20211004 FAITH OF NON-BELIEVERS
04 October, 2021, Monday, 27th Week, Ordinary Time
First reading |
Jonah 1:1-2:1,11 © |
Jonah flees from his call
The word of the Lord was addressed to Jonah son of Amittai:
‘Up!’ he said ‘Go to Nineveh, the great city, and inform them that their wickedness has become known to me.’ Jonah decided to run away from the Lord, and to go to Tarshish. He went down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish; he paid his fare and went aboard, to go with them to Tarshish, to get away from the Lord. But the Lord unleashed a violent wind on the sea, and there was such a great storm at sea that the ship threatened to break up. The sailors took fright, and each of them called on his own god, and to lighten the ship they threw the cargo overboard. Jonah, however, had gone below and lain down in the hold and fallen fast asleep. The boatswain came upon him and said, ‘What do you mean by sleeping? Get up! Call on your god! Perhaps he will spare us a thought, and not leave us to die.’ Then they said to each other, ‘Come on, let us draw lots to find out who is responsible for bringing this evil on us.’ So they cast lots, and the lot fell to Jonah. Then they said to him, ‘Tell us, what is your business? Where do you come from? What is your country? What is your nationality?’ He replied, ‘I am a Hebrew, and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.’ The sailors were seized with terror at this and said, ‘What have you done?’ They knew that he was trying to escape from the Lord, because he had told them so. They then said, ‘What are we to do with you, to make the sea grow calm for us?’ For the sea was growing rougher and rougher. He replied, ‘Take me and throw me into the sea, and then it will grow calm for you. For I can see it is my fault this violent storm has happened to you.’ The sailors rowed hard in an effort to reach the shore, but in vain, since the sea grew still rougher for them. They then called on the Lord and said, ‘O Lord, do not let us perish for taking this man’s life; do not hold us guilty of innocent blood; for you, the Lord, have acted as you have thought right.’ And taking hold of Jonah they threw him into the sea; and the sea grew calm again. At this the men were seized with dread of the Lord; they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.
The Lord had arranged that a great fish should be there to swallow Jonah; and Jonah remained in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. The Lord spoke to the fish, which then vomited Jonah on to the shore.
Responsorial Psalm | Jonah 2:3-5,8 © |
You lifted my life from the pit, O Lord.
Out of my distress I cried to the Lord
and he answered me;
from the belly of Sheol I cried,
and you have heard my voice.
You lifted my life from the pit, O Lord.
You cast me into the abyss, into the heart of the sea,
and the flood surrounded me.
All your waves, your billows,
washed over me.
You lifted my life from the pit, O Lord.
And I said: I am cast out
from your sight.
How shall I ever look again
on your holy Temple?
You lifted my life from the pit, O Lord.
While my soul was fainting within me,
I remembered the Lord,
and my prayer came before you
into your holy Temple.
You lifted my life from the pit, O Lord.
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: | Jn13:34 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I give you a new commandment:
love one another just as I have loved you,
says the Lord.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 10:25-37 © |
The good Samaritan
There was a lawyer who, to disconcert Jesus, stood up and said to him, ‘Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the Law? What do you read there?’ He replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.’ ‘You have answered right,’ said Jesus ‘do this and life is yours.’
But the man was anxious to justify himself and said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’ Jesus replied, ‘A man was once on his way down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of brigands; they took all he had, beat him and then made off, leaving him half dead. Now a priest happened to be travelling down the same road, but when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. In the same way a Levite who came to the place saw him, and passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan traveller who came upon him was moved with compassion when he saw him. He went up and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. He then lifted him on to his own mount, carried him to the inn and looked after him. Next day, he took out two denarii and handed them to the innkeeper. “Look after him,” he said “and on my way back I will make good any extra expense you have.” Which of these three, do you think, proved himself a neighbour to the man who fell into the brigands‘ hands?’ ‘The one who took pity on him’ he replied. Jesus said to him, ‘Go, and do the same yourself.’
FAITH OF NON-BELIEVERS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ JONAH 1:1 – 2:1.11; JONAH 2:3-5,8; LK 10:25-37]
To speak about the faith of non-believers seems to be a contradiction in terms because we presume that they have no faith. So too to speak about the Good Samaritan is a contradiction in terms because for the Jews, all Samaritans were bad people, irreligious, could not be trusted and were condemned to hell. Yet, ironically, both scripture readings present to us the Gentiles, those who were non-Jews, as the truly good, upright and God-fearing people, contrary to what the Jews thought. And this is true for us who are Catholics or Christians as well. There are some of us who look at others who do not share our faith, and worse still if they have no faith at all in God or the supernatural world, and assign them to the category of the unsaved. We imagine ourselves to be holy, righteous and acceptable by God.
The truth is that even those who claim to have faith in God, subscribe to a religion, or could even be Christians, and yet act contrary to what their faith teaches them, conducting themselves in a manner worse than those of other faiths or without faith. Indeed, just having a religion alone does not guarantee that we are good people, or people with compassion, love and mercy. In fact, some of the most divisive people in the world are those who claim to have faith in God, attend church services regularly, serve in church ministries and committees, and the most arrogant, dictatorial, insensitive and self-righteous people. Even if they have love, it is only for people of their own kind, those who belong to their ministry, but their love and charity does not extend beyond the confines of their group. To such people, Jesus says, “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?” (Mt 5:46f) The scripture readings present to us this contrast between the so-called holy and righteous Jews, the People of God versus those who were considered pagans at worst, or sinners.
We have the story of Jonah in the first reading. Being an Israelite, and often living under the threat of foreign armies such as the Assyrians, we can appreciate why Jonah was not ready to go to the pagan city of Nineveh to urge them to repentance so that they could save themselves from the wrath of God. In fact, if anything, their destruction would bring him glee and satisfaction. And so when the Lord called him to go, instead of going East to Nineveh, he took the ship for Tarshish in the far west, just to flee from God. Furthermore, to denounce Nineveh in Israel would have appealed to his own people and made Jonah popular as he would have won favour from his people. But to preach repentance to them would be doing the unthinkable, especially right in the heart of the city of Nineveh. He would not only earn the wrath of his people but he would be venturing into uncharted territory. Who knows what the inhabitants would do to a Hebrew for denouncing their lifestyle. It would be suicidal for him. Hence, we can understand why Jonah could not accept the command of God to preach repentance in Nineveh as it was absurd, dangerous and contradictory to how the Hebrews view their enemies. So he fled from service to the Lord.
Yes, when we contrast his attitude with regard to the pagans and that of Abraham, it shows how self-righteous and vindictive Jonah was. He lacked compassion and courage to do the right thing. His love was not inclusive but judgmental. In the case of Abraham, he welcomed anyone, including strangers, and when he heard the angels were going to destroy the city of Sodom, he shamelessly bargained with them to withhold the wrath of God if ten good people could be found. (Gn 18:22-33) And this was in spite of the fact that the Lord gave him a second chance to redeem himself. When the people were converted after his preaching, and the tragedy was averted, he was angry with God and sulked under the shade of the bush. He did not manage to get his revenge on the people of Nineveh.
This contrast is again starkly brought out when we compare the self-righteous attitude of Jonah and the god-fearing hearts of the sailors in today’s first reading. Although they were not the chosen people of God, they were people with charity and conscience. They were god-fearing even though they did not worship the God of Israel. When they were in danger, they prayed to their gods while Jonah slept. The irony was that Jonah could declare that he worshipped “the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.” When they were told about Jonah’s God and how he sought to run away, “The sailors were seized with terror at this and said, ‘What have you done?’ They knew that he was trying to escape from the Lord, because he had told them so.” Knowing that Jonah had offended God, they still sought to save him because they had a good conscience, knowing what was right and what was wrong.
Only when it was near impossible and they had no choice but to save their lives, that they threw him overboard as suggested by Jonah. And when they did, they asked the Lord for forgiveness. “O Lord, do not let us perish for taking this man’s life; do not hold us guilty of innocent blood; for you, Lord, have acted as you thought right.” When “the sea grew calm again, the men were seized with the dread of the Lord; they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.” They offered sacrifice to Jonah’s God! They were Jonah’s first converts. How strange that God would make use of the sins of Jonah and his rebellion against him to bring about conversion in the lives of non-believers. We will see this comparison again later when Jonah’s preaching, the inhabitants of Nineveh, from the lowest subject to the king repented. When they heard of the call to repentance, they were sincerely contrite, fasted and did penance. They took the call of God seriously even when the message was from Jonah and from a God different from theirs. This was true even for those who were in the same ship as him when he was escaping from God to Tarshish.
In the gospel, we have similar contrast between the so-called Chosen People of God, the religious leaders even, and the pagans. When Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan, this term is in itself a contradiction. For the Jews, the Samaritans were seen negatively. He was definitely not perceived as a good person but a bad guy, a traitor and a heretic, never keeping the law of Moses. He would be the last person to be elevated as an exemplary neighbour. He was seen as an honest person by the innkeeper who was prepared to trust him at his word. He might not be seen as a religious person but he was an upright man. Unlike the priest and the Levite, he was the only one who was prepared to help the wounded man. He was prepared to take risks; the wounded man could have been a decoy used by the bandits to rob him of his money. The priest was more concerned that he did not lose his turn to serve at the Temple worship. He did not want to be made unclean. He put worship and rituals before charity. The Levite would not take risks to help the injured.
Indeed, the question of the scribe was telling when he asked Jesus, “who is my neighbour”, hoping to receive the answer that did not require him to extend his love beyond his own kind. Luke so beautifully had Jesus turn the question around at him and prompted him for an answer after telling him the Parable of the Good Samaritan. But notice his reply, “The one who took pity on him.” He could not bring himself to say that it was the Samaritan. Jesus said to him, “Go, and do the same yourself.”
What a surprising ending! The Samaritan who was seen as an outcast became the hero of the story. He was truly the righteous servant of God, putting charity above himself and his convenience. He had a heart of mercy and compassion for the suffering, regardless who they were. Some non-Catholics or even lapsed Catholics might not be church goers or believers, but they can actually be more Catholic in their way of life, and in the way they serve the poor and attend to the needy. Although, they are ostracized or looked down upon by so-called holy and righteous people, they are loved by God. Surely, such people with goodwill cannot be condemned to hell just because they do not go to church on Sundays, or even know the God of Jesus. At the end of the day, we are judged by our charity for our neighbours. To love God means serving Him in caring for others. True worship leads to active charity.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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