Monday, 29 July 2019

THE DELICATE BALANCE BETWEEN JUSTICE AND COMPASSION

20190730 THE DELICATE BALANCE BETWEEN JUSTICE AND COMPASSION


30 JULY, 2019, Tuesday, 17th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: Green.

First reading
Exodus 33:7-11,34:5-9,28 ©

'They are a headstrong people; but forgive us our faults'
Moses used to take the Tent and pitch it outside the camp, at some distance from the camp. He called it the Tent of Meeting. Anyone who had to consult the Lord would go out to the Tent of Meeting, outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the Tent, all the people would rise. Every man would stand at the door of his tent and watch Moses until he reached the Tent; the pillar of cloud would come down and station itself at the entrance to the Tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses. When they saw the pillar of cloud stationed at the entrance to the Tent, all the people would rise and bow low, each at the door of his tent. The Lord would speak with Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would turn back to the camp, but the young man who was his servant, Joshua son of Nun, would not leave the Tent.
  And the Lord descended in the form of a cloud, and Moses stood with him there.
  He called on the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, a God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in kindness and faithfulness; for thousands he maintains his kindness, forgives faults, transgression, sin; yet he lets nothing go unchecked, punishing the father’s fault in the sons and in the grandsons to the third and fourth generation.’ And Moses bowed down to the ground at once and worshipped. ‘If I have indeed won your favour, Lord,’ he said ‘let my Lord come with us, I beg. True, they are a headstrong people, but forgive us our faults and our sins, and adopt us as your heritage.’
  Moses stayed there with the Lord for forty days and forty nights, eating and drinking nothing. He inscribed on the tablets the words of the Covenant – the Ten Words.

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 102(103):6-13 ©
The Lord is compassion and love.
The Lord does deeds of justice,
  gives judgement for all who are oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses
  and his deeds to Israel’s sons.
The Lord is compassion and love.
The Lord is compassion and love,
  slow to anger and rich in mercy.
His wrath will come to an end;
  he will not be angry for ever.
The Lord is compassion and love.
He does not treat us according to our sins
  nor repay us according to our faults.
For as the heavens are high above the earth
  so strong is his love for those who fear him.
The Lord is compassion and love.
As far as the east is from the west
  so far does he remove our sins.
As a father has compassion on his sons,
  the Lord has pity on those who fear him.
The Lord is compassion and love.

Gospel Acclamation
1P1:25
Alleluia, alleluia!
The word of the Lord remains for ever:
What is this word?
It is the Good News that has been brought to you.
Alleluia!
Or:
Alleluia, alleluia!
The seed is the word of God, Christ the sower;
whoever finds this seed will remain for ever.
Alleluia!

Gospel
Matthew 13:36-43 ©

As the darnel is gathered up and burnt, so it will be at the end of time
Leaving the crowds, Jesus went to the house; and his disciples came to him and said, ‘Explain the parable about the darnel in the field to us.’ He said in reply, ‘The sower of the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world; the good seed is the subjects of the kingdom; the darnel, the subjects of the evil one; the enemy who sowed them, the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; the reapers are the angels. Well then, just as the darnel is gathered up and burnt in the fire, so it will be at the end of time. The Son of Man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that provoke offences and all who do evil, and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. Then the virtuous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Listen, anyone who has ears!’

THE DELICATE BALANCE BETWEEN JUSTICE AND COMPASSION

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [  Ex 33:7-1134:5-928Ps 103:6-13Mt 13:36-43 ]
The world we live in is a merciless world that does not give us a second chance.  If one makes a mistake in life, or worse, commits an offence or a crime, he or she is not only punished by the courts but by society.   Social media is used today to sentence, condemn, shame, destroy and punish the offender more than what even imprisonment can do.  It is not so much the physical suffering but the emotional pain, disgrace and destructive words that will eventually drive such people to commit suicide.
This is so ironical.  This is because those who condemn others are not free from sin or from weaknesses themselves.  This is why Jesus in the gospel warns us, “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?” (Mt 7:1-3) To the crowd who condemned the woman, Jesus said, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”  (Jn 8:7) To the adulterous woman, the Lord assured her, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.” (Jn 8:11)
How do we balance justice and compassion together?  On one hand, we feel that justice must be done, the wrongs must be righted, so that the innocent and the poor will not suffer the injustices of those who cheat, destroy property, slander the character of others, and even kill.  On the other hand, we are called to be compassionate, forgiving and tolerant of the sins of others, not taking revenge but to seek their conversion and repentance.  Obviously, compassion does not and should not lead to greater injustice to those who have already suffered from the violations of others.  This would be adding oil into the fire.
Indeed, today, we are called to learn from the compassion of God, a compassion that is merciful and yet just.  The Lord revealed Himself to Moses as “The Lord, the Lord, a God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in kindness and faithfulness; for thousands he maintains his kindness, forgives faults, transgression, sin, yet he lets nothing go unchecked, punishing the father’s fault in the sons and in the grandsons to the third and fourth generation.”  Right from the outset, this self-proclamation of God entails two apparently contradictory statements.  In the first part, God describes Himself as a God of compassion and forgives us all our wrongdoings.  However, it also makes it clear that there will be punishment as well because of our transgressions.
To appreciate this conundrum between justice and compassion, we must begin by saying that the heart of God is one of compassion and forgiveness.  This is because He understands us more than we understand ourselves and one another.  God is much more compassionate towards us than we are towards ourselves and our fellowmen.   We do not really understand who we are and the depth of our sinfulness and brokenness.   That is why we are so quick to judge others.  We fail to realize, as the psalmist says, “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.  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.  Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.”  We are born not just as sinners from birth, but we are also ignorant of our sins before God and others.  We are blind to our own faults and weaknesses, always thinking that we are holy, righteous and perfect compared to others.   In truth, we are all sinners in different ways.   So if anyone thinks he is perfect and without sin, then he can cast the first stone.  Even Jesus who is sinless does not cast any stone on sinners.
Secondly, as Moses said, we are “a headstrong people.”  We are impetuous, rash, impulsive, reckless, undiscerning and willful in what we do.  We are proud and arrogant, always wanting things our way.  Our pride is the cause of our downfall.  Because we think we know everything, we lack a discerning spirit.  This is what the parable of the darnel in today’s gospel is illustrating.  It is very difficult to distinguish between the wheat and the weeds, especially when they are almost identical when young.  We will not know whether they are wheat or weeds until they are fully grown.  This is true for many of us in the world today.  With so much information on the internet and social media, we find it even more challenging to filter out what is truth and what is falsehood.  Many of us are deceived by the arguments of the world proposing values contrary to the gospel.  What is evil is presented as good and attractive.  What is destructive for us in the long run is made to be good for now.
Thirdly, the Lord also knows that we are always under the temptation of the Evil One.  Jesus explained, “The sower of the good seed is the Son of Man.  The field is the world; the good seed is the subjects of the kingdom; the darnel, the subjects of the evil one; the enemy who sowed them, the devil.”  Satan, therefore, is always seeking to destroy the Kingdom of God, of truth, love, peace and joy.  Indeed, Paul makes it clear that our battle is not just against human flesh.  “Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”  (Eph 6:11f)
In the light of the situation we are in, the Lord knows that the path to holiness remains a struggle for us.  After all, the author to the Hebrews wrote, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”  (Heb 4:15-16)  Jesus understands our temptations and weaknesses more than anyone of us since He Himself had been tempted.
So the Lord gives us more than a second chance.  He gives us endless chances so long as we are on earth. He told Peter that we should forgive “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.”  (Mt 18:22)  This is why the psalmist could so confidently proclaim that “he Lord is compassion and love, slow to anger and rich in mercy. His wrath will come to an end; he will not be angry for ever. He does not treat us according to our sins nor repay us according to our faults. For as the heavens are high above the earth so strong is his love for those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west so far does he remove our sins. As a father has compassion on his sons, the Lord has pity on those who fear him.”
Indeed, the Lord is always patient with us.  He knows that we need time to grow and to learn from our mistakes.  This is the reason why the Church does not believe that death penalty is the way to save a person.  Rather, the Church believes that everyone must be given another chance so long as he is alive.  Some might take a longer time to come to self-realization, others shorter.  But the Church, like our Lord, with patient endurance, hopes the sinner will make amends and change his life.  In the final analysis, it is not just about saving lives but most of all, eternal life.  For God and the Church, the soul of a person is priceless and we must do all we can to save the soul of the person.  Until the final judgement, God gives us the opportunity to change. “Well then, just as the darnel is gathered up and burnt in the fire, so it will be at the end of time.”
But that does not mean that we will not suffer the consequences of our sins already in this life.  These consequences are permitted by the Lord but they do not come from Him.  God does not take revenge but human beings do.  So when we do wrong, human beings demand justice, or rather revenge.  This is what St Paul wrote, “Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit.”  (Gal 6:7f)  Then again, we must understand that such consequences of sin are meant to give us the opportunity to reflect on our lives so that we can come to repentance rather than further resentment.  If we are humble enough, we will take these sufferings positively as a wakeup call for us to change.   They are not punishments as such, but means to help us see the truth of what we are doing, and how they are hurting people, including ourselves.
Through our sufferings, we come to realize that we are loved by God and chosen by Him to be His living Tabernacle, not just in the Eucharist but in our very own body.  We are the Temple of the Holy Spirit and the abiding presence of God.  So let our lives be the Meeting Place where our brothers and sisters can meet God in us.  But before we can meet God in us, like Moses, let us meet God in the Temple, in the Tabernacle, and most of all, in the Eucharist because He wants to speak to us, comfort us, enlighten us in truth and love.  He wants to speak to us as He did “with Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.”


Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved

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