20191127
THE
WRITING ON THE WALL FOR SECULARISM AND RELATIVISM
27 NOVEMBER,
2019, Wednesday, 34th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Daniel 5:1-6,13-14,16-17,23-28 ©
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The writing on the wall
King Belshazzar
gave a great banquet for his noblemen; a thousand of them attended, and he
drank wine in company with this thousand. As he sipped his wine, Belshazzar
gave orders for the gold and silver vessels to be brought which his father
Nebuchadnezzar had looted from the sanctuary in Jerusalem, so that the king,
his noblemen, his wives and his singing women could drink out of them. The gold
and silver vessels looted from the sanctuary of the Temple of God in Jerusalem
were brought in, and the king, his noblemen, his wives and his singing women
drank out of them. They drank their wine and praised their gods of gold and
silver, of bronze and iron, of wood and stone. Suddenly the fingers of a human
hand appeared, and began to write on the plaster of the palace wall, directly
behind the lamp-stand; and the king could see the hand as it wrote. The king
turned pale with alarm: his thigh-joints went slack and his knees began to
knock.
Daniel
was brought into the king’s presence; the king said to Daniel, ‘Are you the
Daniel who was one of the Judaean exiles brought by my father the king from
Judah? I am told that the spirit of God Most Holy lives in you, and that you
are known for your perception, intelligence and marvellous wisdom. As I am told
that you are able to give interpretations and to unravel difficult problems, if
you can read the writing and tell me what it means, you shall be dressed in
purple, and have a chain of gold put round your neck, and be third in rank in
the kingdom.’
Then
Daniel spoke up in the presence of the king. ‘Keep your gifts for yourself,’ he
said ‘and give your rewards to others. I will read the writing to the king
without them, and tell him what it means. You have defied the Lord of heaven,
you have had the vessels from his Temple brought to you, and you, your
noblemen, your wives and your singing women have drunk your wine out of them.
You have praised gods of gold and silver, of bronze and iron, of wood and
stone, which cannot either see, hear or understand; but you have given no glory
to the God who holds your breath and all your fortunes in his hands. That is
why he has sent the hand which, by itself, has written these words. The writing
reads: Mene, Mene, Tekel and Parsin.
The meaning of the words is this: Mene:
God has measured your sovereignty and put an end to it; Tekel: you have been weighed in the balance and found wanting; Parsin: your kingdom has been
divided and given to the Medes and the Persians.’
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Daniel 3:62-67 ©
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Sun
and moon! bless the Lord.
Give
glory and eternal praise to him!
Stars
of heaven! bless the Lord.
Give
glory and eternal praise to him!
Showers
and dews! all bless the Lord.
Give
glory and eternal praise to him!
Winds!
all bless the Lord.
Give
glory and eternal praise to him!
Fire
and heat! bless the Lord.
Give
glory and eternal praise to him!
Cold
and heat! bless the Lord.
Give
glory and eternal praise to him!
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Lk21:36
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Alleluia,
alleluia!
Stay
awake, praying at all times
for
the strength to stand with confidence
before
the Son of Man.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Rv2:10
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Alleluia,
alleluia!
Even
if you have to die, says the Lord,
keep
faithful, and I will give you
the
crown of life.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 21:12-19 ©
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Your endurance will win you your lives
Jesus said to his
disciples: ‘Men will seize you and persecute you; they will hand you over to
the synagogues and to imprisonment, and bring you before kings and governors
because of my name – and that will be your opportunity to bear witness.
Keep this carefully in mind: you are not to prepare your defence, because I
myself shall give you an eloquence and a wisdom that none of your opponents
will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and
brothers, relations and friends; and some of you will be put to death. You will
be hated by all men on account of my name, but not a hair of your head will be
lost. Your endurance will win you your lives.’
THE WRITING ON
THE WALL FOR SECULARISM AND RELATIVISM
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Dan 5:1-6, 13-14, 16-17, 23-28; Dan 3:62-67; Lk 21:12-19]
In the first reading, we
read how King Belshazzar was enjoying himself with his noblemen. He was feeling great about himself, his
power and his kingdom. He must have thought he was the most powerful man
on earth, and invincible. Hence, he could do whatever he liked. He
had no respect for the Sacred. So much so, he committed sacrilege
by using the gold and silver vessels taken from the sanctuary of the Temple for
the guests to drink out of them. He had become oblivious to what was
right and wrong. When someone is so powerful, so used to being served and
getting whatever he demands, he tends to have an exaggerated notion of
self-importance. He thinks everyone is at his beck and call.
Indeed, this is the way
the modern man feels as well. He
thinks he is very intelligent because he is well-educated and holds a few
academic degrees. Just because he is scientifically and technologically
advanced, he thinks he can solve all the problems in the world. He does
not need to rely on any god or spirit but himself. He is proud of his
skills and knowledge. He believes that man has the capacity to
solve all problems sooner or later. Hence, there is no God and no
spiritual world. Man is the summit of life. There is no one before
or after him. He is the reference point of everyone.
This is the reason why
there is a growing number of atheists and humanists in today’s world. Before the advance of science and
technology, man believed he was at the mercy of some capricious god/s who
sought to control human beings according to their whims and fancies. The
world was then overly superstitious, believing that all their problems were due
to the fact that the gods were not appeased. But after the introduction
of science and technology, God was no longer needed to fill the gaps in
life. All problems can now be solved by man, if not today, maybe in time
to come. The answer and solution will not come from God because there is
no God but from man and his intelligence. That answer can be found in
man.
As a result of pride,
man has become arrogant. Not
only does he refuse to acknowledge the supremacy of God, but those who are
believers in religion are marginalized from society. Believers are
perceived to be naïve and silly. This is why most believers are ashamed
to let people know that they have faith in God. When asked about our
religion, the trend is say that we are free thinkers or humanists. We
think that we will be better respected this way because it shows that we are
not ruled by anyone except knowledge, science and reason. Man
believes in absolute freedom to do whatever he wants, whatever he likes.
In many places, this freedom as a human right is so exaggerated that the right
to free speech means the right to say whatever we want without due regard to
the sensitivities of others, or of truth or decency. Freedom is promoted
at the expense of the freedom of others. His freedom has become an abused
freedom.
In some places,
believers are not just discriminated but persecuted. Jesus warned His disciples, “‘Men
will seize you and persecute you; they will hand you over to the synagogues and
to imprisonment, and bring you before kings and governors because of my
name. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relations and
friends; and some of you will be put to death.” Indeed, even today, in
our own families, there is division because not only do we have members of different
religions but also those without religion. As a consequence, we no longer
have shared values, especially moral values. We disagree almost on
everything, from the necessity of having a gender, to same-sex marriage,
adoption by same sex couples, abortion, euthanasia, in-vitro fertilization,
even drug-taking. Indeed, in today’s world, it is very difficult to agree
on anything because of relativism, which is an offshoot of secularism, the
denial of the Absolute.
As the first reading
tells us, the writing is on the wall. Where is our society heading? Have we become a more gracious,
righteous, compassionate and integrated people, or have we become more
disorientated and divided? Could we honestly say that with the advent of
secularism, relativism, pragmatism, society is much better off, more united and
our people are much happier, living a fulfilling life, and our families are
stronger and children more civilized and gracious? Can we honestly say
that with modern equipment, military weapons, science and technology, this
world is a much safe place to live in? If it were so, why are there still
so many wars, terrorist acts that have made every place unsafe to be in,
increasing numbers of people committing suicide, sexual crimes and indecent
acts, gambling and drug-addiction, human trafficking?
Unfortunately, many of
us are not ready to reckon with the reality of our times. No one wants to be a prophet
because true prophets are not welcomed. Only false prophets who tell the
people that what they are doing is good, is the right thing to do, give people
absolute freedom, normalize what used to be abnormal so that after some time,
what is evil is now seen to be good. Because we did not arrest and check the
false propaganda and the unhealthy trends of the world, those things we failed
to condemn have over time now become accepted as the norm of life.
For failing to exercise
our responsibility to be a witness of the truth and of Christ, we will have to
face the consequences of our cowardice and irresponsibility. This was the judgment of God against King
Belshazzar. Firstly, he was condemned for not recognizing the
authority of God and the sacredness of His Temple. “You have defied the
Lord of heaven, you have had the vessels from his Temple brought to you, and
you, your noblemen, your wives and your singing women have drunk your wine out
of them.” Secondly, he failed to acknowledge God as his creator and that
all he had belonged to God. “You have praised gods of gold and
silver, of bronze and iron, of wood and stone, which cannot either see, hear or
understand; but you have given no glory to the God who holds your breath and
all your fortunes in his hands.” On account of these, the judgment of God
was meted out. “The meaning of the words is this: Mene: God has measured
your sovereignty and put an end to it; Tekel: you have been weighed in the
balance and found wanting; Parsin: your kingdom has been divided and given to
the Medes and the Persians.”
Indeed, one day,
humanity will suffer the same fate as King Belshazzar for not acknowledging the
authority of God. For
thinking so highly of ourselves and abusing the freedom given to us, God will
put an end to our freedom by taking it away. When freedom is abused, it
is no longer freedom but another form of slavery, whether to drugs, sex,
pornography, drinking, gambling or cheating. When we do not use our
talents and resources the Lord has given to us properly and for the good of
others, they will be taken away from us eventually. We will lose them
because of ill health, and the consequences of our sins and
negligence. So, like the king, God will say to us, “you have been
weighed in the balance and found wanting” and as a consequence, the whole of
humanity will become more divided because without any objective truth to rely
on, everyone is the point of reference.
So, just as the Kingdom
of Babylon would be “divided and given to the Medes and the Persians”, so too
will we be divided, as is happening in the world today. There is a growing protectionism versus
inclusivity, nationalism versus globalization, individualism over the common
good. Every man is for himself, his needs, his enjoyment, his fulfillment and
his security. How can society continue when we have become a society
without morality, without values, without a vision for tomorrow, without a
future after death and life on earth? When what we do today have no
eternal consequences and the future of humanity and this earth is in doubt, why
would anyone want to invest time, energy and resources to save humanity?
When that happens, no one would be willing to sacrifice oneself for a lost
cause. So we will end up with a society that just cares for itself and
for today.
However, for us as
disciples of the Lord, we must endure and not allow the annihilating principles
of the world to influence us to live as if there is no tomorrow and no future. The Lord exhorts us, in such a
hostile and divided climate, “to bear witness.” We must resist succumbing to
the world and its destructive ideology. We must continue to speak the
truth, be the voice of conscience for humanity and most of all, to articulate
the truth of the gospel without fear or favour, trusting and knowing that the
Lord is with us, to give us “an eloquence and a wisdom that none of your
opponents will be able to resist or contradict.” Indeed, we are
assured by the Lord that He will protect us if we endure to the end. “You
will be hated by all men on account of my name, but not a hair of your head
will be lost. Your endurance will win you your lives.”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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