20200327
CATHOLICS
ON TRIAL
27 March, 2020, Friday, 4th
Week in Lent
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
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First reading
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Wisdom 2:1,12-22 ©
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Let us lie in wait for the virtuous man and condemn him to a
shameful death
The godless say
to themselves, with their misguided reasoning:
‘Our
life is short and dreary,
nor
is there any relief when man’s end comes,
nor
is anyone known who can give release from Hades.
Let
us lie in wait for the virtuous man, since he annoys us
and
opposes our way of life,
reproaches
us for our breaches of the law
and
accuses us of playing false to our upbringing.
He
claims to have knowledge of God,
and
calls himself a son of the Lord.
Before
us he stands, a reproof to our way of thinking,
the
very sight of him weighs our spirits down;
his
way of life is not like other men’s,
the
paths he treads are unfamiliar.
In
his opinion we are counterfeit;
he
holds aloof from our doings as though from filth;
he
proclaims the final end of the virtuous as happy
and
boasts of having God for his father.
Let
us see if what he says is true,
let
us observe what kind of end he himself will have.
If
the virtuous man is God’s son, God will take his part
and
rescue him from the clutches of his enemies.
Let
us test him with cruelty and with torture,
and
thus explore this gentleness of his
and
put his endurance to the proof.
Let
us condemn him to a shameful death
since
he will be looked after – we have his word for it.’
This
is the way they reason, but they are misled,
their
malice makes them blind.
They
do not know the hidden things of God,
they
have no hope that holiness will be rewarded,
they
can see no reward for blameless souls.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm 33(34):16,18,19-21,23 ©
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The
Lord is close to the broken-hearted.
The
Lord turns his face against the wicked
to
destroy their remembrance from the earth.
They
call and the Lord hears
and
rescues them in all their distress.
The
Lord is close to the broken-hearted.
The
Lord is close to the broken-hearted;
those
whose spirit is crushed he will save.
Many
are the trials of the just man
but
from them all the Lord will rescue him.
The
Lord is close to the broken-hearted.
He
will keep guard over all his bones,
not
one of his bones shall be broken.
The
Lord ransoms the souls of his servants.
Those
who hide in him shall not be condemned.
The
Lord is close to the broken-hearted.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Joel2:12-13
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Praise
to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Now,
now – it is the Lord who speaks –
come
back to me with all your heart,
for I
am all tenderness and compassion.
Praise
to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
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Or:
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Mt4:4
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Praise
to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Man
does not live on bread alone,
but
on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Praise
to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
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Gospel
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John 7:1-2,10,25-30 ©
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They would have arrested him, but his time had not yet come
Jesus stayed in
Galilee; he could not stay in Judaea, because the Jews were out to kill him.
As
the Jewish feast of Tabernacles drew near, after his brothers had left for the
festival, he went up as well, but quite privately, without drawing attention to
himself. Meanwhile some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, ‘Isn’t this the
man they want to kill? And here he is, speaking freely, and they have nothing
to say to him! Can it be true the authorities have made up their minds that he
is the Christ? Yet we all know where he comes from, but when the Christ appears
no one will know where he comes from.’
Then,
as Jesus taught in the Temple, he cried out:
‘Yes,
you know me
and
you know where I came from.
Yet I
have not come of myself:
no,
there is one who sent me
and I
really come from him,
and
you do not know him,
but I
know him because I have come from him
and
it was he who sent me.’
They would have
arrested him then, but because his time had not yet come no one laid a hand on
him.
CATHOLICS ON TRIAL
The Catholic Church,
especially the hierarchy, has been under constant attack by the world today
over her teachings against
abortion, euthanasia, same-sex union and promiscuity. This is not surprising,
especially in the age of social media where information is disseminated
instantly. Whatever happened or said in one place will go viral within
minutes. Furthermore, with an exaggerated form of freedom of speech, this leads
to abuse, threats and even violence. We should not be surprised that the
world opposes us because from the beginning of Christianity, the Church has
always been persecuted. In the gospel, the opponents of Jesus also wanted to
kill Him. In the primitive Church, the apostles and disciples of Christ
were brought to court, beaten up and even put to death. The
scripture readings cites some reasons why those of us who speak the truth and
try to be faithful to the teaching of the gospel are ridiculed, criticized and
even condemned by the world.
Firstly, many who oppose
the teachings of the Church are sincerely ignorant. The Book of Wisdom says, “They do not know
the hidden things of God, they have no hope that holiness will be rewarded,
they can see no reward for blameless souls.” In a world of mass
communication and digital technology, one is exposed to so many views and
opinions on every subject that it becomes extremely difficult to determine what
is true. Some intelligent people can argue their position persuasively, making
what is wrong to be right. Some are good at deceiving the innocent with
their words, twisting the facts or presenting half-truths. Therefore, we
can appreciate that when one is presented with a diarrhea of knowledge and
information, and often, with no time to verify the truth of it, we tend to
accept the information on face value without investigating the truth of the
matter. Indeed, there is so much news spreading all the time that we do
not know whether they are fake or true. So how can we blame those who are
non-believers when even our own Catholics do not know their faith or bother to
understand the reasons for our doctrinal and moral issues?
Secondly, those whose
lifestyle we condemn naturally react against our objections. Our lives
become a reprimand to their lifestyle. We become a source of annoyance to
them. Those unhappy
with us will say, “Let us lie in wait for the virtuous man, since he annoys us
and opposes our way of life, reproaches us for our breaches of the law and
accuses us of playing false to our upbringing.” They also say, “Before us
he stands, a reproof to our way of thinking, the very sight of him weighs our
spirits down; his way of life in not like other men’s, the paths he treads are
unfamiliar. In his opinion, we are counterfeit; he holds aloof from our
doings as though from filth.” Understandably, when one faults your
lifestyle and condemns what you are doing, one will retaliate and defend his or
her lifestyle. Is not this what the Lord said, “the light has come into
the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were
evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so
that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come
to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in
God.” (Jn 3:19-21)
Thirdly, those whose
lifestyle is objectionable by society because of our teaching and the influence
we have on society, want to condition society to change their perception with mass media,
entertainment, politics, technology, and constant social media messaging.
In other words, they seek to normalize what is irregular, such as transgender,
same-sex union, abortion, divorce, drugs and euthanasia. They do not want
to feel like they are the odd ones in society. They want society to adopt
their norms so much so that if we are not doing what they are doing, we become
abnormal in society. Unfortunately, the minority speaks the loudest
because the majority does not feel the need to defend their position.
However, because we keep silent, after some time, the minority voice becomes
the dominant and acceptable voice.
Fourthly, there are
those who are really malicious and evil. It is not because of ignorance that they
seek to discredit the Church and her teachings. They are bent on doing
evil and are under the influence of the Evil one. As the Book of Wisdom
says, “Their malice makes them blind.” Such people are selfish,
inward-looking and care only for their own interests and pleasure. They
do not have a heart for society, the future of humanity, nor are they concerned
about the unity and integrity of our families. They are determined to destroy
the future generation by destroying marriage and family life. They do not
care whether our children will be raised holistically in an ambience of
unconditional love and support of both of their parents.
In truth, Catholics,
especially the hierarchy of the Church, also have ourselves to blame for the
hostile and negative reaction to Catholicism. The fact is that we do not
practice what we preach.
This is the worst among all the faults of Catholics. We are
counter-witnesses because we act contrary to what we believe. This is
what our enemies are saying of us. “He claims to have knowledge of God,
and calls himself a son of the Lord. He proclaims the final end of the
virtuous as happy and boasts of having God for his father.”
Unfortunately, we do not live as children of God. We do not live a
virtuous life. We contradict our words by our actions. Hence, we
lose credibility in the world. The most scandalous example is paedophilia
committed by the clergy and religious; and the subsequent cover up by religious
authorities. Not only have the clergy shown themselves to be unfaithful
to a life of chastity but they have also harmed young children under their
fatherly care! What is also unforgivable for many is that instead of
taking action against the paedophile to prevent him from causing more harm, the
Church authorities allowed them to continue in their sinful ways.
Indeed, the world is
waiting for us Catholics to be true to what we claim and what we believe. The real trial is not in the
courtroom but in the world. How we live will determine whether we are
credible. This is what the world is saying, “Let us see if what he says
is true, let us observe what kind of end he himself will have. If the
virtuous man is God’s son, God will take his part and rescue him from the
clutches of his enemies. Let us test him with cruelty and with torture,
and thus explore this gentleness of his and put his endurance to the
proof. Let us condemn him to a shameful death since he will be looked
after – we have his word for it.” In other words, they want proof that we
are true to our claims.
Jesus shows us the way
to authenticity in faith.
When questioned by His opponents, the Lord said to them. “Yes, you know
me and you know where I came from. Yet I have not come of myself: no,
there is one who sent me and I really come from him, and you do not know him,
but I know him because I have come from him and it was he who sent me.”
Jesus was fully conscious of His identity as the Son of God. He knew His
Father intimately. He and the Father are one. (cf Jn 10:30)
Everything has been given and revealed to Him because He is the Son of
the Father. (cf Mt 11:27) Jesus was conscious that He was not just
the Son of the Father but He was sent by the Father. Whatever He did, it was
done in union with the Father. Jesus said, “The Son can do nothing on his own,
but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son
does likewise.” (Jn 5:19) Jesus remained firm in His ministry and
mission. He was not fearful of the rejection of the Jews. He
continued to remain faithful to His words until the end even if it meant death.
What about us? Are
we the cause of the lack of faith and confidence in the Church today? Is it because of our inability to
articulate our faith, whether in explaining our beliefs or in living out the
gospel life thereby bringing discredit to our faith? We must never forget
that we are on trial every day. Non-Catholics, including nominal and
lapsed Catholics, are looking at us to see whether we are faithful to what we
profess. We need to grow in consciousness of our identity as the children
of God and the disciples of our Lord through study, prayer and
contemplation. Unless we put on Christ in the way we think and live, we
cannot be credible witnesses of our Lord in a skeptical world.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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