20190716 THE
TRAGEDY OF INDIFFERENCE AND INGRATITUDE
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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Exodus 2:1-15 ©
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Pharaoh's daughter finds Moses among the
bulrushes
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There was a man of the tribe of Levi who
had taken a woman of Levi as his wife. She conceived and gave birth to a son
and, seeing what a fine child he was, she kept him hidden for three months.
When she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him; coating it
with bitumen and pitch, she put the child inside and laid it among the reeds at
the river’s edge. His sister stood some distance away to see what would happen
to him.
Now
Pharaoh’s daughter went down to bathe in the river, and the girls attending her
were walking along by the riverside. Among the reeds she noticed the basket,
and she sent her maid to fetch it. She opened it and looked, and saw a baby
boy, crying; and she was sorry for him. ‘This is a child of one of the Hebrews’
she said. Then the child’s sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, ‘Shall I go and
find you a nurse among the Hebrew women to suckle the child for you?’ ‘Yes, go’
Pharaoh’s daughter said to her; and the girl went off to find the baby’s own
mother. To her the daughter of Pharaoh said, ‘Take this child away and suckle
it for me. I will see you are paid.’ So the woman took the child and suckled
it. When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter who treated
him like a son; she named him Moses because, she said, ‘I drew him out of the
water.’
Moses,
a man by now, set out at this time to visit his countrymen, and he saw what a
hard life they were having; and he saw an Egyptian strike a Hebrew, one of his
countrymen. Looking round he could see no one in sight, so he killed the
Egyptian and hid him in the sand. On the following day he came back, and there
were two Hebrews, fighting. He said to the man who was in the wrong, ‘What do
you mean by hitting your fellow countryman?’ ‘And who appointed you’ the man
retorted, ‘to be prince over us, and judge? Do you intend to kill me as you
killed the Egyptian?’ Moses was frightened. ‘Clearly that business has come to
light’ he thought. When Pharaoh heard of the matter he would have killed Moses,
but Moses fled from Pharaoh and made for the land of Midian.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm
68(69):3,14,30-31,33-34
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Gospel Acclamation
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Ps118:24
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Train me, Lord, to observe your law,
to keep it with my heart.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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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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Gospel
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Matthew 11:20-24 ©
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It will not go as hard with Sodom on
Judgement Day as with you
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Jesus began to reproach the towns in which
most of his miracles had been worked, because they refused to repent.
‘Alas
for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had
been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and
ashes. And still, I tell you that it will not go as hard on Judgement day with
Tyre and Sidon as with you. And as for you, Capernaum, did you want to be
exalted as high as heaven? You shall be thrown down to hell. For if the
miracles done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have been standing yet.
And still, I tell you that it will not go as hard with the land of Sodom on
Judgement day as with you.’
16 JULY, 2019,
Tuesday, 15th Week, Ordinary Time
THE TRAGEDY OF
INDIFFERENCE AND INGRATITUDE
God is our deliverer and
He is our savior.
Indeed, it is God’s desire to save us. He has always wanted to save His
people. It is significant that God saved us so that we can save
others. God saved Moses so that he could save His people. The
name given to Moses means “I draw you out of the waters.” In the
responsorial psalm, the psalmist also prayed, “I have sunk into the mud of the
deep and there is no foothold. I have entered the waters of the deep and
the waves overwhelm me. This is my prayer to you, my prayer for your
favour. In your great love, answer me, O God, with your help that never
fails.” We, too, were in our sins and sank deep in the mess of
life. But Christ saved us through the waters of baptism when we died to
our sins. Through the passion and death of Christ, we are raised with Him
in the resurrected life.
But we are not saved for
our sake. We are always saved for others. When God delivered us, He had in mind for
us to deliver others as well. That was the case of Moses when he was
saved from the waters so that he could lead the people across the waters from
slavery in Egypt to the freedom of the Promised Land. This was true of
Peter and Paul as well. They were saved by the Lord, forgiven and set
free. In turn they became great evangelizers. This is something we
must never forget. God does not bless us just for our sake but for the
sake of others. Moses, likewise, responded by protecting his countryman
from being bullied by an Egyptian. He saw one of them being ill-treated
and his natural instinct was to fight for his rights. Having been rescued
himself, he did the same for others.
Only those who have
suffered much can empathize much. We tend to champion the underdogs only
because we were once underdogs ourselves. Those who have gone through difficult
times can better identify with those who are suffering. That was why
Jesus became man. He assumed our humanity, born into the poverty of His
people and shared in the humanity of His people. For this reason, Jesus
was a compassionate high priest. He understands our pains and our
struggles. He feels with us in our sickness, alienation and
rejection. We, too, especially when we become better off and or have
recovered from our struggles or illnesses, should learn to be more
compassionate with those who are suffering. The call to mission always
springs from a desire to save and heal those who have suffered much like us.
But seeking to save others
does not mean that we should right a wrong with another wrong. Quite often in the world, we see
much violence in the name of justice. So called ‘religious people’ kill
in the name of God. Those who champion justice would kill others to fight
for their rights. We must be careful that we do not
fall into extremes in the desire to help those who are in the same situation
that we were in. That would be only a reaction, not an action on our part
in the face of suffering. In the case of Moses, instead of helping the
situation, he made it worse by killing the Egyptian. In his disgust, he
allowed his anger against injustice done to his countryman to be expressed in
violence. He took things into his own hands. He did not follow the
right way in his desire for justice. To take a life is not in accordance
with the plan of God. This is not the way to right a wrong. We cannot
overcome evil with evil. “Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take
thought for what is noble in the sight of all.” (Rom 12:17) St Paul made it clear.
“Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it
is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ No, ‘if your
enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to
drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’ Do
not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Rom 12:19-21)
As a result Moses had to
flee “from Pharaoh and made for the land of Midian.” Perhaps, God needed to teach Moses
the right way to deliver others from their misery. He had to understand
the ways of God. He had to be healed of his old wounds first before he
could heal others. Otherwise, when we act out of our raw wounds, we tend
to be excessive and reactive towards the oppressors or in undertaking certain
actions. St Paul preached at Damascus soon after his conversion and almost got
himself murdered as well. (cf Acts 9:23-25) He, too, went away to Arabia to
reflect on his conversion experience and grow in his relationship with the
Lord. “Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were already apostles before
me, but I went away at once into Arabia, and afterwards I returned to
Damascus.” (Gal 1:17) It is
always dangerous when one acts from one’s wounds, as many do in their attempts
to fight for the marginalized. It is said that oppressors were once a
victim. So much so that in helping those who are suffering, we act from
the raw wounds that are still hurting us.
On the other hand, there
are those who, although have been helped and delivered, remain inward-looking. They take their privileges for
granted, like the townsfolks from Chorazin and Bethsaida. “Jesus began to
reproach the towns in which most of his miracles had been worked, because they
refused to repent. For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and
Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. And
still, I tell you that it will not go as hard on Judgement day with Tyre and
Sidon as with you.” In spite of the miracles that Jesus performed for them,
they were not responsive to the Good News. Their lives were not changed
or transformed. Perhaps Jesus’ remark in the Sermon on the Mount, “Do not
give what is holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearls before swines, or they
will trample them under foot and turn and maul you” (Mt 7:6), came from such encounters.
There are many who have
taken for granted the blessings they received in life. Instead of being grateful and thankful to
God and to those who have blessed them, they remain indifferent. This is
the tragedy of life. There are some people who are so grateful for the
little things we have done for them. They remember our kindness for life
and in turn want to bless others with whatever blessings they have
received. Indeed, we hear stories of those who have been helped by the
Church when they were poor. Now that they have become rich, they recount
their stories with gratitude to the Church for standing by them in those
difficult times. They remain eternally grateful to God and the Church and
seek to help those who are less fortunate.
Then there are others
whom we have helped much, financially and in so many other ways. They take us for granted, remain
unappreciative and demanding. What is most hurting is that those people
whom we have sacrificed our lives for, given all we could and supported them in
every way, would later turn against us. For such people, we do not
condemn them. They deserve our pity rather than judgment. This was
the way Jesus felt for those people in Chorazin and Bethsaida. He spoke
out of sorrow for them rather than anger at their ignorance and indifference.
At the end of the day, they were the ones who deprived themselves of the
fullness of the grace of God’s blessings.
Today, we are called to
be like the psalmist who is ever so grateful to God for delivering him from the
troubles of life.
“I have sunk into the mud of the deep and there is no foothold. I have
entered the waters of the deep and the waves overwhelm me. In your great
love, answer me, O God, with your help that never fails. As for me in my
poverty and pain let your help, O God, lift me up. I will praise God’s
name with a song; I will glorify him with thanksgiving. The poor when
they see it will be glad and God-seeking hearts will revive; for the Lord
listens to the needy and does not spurn his servants in their chains.”
The Lord listens to the prayers of the needy and those in the depths of their
pain. Filled with gratitude and joy, they glorify God in their
lives. Let us not receive the grace of God in vain, like the people in
the towns that Jesus preached.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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