20220215 BE ON YOUR GUARD
15 February, 2022, Tuesday, Week 6 in Ordinary Time
First reading | James 1:12-18 © |
Temptation is not from God
Happy the man who stands firm when trials come. He has proved himself, and will win the prize of life, the crown that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
Never, when you have been tempted, say, ‘God sent the temptation’; God cannot be tempted to do anything wrong, and he does not tempt anybody. Everyone who is tempted is attracted and seduced by his own wrong desire. Then the desire conceives and gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it too has a child, and the child is death.
Make no mistake about this, my dear brothers: it is all that is good, everything that is perfect, which is given us from above; it comes down from the Father of all light; with him there is no such thing as alteration, no shadow of a change. By his own choice he made us his children by the message of the truth so that we should be a sort of first-fruits of all that he had created.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 93(94):12-15,18-19 © |
Happy the man whom you teach, O Lord.
Happy the man whom you teach, O Lord,
whom you train by means of your law;
to him you give peace in evil days
while the pit is being dug for the wicked.
Happy the man whom you teach, O Lord.
The Lord will not abandon his people
nor forsake those who are his own;
for judgement shall again be just
and all true hearts shall uphold it.
Happy the man whom you teach, O Lord.
When I think: ‘I have lost my foothold’;
your mercy, Lord, holds me up.
When cares increase in my heart
your consolation calms my soul.
Happy the man whom you teach, O Lord.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Ac16:14 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O Lord,
to accept the words of your Son.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn14:23 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 8:14-21 © |
Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod
The disciples had forgotten to take any food and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. Then he gave them this warning, ‘Keep your eyes open; be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.’ And they said to one another, ‘It is because we have no bread.’ And Jesus knew it, and he said to them, ‘Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you not yet understand? Have you no perception? Are your minds closed? Have you eyes that do not see, ears that do not hear? Or do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you collect?’ They answered, ‘Twelve.’ ‘And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you collect?’ And they answered, ‘Seven.’ Then he said to them, ‘Are you still without perception?’
BE ON YOUR GUARD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [JAMES 1:12-18; PS 94:12-15,18-19; MK 8:14-21]
This life is full of temptations. We cannot avoid temptations. Even Jesus the Son of God was tempted by the Evil One who offered Him the pleasures, glory and power of the world. Resisting temptations is never easy. Resisting temptation is an everyday affair. Jesus was tempted at the beginning of His ministry and He had to struggle until the end. The Evil One would not give up tempting us, more so if you are someone of importance. The Evil One enjoys causing the greatest damage to humanity. So, if someone is prominent or holds a high office, the greater is the temptation to lust, power, pleasure and money. We have read enough stories where great scandals have been committed by influential and powerful people. Their fall gets even bigger publicity than when they were less successful. In the process, those who are related to them also suffer humiliation and embarrassment.
But temptations come not only from the Evil One. It would be escapism to blame all temptations on the work of the Evil One and worse, to say that it is from God. St James wrote, “Never, when you have been tempted, say, ‘God sent the temptation’; God cannot be tempted to do anything wrong, and he does not tempt anybody.” Perhaps because of the way the Lord’s Prayer is formulated, with the petition, “Do not bring us into temptation”, we imagine God tempting us to test us. This is not what the petition means. Rather, it is a plea to God to deliver us from temptation by not allowing temptation to overwhelm us. We should not blame anyone when we fall into sin. We must be careful that we do not react the same way Adam and Eve did when they fell into sin. Both of them excused themselves. Adam, when asked by God why he ate the fruit from the forbidden tree, answered, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.” (Gn 3:12f) The onus of the fault lies with us. We should not blame anyone. When we commit the sin of lust, we often blame it on our partner. When we commit criminal breach of trust, we lay the blame on those who tempted us.
This is why St Peter warns us. “Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.” (1 Pt 5:8f) St James similarly exhorts us to stand firm “when trials come. He has proved himself, and will win the prize of life, the crown that the Lord has promised to those who love him.” In the gospel, Jesus warned His disciples, “Keep your eyes open; be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.” In the case of the Pharisees, the yeast refers to the evil of hypocrisy and a hardened heart that refuses to repent in the face of truth. In the case of Herod, the yeast could refer to his adulterous affair, political ambition, ruthlessness towards those who opposed him. It could also refer to his unbelief in our Lord even though he heard of the miracles. And worst of all, both the Pharisees and Herodians, although disagreeable in beliefs and philosophy, came together to attack Jesus and even had an unholy alliance to kill Jesus.
How, then, do we keep ourselves alert and watchful? St James explains how temptation leads to sin. “Everyone who is tempted is attracted and seduced by his own wrong desire. Then the desire conceives and gives birth to sin.” The beginning of sin is always temptation through attraction and seduction by a wrong desire. Even though we know it is wrong, the pull is great because the flesh is weak. When we begin to imagine and desire, the thought gets stronger and the attraction becomes irresistible. This explains why the first sin is always bad, negative and lustful thoughts. Such thoughts often are suggested by images of what we see and read. Pornography leads to the sin of lust and sexual crimes. Display of sensuality, beautiful clothes and nice food tempt our body to desire the things and pleasures of the world.
But what is even more deadly is that often sin gives birth to death. St James wrote, “when sin is fully grown, it too has a child, and the child is death.” Sin begins small but it will gradually grow in strength and gravity. Often, many of us do not pay much attention to our venial sins, which we call human weaknesses, like watching pornography or sensual movies and pictures, telling lies, exaggerating the facts, getting angry, being hot tempered and boasting or indulging in bad habits like smoking, taking drugs and gambling. When we do not pay attention to these minor sins, soon, we begin to commit them more often. Eventually, the sins have a hold over us because we have become addicted. As a consequence, we eventually destroy ourselves and our loved ones. Sometimes, we bring physical death to ourselves because of violence and serious crimes; or at least spiritual death and a numb conscience. This is what made St John remark, “If you see your brother or sister committing what is not a mortal sin, you will ask, and God will give life to such a one – to those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin that is mortal; I do not say that you should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not mortal.” (1 Jn 5:16f)
Perhaps the biggest sin today is not the sins themselves but the denial of sins. This is the consequence of relativism and secularism. People say there is no God and therefore no sin because sin is against God. At most they might agree that there could be a wrong doing. Even then, it is relative depending on the customs, cultures and the prevailing norms. What is wrong in one society is permissible in another society. There are no absolutes in morality. However, St John warns us, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 Jn 1:8-10)
This precisely was the case of the Pharisees and Herod. It was their hardness of heart, the refusal to recognize and accept the truth that made them hostile to our Lord. Jesus’ reprimand of the disciples was along this line. Jesus said to them, “‘Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you not yet understand? Have you no perception? Are your minds closed? Have you eyes that do not see, ears that do not hear? Or do you not remember?” Like the Pharisees and Herod, they lacked perception to see the truth and failed to understand the meaning of the miracles of the loaves. They had the privilege of witnessing to the mighty works of Christ and yet, like the crowds, they failed to recognize the power of God at work in our Lord. There was a real danger that they too would be misled and walk in darkness.
St James reminds us of our calling when he wrote, “By his own choice he made us his children by the message of the truth so that we should be a sort of first-fruits of all that he had created.” God’s gifts to us is always good. It is God’s desire that we be His children by being reborn into the family of God. St Paul, writing to the Ephesians, similarly reminds us, “For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light – for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly; but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that becomes visible is light.” (Eph 5:8-14)
Today, we need to come to our Lord for light. “Make no mistake about this, my dear brothers; it is all that is good, everything that is perfect, which is given us from above; it comes down from the Father of all light; with him there is no such thing as alteration, no shadow of a change.” We must turn to the gospel. Only the Word of God can lead us to walk in true wisdom and love. It is this Word of God that never changes, and always relevant to us today. The letter of Hebrews reminds us, “Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.” St Peter wrote, “you have born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.” (1 Pt 1:23)
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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