20190329
YOUR
INIQUITY IS THE CAUSE OF YOUR DOWNFALL
29 MARCH, 2019,
Friday, 3rd Week in Lent
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Violet.
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First reading
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Hosea 14:2-10 ©
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A call to conversion and promise of
safety
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The Lord says this:
Israel, come back to the Lord your God;
your iniquity was the cause of your
downfall.
Provide yourself with words
and come back to the Lord.
Say to him, ‘Take all iniquity away
so that we may have happiness again
and offer you our words of praise.
Assyria cannot save us,
we will not ride horses any more,
or say, “Our God!” to what our own hands
have made,
for you are the one in whom orphans find
compassion.’
– I will heal their disloyalty,
I will love them with all my heart,
for my anger has turned from them.
I will fall like dew on Israel.
He shall bloom like the lily,
and thrust out roots like the poplar,
his shoots will spread far;
he will have the beauty of the olive
and the fragrance of Lebanon.
They will come back to live in my shade;
they will grow corn that flourishes,
they will cultivate vines
as renowned as the wine of Helbon.
What has Ephraim to do with idols any more
when it is I who hear his prayer and care
for him?
I am like a cypress ever green,
all your fruitfulness comes from me.
Let the wise man understand these words.
Let the intelligent man grasp their
meaning.
For the ways of the Lord are straight,
and virtuous men walk in them,
but sinners stumble.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm
80(81):6,8-11,14,17 ©
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I am the Lord your God:
listen to my warning.
A voice I did not know said to me:
‘I freed your shoulder from
the burden;
your hands were freed from the load.
You called in distress and I
saved you.
I am the Lord your God:
listen to my warning.
‘I answered, concealed in the storm cloud;
at the waters of Meribah I
tested you.
Listen, my people, to my warning.
O Israel, if only you would
heed!
I am the Lord your God:
listen to my warning.
‘Let there be no foreign god among you,
no worship of an alien god.
I am the Lord your God,
who brought you from the land
of Egypt.
I am the Lord your God:
listen to my warning.
‘O that my people would heed me,
that Israel would walk in my
ways!
But Israel I would feed with finest wheat
and fill them with honey from
the rock.’
I am the Lord your God:
listen to my warning.
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Gospel Acclamation
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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!
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Or:
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Mt4:17
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Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
Repent, says the Lord,
for the kingdom of heaven is close at
hand.
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
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Gospel
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Mark 12:28-34 ©
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'You are not far from the kingdom of
God'
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One of the scribes came up to Jesus and
put a question to him, ‘Which is the first of all the commandments?’ Jesus
replied, ‘This is the first: Listen, Israel, the Lord our God is the one Lord,
and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul,
with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: You must
love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.’
The scribe said to him, ‘Well spoken, Master; what you have said is true: that
he is one and there is no other. To love him with all your heart, with all your
understanding and strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself, this is far
more important than any holocaust or sacrifice.’ Jesus, seeing how wisely he
had spoken, said, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ And after that no
one dared to question him any more.
YOUR INIQUITY IS
THE CAUSE OF YOUR DOWNFALL
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ HOS 14:2-10; MK 12:28-34 ]
When we look back at our life, we should
ask, what caused us so much misery and pain? Often, we blame
others for the situation we are in. Yet, at the end of the day, it might
be more beneficial to reflect on our own actions and attitudes because we play
a large part in the sorrows that we have brought upon ourselves. Indeed,
this is what the Lord says, “Israel, come back to the Lord your God; your
iniquity was the cause of your downfall.” It is our sins that have caused
us to fall. What are these iniquities that the Lord is speaking about?
Pride is the primary
cause of our downfall. We
think we know everything. We listen to no one except
ourselves. We always feel that we are right and that we have all
the ideas. Others who disagree with us are wrong. Not only do we
fail to listen to God, but we also cannot hear what others are saying to
us. Pride causes us to be presumptuous, judgemental and arrogant.
This was the case with the Israelites. They did not rely on God nor
listened to the prophets. They trusted in their economic, military and
political strength. They thought that they were powerful enough to ward
off their enemies. But the truth was that their trust in their military
might and alliance with foreign countries did not help them. Indeed, eventually,
they realized, “Assyria cannot save us, we will not ride horses any more, or
say, ‘Our god!’ to what our own hands have made, for you are the one in whom
orphans find compassion.” Indeed, many of us trust more in ourselves than
in God. We think money, power and status can do everything until one day
everything crashes, our business collapses and health fails.
Besides pride, the
Israelites worshipped idols. The
idols they worshipped were expressed in their import of pagan practices and the
worship of pagan deities. But what we worship is how we live, since faith
and life flow from each other. As a result of compromises with the
beliefs of pagan religions and the influence of pagan values and cultures,
their faith in the One God was diluted. In other words, inculturation of pagan
practices resulted in the weakening of faith and also destroyed the purity of
their culture. This is true in today’s world. Because of
secularization brought about by globalization and migration, the purity of
faith and culture is lost. Our idols are the counter values of a worldly
and self-centered society. We have lost many of our traditional values
and replaced them, more often than not, with the negative or rather the counter
cultural values of the world, namely, materialism, consumerism, absolute
freedom, relativism, same-sex union, etc. These values are gradually
eroding the unity and strength of marriage and family life.
Finally, these idols
refer to the seven capital sins.
These sins, of course, are as old as humanity. Anger is the second most
destructive sin. Because of un-forgiveness in our hearts, we become
miserable. We are always thinking of the past and allowing past wounds to
prevent us from moving forward in life. Anger leads us to depression and
hatred, not just of others but of self. Envy also takes away peace in our
minds and hearts. We are always comparing and this makes us dissatisfied
with what we have. The next most crippling sin is lust. Because of
lust, infidelity, and adultery, beautiful relationships, the unity of marriage
and the peace of the family are destroyed. Besides lust, greed and
gluttony are the other two sins that destroy us. The greed for money
destroys our peace. It causes us to be unjust towards others. It
leads to cheating, gambling, lying, and dishonest living. We
destroy the peace and reputation of the family; we lose our jobs and destroy
our families and relationships all because of greed.
Gluttony for food is also the cause of
failure in health. We do not take care of our health and so when we fall
sick, not only do we suffer but our loved ones have to pick up after
us. Without discipline in eating, we hurt not only our bodies but
also our souls when we fall sick and become emotionally depressed. Sloth
is also equally destructive because of the lack of discipline in our spiritual
life, the lack of commitment to prayer, the study of the scriptures, and the
Word of God, as well as in the maintenance of our physical health.
Sloth leads to a degeneration of the mind and body.
Today, the Lord wants to
set us free. We only have to
say to Him sincerely from our hearts, “Take all iniquity away so that we may
have happiness again and offer you our words of praise.” Truly, He wants
to remove from us the weight of sins from our shoulders. The prophet
said, “A voice I did not know said to me: ‘I freed your shoulder from the
burden; your hands were freed from the load. You called in distress and I
saved you. ‘I answered, concealed in the storm cloud; at the waters of
Meribah I tested you. Listen, my people, to my warning. O Israel, if only you
would heed!”
So what must we do to
find life again? The antidote to misery is to love God, ourselves and our
fellowmen. This
is what the Lord tells us. “This is the first: Listen, Israel, the Lord
our God is the one Lord, and you must love the Lord your God with all your
heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.
The second is this: You must love your neighbour as yourself. There is no
commandment great than these.” Only when we love God and put Him above
all other things, can we find true peace and security even in times of trials
and difficulties.
So we must first love
God, and flowing from the love of God, we must love and accept ourselves and
stop hurting ourselves.
From the love of God in us, we extend this love to our neighbours. All
the seven capital sins, besides hurting our neighbours, hurt us first and
foremost. We must not destroy our peace of mind, the unity with our loved
ones and our physical health by irresponsible living. Indeed, this is what the
Lord says, “Let there be no foreign god among you, no worship of an alien god.
I am the Lord your God, who brought you from the land of Egypt. O that my
people would heed me that Israel would walk in my ways! But Israel I would feed
with finest wheat and fill them with honey from the rock.” Instead
of worshipping ourselves, let us worship God and direct our love towards
others. When we love God in others, we will find great joy and happiness
in life.
Hence, we need to draw strength
from God to love ourselves and to love others. That is why we are called
to draw love and wisdom from Him. We need to allow ourselves
to be loved by God in the first place. “I will heal their disloyalty;
I will love them with all my heart, for my anger has turned from them. I will
fall like dew on Israel. He shall bloom like the lily, and thrust out roots
like the poplar, his shoots will spread far; He will have the beauty of the
olive and the fragrance of Lebanon. They will come back to live in my shade;
they will grow corn that flourishes, they will cultivate vines as renowned as
the wine of Helbon.”
Yes, have we been open and
receptive to the love of God coming to our lives through prayer,
worship, reflection on the Word of God, and the love of our brothers and
sisters? This is what the Lord said, “What has Ephraim to do with idols
any more when it is I who hear his prayer and care for him? I am like a cypress
ever green, all your fruitfulness comes from me. Let the wise man understand
these words. Let the intelligent man grasp their meaning. For the ways of the
Lord are straight, and virtuous men walk in them, but sinners
stumble.” We need to draw water from Him like the trees along the
river. We need to listen to the voice of God in His word and through His
messengers so that we could walk the right path. This is particularly
true of our young people who are seeking for direction in life. Many
Catholics turn to the world and the internet for answers when they need
direction in life instead of turning to the Lord and the scriptures as their
compass point. We must train our people to have a deep love for the
Word of God so that they can find life from it.
Truly, we will have a
life of peace and joy when we walk in His truth and love, listen to His Word,
obey His commands, and do what is right and just, and love our neighbours. When we live a life of wisdom, which
is a life of love of God, self and neighbour, we find life. That is why
Jesus remarked to the scribe who gave his assent to Jesus’ teaching that he was
“not far from the kingdom of God.” When we have God’s love in our hearts
and His wisdom to guide us, then God reigns in us in His love and truth.
Such a person carries the Kingdom of God within him.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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