20190918
IS
THE CHURCH THE PILLAR OF TRUTH?
18 SEPTEMBER,
2019, Wednesday, 24th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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1 Timothy 3:14-16 ©
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At the moment of writing to you, I am
hoping that I may be with you soon; but in case I should be delayed, I wanted
you to know how people ought to behave in God’s family – that is, in the
Church of the living God, which upholds the truth and keeps it safe. Without
any doubt, the mystery of our religion is very deep indeed:
He was made visible in the flesh,
attested by the Spirit,
seen by angels,
proclaimed to the pagans,
believed in by the world,
taken up in glory.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 110(111):1-6 ©
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Great are the works of
the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
I will thank the Lord with all my heart
in the meeting of the just and
their assembly.
Great are the works of the Lord,
to be pondered by all who love
them.
Great are the works of
the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
Majestic and glorious his work,
his justice stands firm for
ever.
He makes us remember his wonders.
The Lord is compassion and
love.
Great are the works of
the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
He gives food to those who fear him;
keeps his covenant ever in
mind.
He has shown his might to his people
by giving them the lands of
the nations.
Great are the works of
the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
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Gospel Acclamation
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cf.1Th2:13
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Accept God’s message for what it really
is:
God’s message, and not some human
thinking.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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cf.Jn6:63,68
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are
life;
you have the message of eternal life.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 7:31-35 ©
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Jesus said to the people:
‘What
description can I find for the men of this generation? What are they like? They
are like children shouting to one another while they sit in the market-place:
‘“We played the pipes for you,
and you wouldn’t dance;
we sang dirges,
and you wouldn’t cry.”
‘For John the Baptist comes, not eating
bread, not drinking wine, and you say, “He is possessed.” The Son of Man comes,
eating and drinking, and you say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of
tax collectors and sinners.” Yet Wisdom has been proved right by all her
children.’
IS THE CHURCH
THE PILLAR OF TRUTH?
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ 1 TIm 3:14-16; Ps 111:1-6; Lk 7:31-35 ]
Today, many Catholics
and Christians no longer believe in the Church as an institution. Faith tends
to be subjective. One
believes what one wants to believe. This is partly due to the ideology
and dictatorship of relativism. When faith is subjective, then we no
longer have the truth. If faith is a subjective reality, we can end up
worshipping a figment of our imagination. Then this God we worship would
be a God created in the image of man. Then there would be no reality or truth
in what we believe. This will lead to moral relativism, since what we
believe will impact the way we live our lives. One cannot say that one’s
belief in God or in a particular religion has nothing to do with one’s moral
behavior.
For this reason, St Paul
wrote to Timothy reminding him that the Church is the pillar of truth. “I wanted you to know how people
ought to behave in God’s family – that is, in the Church of the living God,
which upholds the truth and keeps it safe.” St Paul is clear
that the Church in which God lives is the basis for her claim to the
truth. Christ who lives in the Church and promises to be with her until
the end of time protects the Church from falling into falsehood. Jesus
said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching
them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you
always, to the end of the age.” (Mt 28:19f) He does this through
His Church that He founded. “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on
this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail
against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and
whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on
earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Mt 16:18f)
Indeed, the truth is
that Christian religion is based on faith in divine revelation as transmitted
to us through the Church.
St Paul wrote, “Without any doubt, the mystery of our religion is very deep
indeed: He was made visible in the flesh, attested by the Spirit, seen by
angels, proclaimed to the pagans, believed in by the world, taken up in
glory.” The doctrines of the Incarnation, the Resurrection and the
Ascension are rooted in faith. Without faith in God’s revelation through
Jesus Christ whom the Church professed to be the Son of God, the Second Person
of the Holy Trinity through the Holy Spirit, we would not be able to come to
faith in Christ. Even the Bible is revealed, but not without the Church
because she is the one that finally decided which book is inspired and which is
not for inclusion in the canonical writings. Again only the Church can
teach us the truth of the sacraments that Christ left behind for the Church so
that we can remain in union with Him through the graces we receive through the
sacraments. Without the Church, we would not be able to understand or
accept all these as truths revealed to us for our salvation.
But of course not all
believe. Many in the world
cannot accept the teachings of the Catholic Church, whether doctrinal or
moral. The world is certainly opposed to our moral values on pro-life at
every stage of human life. The world is up in arms against our promotion
of true love that does not make our partner into a sex object for
pleasure. But should we be surprised? Even Jesus Himself faced much
opposition from His contemporaries during His time. The Jewish religious
leaders found all kinds of excuses to deny the truth of what Jesus taught and
His implicit claims to divine identity. “Jesus said to the people: What description
can I find for the men of this generation? What are they like? They
are like the children shouting to one another while they sit in the market
place: ‘We played the pipes for you, and you wouldn’t dance; we sang dirges,
and you wouldn’t cry.’ For John the Baptist comes, not eating bread, not
drinking wine, and you say, ‘He is possessed.’ The Son of Man comes,
eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of
tax collectors and sinners.'” The underlying reason was that they were
proud and arrogant. They had no desire to change their secured status quo
and comfort. Jesus was a threat to their status, their power and their
interests.
This is equally true of
the world today. No matter what the Church says, her detractors will find
excuses not to believe for fear that they would lose their dictatorship of
freedom to do whatever
they want and to allow their passions to take control of their lives.
Some have taken the Church’s doctrines on human rights and freedom to the
extreme in such a way that denies others their freedom and rights and what is
truly good for society. Crimes are committed today because of a
radical emphasis on individualism – it is my needs first and not that of
others. A freedom that does not respect a higher authority is no longer
freedom but slavery to one’s fleeting passions.
Those who disagree with
the Church’s teachings do so without justification or attempts to find out
exactly what the Church is teaching and the theological, moral and scientific
reasons for the Church’s faith. They only choose to believe what they want to
believe. They will only consult those sources that agree with their
opinions. But are they reading and studying the basis for the Church’s
teaching? St Augustine warns such people, “If you believe what you like
in the gospels, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you
believe, but yourself.” They claim to have an open mind when in fact they
have no foundation in life. Their opinions are ever-changing. They
have not found the truth. This is different from those who have the truth
but are keeping their minds open to dialogue and conversation so as to further
purify their understanding of the truths that they already possess.
Indeed, time will tell
whether the Church’s teachings are right or wrong. When the Church teaches moral
truths, it is always in view of the generations to come. It is for
the protection of the common good and the future of humanity. Pragmatists
only care for themselves and not for the future of humanity. They just
want to do what is popular and good and acceptable for their time. But
have they thought through the implications for future generations? Did
those who introduced contraception see the implications for the depopulation of
the world and the rise of promiscuity and pornography? Do those who
advocate abortion realize that they are opening the door to euthanasia and that
euthanasia is the path to nihilism of the weak and the vulnerable? Those who
advocate same-sex union and transgender, do they foresee what will happen to
our families and our children in years to come? Already with
population control, divorce and contraception we have seen the full impact of
depopulation, increasing sex crimes and violence. As Jesus said, “Yet
wisdom has been proved right by all her children.”
Alas, the Church has
been silenced from speaking the truth because of the scandals in the Church,
making her lose her credibility as the spokesman for morality in the world
today. The destruction
of the Catholic Church’s credibility is the last bastion for the devil to
overcome before it takes control of the world. The Catholic Church under
the Holy Father has always been seen as the world’s moral spokesman. But
today, her credibility has diminished, and she has lost her authority to
proclaim the truth because we have not lived up to the truth. That is why
St Paul was adamant when he wrote, “I wanted you to know how people ought to
behave in God’s family.” Unless we behave according to what we teach or
what we have been taught, our voice will fall on deaf ears or worse, stir up
anger, hostility and opposition for the Church’s failure to protect her young
and vulnerable people from abuses. Indeed, even if we know the truth, the
moment we speak, our detractors will detract others from the truth by focusing
on our failures and the pains we have caused. In that sense, the Church is now
silenced from speaking.
But let us not lose
courage. We will come out of this mess purified and stronger. We will regain our
credibility. However, we need to go through the baptism of fire
first. We must pray that Church authorities have the will to come clean
and strengthen the rules governing bishops and priests so that no one can abuse
his authority. We need to co-opt more lay leaders to help to govern the
Church so that there would be adequate checks and balances on the authority of
Church leaders. Until that is done, our words remain empty and
ineffective. In my opinion, religious leaders should just focus on the
proclamation of the gospel and leave the administration of the Church to the
laity as the apostles did when they appointed deacons. With the psalmist,
we pray, “Majestic and glorious his work, his justice stands firm
forever. He makes us remember his wonders. The Lord is compassion
and love. He gives food to those who fear him; keeps his covenant
ever in mind.”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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