20210220 REACHING OUT TO THE SELF-RIGHTEOUS AND THE MARGINALIZED
20 February, 2021, Saturday After Ash Wednesday
First reading | Isaiah 58:9-14 © |
You will be like a spring whose waters never run dry
The Lord says this:
If you do away with the yoke,
the clenched fist, the wicked word,
if you give your bread to the hungry,
and relief to the oppressed,
your light will rise in the darkness,
and your shadows become like noon.
The Lord will always guide you,
giving you relief in desert places.
He will give strength to your bones
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water
whose waters never run dry.
You will rebuild the ancient ruins,
build up on the old foundations.
You will be called ‘Breach-mender’,
‘Restorer of ruined houses.’
If you refrain from trampling the sabbath,
and doing business on the holy day,
if you call the Sabbath ‘Delightful’,
and the day sacred to the Lord ‘Honourable’,
if you honour it by abstaining from travel,
from doing business and from gossip,
then shall you find your happiness in the Lord
and I will lead you triumphant over the heights of the land.
I will feed you on the heritage of Jacob your father.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 85(86):1-6 © |
Show me, Lord, your way so that I may walk in your truth.
Turn your ear, O Lord, and give answer
for I am poor and needy.
Preserve my life, for I am faithful;
save the servant who trusts in you.
Show me, Lord, your way so that I may walk in your truth.
You are my God, have mercy on me, Lord,
for I cry to you all the day long.
Give joy to your servant, O Lord,
for to you I lift up my soul.
Show me, Lord, your way so that I may walk in your truth.
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.
Show me, Lord, your way so that I may walk in your truth.
Gospel Acclamation | cfPs94:8 |
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
Harden not your hearts today,
but listen to the voice of the Lord.
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
Or: | Ezk33:11 |
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
I take pleasure, not in the death of a wicked man
– it is the Lord who speaks –
but in the turning back of a wicked man
who changes his ways to win life.
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
Gospel | Luke 5:27-32 © |
Jesus comes not to call the virtuous, but sinners to repentance
Jesus noticed a tax collector, Levi by name, sitting by the customs house, and said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And leaving everything he got up and followed him.
In his honour Levi held a great reception in his house, and with them at table was a large gathering of tax collectors and others. The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples and said, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’ Jesus said to them in reply, ‘It is not those who are well who need the doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the virtuous, but sinners to repentance.’
REACHING OUT TO THE SELF-RIGHTEOUS AND THE MARGINALIZED
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ISAIAH 58:9-14; PS 86:1-6; LUKE 5:27-32 ]
In the first reading from the Prophet Isaiah, the Lord commanded the people to keep the Sabbath day holy and not to break the Sabbath Law. This was what the religious leaders during the time of Jesus sought to do. The Pharisees who were the “separated ones” sought to keep the Sabbath holy and all the laws of God, including the oral traditions that were extrapolated from the primary laws, about 313 of them. The scribes were the interpreters of the Law of Moses and responsible for drawing up the concrete application of these laws. However, in the process of seeking to be true to the laws to the letter and not just the spirit, they separated themselves from those whom they considered unclean because they broke the laws. These included all sinners and those who were poor and sickly. They believed that poverty and sickness was a punishment from God for sins committed.
Isn’t this what many self-righteous people of faith do as well? They are so afraid to be contaminated or influenced by “bad” people that they stay far away from them. We have been told by our elders, not to have contact with those who are divorced, those “bad” kids in our neighborhood and at school, social escorts, those who are working in bars and in sleazy entertainment areas, those who do not share our moral values, faith and religion. This is understandable, to protect ourselves from their bad and negative influence or be led astray in our faith and in moral values. So, we can appreciate the fear and apprehension.
However, in the gospel, Jesus reminds us, “those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” (Mt 16:25) For this reason, Jesus would go out to meet the crowds, the sick and the possessed, tax-collectors, prostitutes, sinners and gentiles. Jesus came to give His life as a ransom for many. (cf Mt 20:28) He came to take our infirmities on Himself, fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah. (cf Mt 8:17) He was made sin when He knew no sin so that “in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor 5:21) St Peter said, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Pt 2:24) Indeed, “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.” (Heb 4:15)
Hence, Jesus’ calling of Levi, a tax collector, to be His disciple and then going to his house for a banquet with many other tax-collectors, was a scandal to the Pharisees and the Scribes. They complained to His disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?” Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Clearly, in the mind of our Lord, He considered Himself a divine physician. We cannot save people from afar but we must reach out to them and come near them. This is the reason for the Incarnation, so that God could be visible to man; “what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life.” (1 Jn 1:1) This is true for doctors and medical personnel especially. They need to see and hear from the patients so that they can treat the illness and cure them. So for our Lord, He needed to be where the sinners were, those who were spiritually sick and wounded, so that He could bring them the Good News of God’s mercy and love.
This was why the Church changed her stance from one of isolation from the world to protect herself, to one of engagement and dialogue. After Vatican 1, the Church saw herself as the true Church of Christ and the custodian of truth. All others were excluded from salvation. The Church was then living in her own world, cut off from the rest of the contaminated world. This resulted in her losing influence in the world.
After Vatican II, the Church began to open her windows to admit fresh air and a renewal of the Spirit. She began to dialogue with the atheists, seeking to understand where they were coming from and their difficulties in accepting the Christian Faith. This was enunciated in the Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World. (cf Gaudium et spes, 19-21) In fact, this entire Constitution gives guidelines for the Church to engage the world, dealing with all the aspects of life – marriage, family, social life, justice, economy, politics and war. There were also Decrees issued on ecumenism and our relationship with non-Christian religions. (Unitatis Redintegratio, Nostra aetate)
St Paul gave us a very good example of what it means to be all things to all men. In 1 Cor 9, St Paul spoke about the rights of an apostle. But he gave up all his rights for the sake of the gospel. He wants us to follow his example of giving deference to the greater good of others and for the sake of the gospel. This follows from his earlier chapters when he dealt with the question of eating food offered to idols. Although, we are free to do all these things, yet we should not make use of our rights for the sake of charity and for the salvation of others. “For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law so that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law so that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.” (1 Cor 9:19-23)
So, too, Pope Francis often reminds us that we need to soil our hands and feet, be in the forefront of those who need help and salvation. We need to work among them, be present in their midst, show them the mercy and compassion of God. This is why the Church must continue to engage the world, work with people without faith and those of other religions for the common good of humanity. We cannot be exclusive in our relationship with people who have different moral positions, faith and beliefs from ours. They are all children of God. The Lord reminds us to love our enemies, “so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.” (Mt 5:45)
Of course, we must not think that the marginalized, such as sinners and non-believers, were the target of our Lord and our mission as well. Jesus came for the sick and this includes all the self-righteous like the Pharisees and the Scribes. They too need forgiveness and salvation. In fact, the most difficult people to convert in the Church, as it was in the days of Jesus, are the Bishops, priests, religious and the so-called active Catholics. This is because we tend to think that we know everything and we are very good people, and pious Catholics. We are too blinded by our pride to see our faults, just like the Pharisees and the Scribes. Whereas for sinners, most of them know that they are unworthy to approach the Lord. They know they need to return to God at some point in their life.
At the same time, the fear of being wrongly influenced is also real. This is why before we can engage the world, we need to strengthen our faith first. Otherwise, instead of influencing the world for good, the world will influence us to their secular, atheistic and immoral values. Precisely, before Jesus began His mission, He spent 40 days and nights in the desert to prepare Himself for His Father’s mission. We too must take this opportunity during the season of Lent to retreat with our Lord to rethink about our faith and values, to strengthen our intimacy with the Heavenly Father and to walk with our Lord. Unless we are united with our Lord, drawing strength from Him, we cannot defeat the world. St Paul warns us, “our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.” (Eph 6:12f)
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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