20210705 IMPERFECT FAITH IS PERFECTED BY GRACE
05 July, 2021, Monday, 14th Week, Ordinary Time
First reading |
Genesis 28:10-22 © |
Jacob's dream of the ladder at Bethel
Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. When he had reached a certain place he passed the night there, since the sun had set. Taking one of the stones to be found at that place, he made it his pillow and lay down where he was. He had a dream: a ladder was there, standing on the ground with its top reaching to heaven; and there were angels of God going up it and coming down. And the Lord was there, standing over him, saying, ‘I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. I will give to you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants shall be like the specks of dust on the ground; you shall spread to the west and the east, to the north and the south, and all the tribes of the earth shall bless themselves by you and your descendants.
‘Be sure that I am with you; I will keep you safe wherever you go, and bring you back to this land, for I will not desert you before I have done all that I have promised you.’
Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, ‘Truly, the Lord is in this place and I never knew it!’ He was afraid and said, ‘How awe-inspiring this place is! This is nothing less than a house of God; this is the gate of heaven!’ Rising early in the morning, Jacob took the stone he had used for his pillow, and set it up as a monument, pouring oil over the top of it. He named the place Bethel, but before that the town was called Luz.
Jacob made this vow, ‘If God goes with me and keeps me safe on this journey I am making, if he gives me bread to eat and clothes to wear, and if I return home safely to my father, then the Lord shall be my God. This stone I have set up as a monument shall be a house of God.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 90(91):1-4,14-15 © |
My God, in you I trust.
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
and abides in the shade of the Almighty
says to the Lord: ‘My refuge,
my stronghold, my God in whom I trust!’
My God, in you I trust.
It is he who will free you from the snare
of the fowler who seeks to destroy you;
he will conceal you with his pinions
and under his wings you will find refuge.
My God, in you I trust.
Since he clings to me in love, I will free him;
protect him for he knows my name.
When he calls I shall answer: ‘I am with you,’
I will save him in distress.
My God, in you I trust.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Jn6:63,68 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life;
you have the message of eternal life.
Alleluia!
Or: | cf.2Tim1:10 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Our Saviour Jesus Christ abolished death
and he has proclaimed life through the Good News.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Matthew 9:18-26 © |
'Your faith has restored you to health'
While Jesus was speaking, up came one of the officials, who bowed low in front of him and said, ‘My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her and her life will be saved.’ Jesus rose and, with his disciples, followed him. Then from behind him came a woman, who had suffered from a haemorrhage for twelve years, and she touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself, ‘If I can only touch his cloak I shall be well again.’ Jesus turned round and saw her; and he said to her, ‘Courage, my daughter, your faith has restored you to health.’ And from that moment the woman was well again.
When Jesus reached the official’s house and saw the flute-players, with the crowd making a commotion he said, ‘Get out of here; the little girl is not dead, she is asleep.’ And they laughed at him. But when the people had been turned out he went inside and took the little girl by the hand; and she stood up. And the news spread all round the countryside.
IMPERFECT FAITH IS PERFECTED BY GRACE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Gn 28:10-22; Ps 91:1-4,14-15; Mt 9:18-26 ]
In the first reading, Jacob was running away from Esau for fear of his life. He had cheated his brother of his birthright. He was told by his mother to go to his kinsfolk in Haran to seek refuge till his brother could forgive him. Haran was about 900km from Beersheba. It was a long and risky journey, and he would be alone without anyone to accompany him. All his hopes of the promise of land and descendants and wealth were dashed. And yet, in spite of his deceitfulness, God was merciful to Jacob. Such is the graciousness of God.
God did not abandon him without any support. In His kindness, God appeared to him in a dream. And in the dream, God renewed His promises to him and his Fathers. The Lord standing over him said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. I will give to you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants shall be like the specks of dust on the ground. Be sure that I am with you; I will keep you safe wherever you go, and bring you back to this land, for I will not desert you before I have done all that I have promised you.” This is pure grace. God continued to protect Jacob even though he did wrong. He did not deserve God’s divine protection. But God is faithful to His promises.
Indeed, the faith of Jacob was far from perfect. He still had much to learn about what it meant to trust in God completely. The mystical experience of God’s revelation of His presence and support for him was just the beginning of his faith formation. In his gratitude, he renamed the place Bethel, which means the house of God, the gate of heaven. After erecting the shrine in His honour, he unilaterally made a vow. “If God goes with me and keeps me safe on this journey I am making, if he gives me bread to eat and clothes to wear, and if I return home safely to my father, then the Lord shall be my God. This stone I have set up as a monument shall be a house of God.” Again, we see how imperfect his faith in God was. In spite of the religious experience he just had, he was still unsure and not ready to surrender himself without conditions for the Lord. He placed conditions for God before he would submit himself completely to Him. Of course, no one can set conditions for God to love him or be faithful to him. God’s love for us is freely given without conditions.
This story shows us the patience of God and His willingness to accept the imperfect faith of Jacob and all of us. There are many people in the world, even Catholics, who place conditions for God before they would worship Him, trust Him or give donations to the Church or help the poor. Their prayers are similar to Jacob’s. If God grants them their petitions, then they will return the favour by going for Church services, read the bible more often, give to the Church or the poor. But if God does not grant them their petitions, they would give up on Him and maybe turn to other gods or deities, or just rely on themselves. We think we can threaten God by our refusal to honour Him or help the poor. We fail to realize that all we have come from Him and not from ourselves. Yet, God is willing to wait for us to grow and mature in our faith.
This same theme is also illustrated in today’s two healing miracles in the gospel. The first was the imperfect motive of the Synagogue Official. He came to Jesus, “bowed low in front of him and said, ‘My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her and her life will be saved.’ Jesus rose and, with his disciples, followed him.” The Synagogue ruler was someone who had full authority in administering the Synagogue. He was elected by the elders and therefore presumably someone who was strict in observing the laws and customs of Moses. He was a strict orthodox Jew and who would not compromise anything. The Jewish officials were against Jesus and saw Him as a deviant and had nothing to do with Him.
But in his desperation, all doctrines of faith and the laws did not matter anymore. In the face of a concrete and desperate need, we do not debate with words and beautiful theology. We need God to help us in that dire situation. This is why those who sit in the comfort of their arm chairs can speculate and intellectualize many lofty thoughts about God, or justify that God does not exist, etc. I am reminded of a monk who was a great professor and an erudite thinker. He did not believe in evil spirits and argued why evil spirits cannot exist, until he himself saw one! So, too, for this synagogue official, coming to Jesus in all humility was his last resort. Regardless of his opinions and rejection of what Jesus taught, he knew that only Jesus could save his daughter. So swallowing his pride, he came to the Lord, worshipped Him and asked for help.
Again, we see the graciousness of our Lord. He could have rejected his request, after all, he and his fellow officials had never been nice to Him. They had been slandering Him and making people go against Him. But Jesus was not a petty person. The Lord put aside all these personal hurts and focused on the sorrow and grief of the father. Jesus identified Himself with his loss and immediately, without question or delay, followed him to his house to save the daughter. Unlike our Lord, how many of us would bear grudges against those who have done us wrong? Few of us would help those who have hurt us deeply. But Jesus was gracious in helping someone who came from a selfish or defective motive. Jesus would save his daughter, regardless how he and the other officials had treated Him previously.
Then there was the case of the woman suffering “from a hemorrhage for twelve years.” She, too, was desperate due to a blood disorder that caused her to be unclean. It was not just a physical and medical inconvenience but it had religious and social repercussions. She was not able to enter the Temple for worship because the law forbade a woman who was menstruating to do so as she was considered unclean. (Lev 15:19-30) Everything she touched would also be made unclean and hence she had to stay away from people, lest they too would be contaminated by her. But most of all, she would not have security in her life for she would not be able to marry and have children and even if she were married, the man would have divorced her. Without any children or husband, who would look after her in her old age? This was why a woman who was childless or barren was despised by society and seen as a curse.
In her shame and embarrassment, she dared not approach Jesus directly. Instead, in a superstitious manner, “she touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself, ‘If I can only touch his cloak I shall be well again.'” This might appear to us as rather superstitious, just as some people seek healing by touching the relics of saints or blessed medals especially by holy people, or even statues, etc. In truth, even if one’s faith was inadequate or deficient, the Lord does not penalize us. He allows us to touch Him through sacramentals so that we can feel His love and power. So long as we do not believe that the sacramental itself has saving and healing power, but merely a tangible means for the Lord to heal us, this is not considered superstition. This is why when we pray over people, we pray aloud using words and extend our hands over them so that we can mediate God’s love and power. This was certainly the case for the woman. “Jesus turned round and saw her; and he said to her, ‘Courage, my daughter, your faith has restored you to health.’ And from that moment the woman was well again.” Indeed, whether we have imperfect faith or inadequate motives, the Lord heals us.
Truly, we must not delimit the power of God to act and to save. He is our healer and He can restore us to life. Everything is pure grace alone and God has the power to do everything. It does not mean that God will give us what we want only if we observe all the laws. Merits are expressions of our love for God and gratitude for Him, not conditions to receive God’s favour. Rather, we are called to exercise faith in Him just like the synagogue official and the woman suffering from hemorrhage. But even if our faith is weak, all we need to do is to imitate the father whose child was suffering from epilepsy. He said to Jesus, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mk 9:24) Indeed, we pray, “My God, in you I trust.”
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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