20200306
INTEGRITY
IS HOLINESS
06 March, 2020,
Friday, 1st Week of Lent
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
|
First reading
|
|
Ezekiel 18:21-28 ©
|
I prefer to see the wicked man renounce his wickedness and live
Thus says the
Lord:
‘If
the wicked man renounces all the sins he has committed, respects my laws and is
law-abiding and honest, he will certainly live; he will not die. All the sins
he committed will be forgotten from then on; he shall live because of the
integrity he has practised. What! Am I likely to take pleasure in the death of
a wicked man – it is the Lord who speaks – and not prefer to see him
renounce his wickedness and live?
‘But
if the upright man renounces his integrity, commits sin, copies the wicked man
and practises every kind of filth, is he to live? All the integrity he has
practised shall be forgotten from then on; but this is because he himself has
broken faith and committed sin, and for this he shall die. But you object,
“What the Lord does is unjust.” Listen, you House of Israel: is what I do
unjust? Is it not what you do that is unjust? When the upright man renounces
his integrity to commit sin and dies because of this, he dies because of the
evil that he himself has committed. When the sinner renounces sin to become
law-abiding and honest, he deserves to live. He has chosen to renounce all his
previous sins; he shall certainly live; he shall not die.’
|
Responsorial
Psalm
|
Psalm 129(130) ©
|
If
you, O Lord, should mark our guilt, Lord, who would survive?
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.
If
you, O Lord, should mark our guilt, Lord, who would survive?
If
you, O Lord, should mark our guilt,
Lord,
who would survive?
But
with you is found forgiveness:
for
this we revere you.
If
you, O Lord, should mark our guilt, Lord, who would survive?
My
soul is waiting for the Lord.
I
count on his word.
My
soul is longing for the Lord
more
than watchman for daybreak.
(Let
the watchman count on daybreak
and
Israel on the Lord.)
If
you, O Lord, should mark our guilt, Lord, who would survive?
Because
with the Lord there is mercy
and
fullness of redemption,
Israel
indeed he will redeem
from
all its iniquity.
If
you, O Lord, should mark our guilt, Lord, who would survive?
|
Gospel
Acclamation
|
cf.Amos5:14
|
Praise
to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Seek
good and not evil so that you may live,
and
that the Lord God of hosts may really be with you.
Praise
to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
|
Or:
|
Ezk18:31
|
Praise
to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Shake
off all your sins – it is the Lord who speaks –
and
make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.
Praise
to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
|
Gospel
|
Matthew 5:20-26 ©
|
Anyone who is angry with his brother will answer for it
Jesus said to his
disciples: ‘If your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and
Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.
‘You
have learnt how it was said to our ancestors: You
must not kill; and if anyone does kill he must answer for it before the
court. But I say this to you: anyone who is angry with his brother will answer
for it before the court; if a man calls his brother “Fool” he will answer for
it before the Sanhedrin; and if a man calls him “Renegade” he will answer for it
in hell fire. So then, if you are bringing your offering to the altar and there
remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there
before the altar, go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come
back and present your offering. Come to terms with your opponent in good time
while you are still on the way to the court with him, or he may hand you over
to the judge and the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison.
I tell you solemnly, you will not get out till you have paid the last penny.’
INTEGRITY IS
HOLINESS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [EZEKIEL 18:21-28; PS 130:1-8; MT 5:20-26]
During this season of
Lent, the call of the Church is towards holiness of life. What is
holiness? On
Monday, the scripture spelt out holiness as charity towards our brothers and
sisters. On Tuesday, we are reminded that God is the Father of us
all. Today, the scripture speaks of holiness in terms of living a life of
integrity. Indeed, what God wants for us all is that we live a wholesome
and integrated life, to be who we are, and that our doing be consistent with
our being. Unless we are integrated people, we will find division within
ourselves, our mind fighting with our heart. When there is no peace
within us, we cause division in society and in the community we belong to.
Consciously or deliberately, we tend to inflict others with the wounds we are
carrying.
But God wants to heal
us. He does not want us to live in our past. He wants us to live in
the present. He wants to give us a second, a third chance. God is not a vindictive God who enjoys
being angry with us or seeks to take revenge on humanity. God only
desires our happiness and peace. For this reason, the moment we repent
and choose to live a life of integrity, He forgives us all the sins of our
past. This was what the Lord said, “If the wicked man renounces all the
sins he has committed, respects my laws and is law-abiding and honest, he will
certainly live; he will not die. All the sins he committed will be forgotten
from then on; he shall live because of the integrity he has practiced. What! Am
I likely to take pleasure in the death of a wicked man – it is the Lord who
speaks – and not prefer to see him renounce his wickedness and live?”
Indeed, God treats us differently.
He does not desire or “take pleasure in the death of a wicked man.”
Truly, God loves each one of us as His child. Which
parent would not forgive his or her children when they repent? The
love and happiness of parents are very much intertwined with the relationship
they have with their children, and vice versa. There is not just a
biological but a spiritual and emotional bond that is stronger than any other
bond. Indeed, the Lord said of Israel, “Zion said,
‘The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me.’ Can a
woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her
womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have
inscribed you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before
me.” (Isa 49:14-16) We
remember the story of the Prodigal Father who welcomed his wayward son without
reservation and conditions. Of course, the Prodigal Father is God
Himself. God desires that we live not to be punished or put to death.
This is so unlike that
of the world. We are vindictive and cruel. We do not love but we act out of
anger and hatred. We simply enjoy taking revenge and our cruel and
wounded heart wants those who hurt us to suffer as much as we suffer. It
is not justice that we are seeking. It is revenge. We allow the
heart to nurse the hurt, sowing seeds of hatred. What began small will
end big. This is what the Lord said in the gospel. “You have learnt
how it was said to our ancestors: You must not kill, and if anyone does kill he
must answer for it before the court. But I say this to you: anyone who is angry
with his brother will answer for it before the court; if a man calls his
brother ‘Fool’ he will answer for it before the Sanhedrin, and if a man calls
him ‘Renegade’, he will answer for it in hell fire.” All killing
begins with anger and resentment in our heart. We call others names to
demean and humiliate them. We use harsh words to destroy the self-esteem
of those whom we despise.
Our intention is only to
kill and to destroy. It is not to heal the situation or to make it
better. Unlike God, we do
not truly desire that our enemies renounce their wickedness and live. We
do not want them to repent so that they can begin a new life. If we truly
want our enemies to be converted so that they might live, then we will not seek
to destroy their life.
Revenge is the way of
the world in dealing with those who have hurt them. If we are truly the disciples of
Christ, we will never take revenge or desire harm to our enemies. But we
are hypocrites. We claim to believe in the gospel, yet we seek revenge.
When we take revenge, no matter how much worship we offer, that worship is not
acceptable to God. God said, “I desire steadfast love and not
sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” As
Catholics, we cannot hold grudges in our hearts and yet pretend to offer
worship to the Lord. Jesus said, “So then, if you are bringing your
offering to the altar and there remember that your brother has something
against you, leave your offering before the altar, go and be reconciled with
your brother first, and then come back and present your offering.”
Our goal must be to seek
their conversion, not destruction.
This is true even for those sent to prison. Prison should not be a place
simply to punish offenders. If we do that, they will leave the prison
more humiliated, angry and resentful with authorities and society. They
will surely turn back to crime and commit even more serious crimes. The
so-called punishment in prison is meant to discipline them and to tame them so that
they will not be too violent, egoistic and willful in doing whatever they
like. Otherwise, because they are hurting, they may hurt their
fellow prison mates out of their anger. Instead of helping each other to
reform so that they can begin a new life, they seek to make life difficult for
themselves, others and the prison officers. But how different it would be
if they go in with the intent to learn, to think through their crimes, realize
what they had done to hurt others, and repent? This explains why if they
are on good behavior, their sentence is reduced by one-third. Prison is
meant to give them a second chance.
This desire for
conversion rather than revenge is once again highlighted in the fact that if
the just man turns evil, he will be punished accordingly, regardless what he
did in the past. “But
if the upright man renounces his integrity, commits sin, copies the wicked man
and practices every kind of filth, is he to live? All the integrity he has
practiced shall be forgotten from then on; but this is because he himself has
broken faith and committed sin, and for this he shall die.” The past is
not taken into consideration simply because what matters for God is the state
of the person here and now. The past merits are important insofar as it
shows that the person could not be that evil. Indeed, no one begins to
kill as the Lord said, unless he first gets angry, uses harsh words and
threats. Anger like other sinful habits does not grow overnight but
gradually. It is unlikely that an upright man could become a great sinner
overnight.
We might cry out that
this is unjust. “But
you object, ‘What the Lord does is unjust.’ Listen, you House of Israel: is
what I do unjust? Is it not what you do that is unjust?” What happened to the
good works the person did in the past? What is past is past. God
lives in the present. The past is no use unless the past builds towards
the present. When the upright man renounces his integrity to commit sin
and dies because of this, he dies because of the evil that he himself has
committed. When the sinner renounces sin to become law-abiding and honest, he
deserves to live. He has chosen to renounce all his previous sins, he shall
certainly live; he shall not die.”
It is not so much
because the Lord is taking revenge on our sins. On the contrary, He only wants us to live
and be at peace. Every sin takes away our peace and destroys the harmony
among ourselves. God is ever ready to forgive provided we are ready to
renounce our sins and repent of them. Forgiveness is always available on
the side of God but we need to accept this forgiveness. Indeed, “with the
Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption, Israel indeed he will redeem
from all its iniquity.” So we must seek to live a life of integrity.
We must live out what the Lord has taught us about revenge, forgiveness and
reconciliation. “Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on
your anger, and do not make room for the devil. Let no evil talk
come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there
is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. And do not
grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the
day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and
anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to
one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has
forgiven you.” (Eph 4:26, 29-32)
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment