20200719 OVERCOMING EVIL WITH GOOD
19 July, 2020, Sunday, 16th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: Green.
First reading
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Wisdom 12:13,16-19 ©
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You will grant repentance after sin
There is no god, other than you, who cares for every thing,
to whom you might have to prove that you never judged unjustly.
Your justice has its source in strength,
your sovereignty over all makes you lenient to all.
You show your strength when your sovereign power is questioned
and you expose the insolence of those who know it;
but, disposing of such strength, you are mild in judgement,
you govern us with great lenience,
for you have only to will, and your power is there.
By acting thus you have taught a lesson to your people
how the virtuous man must be kindly to his fellow men,
and you have given your sons the good hope
that after sin you will grant repentance.
Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 85(86):5-6,9-10,15-16 ©
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O Lord, you are good and forgiving.
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.
O Lord, you are good and forgiving.
All the nations shall come to adore you
and glorify your name, O Lord:
for you are great and do marvellous deeds,
you who alone are God.
O Lord, you are good and forgiving.
But you, God of mercy and compassion,
slow to anger, O Lord,
abounding in love and truth,
turn and take pity on me.
O Lord, you are good and forgiving.
Second reading
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Romans 8:26-27 ©
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The Spirit himself expresses our plea in a way that could never be put into words
The Spirit comes to help us in our weakness. For when we cannot choose words in order to pray properly, the Spirit himself expresses our plea in a way that could never be put into words, and God who knows everything in our hearts knows perfectly well what he means, and that the pleas of the saints expressed by the Spirit are according to the mind of God.
Gospel Acclamation
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cf.Ep1:17,18
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Alleluia, alleluia!
May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
enlighten the eyes of our mind,
so that we can see what hope his call holds for us.
Alleluia!
Or:
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Mt11:25
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are you, Father,
Lord of heaven and earth,
for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom
to mere children.
Alleluia!
Gospel
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Matthew 13:24-43 ©
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Let them both grow till the harvest
Jesus put another parable before the crowds: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everybody was asleep his enemy came, sowed darnel all among the wheat, and made off. When the new wheat sprouted and ripened, the darnel appeared as well. The owner’s servants went to him and said, “Sir, was it not good seed that you sowed in your field? If so, where does the darnel come from?” “Some enemy has done this” he answered. And the servants said, “Do you want us to go and weed it out?” But he said, “No, because when you weed out the darnel you might pull up the wheat with it. Let them both grow till the harvest; and at harvest time I shall say to the reapers: First collect the darnel and tie it in bundles to be burnt, then gather the wheat into my barn.”’
He put another parable before them: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the biggest shrub of all and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and shelter in its branches.’
He told them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like the yeast a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour till it was leavened all through.’
In all this Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables; indeed, he would never speak to them except in parables. This was to fulfil the prophecy:
I will speak to you in parables
and expound things hidden since the foundation of the world.
Then, leaving the crowds, he went to the house; and his disciples came to him and said, ‘Explain the parable about the darnel in the field to us.’ He said in reply, ‘The sower of the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world; the good seed is the subjects of the kingdom; the darnel, the subjects of the evil one; the enemy who sowed them, the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; the reapers are the angels. Well then, just as the darnel is gathered up and burnt in the fire, so it will be at the end of time. The Son of Man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that provoke offences and all who do evil, and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. Then the virtuous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Listen, anyone who has ears!’
OVERCOMING EVIL WITH GOOD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [WIS 12:13, 16-19, ROM 8:26-27, MT 13:24-43 OR MT 13:24-30]
Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everybody was asleep his enemy came, sowed darnel all among the wheat, and made off.” Indeed, the world was created good. We are all created for happiness. But Satan entered the world, tempted us and the world is now in a mess. This is the situation of humanity. Jesus made it clear that evil and hostile powers seek to destroy the peace and unity of humanity. These powers are often undertaken by people who are blinded by pride, greed, fame and ambition. They could be world leaders, political, economic and even religious leaders, used by the Evil One to divide and sow seeds of mistrust, suspicion and division in society and the world.
When we see the presence of evil not just in society at large but in our own lives, at home, in society, in our offices and most of all in ourselves, we wonder whether there is justice and whether peace is at all possible. Even on the personal level, we cannot tolerate those who make mistakes in life. Just read all the nasty comments on social media, condemning those who have sinned as if they have not sinned themselves. Those who cannot accept the weaknesses of people think that they are so perfect themselves. In truth, if we deem ourselves to be perfect, then we are truly imperfect because perfectionists are imperfect human beings. They are often ambitious, intolerable, merciless, and impatient. So they appear to be perfect but in truth the ugly side of them surfaces in the lack of charity and compassion towards others. In fact, in the gospel, when Jesus told His disciples, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect”, He was speaking of perfection in terms of compassion for our enemies and those who are evil, not about moral or professional perfection. (cf Mt 5:43-48)
For this reason, the Parable of the Darnel speaks of the mystery of good and evil co-existing in the world. This is the reality of the world which no one can escape from and it will be like this until the end of time. We are to live with the presence of evil, or as Jesus puts it, to be in the world but not of the world. We should not try to make a definite judgment on individuals who do evil but only on the evil itself. As the gospel says, if we do prematurely we might harm everyone in the process. This is because life has so much ambiguity. Not everything is black and white. We are not in a position to judge the motives of individuals. This is why we do not judge those who are divorced, in same-sex union, transgenders, and even criminals. We are not cognitive of the situation they come from or are in. We do not know their struggles and background. Someone might appear to be bad but actually turns out to be the one with a good heart. So we must be careful of labelling and classifying people too quickly because we do not know all the facts. We must never be too quick to judge people. Most people are naturally good but wounded by the sins of humanity.
Just like the darnel and the wheat, we cannot properly distinguish the good from the evil until they are fully grown, that is, when we see the consequences of their actions. Only the final judgment will reveal the plan and wisdom of God in allowing the sins of humanity in helping man to find his salvation. A person is ultimately judged not just by one or even a few actions of his but by his entire life. A man can make a mistake and by the grace of God seek repentance. From then on, he lives a good life, better than before. Conversely, a man might begin well but later lives an evil life, succumbing to sin and the Evil One. This is why judgement cannot be made until the end of a person’s life and indeed until the end of the world so that his place, his life and work can be established. God judges the whole and entire life of a person whilst we just judge only part of the person’s life. This is why our judgment is always inadequate and incomplete in the present moment.
However, judgement will come, as the Lord says. Jesus said, “Well then, just as the darnel is gathered up and burnt in the fire, so it will be at the end of time. The Son of Man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that provoke offences and all who do evil, and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. Then the virtuous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Listen, anyone who has ears!” Ultimately, only God can judge us because He sees our entire life and takes everything into consideration. When judgment comes, we cannot run away. So we must be prepared for the ultimate judgement when it comes.
Until then, instead of allowing evil to overcome us, we must overcome evil with good. How can this be done? If God permits evil to exist, it is in order for us to grow in strength against the temptation of the Evil One. We must use our goodness to overcome evil in the world and save those under the Evil One. The parable therefore is the answer to the question why God allows evil to exist in the world. Indeed, the apparent triumph of Evil over good is only temporary but it will be eventually overcome. God uses evil to purify and strengthen those who are His elect. Evil will not have the last word, as in Christ’s death.
The scandals in the Church will help the Church to be purified in love and integrity. So instead of giving up hope in God and in the Church, we must see our enemies helping us to regain our integrity and direction. So whilst we should be saddened when we hear scandals involving the hierarchy, we should not be surprised because they are human beings facing the same temptations of the world. The Church is a community of sinners becoming saints. So we should expect weeds as well as wheat. In each of us there is a bit of both. This should make us weary of pointing fingers too quickly at those who commit scandals. Indeed, St Paul wrote, “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:28)
Secondly, we must use patience to overcome evil. Often it is patient forgiving and tolerant love that can win a hard-hearted person over. When people are difficult, reactive and vindictive, they are acting from their wounds of the past, their anger and resentment. So we are called to imitate the infinite mercy of God as the Book of Wisdom tells us. “Disposing of such strength, you are mild in judgement, you govern us with great lenience, for you have only to will, and your power is there. By acting thus you have taught a lesson to your people how the virtuous man must be kindly to his fellow men, and you have given your sons the good hope that after sin you will grant repentance.” Indeed, for God, no sinner would be excluded from His mercy and grace. He continues to offer us the grace of repentance.
We must act likewise, when we find difficult people in our lives. They are our spiritual benefactors. They help us to grow in magnanimity and graciousness. They stretch our limits in love. We can learn from their sins and mistakes. Whilst we do not condone evil, they remain sons and daughters of our heavenly Father who need healing and mercy. So we must act not by reacting, nor by fighting back and hurting them, but by being gracious and kind to them. Of course, this goes again our human nature. But this is where we are called to overcome evil not just with good deeds but with the grace and mercy of God. What is asked of us is more than mere forbearance but the will of God to save everyone.
Thirdly, we must be proactive. We are called to be like the leaven in the parable. Patience does not mean inactivity in the face of evil and injustice. Rather, we must involve others to overcome violence with dialogue, poverty with charity, hatred with forgiveness. Like the leaven, we must be powerful agents of change. We must allow God to transform us from within so that we can be agents of transformation in society. Either we allow the malice of leaven or the goodness of leaven to flourish. We must act positively by being agents of change, for the better instead of giving up. Unless each of us do our part, we will allow evil to overcome us all. On our part, we need to cooperate with His grace.
Finally, we must be confident that the grace of God is working quietly but slowly in a person’s life. This is what the parable of the Mustard Seed is teaching us. Like the mustard seed, it starts small. But it will grow to become a big shrub where many birds can come to rest on it. So God’s kingdom starts small in the hearts of men but slowly, God will transform the heart. God often works in unseen ways. We will be surprised at the outcome if only we trust in His divine wisdom and grace. God who is patient, forgiving and merciful will win the most wicked of hearts over to His love. We might feel that we are not doing much or cannot change the world or the situation. But everything begins small and with one man. We should never despair in the face of evil. This is what the Lord wants to encourage us. His disciples were a small band and they were bewildered by the hostile forces against their master and the gospel. But through their perseverance and fortitude, eventually the gospel went to the ends of the earth.
Most of all, we must pray for His grace. St Paul says, “The Spirit comes to help us in our weakness. For when we cannot choose words in order to pray properly, the Spirit himself expresses our plea in a way that could never be put into words, and God who knows everything in our hearts knows perfectly well what he means, and that the pleas of the saints expressed by the Spirit are according to the mind of God.” Only in prayer can we find strength and wisdom to endure the sufferings that come from loving. God will enlighten us to see our weaknesses and the sins of our fellowmen positively so that we will use them to purify our faith and our love for God and for them.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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