20191027
HUMILITY
AS THE BASIS FOR A COMPASSION HEART
27 OCTOBER,
2019, Sunday, 30th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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Ecclesiasticus
35:12-14, 16-19 ©
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The Lord is a judge
who is no respecter of
personages.
He shows no respect of personages to the
detriment of a poor man,
he listens to the plea of the
injured party.
He does not ignore the orphan’s
supplication,
nor the widow’s as she pours
out her story.
The man who with his whole heart serves
God will be accepted,
his petitions will carry to
the clouds.
The humble man’s prayer pierces the
clouds,
until it arrives he is
inconsolable,
And the Lord will not be slow,
nor will he be dilatory on
their behalf.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm
33(34):2-3,17-19,23 ©
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The poor man called; the
Lord has heard him.
I will bless the Lord at all times,
his praise always on my lips;
in the Lord my soul shall make its boast.
The humble shall hear and be
glad.
The poor man called; the
Lord has heard him.
The Lord turns his face against the wicked
to destroy their remembrance
from the earth.
The just call and the Lord hears
and rescues them in all their
distress.
The poor man called; the
Lord has heard him.
The Lord is close to the broken-hearted;
those whose spirit is crushed
he will save.
The Lord ransoms the souls of his
servants.
Those who hide in him shall
not be condemned.
The poor man called; the
Lord has heard him.
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Second reading
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2 Timothy 4:6-8,16-18 ©
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My life is already being poured away as a
libation, and the time has come for me to be gone. I have fought the good fight
to the end; I have run the race to the finish; I have kept the faith; all there
is to come now is the crown of righteousness reserved for me, which the Lord,
the righteous judge, will give to me on that Day; and not only to me but to all
those who have longed for his Appearing.
The
first time I had to present my defence, there was not a single witness to
support me. Every one of them deserted me – may they not be held
accountable for it. But the Lord stood by me and gave me power, so that through
me the whole message might be proclaimed for all the pagans to hear; and so I
was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me
from all evil attempts on me, and bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To
him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Mt11:25
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are you, Father,
Lord of heaven and earth,
for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom
to mere children.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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2Co5:19
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Alleluia, alleluia!
God in Christ was reconciling the world to
himself,
and he has entrusted to us the news that
they are reconciled.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 18:9-14 ©
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Jesus spoke the following parable to some
people who prided themselves on being virtuous and despised everyone else: ‘Two
men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax collector.
The Pharisee stood there and said this prayer to himself, “I thank you, God,
that I am not grasping, unjust, adulterous like the rest of mankind, and
particularly that I am not like this tax collector here. I fast twice a week; I
pay tithes on all I get.” The tax collector stood some distance away, not
daring even to raise his eyes to heaven; but he beat his breast and said, “God,
be merciful to me, a sinner.” This man, I tell you, went home again at rights
with God; the other did not. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,
but the man who humbles himself will be exalted.’
HUMILITY AS THE
BASIS FOR A COMPASSION HEART
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ECCL 35:12-14, 16-19; PS 34; 2 TIM 4:6-8, 16-18; LK 18: 9-14 ]
The scripture readings
today present to us three kinds of people that see themselves in the eyes of
God. How
we see ourselves before God will determine the way we relate with others in
life as well. In the gospel, we have the parable of the Pharisee and the
Tax-collector where both gave an account of themselves before God. In the
second reading, St Paul was giving an account of his mission in life to the
people. It is significant that all three see themselves differently
before God and therefore acted differently.
In the case of the
Pharisee, he saw himself as a righteous person. We must not think that all
Pharisees were hypocritical and not sincere in living a holy and righteous
life. On the contrary, they were called, “Pharisees” because of their
desire to be separated from those who lived sinful lives and not be contaminated
by them. They were by and large disciplined in their religious and prayer
life and committed to the observance of the commandments of God, often going
beyond the demands of the law. For example, like the Pharisee in
today’s parable, some would fast twice a week although the law only required
them to fast once a year on the Day of Atonement. He, too, observed the
commandment of paying tithes on all his income.
The tax collectors on
the other hand must not be seen as if they were “saints” and that Jesus reckoned
them to be “holier” and more “acceptable” to God in their way of life. Indeed, by their collaboration with the
Romans, they were already considered as traitors of the Jews. But what
was even more sinful was that most tax collectors were greedy and often cheated
the people by over taxing them. Hence, they were generally regarded
as people with low moral standards and condemned to hell.
Hence, we must get the
parable right. Otherwise, many of us might leave the Church thanking God
that we are not the Pharisee but the tax-collector! Indeed, this is the real irony of the
Church today. Many of us are not proud to be a Pharisee, that is, to
appear as holy or to live holy lives. In the world today, even those of
us who are holy and righteous, are afraid to demonstrate to others otherwise
people might think we are the untouchables, not because we are holy before them
but because we are not in touch with life! Indeed, the novelty today in
the world is to live like a tax-collector, to show to others that we are
sinners, committing adultery, sleeping around, smoking, drinking excessively,
uttering all kinds of fowl words, indulging in pornography and sensual
activities. Today, it has become a fashion to do all these things and say
that we are cool. Otherwise, we are square.
Indeed, in no way was
Jesus advocating that we should live our life like the tax-collector and that
the life of the Pharisee was wrong.
On the contrary, that is what was demanded by the law. What was wrong
with the Pharisee and what was right with the Tax-collector was not so much
what they did but the attitude that they had with respect to their good works
or failures in life and their motives for doing what they did or failed to do.
Jesus was not condemning
how the Pharisee lived his religious life but the danger of pride being
manifested in living a righteous life.
Before God, he was claiming merits and credit for all that he did. He
thought that his ability to live a holy life was all his hard work and
discipline. He was giving credit to himself and demanding from God the
reward due to him. So much so, because of his pride and
self-righteousness, he despised those who failed to live as he
lived. He had a disdain for sinners because he considered himself
the righteous one. Hence, his prayer was not directed to God but to
himself. “I thank you, God, that I am not grasping, unjust, adulterous
like the rest of mankind, and particularly that I am not like this tax
collector here. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes on all I get.” It
was all about himself.
A person who is
self-righteous lacks humility.
He fails to realize that holiness and doing good is dependent on the grace of
God. Without His grace, we cannot do good or live a holy life. We
have nothing to boast except the grace and mercy of God. We should
therefore be humble and thankful to God for showering us with His gifts.
If we are truly humble, then we will feel with those who are not able to live a
life of righteousness because they are tempted by sin, ignorance and sometimes
pride. They are hurting and destroying themselves and the lives of their
loved ones. Indeed, because of pride that leads to self-righteousness, we
tend to condemn sinners and those who fail.
Nowadays, we have many
self-proclaimed judges not appointed by God or by men. They appoint themselves, using the
social media to make judgments on others, dishing out harsh words, often based
on hearsay and presumption, not knowing the full circumstances of the case,
much less the mitigating circumstances that caused a person to sin. When
we are not the one, we can condemn. But we are all sinners at some time
in some ways. We escape condemnation simply because others have not found
out about our double life and we have not yet been exposed on social media!
This was what was wrong with the Pharisee, not because he lived a righteous
life.
As for the
tax-collector, Jesus was not condoning his cheating and dishonesty. Sin is sin. Jesus was not justifying
the sins of the tax-collector or nullifying the good works of the
Pharisee. He was approving of his sincere attitude in recognizing his
sinfulness. The tax-collector knew that he did wrong. For whatever
reasons, he could not get out of the system or of his sins. But we can be
sure that he too was seeking salvation and for the grace to live a life of
righteousness. He knew himself and was contrite and sincere in his
heart. Hence, he had nothing much to say before God except, “God, be
merciful to me, a sinner.” It was a prayer that came from the heart.
God always hears the
prayers of people who pray with humility from the heart. This is what Sirach tells us.
“The Lord is a judge who is no respecter of personages. He shows no respect of
personages to the detriment of a poor man, he listens to the plea of the
injured party. He does not ignore the orphan’s supplication, nor the widow’s as
she pours out her story. The man who with his whole heart serves God will be
accepted, his petitions will carry to the clouds. The humble man’s prayer
pierces the clouds, until it arrives he is inconsolable, and the Lord will not
be slow, nor will he be dilatory on their behalf.” Hence, the Lord
remarked, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the man who
humbles himself will be exalted.”
St Paul in the second
reading helps us to put both extreme positions in perspective. He certainly sought to live the life of
grace and gave himself entirely to the work of the proclamation of the
gospel. He wrote to Timothy saying, “My life is already being
poured away as a libation, and the time has come for me to be gone. I have
fought the good fight to the end; I have run the race to the finish; I have
kept the faith.” But he said this not as something that he achieved on
his own account. He was always conscious that it was the Lord who
justified him when he was the greatest among sinners. “Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst. But for that very
reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus
might display his immense patience as an example for those who would
believe in him and receive eternal life.” (1 Tim 1:15f)
As a consequence, he was
also forgiving towards those who opposed him and those who betrayed him. “The first time I had to present my
defence, there was not a single witness to support me. Every one of them
deserted me.” However, he did not hold any grudge against his enemies and
detractors because he knew and felt with them in their ignorance and
pride. He was one of them before. He could identify with
them. Hence, his prayer was like that of Jesus on the cross, “may they
not be held accountable for it.” When we are humble and grateful for God’s
mercy and grace in our lives, we will also be kind and gentle with others.
Indeed, St Paul knew he
could do what he did purely by God’s grace and mercy. “But the Lord stood by me and gave
me power, so that through me the whole message might be proclaimed for all the
pagans to hear; and so I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will
rescue me from all evil attempts on me, and bring me safely to his heavenly
kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” Because of God’s mercy
for him in his life and mission on earth, he had great confidence and hope in
God that upon his death, “all there is to come now is the crown of
righteousness reserved for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give
to me on that Day; and not only to me but to all those who have longed for his
Appearing.”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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