20210819 DANGER OF MAKING FRIVOLOUS VOWS
19 August, 2021, Thursday, 20th Week, Ordinary Time
First reading | Judges 11:29-39 © |
Jephthah sacrifices his daughter in fulfilment of a vow
The spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah, who crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through to Mizpah in Gilead, and from Mizpah in Gilead made his way to the rear of the Ammonites. And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, ‘If you deliver the Ammonites into my hands, then the first person to meet me from the door of my house when I return in triumph from fighting the Ammonites shall belong to the Lord, and I will offer him up as a holocaust. Jephthah marched against the Ammonites to attack them, and the Lord delivered them into his power. He harassed them from Aroer almost to Minnith (twenty towns) and to Abel-keramim. It was a very severe defeat, and the Ammonites were humbled before the Israelites.
As Jephthah returned to his house at Mizpah, his daughter came out from it to meet him; she was dancing to the sound of timbrels. This was his only child; apart from her he had neither son nor daughter. When he saw her, he tore his clothes and exclaimed, ‘Oh my daughter, what sorrow you are bringing me! Must it be you, the cause of my ill-fortune! I have given a promise to the Lord, and I cannot unsay what I have said.’ She answered him, ‘My father, you have given a promise to the Lord; treat me as the vow you took binds you to, since the Lord has given you vengeance on your enemies the Ammonites.’ Then she said to her father, ‘Grant me one request. Let me be free for two months. I shall go and wander in the mountains, and with my companions bewail my virginity.’ He answered, ‘Go’, and let her depart for two months. So she went away with her companions and bewailed her virginity in the mountains. When the two months were over, she returned to her father, and he treated her as the vow that he had uttered bound him. She had never known a man.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 39(40):5,7-10 © |
Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.
Happy the man who has placed
his trust in the Lord
and has not gone over to the rebels
who follow false gods.
Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.
You do not ask for sacrifice and offerings,
but an open ear.
You do not ask for holocaust and victim.
Instead, here am I.
Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.
In the scroll of the book it stands written
that I should do your will.
My God, I delight in your law
in the depth of my heart.
Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.
Your justice I have proclaimed
in the great assembly.
My lips I have not sealed;
you know it, O Lord.
Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.
Gospel Acclamation | Ps118:27 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Make me grasp the way of your precepts,
and I will muse on your wonders.
Alleluia!
Or: | Ps94:8 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Harden not your hearts today,
but listen to the voice of the Lord.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Matthew 22:1-14 © |
Invite everyone you can to the wedding
Jesus began to speak to the chief priests and elders of the people in parables: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a feast for his son’s wedding. He sent his servants to call those who had been invited, but they would not come. Next he sent some more servants. “Tell those who have been invited” he said “that I have my banquet all prepared, my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, everything is ready. Come to the wedding.” But they were not interested: one went off to his farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his servants, maltreated them and killed them. The king was furious. He despatched his troops, destroyed those murderers and burnt their town. Then he said to his servants, “The wedding is ready; but as those who were invited proved to be unworthy, go to the crossroads in the town and invite everyone you can find to the wedding.” So these servants went out on to the roads and collected together everyone they could find, bad and good alike; and the wedding hall was filled with guests. When the king came in to look at the guests he noticed one man who was not wearing a wedding garment, and said to him, “How did you get in here, my friend, without a wedding garment?” And the man was silent. Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind him hand and foot and throw him out into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.” For many are called, but few are chosen.’
DANGER OF MAKING FRIVOLOUS VOWS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Jg 11:29-39; Ps 40:5,7-10; Mt 22:1-14]
The theme of today’s scripture reading is on the commitments we make and then break, whether these commitments are in the form of a personal vow, a public vow, or an oath or just a promise. We must be clear that there are different levels of commitments that we make to God or to our fellowmen. A vow is the most solemn form of commitment made to God that is carried out consciously and freely. If it is made in front of a legitimate superior who accepts the vow in the name of the Church, it is a public vow; otherwise it is private. An oath calls upon God to be our divine witness and is often made before some institutional authority as objective guarantee that what is said is true. Promises have lower levels of commitments, such as in the celebration of the sacraments.
In today’s gospel, we read how the religious leaders of Israel broke their commitment to the Lord. God called them to His Son’s wedding banquet but they would not come. It is important to take note that this invitation is not just any ordinary invitation; it is the King’s invitation. To reject a king’s invitation is an insult to His Majesty. We normally do not reject an invitation from someone holding a high office. Secondly, before the wedding itself, the invitation would have been sent, announcing that a wedding banquet would be held. Then when the day of the wedding draws near, a second invitation would be issued. Hence, there was no excuse for them to tell the King that they could not come. Thirdly, we note the peoples’ lame excuses. “They were not interested: one went off to his farm, another to his business.” Above all, they rejected the messengers of God, “seized his servants, maltreated them and killed them.” Of course, this was a veiled attack on the religious leaders who were rejecting the call of the prophets to repent and for killing the prophets, especially God’s only Son. The Jews did not keep their part of the Covenant in living justly, tenderly and humbly before God and their fellowmen. (Mic 6:6)
As a consequence, “the king was furious. He dispatched his troops, destroyed those murderers and burnt their town.” For rejecting the invitation of God to His banquet, sharing in His life, love and joy, they were punished not by the Lord Himself but by the consequences of their arrogance, rebellious attitude towards the Romans, instigating violence and rebellion. The Romans eventually brought Jerusalem and the Temple down and reduced it to ruins because they did not take heed of God’s message. Such were the consequences in breaking their commitment to the Lord. Clearly, the failure to keep our commitments would bring serious consequences not just to us but to our loved ones. This is particularly true of marriage promises. When we break them, we cause the entire family to suffer and eventually break up.
This is also true with respect to those who have accepted God and His Son as well. In the second parable, the invitees were the Gentiles. The king said to his servants, “‘The wedding is ready; but as those who were invited proved to be unworthy, go to the crossroads in the town and invite everyone you can find to the wedding.’ So these servants went out onto the roads and collected together everyone they could find, bad and good alike; and the wedding hall was filled with guests.'” However, “when the king came in to look at the guests he noticed one man who was not wearing a wedding garment.’ In those days, those who were invited to the wedding were also given a wedding garment to wear out of respect for the host. But this man was negligent. Although he accepted the invitation, he did not consider the details of the invite. He came without the wedding garment. So too, many of us who came to the Church, made our promises in baptism and confirmation, but we failed to live up to the responsibilities of our status as God’s children. We do not pray, keep ourselves faithful to the teachings of our Lord. When we fail to show ourselves as how Christians should live and conduct themselves, it means we are not wearing the Baptismal garment given to us.
In the first reading, we read the sad story of Jephthah, one of the Judges. God had sent His Spirit upon him and empowered him to deliver the Israelites from the Ammonites. But he was not confident enough that God’s Spirit would be sufficient for him to win the battle. To feel the power of God in his fight against his enemies, he made a thoughtless vow to God saying, “If you deliver the Ammonites into my hands, then the first person to meet me from the door of my house when I return in triumph from fighting the Ammonites shall belong to the Lord, and I will offer him up as a holocaust.” He did not think through the consequences of his vow.
After conquering the Ammonites, joy turned to immense sorrow and grief. “As Jephthah returned to his house at Mizpah, his daughter came out from it to meet him; she was dancing to the sound of timbrels. When he saw her, he tore his clothes and exclaimed, ‘Oh my daughter, what sorrow you are bringing me! Must it be you, the cause of my ill-fortune! I have given a promise to the Lord, and I cannot unsay what I have said.” Did he not consider that when he arrives home, someone would greet him and welcome him, especially after winning a battle? Was he ready to sacrifice his child or even his spouse? Also, did he really believe that God would demand a human sacrifice, especially that of a child in order to grant his request for victory? He would have remembered that child-sacrifice practiced in the pagan world during his time was rejected by God implicitly when He tested Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. When the time came for him to sacrifice his son, the Lord said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” (Gn 22:12)
Truly, this sacrifice of his daughter was uncalled for because the vow made to God was not valid as it was made in times of coercion, force and pressure. The Church teaches that “a vow made out of grave and unjust fear or malice is null by the law itself.” (Canon 1191 #3) Furthermore, only the person who makes the law can fulfil it and not someone else. “By its nature a vow obliges only the person who makes it.” (Canon 1193) At any rate, a vow to God must be for His greater glory and not cause harm to others. Again, Canon Law makes it clear, “If an oath is added to an act which directly tends toward the harm of others or toward the disadvantage of the public good or of eternal salvation, then the act is not reinforced by the oath.” (Canon Law 1201 #2)
Hence, his mistake was in making a vow without serious deliberation and consideration. It is good for us as well for those who are making private or public vows, or even oaths and promises, not to do it when we are under fear or coercion. The lack of consent invalidates the vow and promise made. St Ignatius in the 14th Annotation of the Spiritual Exercises says, “If he who is giving the Exercises sees that he who is receiving them is going on in consolation and with much fervour, he ought to warn him not to make any inconsiderate and hasty promise or vow.” Apart from pressure, even when in a state of religious fervour when we have received special grace from God in a retreat, we might be tempted to make a vow to God. St Ignatius warns us against making such vows. We should discuss with our spiritual director and see whether it is truly the Spirit moving us or our emotions. He also advised, “One should carefully consider the circumstances and personal qualities of the individual and how much help or hindrance he is likely to find in fulfilling the thing he would want to promise.” Indeed, when a vow or a promise is made without serious and prayerful discernment and consultation or under duress, it will not bear fruits and most of the time cannot be kept.
God does not want us to make empty promises, especially under fear in order to grant us His petitions. We just have to pray in faith and in humility. We must avoid making unnecessary vows to God or promises to our fellowmen. The Lord said, in ancient times it was said, “‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’ But I say to you, ‘Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.'” (Mt 5:34-37)
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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