20211115 THE SLIPPERY ROAD TO APOSTASY
15 November, 2021, Monday, 33rd Week, Ordinary Time
First reading |
1 Maccabees 1:10-15,41-43,54-57,62-64 © |
The persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes
There grew a sinful offshoot, Antiochus Epiphanes, son of King Antiochus; once a hostage in Rome, he became king in the one hundred and thirty-seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks. It was then that there emerged from Israel a set of renegades who led many people astray. ‘Come,’ they said ‘let us reach an understanding with the pagans surrounding us, for since we separated ourselves from them many misfortunes have overtaken us.’ This proposal proved acceptable, and a number of the people eagerly approached the king, who authorised them to practise the pagan observances. So they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem, such as the pagans have, disguised their circumcision, and abandoned the holy covenant, submitting to the heathen rule as willing slaves of impiety.
Then the king issued a proclamation to his whole kingdom that all were to become a single people, each renouncing his particular customs. All the pagans conformed to the king’s decree, and many Israelites chose to accept his religion, sacrificing to idols and profaning the sabbath. The king erected the abomination of desolation above the altar; and altars were built in the surrounding towns of Judah and incense offered at the doors of houses and in the streets. Any books of the Law that came to light were torn up and burned. Whenever anyone was discovered possessing a copy of the covenant or practising the Law, the king’s decree sentenced him to death.
Yet there were many in Israel who stood firm and found the courage to refuse unclean food. They chose death rather than contamination by such fare or profanation of the holy covenant, and they were executed. It was a dreadful wrath that visited Israel.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 118(119):53,61,134,150,155,158 © |
Give me life, O Lord, and I will do your will.
I am seized with indignation at the wicked
who forsake your law.
Though the nets of the wicked ensnared me
I remembered your law.
Give me life, O Lord, and I will do your will.
Redeem me from man’s oppression
and I will keep your precepts.
Those who harm me unjustly draw near;
they are far from your law.
Give me life, O Lord, and I will do your will.
Salvation is far from the wicked
who are heedless of your statutes.
I look at the faithless with disgust;
they ignore your promise.
Give me life, O Lord, and I will do your will.
Gospel Acclamation | Jn8:12 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the light of the world, says the Lord;
anyone who follows me will have the light of life.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 18:35-43 © |
'Son of David, have pity on me'
As Jesus drew near to Jericho there was a blind man sitting at the side of the road begging. When he heard the crowd going past he asked what it was all about, and they told him that Jesus the Nazarene was passing by. So he called out, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.’ The people in front scolded him and told him to keep quiet, but he shouted all the louder, ‘Son of David, have pity on me.’ Jesus stopped and ordered them to bring the man to him, and when he came up, asked him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ ‘Sir,’ he replied ‘let me see again.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight. Your faith has saved you.’ And instantly his sight returned and he followed him praising God, and all the people who saw it gave praise to God for what had happened.
THE SLIPPERY ROAD TO APOSTASY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 Maccabees 1:10-15, 41-43, 54-57, 62-64; Lk 18:35-43]
In the first reading, we read that many Jews eventually came to renounce their faith, their traditions and followed the pagan culture, way of life and worship. This was a gradual process. How did it begin? It began with “a sinful offshoot, Antiochus Epiphanes, son of King Antiochus.” The king sought to lure the Jews away from their faith and customs. He started the process by introducing pagan customs to the people. This gradually gained momentum because those who were weak in faith were attracted to the pagan way of life. In order to gain favour from the king and the pagans, they assimilated themselves to the pagan culture. “‘Come’ they said ‘let us reach an understanding with the pagans surrounding us. For since we separated ourselves from them many misfortunes have overtaken us.’ This proposal proved acceptable, and a number of the people eagerly approached the king, who authorised them to practise the pagan observances. So they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem, such as the pagans have, disguised their circumcision, and abandoned the holy covenant, submitting to the heathen rule as willing slaves of impiety.”
As more and more Jews apostatized, and the pagan culture began to be assimilated by a greater number of people, what began as a freedom of choice, soon became a law of the land. The King was emboldened in decreeing that everyone in the kingdom must accept his religion for the sake of unity and order. “The king issued a proclamation to his whole kingdom that all were to become a single people, each renouncing his particular customs. All the pagans conformed to the king’s decree, and many Israelites chose to accept his religion, sacrificing to idols and profaning the Sabbath. On the fifteenth day of Chislev in the year one hundred and forty-five the king erected the abomination of desolation above the altar; and altars were built in the surrounding towns of Judah and incense offered at the doors of houses and in the streets.”
The final step in apostasy was active persecution. We read that “any books of the Law that came to light were torn up and burned. Whenever anyone was discovered possessing a copy of the covenant or practising the Law, the king’s decree sentenced him to death.” So what began with a compromise, an attraction to the pagan religion of the king, became a law and then those who disobeyed were now persecuted by the state. The Jewish religion was thus outlawed, and to practise it could result in death.
What happened to the Jews 2,200 years ago is being repeated in this century, in a world which claims to be democratic, that champions freedom of the individual and human rights. Today, there is a very subtle movement to remove religions from the face of the earth, especially Christianity. It is a fact that to be a Christian means to face marginalization and discrimination. Faith is no longer allowed to be spoken in public. It is forced into hiding, privatized at home, all in the name of respect for each other’s beliefs. An excessive form of individualism is being promoted at the expense of the common good of the community. Humanism is being promoted as the new public religion of society. Everything must be based on reason alone. The result is relativism, because few of us can agree on anything.
Today, the world promotes a culture of death, although ironically, it claims to champion human rights and calls for the removal of the death penalty for crimes. The world protects criminals but do not protect the innocent, the aborted babies, the vulnerable, such as children with special needs, the elderly, the demented, those who are sick, because in the name of compassion, they promote euthanasia so that we would not have to look after them. In the name of free love, the world promotes promiscuity, pornography, same-sex union and divorce.
To hold these vain values twenty or forty years ago would have been frowned upon by society if not condemned and criminalized. But over the last half century, time immemorial traditions of sex, marriage, family and the sacredness of life, have been replaced. In fact, today, if we insist too much on the values which we once considered sacred, we would be condemned for imposing our views on others and insulting others who hold different values. We are not even allowed to speak the truth about what is right and what is wrong. We cannot say that it is wrong to hold values counter to the gospel. We can even be prosecuted for causing disunity and creating division and disorder. So today, we are gradually being silenced for speaking the truth and side-lined from public space.
But how did such a radical change in values happen in our world? It started just like the Jews during the time of Antiochus Epiphanes. Indeed, it all started from “a sinful offshoot.” It began with a small group of people sowing the seeds of a new amoral order for society. They wanted absolute freedom with respect to their body. They portrayed themselves as the underdogs, oppressed by society and so gained growing sympathy. Very soon the amoral values that they promoted were gradually assimilated by the rest of society. As more intellectuals, celebrities and people of power and influence assimilated such values, because it helps to promote business and entertainment, what was considered irregular is now seen as the norm; and what we considered the norm is now seen as queer, old-fashioned and redundant. Those who hold such values are persecuted covertly or even penalized by the institutions.
The influence of secularism, humanism, materialism and individualism grew because even our Catholics subscribed to the values promoted by the world, influenced by social media, Western education and indoctrination, subtle promotion by big corporations. As more and more of our Catholics subscribed to the values of the world than the Bible or their faith, a gradual exodus of Catholics from the Faith began to be seen. These began by losing their contact with God because they stopped praying due to the distractions of the world, then they stopped belonging to the Catholic community, having only non-Catholic friends. From indifference, it eventually led to hostility and attacks against one’s own faith. So it began from worldliness to indifference to hostility.
Of course, religious, community, corporate and political leaders have also a great part to play in destroying the moral fabric of society. Religious leaders are easily distracted by the world and because they are not well-founded on their faith, they too compromise their beliefs for fear of being rejected. When political leaders no longer consider themselves to be the moral spokesmen of society for democracy then it means that elected leaders must do the will of the people. Otherwise they would not get re-elected in the next election. So it is the masses that dictate to religions and politics what values they should uphold in society. Indeed, when we have weak leaders in religion, politics and among community leaders, we see a deterioration of morality, leading society to a decadent life of pleasure and self-centeredness.
So, we are called to be courageous like the blind man in today’s gospel. He wanted to see but his voice crying out for Jesus was drowned by the crowd who told him to be quiet and not to cause a nuisance. We too want to see the truth but the voice of truth is often drowned by the voices of the world. They can be very intimidating, attacking us on all fronts, distorting our messages, and engineering the public to go against the truths we teach. But we are told that the blind man refused to be discouraged. He shouted all the louder, “Son of David, have pity on me.” The Lord heard him, “stopped and ordered them to bring the man to him, and when he came up, asked him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ ‘Sir,’ he replied ‘let me see again.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight. Your faith has saved you.'” If we want to regain our faith, to see the truth about life and authentic love, then we too must ask Jesus that we may see. Unless we see, we cannot lead others to praise God as the blind man did when he regained his sight and he followed Jesus, praising God with all the people.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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