20191017
THE
SCOURGE OF THE CATHOLIC FAITH
17 OCTOBER,
2019, Thursday, 28th Week, Ordinary Time
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First reading
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Romans 3:21-30 ©
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God’s justice that was made known through
the Law and the Prophets has now been revealed outside the Law, since it is the
same justice of God that comes through faith to everyone, Jew and pagan alike,
who believes in Jesus Christ. Both Jew and pagan sinned and forfeited God’s
glory, and both are justified through the free gift of his grace by being
redeemed in Christ Jesus who was appointed by God to sacrifice his life so as
to win reconciliation through faith. In this way God makes his justice known;
first, for the past, when sins went unpunished because he held his hand, then,
for the present age, by showing positively that he is just, and that he
justifies everyone who believes in Jesus.
So what becomes of our boasts?
There is no room for them. What sort of law excludes them? The sort of law that
tells us what to do? On the contrary, it is the law of faith, since, as we see
it, a man is justified by faith and not by doing something the Law tells him to
do. Is God the God of Jews alone and not of the pagans too? Of the pagans too,
most certainly, since there is only one God.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 129(130):1-6 ©
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With the Lord there is
mercy, and fullness of redemption.
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord,
Lord, hear my voice!
O let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleading.
With the Lord there is
mercy, and fullness of redemption.
If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt,
Lord, who would survive?
But with you is found forgiveness:
for this we revere you.
With the Lord there is
mercy, and fullness of redemption.
My soul is waiting for the Lord.
I count on his word.
My soul is longing for the Lord
more than watchman for
daybreak.
With the Lord there is
mercy, and fullness of redemption.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Ps110:7,8
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Your precepts, O Lord, are all of them
sure;
they stand firm for ever and ever.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Jn14:6
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Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, says
the Lord;
No one can come to the Father except
through me.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 11:47-54 ©
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Jesus said: ‘Alas for you who build the
tombs of the prophets, the men your ancestors killed! In this way you both
witness what your ancestors did and approve it; they did the killing, you do
the building.
‘And
that is why the Wisdom of God said, “I will send them prophets and apostles;
some they will slaughter and persecute, so that this generation will have to
answer for every prophet’s blood that has been shed since the foundation of the
world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was murdered
between the altar and the sanctuary.” Yes, I tell you, this generation will
have to answer for it all.
‘Alas
for you lawyers who have taken away the key of knowledge! You have not gone in
yourselves, and have prevented others going in who wanted to.’
When
he left the house, the scribes and the Pharisees began a furious attack on him
and tried to force answers from him on innumerable questions, setting traps to
catch him out in something he might say.
THE SCOURGE OF
THE CATHOLIC FAITH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ Rom 3:21-30; Ps 129:1-6; Lk 11:47-54]
The Catholic Church is such an irony. On one hand, we see so much
goodness in the Catholic Church. We take joy in being the largest
single Christian Church in the world with more than one billion members.
We also take pride that we are the most organised Church in terms of
hierarchical control over all the churches and members. We also boast of
the extent of our social services, which range from education, medical, and
services to the poor, abused children and women, unwanted pregnancies, the
migrants, the elderly, the abandoned, the oppressed, the sick and all sorts of
people suffering from disabilities or are disadvantaged in life.
Indeed, many of our Catholics are involved in serving the poor in some ways.
But on the other hand, most of our Church
members are nominal Catholics. Most of them are hardly active in church or in church
ministry. Many do not even attend church services every Sunday.
Many hardly understand their faith or are able to explain or share their faith
with others. 35% of our Catholics in our archdiocese come regularly for
Sunday Mass. They love the Church and are happy to receive some spiritual
input every weekend. They do some works of charity and donate some money
to the collection box. Yet, beyond giving a few dollars for the
maintenance of the Church, they do not contribute to the mission of the Church,
the spread of the gospel, the formation of faith of our Catholics.
Why are there so many nominal Catholics in
our churches? One of the reasons is the way our Catholics have been
brought up in the faith. They
believe that salvation is by good works. Although it is never
the Church’s teaching that salvation is by obedience to the laws and good
works, this belief is deeply ingrained in our sub-conscious. This is why
Catholics tend to be legalistic and calculative when it comes to observance of
the laws. And the truth is, besides the many laws found in the Bible, the
Church has her own laws. There are 1752 canon laws. Besides canon
laws, we have liturgical laws, etc. The Catholic Church is so organised
that there is a law to ensure order in every aspect of the functioning of the
Church. So much so, Catholics often become over scrupulous in the
observance of the laws of the Church. They are anxious to justify
themselves by observing the laws meticulously, asking questions about the exact
rules of fasting and abstinence, fulfilling Sunday obligations, etc. Many
do good works especially for the poor because it gains them points for entry
into heaven and to compensate for other failures. But not many
Catholics see the importance of deepening their faith or witnessing the Good
News to others. Catholics believe that if they are good, well-behaved and
do nothing wrong, they are saved and worthy before God.
The danger of reliance on mere observance
of the laws is firstly, we become self-righteous, measuring ourselves against
others who do not fulfill the laws. We think highly of ourselves simply
because we are able to observe the laws. The sin of egoism and pride is
committed. This was the case of the Pharisees and the scribes in the
gospel whom Jesus criticised. They were contented simply to observe the
external performance of the laws. Jesus said, “Alas for you who build the
tombs of the prophets, the men your ancestors killed! In this way you both
witness what your ancestors did and approve it; they did the killing, you do
the building.” We think highly of ourselves. We are ignorant of our
own sins and faults. Indeed, this is seen by the way people are demanding
justice. They want justice to be done for them and punishments be meted
out against those who fail to observe the laws. We condemn those
who fail in keeping the laws. The truth is that none of us is just before
God. St Paul makes it clear, “both Jew and pagan sinned and forfeited
God’s glory.” We are all equal before God in that we are all
sinners. We all deserve punishment regardless who we are. Hence, St
Paul wrote, “So what becomes of our boasts? There is no room for them.
What sort of law excludes them? The sort of law that tells us what to do?”
Secondly, a mere external observance of
the law is the cause of a nominalistic faith. We are contented so long as we do what the law
requires. It is a calculated approach to our relationship with God.
Legalism causes us to do the minimum so long as the law is met. It does
not empower the person to do more. The motive for observing the law is
not out of love for God or our fellowmen but out of fear, pride and
self-protection. One can observe the law, but without love, conviction or
sincerity. It is merely an external performance. It does not change
the egoism of the heart but merely for display, public approval and
recognition. But the person is not changed from within because the
laws are kept but not the spirit of the laws. Jesus reprimanded the Scribes,
“Alas for you lawyers who have taken away the key of knowledge! You have not
gone in yourselves, and have prevented others going in who wanted to.”
This explains why many Catholics can attend Mass on Sunday but their heart is
not there. They are not participating or attentive at mass. They
are physically there, fulfilling an obligation but their spirit is far
away. It is also true for priests and religious who are obliged to pray
the Liturgy of the Hours. One can merely recite the prayers as stipulated
but the mind and heart is occupied somewhere else. Indeed, we can fulfill
the laws and obligation but that that does not make us better Christians.
Thirdly, when we reduce faith to mere
observance of the laws, we are limiting the love of God. We make God into a puny godling who,
like a policeman, is waiting to catch us sinning, so that He could punish us by
sending us to hell. We think that God is so calculative that when we die,
He will show us the list of wrongs and omissions in our lives. God’s love
is bigger than our love. St John says, “God so loved the world that he
gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may
have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the
world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (Jn 3:16f) This is what St Paul wants to
underscore in the first reading. “Both Jew and pagan sinned and forfeited
God’s glory, and both are justified through the free gift of his grace by being
redeemed in Christ Jesus who was appointed by God to sacrifice his life so as
to win reconciliation through faith. In this way God makes his justice
known; first, for the past, when sins went unpunished because he held his hand,
then, for the present age, by showing positively that he is just, and that he
justifies everyone who believes in Jesus.”
Clearly, therefore we must hold as St Paul
taught us, “a man is justified by faith and not by doing something the Law
tells him to do.” It
is our faith in God’s love in Christ that saves us. We are justified by
faith alone, apart from the law. “God’s justice that was made known through the
Law and the Prophets has now been revealed outside the Law, since it is the
same justice of God that comes through faith to everyone, Jew and pagan alike,
who believes in Jesus Christ.” Faith in Jesus is what will save us.
But this faith in God’s love is always manifested in good works. As St
James reminded us, “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is
dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds.’ Show me your faith
without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.” (Jms
2:17f) With the Galatians, St Paul reminded them, “You who are trying to
be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen
away from grace. For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the
righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither
circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts
is faith expressing itself through love.” (Gal 5:4-6) Only those good works which
comes from faith in God’s love for us counts.
In truth, as the Lord said there is only
one commandment, which is to love God and to love our neighbour as ourselves. (Mk 12:29-31) St Paul sums up all the
laws as love. “Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the
one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘You shall not
commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not
covet’; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, ‘Love your
neighbour as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore, love is
the fulfilling of the law.” (Rom 13:8-10) If we love God, we
will love our neighbour as much. And even if we fail in love because of
human imperfections, we have confidence that God will justify us by His love
for “with the Lord there is mercy, and fullness of redemption.”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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