20180112 FAITH AND REASON
2 JANUARY, 2018, Friday, 1st Week, Ordinary Time
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
First reading
|
1 Samuel 8:4-7,10-22 ©
|
All the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at
Ramah. ‘Look,’ they said to him ‘you are old, and your sons do not follow your
ways. So give us a king to rule over us, like the other nations.’ It displeased
Samuel that they should say, ‘Let us have a king to rule us’, so he prayed to
the Lord. But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Obey the voice of the people in all
that they say to you, for it is not you they have rejected; they have rejected
me from ruling over them.’
All that the
Lord had said Samuel repeated to the people who were asking him for a king He
said, ‘These will be the rights of the king who is to reign over you. He will
take your sons and assign them to his chariotry and cavalry, and they will run
in front of his chariot. He will use them as leaders of a thousand and leaders
of fifty; he will make them plough his ploughland and harvest his harvest and
make his weapons of war and the gear for his chariots. He will also take your
daughters as perfumers, cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields,
of your vineyards and olive groves and give them to his officials. He will
tithe your crops and vineyards to provide for his eunuchs and his officials. He
will take the best of your manservants and maidservants, of your cattle and your
donkeys, and make them work for him. He will tithe your flocks, and you
yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out on
account of the king you have chosen for yourselves, but on that day God will
not answer you.’
The people
refused to listen to the words of Samuel. They said, ‘No! We want a king, so
that we in our turn can be like the other nations; our king shall rule us and
be our leader and fight our battles.’ Samuel listened to all that the people
had to say and repeated it in the ears of the Lord. The Lord then said to
Samuel, ‘Obey their voice and give them a king.’
Responsorial Psalm
|
Psalm 88(89):16-19 ©
|
I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.
Happy the people who acclaim such a king,
who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face,
who find their joy every day in your name,
who make your justice the source of their bliss.
I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.
For you, O Lord, are the glory of their strength;
by your favour it is that our might is exalted;
for our ruler is in the keeping of the Lord;
our king in the keeping of the Holy One of Israel.
I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.
Gospel Acclamation
|
cf.Ep1:17,18
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Alleluia, alleluia!
May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
enlighten the eyes of our mind,
so that we can see what hope his call holds for us.
Alleluia!
Or
|
Lk7:16
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
A great prophet has appeared among us;
God has visited his people.
Alleluia!
Gospel
|
Mark 2:1-12 ©
|
When Jesus returned to Capernaum, word went round that he was
back; and so many people collected that there was no room left, even in front
of the door. He was preaching the word to them when some people came bringing
him a paralytic carried by four men, but as the crowd made it impossible to get
the man to him, they stripped the roof over the place where Jesus was; and when
they had made an opening, they lowered the stretcher on which the paralytic
lay. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, ‘My child, your sins are
forgiven.’ Now some scribes were sitting there, and they thought to themselves,
‘How can this man talk like that? He is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but
God?’ Jesus, inwardly aware that this was what they were thinking, said to them,
‘Why do you have these thoughts in your hearts? Which of these is easier: to
say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven” or to say, “Get up, pick up your
stretcher and walk”? But to prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on
earth to forgive sins,’ – he turned to the paralytic – ‘I order you:
get up, pick up your stretcher, and go off home.’ And the man got up, picked up
his stretcher at once and walked out in front of everyone, so that they were
all astounded and praised God saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this.’
FAITH AND REASON
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ 1 SM 8:4-7,
10-22;
PS 89:16-19; MK 2:1-12 ]
In the first reading from the book of Samuel, we read of
how the people petitioned Samuel to give them a king. It must be remembered that until the
appointment of Saul as the first King of Israel, the Israelites had no other
king except Yahweh, unlike the pagan nations. God ruled Israel through His
intermediaries by appointing prophets and judges as in the case of Moses,
Aaron, Joshua and the judges recorded in the Book of Judges. It can be
said that Israel was basically a theocratic government. In other words, God was
recognized as the head of State. God governed His people through His
appointed prophets or kings. It was believed that regardless whether they
were judges or kings, they ruled the country based on divine revelation.
Hence all laws, divine, civil or customs had to be observed strictly.
Perhaps, during the time of Moses and Samuel, because the
people were truly in touch with God, a theocratic state could work out. The leaders received a special charism
to form the People of God. They received special divine inspiration to
guide the people in its infancy stage of the evolution of the kingdom.
Yet, over time, the leaders were not always faithful to God. We read that
“the sons of Eli were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord or for the
duties of the priests to the people.” (1 Sm 2:12) That was
why God raised Samuel to be the judge and priest for the Lord. But
history repeats itself. We read, “When Samuel became old, he made his
sons judges over Israel. Yet his sons did not follow in his ways, but turned
aside after gain; they took bribes and perverted justice.” (1 Sm 8:1,3)
It was within this context of the corrupted judges and
their abuses that the appeal of the elders of Israel for a king was made. The justification given was,
“Look, you are old, and your sons do not follow your ways. So give us a
king to rule over us, like the other nations.” In truth, if the sons were
faithful to the Lord, the leaders would not have asked for a king like the
other nations. It was true that the people rejected the judges after
Samuel because they were corrupt. It is said that absolute power corrupts
absolutely. The point therefore is that faith alone is not
sufficient to rule a state. We need reason to check the balance of
power. Even Moses needed the help of the 70 elders to help him
manage the affairs of the State. This points to the dangers of a
theocratic state as it can lead to abuses and fundamentalism, as we see in some
political systems.
On the other hand, the warning of Samuel was equally
pertinent and real. He warned them of the possible abuses of the King as
well, if he were not
faithful and obedient to the Lord, and reminded them that he was only a
representative of Yahweh. He said, “These will be the rights of the king
who is to reign over you. He will take your sons and assign them to his
chariotry and cavalry, and they will run in front of his chariot. He will
use them as leaders of a thousand and leaders of fifty; he will make them
plough his ploughland and harvest his harvest and make his weapons of war and
the gear for his chariots. He will also take your daughters as perfumers,
cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields, of your vineyards
and olive groves and give them to his officials. He will tithe your crops
and vineyards to provide for his eunuchs and his officials. He will take
the best of your manservants and maidservants, of your cattle and your donkeys,
and make them work for him. He will tithe your flocks, and you yourselves
will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out on account
of the king you have chosen for yourselves, but on that day God will not answer
you.” All that Samuel said of course came true in the history of Israel
and Judah when the bad and evil kings abused their power and trust, lived only
for themselves and caused injustices especially to the poor, and supported
cronyism.
What lessons can we draw for today’s world? Whilst it is true that God does
appoint prophets and judges and inspire them, yet, faith does not deny the use
of reason. Hence, the Church has wisely separated the responsibilities of
the Church and the State, that is, between faith and reason. The
Church’s doctrines are dependent on faith and reason. However, reason is
not sufficient to know the fullness of truth. Revelation is needed, and
to receive revelation, faith is required. For the administration of the
country, it is the duty of the State to rule the people with justice based on
reason. The task of the Church is to purify reason with faith, enabling
the political and civil leaders to see deeper into the truth of the policies
they formulate for the people on the basis of natural laws. Whilst the Church
does not interfere with the State, her duty is to help the State to rule with
justice and compassion in truth and in love.
What is said for faith and reason with respect to religion
and the State, the same parallel is extended to our relationship with God as
well. In the
gospel, Jesus also referred to the intrinsic relationship between faith and
reason. For the man to be healed totally, faith is required.
Although it was true that he did not have sufficient faith yet to believe in
Jesus, his friends gave him the impetus to accept Jesus and His words in
faith. It was in faith that the man received the forgiveness of
sins. It was not just because he was physically sick and paralyzed, but
the primary healing that was needed was from a spiritual malady.
Nature and the spiritual world are very much more connected than what most
people think. Man is body and spirit and therefore many of our sicknesses
are connected with the weakness of the human spirit, dulled and blinded by
sins. Accordingly, Jesus knew that what the man needed first and foremost
was spiritual healing before any physical restoration could take place.
On the other hand, He was very much aware that the
objection of the onlookers was valid since they did not have faith in Him. It was right that they asked,
“How can this man talk like that? He is blaspheming. Who can
forgive sins but God?” Since they were without faith, it was necessary
for Jesus to validate His claims that indeed, the man’s sins had been forgiven.
“But to prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive
sins,’ – he said to the paralytic – ‘I order you: get up, pick up your
stretcher, and go off home.’ And the man got up, picked up his stretcher
at once and walked out in front of everyone, so that they were all astounded
and praised God saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this.’”
Once again, we see the close relationship between faith and
reason. A man of
deep faith can understand more about God. When we trust someone, we can
appreciate the person better than if we were skeptical of that person. Trust
removes prejudices; opens the mind and the heart to the other person.
But
faith is not sufficient because it can be irrational and we can be
deceived. Faith needs reason to substantiate beliefs so that faith,
even whilst dependent on revelation and trust, can stand up to reason.
Faith requires the work of reason so that faith can be purified and show itself
to be intelligible even though it transcends reason. Faith is not to be
reduced to mythology. Reason therefore is the work of theology, which is an
attempt to present the doctrines of faith in a systematic and reasonable
manner.
Faith enables us to walk the truth, respecting the rule of
reason and yet recognizing the fact of divine revelation of God’s plan in
Christ. Faith is
not against reason but enables reason to arrive at the fullness of truth.
In this way, with faith and reason working together, God continues to rule our
lives as we acclaim His sovereignty over us. With the psalmist, we
pray, “Happy the people who acclaim such a king, who walk, O
Lord, in the light of your face, who find their joy every day in your name,
who make your justice the source of their bliss. For you, O Lord,
are the glory of their strength; by your favour it is that our might is
exalted; for our ruler is in the keeping of the Lord; our king in the
keeping of the Holy One of Israel.”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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