20200907 BLIND ZEAL VERSUS COMPLACENCY
07 September, 2020, Monday, 23rd Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: Green.
First reading |
1 Corinthians 5:1-8 © |
Get rid of the old yeast of evil and wickedness
I have been told as an undoubted fact that one of you is living with his father’s wife. This is a case of sexual immorality among you that must be unparalleled even among pagans. How can you be so proud of yourselves? You should be in mourning. A man who does a thing like that ought to have been expelled from the community. Though I am far away in body, I am with you in spirit, and have already condemned the man who did this thing as if I were actually present. When you are assembled together in the name of the Lord Jesus, and I am spiritually present with you, then with the power of our Lord Jesus he is to be handed over to Satan so that his sensual body may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.
The pride that you take in yourselves is hardly to your credit. You must know how even a small amount of yeast is enough to leaven all the dough, so get rid of all the old yeast, and make yourselves into a completely new batch of bread, unleavened as you are meant to be. Christ, our passover, has been sacrificed; let us celebrate the feast, then, by getting rid of all the old yeast of evil and wickedness, having only the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 5:5-7,12 © |
Lead me, Lord, in your justice.
You are no God who loves evil;
no sinner is your guest.
The boastful shall not stand their ground
before your face.
Lead me, Lord, in your justice.
You hate all who do evil;
you destroy all who lie.
The deceitful and bloodthirsty man
the Lord detests.
Lead me, Lord, in your justice.
All those you protect shall be glad
and ring out their joy.
You shelter them; in you they rejoice,
those who love your name.
Lead me, Lord, in your justice.
Gospel Acclamation | Ps118:105 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your word is a lamp for my steps
and a light for my path.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn10:27 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice,
says the Lord,
I know them and they follow me.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 6:6-11 © |
Is it against the law on the sabbath to save life?
On the sabbath Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees were watching him to see if he would cure a man on the sabbath, hoping to find something to use against him. But he knew their thoughts; and he said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Stand up! Come out into the middle.’ And he came out and stood there. Then Jesus said to them, ‘I put it to you: is it against the law on the sabbath to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to destroy it?’ Then he looked round at them all and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He did so, and his hand was better. But they were furious, and began to discuss the best way of dealing with Jesus.
BLIND ZEAL VERSUS COMPLACENCY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 COR 5:1-8; PS 5:5-7,12; LK 6:6-11 ]
We must state right from the onset that the Pharisees and the Scribes were not as bad as the gospel portrays them to be. In truth, most Pharisees and Scribes were good Jews seeking to be faithful to the Covenant and live out their lives in fidelity to the commandments of Moses. They were good, sincere and pious Jews. The problem was that in their zeal to be faithful to the Law of Moses, some of them were carried away by blind zeal in their commitment to the Law. Not only did they strive to be faithful to the letter of the law themselves, but they also expected their fellow Jews to observe them as meticulously as they did.
Indeed, whilst zeal is good, the downside is when zeal gets out of proportion. Without zeal and passion, there would be no great leaders and radical change in society. Only leaders with zeal and passion can realize their vision and mission for society. However, those who are so passionate in their calling or in their mission can be blinded to the other aspects of life. They can be so narrowly focused that they see only their concerns and not the situation from a wider perspective. A tunnel vision can result in dire consequences.
We lose our perspective of the different demands in life. Some of us are fixated on some moral or doctrinal issues that everything in life is positioned on those issues. Some Catholics are only concerned about observing the Liturgical Laws to the letter that they forget the primary purpose of the liturgy, which is to lead people to worship God in spirit and in truth. Some of them appoint themselves as inspectors to check which priest, church or organization fails to observe the liturgical laws. Then we have Catholics who are always condemning sexual immorality, divorce, same-sex union, that they forget the larger picture that morality is more than just about sex and marriage. There are other equally important issues in life such as social justice, integrity and helping the poor and the marginalized. Then of course, we have those who are so involved in social and humanitarian work that they think life is nothing else but helping the poor and fighting for justice. Those who do not join them are condemned and despised. They become resentful, bitter and angry just because there are some who do not support their cause.
This is why a narrow understanding of life leads to self-righteousness. The constant temptation of people who strive for holiness and fidelity to their vocation is their tendency to think that they are so much better than others. That was the attitude of the Pharisees and the Scribes in today’s gospel. They were not so much concerned about themselves or examining their own life and motives in what they did. Rather, they were observing Jesus, looking for ways to trap Him or to find fault with Him so that they could condemn Him. This preoccupation with attacking Jesus made them lose sight of the bigger reality, which is the observance of the Law in its fullness. The Lord pointedly asked them, “Is it against the law on the Sabbath to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to destroy it?” They could no longer see themselves, their motives in wanting to keep the Law.
It is ironical that in their zeal to protect the Law, they broke a more grievous law of destroying Jesus and themselves. How true for us as well! Those who fight for justice become unjust themselves. Those who are against sexual offences can go to the extreme of punishing these offenders without mercy and even justice. Indeed, we are horrified when we read of how Elijah in his zeal to keep the faith of Israel uncontaminated, killed 450 false prophets of Baal. So, too, Saul, before he became Paul, was so zealous in keeping the Law that he pursued all those Jews who became Christians and persecuted them. Such zeal can turn against us and destroy what we seek to protect.
In contrast, whilst Jesus was certainly zealous for the House of the Lord, He kept everything in perspective without falling into self-righteousness or resentment. He was not against the Law. In fact, He declared, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.” (Mt 5:17f) However, He qualified, “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 5:20) It is more than merely keeping the letter of the Law but the entire Law, the letter and the spirit. All laws, including the Sabbath Law, are to serve men, to give life, to protect order and serve unity.
At the other end of the spectrum is complacency with respect to righteous living. St Paul was shocked to hear of a case of sexual immorality involving a believer who married his stepmother. It was not just against the Mosaic Law but also “unparalleled even among pagans. How can you be so proud of yourselves? You should be in mourning.” However, he was even more shocked that the Christian community could allow such a believer to continue to live in sin without taking action. In his view, such public immorality demands excommunication. “A man who does a thing like that ought to have been expelled from the community. Though I am far away in body, I am with you in spirit, and have already condemned the man who did this thing as if I were actually present.” The reason was clear. He was afraid that if the believer was not penalized or excluded from the Christian community, his scandalous behaviour might be seen as an accepted way of life for a disciple of Christ. He gave the analogy of the yeast that grows like a cancer cell. It starts small but it will infect the rest of the community.
The action of St Paul in excommunicating a public sinner seems to be rather harsh. How do we reconcile this with the call not to judge and to be compassionate? Just earlier on, St Paul told the Corinthians not to judge each other. “Do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive commendation from God.” (1 Cor 4:5) Jesus also said, “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged.” (Mt 7:1) To the adulterous woman, the Lord said, “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged.” (Jn 8:11)
This calls for a prudent pastoral judgement when we apply the laws just as Jesus did in the gospel. In principle, the law must always be upheld. Yet it is not for us to judge the individual conscience of everyone. Only God can do that. This is why we cannot condemn a sinner. Some are divorced and remarried, and receiving communion because they have truly repented. Some have same sex relationships but they try to keep themselves chaste as far as possible. Pope Francis invites us to journey with them and consider such cases individually.
However, if we are speaking about public sinners that could give a wrong impression that the Church endorses such irregular relationships, then it is a different matter. When it concerns a public sin and a public sinner, the Church has to repudiate, otherwise, as St Paul says, it will gradually infest the rest of the community. There is a need to protect the larger community. We are no longer dealing with an individual struggling to be faithful to the gospel. Whilst the Church forbids divorce and same-sex union, we do not condemn individuals who are struggling through the situation they find themselves in. However, it is a different thing to ask the Church to publicly and officially endorse the receipt of Communion by those who are divorced and remarried, or permit same-sex unions. Such acknowledgement would go against the scripture and the Church has no authority to change the Word of God! Hence, the Church resists attempts by those who promote abortion, divorce, same-sex union, IVF with a view to normalizing these anomalies. What is objectively sinful remains sinful because we cannot go against the order of creation. However, we can be compassionate, understanding and supportive of those who are in that situation. In this way, we protect the larger community from the sins of the individual.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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