20200710 BE WISE AS SERPENTS AND YET AS GENTLE AS DOVES
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: Green.
First reading
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Hosea 14:2-10 ©
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A call to conversion and promise of safety
The Lord says this:
Israel, come back to the Lord your God;
your iniquity was the cause of your downfall.
Provide yourself with words
and come back to the Lord.
Say to him, ‘Take all iniquity away
so that we may have happiness again
and offer you our words of praise.
Assyria cannot save us,
we will not ride horses any more,
or say, “Our God!” to what our own hands have made,
for you are the one in whom orphans find compassion.’
– I will heal their disloyalty,
I will love them with all my heart,
for my anger has turned from them.
I will fall like dew on Israel.
He shall bloom like the lily,
and thrust out roots like the poplar,
his shoots will spread far;
he will have the beauty of the olive
and the fragrance of Lebanon.
They will come back to live in my shade;
they will grow corn that flourishes,
they will cultivate vines
as renowned as the wine of Helbon.
What has Ephraim to do with idols any more
when it is I who hear his prayer and care for him?
I am like a cypress ever green,
all your fruitfulness comes from me.
Let the wise man understand these words.
Let the intelligent man grasp their meaning.
For the ways of the Lord are straight,
and virtuous men walk in them,
but sinners stumble.
Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 50(51):3-4,8-9,12-14,17 ©
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My mouth shall declare your praise.
Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.
In your compassion blot out my offence.
O wash me more and more from my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.
My mouth shall declare your praise.
Indeed you love truth in the heart;
then in the secret of my heart teach me wisdom.
O purify me, then I shall be clean;
O wash me, I shall be whiter than snow.
My mouth shall declare your praise.
A pure heart create for me, O God,
put a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
nor deprive me of your holy spirit.
My mouth shall declare your praise.
Give me again the joy of your help;
with a spirit of fervour sustain me,
O Lord, open my lips
and my mouth shall declare your praise.
My mouth shall declare your praise.
Gospel Acclamation
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1P1:25
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The word of the Lord remains for ever:
What is this word?
It is the Good News that has been brought to you.
Alleluia!
Or:
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Jn16:13,14:26
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Alleluia, alleluia!
When the Spirit of truth comes
he will lead you to the complete truth,
and he will remind you of all I have said to you.
Alleluia!
Gospel
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Matthew 10:16-23 ©
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The Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you
Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows: ‘Remember, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; so be cunning as serpents and yet as harmless as doves.
‘Beware of men: they will hand you over to sanhedrins and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the pagans. But when they hand you over, do not worry about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will be given to you when the time comes; because it is not you who will be speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you. ‘Brother will betray brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all men on account of my name; but the man who stands firm to the end will be saved. If they persecute you in one town, take refuge in the next; and if they persecute you in that, take refuge in another. I tell you solemnly, you will not have gone the round of the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.’
BE WISE AS SERPENTS AND YET AS GENTLE AS DOVES
10 July, 2020, Friday, 14th Week, Ordinary Time
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [HOS 14:2-10, MT 10:16-23 ]
How can we spread the gospel to all of humanity? The truth is that Christianity has always been under some form of persecution from its inception and throughout the history of the Church. We have persecutions from within and from without. This is rather strange because the gospel that we proclaim is not against the interests of humanity but for the good of humanity. Christianity proclaims the gospel of love, justice, compassion and forgiveness based on truth. Christianity seeks to unite all of humanity into a community of love and compassion. Indeed, nowhere in the gospel do we hear Jesus advocating violence and disunity or even disobedience to legitimate authority. We are peacemakers, people of dialogue, promoters of the culture of love and life.
Yet, the Lord warns us that we will be persecuted. “If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world -therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘Servants are not greater than their master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also.” (Jn 15:18-20) So we should not be surprised that we are persecuted by the world. Indeed, if we agree with the world too readily, it means we have been overcome by the world. We have adopted their values just as the Israelites did. They sold themselves to the idols of their day, the idols of prosperity, immorality and reliance on military power.
But as the Lord warns, “Israel, come back to the Lord your God; your iniquity was the cause of your downfall.Provide yourself with words and come back to the Lord. Say to him, ‘Take all iniquity away so that we may have happiness again and offer you our words of praise. Assyria cannot save us, we will not ride horses any more, or say, ‘Our God!’ to what our own hands have made, for you are the one in whom orphans find compassion.” So the gospel is to liberate men from being slaves to materialism, greed, immorality, selfishness. It is to free men from the temptation to power, glory and living a life of pleasure. Precisely, if the world is against us, it is because we are a hindrance to what the world wants to promote. They want to promote free love, which is actually promiscuity, greed for wealth and power.
Indeed, persecution will come from within in two ways. Ironically, firstly from within the Church. Jesus said, “Beware of men: they will hand you over to Sanhedrin’s and scourge you in their synagogues.” The first place where the gospel needs to be preached anew is within the Church. Over the years, the Church had become so institutionalized, rigid, with powers residing in the hierarchy of the Church leading to abuses and clericalism. Conversion must first begin within the Church, from the hierarchy down to the lay leaders and every member of the Church. There must be a change of heart from one of legalism to one of compassion; from one of domination and control to one of service and collaboration; from a doctrinal emphasis to a pastoral commitment.
This calls for humility and self-awareness. Unfortunately, the most difficult people to convert are the clergy and the lay leaders. We have a fixed mindset because of our own experiences. We are dogmatic, rigid and unbending. Most of all, we believe we know best, have the right answers and what to do. When Church leaders lack humility, we cannot listen to others. Thus, often the call to conversion falls on deaf ears because like the scribes and the Pharisees, we believe conversion is for others, not for ourselves. When we speak about conversion we are always thinking that others need to be converted to our views. It is not about our need for conversion because we lack self-awareness.
Secondly, from within our families. Jesus warns us, “Brother will betray brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death.” Jesus understands us well because He Himself had experienced rejection from His own family members. Right from the start of His ministry, His relatives thought He was mad. “When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, ‘He has gone out of his mind.'” (Mk 3:21) Then when He went home, His townsfolk could not accept Him. Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” (Mk 6:4) Indeed, the primary persecution would be from our loved ones because we choose the Lord instead of following the rest of the family members’ faith or atheistic values. Our loved ones ostracize, marginalize and discriminate against us because of our conversion to Christ. It was even worse in the early church, when members of the family would report them to the authorities who then had them persecuted and punished as did with Jesus. They thought they were mad or had been indoctrinated wrongly. As the Lord said, “Indeed, an hour is coming when those who kill you will think that by doing so they are offering worship to God. And they will do this because they have not known the Father or me.” (Jn 16:2f)
Persecution will also come from without, the State and the World. In some countries, the State is very much opposed to Christianity, often for political reasons to gain the support of those who are also against Christianity but more often because they perceive the Church as a nuisance as she often speaks out against hypocrisy, corruption and injustices. This is not new. In the early days, the Church was accused of cannibalism because of the Eucharist, of immorality because of Agape love, disturbance of law and order because the faithful refused to worship the Emperor as god, spreading disorder by treating slaves as their equal when slavery was common in that society, and finally causing family division. With such accusations, the Roman Empire criminalized Christianity until the 4th Century when Emperor Constantine was converted.
The world is also very much opposed to Christianity because we affect their businesses. When we promote morality, many in the entertainment world which glorify sex, promiscuity, sensuality, drugs and self-indulgence, stand to lose money. This was true in the case of the early Christians as well. Their silversmiths who were making idols for the temple worship were losing business because of Christianity. When businesses are affected and profits are compromised, we can see how the world comes together to tear down the Church, especially her leaders, by exposing the scandals and so make the Church lose credibility in her moral teaching. They use the mass media to attack the Church and for every scandal that is exposed, they would ensure that it receives maximum publicity. They do not do this to others, and they hardly publicize the works of mercy, compassion and justice that the Church does for the world.
So what can we do? Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows: “Remember, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; so be cunning as serpents and yet as harmless as doves.” Again, the Lord advises prudence. We must not act recklessly, either looking for a glorified martyrdom or using violence to attack the world. We must remain as gentle as a dove, harmless, never attacking our enemies, always forgiving and tolerating. However, we must also be wise as a serpent, ready to cut off our body when under attack so that we can save our head. In other words, we must be wise in keeping ourselves alive unless we are called to deny our faith publicly. Otherwise, we must flee as the Lord advises, “If they persecute you in one town, take refuge in the next; and if they persecute you in that, take refuge in another.” Indeed, as the Lord remarked, “the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.” (Lk 16:8) We must be more creative and resourceful in dealing with the world. If they can promote their worldly values, it is because they know how to use technology to assist them in normalizing unaccepted norms to be the new normal for society today. We too must leverage the modern tools of communication, the resources we have to proclaim the gospel more effectively, convincingly, so that we can reach out to those listening to the gospel.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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