20200229
THE
JOY OF REPENTANCE
29 February,
2020, Saturday After Ash Wednesday
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
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First reading
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Isaiah 58:9-14 ©
|
You will be like a spring whose waters never run dry
The Lord says
this:
If
you do away with the yoke,
the
clenched fist, the wicked word,
if
you give your bread to the hungry,
and
relief to the oppressed,
your
light will rise in the darkness,
and
your shadows become like noon.
The
Lord will always guide you,
giving
you relief in desert places.
He
will give strength to your bones
and
you shall be like a watered garden,
like
a spring of water
whose
waters never run dry.
You
will rebuild the ancient ruins,
build
up on the old foundations.
You
will be called ‘Breach-mender’,
‘Restorer
of ruined houses.’
If
you refrain from trampling the sabbath,
and
doing business on the holy day,
if
you call the Sabbath ‘Delightful’,
and
the day sacred to the Lord ‘Honourable’,
if
you honour it by abstaining from travel,
from
doing business and from gossip,
then
shall you find your happiness in the Lord
and I
will lead you triumphant over the heights of the land.
I
will feed you on the heritage of Jacob your father.
For
the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
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Responsorial
Psalm
|
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Psalm 85(86):1-6 ©
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Show
me, Lord, your way so that I may walk in your truth.
Turn
your ear, O Lord, and give answer
for
I am poor and needy.
Preserve
my life, for I am faithful;
save
the servant who trusts in you.
Show
me, Lord, your way so that I may walk in your truth.
You
are my God, have mercy on me, Lord,
for
I cry to you all the day long.
Give
joy to your servant, O Lord,
for
to you I lift up my soul.
Show
me, Lord, your way so that I may walk in your truth.
O
Lord, you are good and forgiving,
full
of love to all who call.
Give
heed, O Lord, to my prayer
and
attend to the sound of my voice.
Show
me, Lord, your way so that I may walk in your truth.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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cfPs94:8
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Glory
to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
Harden
not your hearts today,
but
listen to the voice of the Lord.
Glory
to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
|
Or:
|
Ezk33:11
|
Glory
to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
I
take pleasure, not in the death of a wicked man
– it
is the Lord who speaks –
but
in the turning back of a wicked man
who
changes his ways to win life.
Glory
to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
|
Gospel
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Luke 5:27-32 ©
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Jesus comes not to call the virtuous, but sinners to repentance
Jesus noticed a
tax collector, Levi by name, sitting by the customs house, and said to him,
‘Follow me.’ And leaving everything he got up and followed him.
In
his honour Levi held a great reception in his house, and with them at table was
a large gathering of tax collectors and others. The Pharisees and their scribes
complained to his disciples and said, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax
collectors and sinners?’ Jesus said to them in reply, ‘It is not those who are
well who need the doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the virtuous,
but sinners to repentance.’
THE JOY OF
REPENTANCE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ISAIAH 58:9-14; PS 86:1-6; LUKE 5:27-32 ]
Lest the emphasis on
doing penance during the season of Lent gives the impression this is a gloomy
period of the Church’s year, the liturgy today seeks to correct such a negative
attitude. Indeed,
we should not think that repentance is for the sake of God and that God wishes
to humiliate us, as if He is a joy killer. On the contrary, what God
desires for us is fullness of life. He had said it repeatedly in the
scriptures. “I came that they may have life, and have it
abundantly.” The Good News is about restoring us to fullness of
life. Indeed, it is for this reason that He came.
However, in order to
live in the light and share in the life of God, we must give up our sinful way
of life. We cannot
sincerely say that we want to be in the light and yet live in darkness.
St Paul wrote, “For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became
believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside
the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably
as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and
licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy.” (Rom 13:11-13) Indeed, the choice is
ours. We cannot find peace and rest unless we repent of our sins.
God desires to give us light and love, but we must give up darkness and hatred.
In similar words, the
prophet Isaiah said, “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the
pointing finger and malicious talk ….” So long as we oppress others, our lives
will be full of anger, fear, anxiety and hatred. Such a person creates
his own hell and misery. So, too, when someone is always accusing
others and using foul language, slandering others, it only shows that the person
is full of bitterness and lacking peace in his heart. Instead of letting
go of what is hurting him, he continues to lick his wounds, nurse them,
embellish his pain and reinforce his bitterness against life, others and
himself.
The way out of our misery and emptiness in
life is to do what the prophet advised us. “If you spend
yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then
your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the
noonday.” When we use our energy and resources thinking of how
to help the poor and relieve the sufferings of the oppressed, we would have
less time to think of our own perceived and exaggerated hurts. Instead of
using our energy and talents for evil and retaliation, we should employ them
positively for the service of our fellowmen, especially the poor and the
marginalized. When we reach out to those who are suffering, those who are
hungry and sick, and when we see their faces lighted up, the joy we receive is
incomparable to all the worldly things we acquire. Not only do we
light up their lives and faces, we light up our lives as well.
The truth is that when
we bless others, God will bless us directly or through others, not always
financially but in different ways, such as peace, love and joy; meaning,
purpose and fulfillment. Indeed,
God will not abandon a just man. The psalmist testifies, “I have been
young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or their
children begging bread. They are ever giving liberally and lending, and their
children become a blessing.” (Ps 37:25f) Indeed, when we are kind to
others, although not all will repay us with goodness, generally, most people
are grateful. They will acknowledge our kindness. Thus, the prophet
said, “The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a
sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a
well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Your people will
rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will
be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.” In
giving of ourselves, God will give us back in ways that we cannot imagine
because He cannot be outdone in generosity. We will have a share of His
joy and peace.
The way to walk in the
light is to follow Levi in today’s gospel. When the Lord called him, he did not hesitate
but “got up, left everything and followed him.” Levi was grateful to the
Lord for giving him a new lease of life. He knew that his way of life,
whilst bringing him wealth, made him miserable. He lived in guilt and
shame. He was alienated from his people and stood condemned before
God. He knew that cheating and betraying his people for wealth was not in
accordance with the plan of God. Therefore, when the Lord called him, he
seized the opportunity. He did not tarry because grace might pass him
by. He dropped everything, his livelihood, his wealth and his past and
followed our Lord.
We, too, during the
season of Lent, must once again recall our privilege to be baptized as
Catholics. For adults, where
were you and how did you feel when you were baptized? For those of us who
were cradle Catholics, what sentimental and beautiful experiences did we have
of our faith and Catholic traditions? Only by recalling where we were and
where we are now, can we come to realize that we have strayed from the path of
holiness which we were then seeking. We should value the gift of faith
planted in our hearts. St Paul in his writing to Timothy reminded him of
this when he said, “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived
first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives
in you. For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is
within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a
spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of
self-discipline.” (2 Tim 1:5-7)
This calls for a
commitment to the Lord. Putting God as the center of our life is what
helps us to walk the way of life.
“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please
on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day
honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you
please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I
will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the
inheritance of your father Jacob.” We must observe the Sabbath, not
slavishly like the religious leaders who had no life and were joy killers by
insisting that others lived that way. Jesus wants us to live the spirit of
the gospel so that we can be true neighbours to our brothers and sisters.
Many of us turn inwards, simply because we make ourselves the center of
the lives of others. Often, false gods, power, fame, glory and
wealth take center stage in our lives. Now we must make Jesus the
center of our lives.
Indeed, this was what
Levi did after encountering the Lord. He became an apostle to his fellow
sinners. He organized a
dinner so that many of his own kind who never knew the mercy and love of God
could feel God’s love through Jesus too. Levi wanted to give hope
to his fellow tax collectors and let them know that God was also reaching out
to them through Jesus. What he received gratuitously, he wanted others,
especially his colleagues, to encounter Jesus. Hence, “Levi held a
great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and
others were eating with them.” Obviously, the Pharisees and the Scribes
were scandalized that Jesus was eating and drinking with tax collectors and
sinners.
Again, the message of
the Lord is clear. He retorted, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor,
but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to
repentance.” Jesus
came precisely for sinners, like a physician whose work is to heal the
sick. Those who are healthy do not need Jesus, only those who are
sick. In other words, when Jesus calls us, it is to make us healthy
again, to give us life, not to make our life miserable. So during this
season of Lent, we must take this period to rethink how we should live our life
more meaningfully and selflessly. Only those who see the truth about the
shortness of life will know how fragile our life is. We must not waste it
away chasing after illusory happiness, such as money, power and fame.
True happiness in life consists of walking in union with the Lord, with a clear
and good conscience, doing our work well and responsibly, living out our
vocation as we strive towards perfection of charity in life. Lent is to
empower us to live such a life by taking away our sins and by helping us to
focus on God and our neighbours.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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