and power; give the Lord the glory of his name. Adore the Lord in
his holy court.” Only God who is all mercy and wise, will in His
providential plan somehow redeem creation and restore it to its pristine order.
He will purify us through the waters of baptism.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment