20191116
SEEKING
JUSTICE IN HIS TIME AND IN HIS WISDOM
16 NOVEMBER,
2019, Saturday, 32nd Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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Wisdom 18:14-16,19:6-9 ©
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When peaceful silence lay over all,
and night had run the half of her swift
course,
down from the heavens, from the royal
throne, leapt your all-powerful Word;
into the heart of a doomed land the stern
warrior leapt.
Carrying your unambiguous command like a
sharp sword,
he stood, and filled the universe with
death;
he touched the sky, yet trod the earth.
For, to keep your children from all harm,
the whole creation, obedient to your
commands,
was once more, and newly, fashioned in its
nature.
Overshadowing the camp there was the
cloud,
where water had been, dry land was seen to
rise,
the Red Sea became an unimpeded way,
the tempestuous flood a green plain;
sheltered by your hand, the whole nation
passed across,
gazing at these amazing miracles.
They were like horses at pasture,
they skipped like lambs,
singing your praises, Lord, their
deliverer.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm
104(105):2-3,36-37,42-43 ©
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Remember the wonders the
Lord has done.
or
Alleluia!
O sing to him, sing his praise;
tell all his wonderful works!
Be proud of his holy name,
let the hearts that seek the
Lord rejoice.
Remember the wonders the
Lord has done.
or
Alleluia!
He struck all the first-born in their
land,
the finest flower of their
sons.
He led out Israel with silver and gold.
In his tribes were none who
fell behind.
Remember the wonders the
Lord has done.
or
Alleluia!
For he remembered his holy word,
which he gave to Abraham his
servant.
So he brought out his people with joy,
his chosen ones with shouts of
rejoicing.
Remember the wonders the
Lord has done.
or
Alleluia!
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Gospel Acclamation
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Jm1:21
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Accept and submit to the word
which has been planted in you
and can save your souls.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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cf.2Th2:14
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Through the Good News God called us
to share the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 18:1-8 ©
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Jesus told his disciples a parable about
the need to pray continually and never lose heart. ‘There was a judge in a
certain town’ he said ‘who had neither fear of God nor respect for man. In the
same town there was a widow who kept on coming to him and saying, “I want
justice from you against my enemy!” For a long time he refused, but at last he
said to himself, “Maybe I have neither fear of God nor respect for man, but
since she keeps pestering me I must give this widow her just rights, or she
will persist in coming and worry me to death.”’
And
the Lord said ‘You notice what the unjust judge has to say? Now will not God
see justice done to his chosen who cry to him day and night even when he delays
to help them? I promise you, he will see justice done to them, and done
speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find any faith on earth?’
SEEKING JUSTICE
IN HIS TIME AND IN HIS WISDOM
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ Wis 18:14-16; 19:6-9; Ps 105:2-3,36-37,42-43; Lk 18:1-8]
Justice is something
owed to every human person. There
are things which we call “human rights”, even though we might not all agree
what these rights are. It is in our DNA that everyone seeks justice in
life. When we feel that our rights our violated, the instinctive response is to
demand justice. We seek justice not just for ourselves, but also for our
loved ones, and especially for those who are vulnerable in society. This
was so in the case of the widow in the parable who kept coming to the Judge and
demanding, “I want justice from you against my enemy!” In the
ancient days, the social position of widows was listed alongside that of
orphans because they were without any means of living. Once their husband
dies and if they were childless, all the property and assets of their husband
would be passed on to the male brothers and children of the husband’s
family. So the widows were very vulnerable and many were without financial
support.
Very often, the pursuit
of redress of an injustice is not heard, or if taken up by the authorities, the
outcome is deemed to be unjust. On one hand, there is the frustration of those who
seek justice in their lives. They often accuse the authorities of not
listening to their complaints and resolving them accordingly. This indeed
could have been the case in the gospel when the unjust judge refused to take up
the cry of the widow. It is said that delays in taking up the cause of
justice itself is a great injustice. On the other hand, we also have to
acknowledge the frustrations of those who have to hear the cases and have their
verdict rejected because the plaintiffs and the accused feel the judgment is
unjust. So often, none is satisfied with how justice is handled. At
times, those who make judgments are misunderstood, slandered and often maligned
for miscarrying justice, impartiality and incompetency.
For this reason, the
path in seeking justice often takes a long time. Those of us who are
seeking justice must thus be patient. This is what the Lord is exhorting
us. We are all aware that some crimes take years to investigate and
equally long for the court to try a person and make a judgement. It
is a painful and laborious process of listening to the views and voice of
everyone, sorting out facts from presumption, perception from objectivity, and
truth from half-truths. We need the persevering and patient attitude of
the woman in our pursuit of justice. If we are thinking of quick justice,
it could also mean a bungled and slipshod judgment. At the end of the
day, it was the persevering and tenacious pursuit of justice that won the day
for the widow. Those who give up easily should not expect justice to be
done, because justice is a process and God works through human beings and
nature.
In the case of the
unjust judge, the grace of God does not destroy human nature but perfects human
nature. We read that the
judge “had neither fear of God nor respect for men.” He was lazy and
presumably jaded like some of us in authority. Because we are always
hearing complaints all the time, sometimes we are overwhelmed by so many
complaints that we become indifferent to them. It is just another
case. It is not about someone who is feeling aggrieved or hurt that we
empathize with and want to take action to heal the pain. Yet in spite of
man’s weakness, complacency and fatigue, the Lord will stretch us to our limits
through the persistent petition for redressing justice. In the case of
the judge, he said after the relentless appeal of the widow, “I have neither
fear of God nor respect for man, but since she keeps pestering me I must give
the widow her just rights, or she will persist in coming and worry me to
death.” God writes straight in crooked lines. Even if a judge is
not responsible or when the authority does not act, we do not have to take
things into our own hands. We do not have to use violence as many do in a
situation when they fight for justice.
Patience demands that we
place our faith in God.
This is the other theme of today’s scripture readings. The Lord said,
“You notice what the unjust judge has to say? Now will not God see justice done
to his chosen who cry to him day and night even when he delays to help them? I
promise you, he will see justice done to them, and done speedily. But when the
Son of Man comes, will he find any faith on earth?” God will indeed see
that justice is done and done speedily. But we need to have faith.
The real problem for us is that we have a different measure of what we mean by
‘speedily’. St Peter wrote, “Do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that
with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like
one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of
slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to
come to repentance.” (2 Pt 3:8-10) It is not that God is slow
in meting out justice but His justice is not just for the victim but also for
the oppressor. God desires to save us all, good and bad alike. He
“who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the
truth.” (1 Tim 2:4)
In the first reading
from the book of Wisdom, the author praised God for the wonders He did for the
Hebrews in Egypt,
setting them free from slavery, brought them out of Egypt, dried up the sea so
that they could cross dry-shod, protecting them from their enemies and the Sun
by the pillar of Cloud, giving them light by the pillar of fire. But it
took the Lord, four hundred years to set the Hebrews free from slavery and
another forty years wandering in the desert before they had a land which they
could call their own; and even then it took almost two hundred years before the
Kingdom of Israel was established and all the twelve tribes united under King
David.
Deliverance takes
time. Salvation was not achieved in a single day or a year even.
Indeed, this is true for those who desire change in their lives or that of
their loved ones.
Some of us are in deep depression and never seem to be able to get out of their
hole. Some appear to be incorrigible. Many times, as care-givers,
we feel like giving up hope on them. Those who are struggling with
depression, failure, addiction, bad habits, also feel like giving up, and
consigning themselves as condemned and useless. Giving up on those
suffering or giving up on ourselves will do us more harm. We must
persevere in faith, be patient and believe that God is unfolding His plans to
us. He has His reasons why He does not intervene at this
moment. We must trust that He knows best and He knows when to
act. We must therefore wait patiently for the grace of God to take
effect in our lives, whether of the oppressor or the victim. One thing is
clear, God will act and when He does, He acts decisively.
So today, let us take
courage if we feel that the Lord is not acting on our behalf or that He is
apparently not hearing our prayers.
This is certainly not the case. God is much greater than the unjust judge
in the gospel. God is our heavenly Father. He loves us all, saint
or sinner. We are all important to Him. That is why He sent us His
only Son to be identified with us in our pains and struggles. Jesus
Himself not only carried our infirmities in His body but also our sins and the
effects of sin in His own body. St Peter wrote, “Christ also suffered for
you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps. ‘He
committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.’ When he was abused, he
did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted
himself to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body
on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by
his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Pt 2:21-24)
Instead, let us be
encouraged by contemplating on the wonders of God working in our lives. The psalmist says, “Tell all his
wonderful works! He struck all the first-born in their land, the finest flower
of their sons. He led out Israel with silver and gold. For he remembered his
holy word, which he gave to Abraham his servant. So he brought out his people
with joy.” We, too, must share with each other through testimonies, of
what God has done for us. Only when we hear of His gracious powers in
transforming and healing lives, can we find faith in Him.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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