JUSTICE IS POSSIBLE ONLY THROUGH MERCY

20220701 JUSTICE IS POSSIBLE ONLY THROUGH MERCY

 

 

01 July, 2022, Friday, 13th Week in Ordinary Time

First reading

Amos 8:4-6,9-12 ©

A famine not of bread, but of hearing the word of the Lord

Listen to this, you who trample on the needy

and try to suppress the poor people of the country,

you who say, ‘When will New Moon be over

so that we can sell our corn,

and sabbath, so that we can market our wheat?

Then by lowering the bushel, raising the shekel,

by swindling and tampering with the scales,

we can buy up the poor for money,

and the needy for a pair of sandals,

and get a price even for the sweepings of the wheat.’

That day – it is the Lord who speaks –

I will make the sun go down at noon,

and darken the earth in broad daylight.

I am going to turn your feasts into funerals,

all your singing into lamentation;

I will have your loins all in sackcloth,

your heads all shaved.

I will make it a mourning like the mourning for an only son,

as long as it lasts it will be like a day of bitterness.

See what days are coming – it is the Lord who speaks –

days when I will bring famine on the country,

a famine not of bread, a drought not of water,

but of hearing the word of the Lord.

They will stagger from sea to sea,

wander from north to east,

seeking the word of the Lord

and failing to find it.

---

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 118(119):2,10,20,30,40,131 ©

Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

They are happy who do his will,

  seeking him with all their hearts,

I have sought you with all my heart;

  let me not stray from your commands.

Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

My soul is ever consumed

  as I long for your decrees.

I have chosen the way of truth

  with your decrees before me.

Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

See, I long for your precepts;

  then in your justice, give me life.

I open my mouth and I sigh

  as I yearn for your commands.

Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

---

Gospel Acclamation

Ps24:4,5

Alleluia, alleluia!

Teach me your paths, my God,

make me walk in your truth.

Alleluia!

Or:

Mt11:28

Alleluia, alleluia!

Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened,

and I will give you rest, says the Lord.

Alleluia!

---

Gospel

Matthew 9:9-13 ©

It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick

As Jesus was walking on, he saw a man named Matthew sitting by the customs house, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.

  While he was at dinner in the house it happened that a number of tax collectors and sinners came to sit at the table with Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your master eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ When he heard this he replied, ‘It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. Go and learn the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice. And indeed I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners.’

 

JUSTICE IS POSSIBLE ONLY THROUGH MERCY

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SCRIPTURE READINGS: [AMOS 8:4-12; MATTHEW 9:9-13 ]

In the first reading, the Prophet Amos condemned the rich and the powerful and all those who cheated and oppressed the poor.  These included those who were supposedly observing the rituals and religious festivals of Israel.  “Listen to this, you who trample on the needy and try to suppress the poor people of the country, you who say, ‘When will New Moon be over so that we can sell our corn, and sabbath, so that we can market our wheat? Then by lowering the bushel, raising the shekel, by swindling and tampering with the scales, we can buy up the poor for money, and the needy for a pair of sandals, and get a price even for the sweepings of the wheat.'”  One might be religious in the observance of religion but lack charity and compassion for the poor, the vulnerable and the weak, including sinners.

When we see injustices or worse still, hypocrisy, we demand justice.  We want those in power to intervene and put things right.  We want those who have done wrong to be punished as much as we have suffered.  We will be satisfied not only when justice is restored but offenders are punished.  This instinctive clamour for justice is in the heart of every person.  Ironically, those who are wrong immediately sense what injustice is but not those who commit them.  Indeed, when human beings do not restore justice, we pray as the prophet Amos prophesied, that God would take action for the oppressed. “It is the Lord who speaks – I will make the sun go down at noon, and darken the earth in broad daylight. I am going to turn your feasts into funerals, all your singing into lamentation; I will have your loins all in sackcloth, your heads all shaved. I will make it a mourning like the mourning for an only son, as long as it lasts it will be like a day of bitterness.”

Yet surprisingly, Jesus did not act that way in the gospel.  He not only ate with tax-collectors and sinners, but He even invited Matthew, a tax-collector, to be His apostle.  In the eyes of the people, tax-collectors were not only dishonest, charging exorbitant taxes on the people, but sometimes even beat them up when they could not pay.  They were seen as traitors of the Jewish people for working for the Roman Emperor.  They were sinners and should be ostracized.  So we can appreciate when the Pharisees complained to Jesus’ disciples, “Why does your master eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

But are we any better?  We have many self-righteous Catholics as well.  We would be scandalized when someone mixes with those who are marginalized for their inability to observe the laws of the Church.   We often make those who are divorced, or LGBTQ feel as if they are not fit to serve the Church.  Those of us who are doing well will only mix with those of higher status.  Many of us are exclusive in our relationships.  We must come down from our pedestal and reach out to those who feel marginalized and those who are hurting, to feel with them, to listen to them and to understand their struggles so that we will be less judgmental.  Those who are legalistic and judgmental are those who lack personal contact with those who are struggling in their faith and in life.  They tend to judge people according to their standards.  And in truth, many of us are not able to live out perfectly the gospel values.   We are far from what the Lord or the scriptures ask of us.  All we do is to selectively choose some laws which we can fulfil and compare ourselves with others, whilst neglecting the other laws we cannot observe.  As the Lord told the scribes and the Pharisees, “you have neglected the more important matters of the law – justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.  You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.”  (Mt 23:23f)

This is not to say that justice and integrity of life are not important.  To allow injustices to prevail would contradict the love of God.  Justice is the basic act of charity towards our brothers and sisters.  If we cannot even fulfil the law of justice, which means fair play and impartiality towards our brothers and sisters regardless of their race, language or religion, we cannot speak of charity.  The world tries to effect justice through the laws as they make it much easier for us to decide who is in the right or in the wrong, and how those who suffer injury should be compensated.  Even then, the laws can be twisted and argued in such a way that the offender gets away because there can be loopholes in the laws.  At any rate, strict legal justice does not necessarily rehabilitate the sinner or the offender.  It can make the person more resentful or just deter the person from committing offences, but the heart is not changed.  When the law is removed or when a person thinks he can act without being caught, he would do it again because the heart is unconverted. What is needed for real justice is the conversion of the heart of the offender and to protect the rights of others.

Real lasting justice is effected in truth by mercy.  Only mercy can change the heart of a heartless person.  “It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. Go and learn the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice. And indeed I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners.”  This was the reply that the Lord gave to the religious leaders when He heard how scandalized they were when He ate and drank with sinners.   The only way to change the hearts of people is always by love, charity and mercy.  Even the most wicked person will have a soft spot because human beings understand love and compassion.  As the Lord said of the woman who was a notorious sinner, “Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven – as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”  (Lk 7:47)

In the case of Matthew, Jesus knew his heart was yearning for peace and security.  But he was finding it in the wrong place.  And so Jesus waited for the moment when his heart was more opened to Him before He surprised Matthew by calling him to follow Him.  It was unimaginable.  Matthew would have heard Jesus preach about mercy and forgiveness.   Perhaps, he was sceptical whether these were just words or something real.  But Jesus did not simply preach about God’s mercy and love, He actively mediated God’s mercy by calling sinners and inviting them to fellowship with Him.  Matthew was indeed moved by our Lord’s mercy and acceptance of his past.   So touched was he by His love and mercy, Matthew felt confident enough to invite all his friends and colleagues, mostly tax-collectors and sinners like him, to have a meal with Jesus.

But mercy does not just change the hearts of the sinners but also the heart of the one who reaches out to them.  When we withhold judgment and listen to them, journey with them, we come to understand them much more.  Life is very complex.  Every sinner or offender has a history of hurts and wounds behind them.  Most are reacting from their raw wounds still unhealed, their fears and insecurity.  Some are emotionally and psychologically affected.  They become defensive, suspicious and sometimes vindictive.   Life is more than just a matter of right and wrong, whether we keep the laws or not.  I believe we all have a good heart and we all want to be happy in life.  But because of negative experiences in life, our upbringing, our sociological and religious conditioning have made us negative towards some people.  This is why we must begin by being with them, reaching out to them as Jesus did with the tax-collectors and sinners.  He was willing to compromise His position as a holy Rabbi by interacting with them.  He did not keep them at a distance but came to touch them, the sinners, the sick, the lepers and all.  He identified with them, as with us in our weakness and pain.

But this takes courage and open-mindedness.  How many of us are ready to mix with those whom we consider to be the outcasts of society?  Perhaps, the problem in our churches is that we spend so much time trying to convert the unconverted in our congregations when there are so many unconverted outside the Church who are seeking true peace, joy, and freedom.  Those sinners in the world at times are more disposed to the Gospel than our own kind.  Those who are already Catholic feel that they are saved even if they are minimalist in their faith.  They are complacent and happy to be nominal Catholics and still be able to live like a worldly man.  But those who are sinners and marginalized, when healed by the proclamation of the good news and our Lord, change radically, giving up their old way of life, just as Matthew and Zacchaeus did.  Alas, the world is waiting to hear the message of the gospel whilst we are busy dealing with some disgruntled parishioners, internal politics and petty squabbles.

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Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved. 

 

THE COURAGE TO SPEAK THE TRUTH

20220630 THE COURAGE TO SPEAK THE TRUTH

 

 

30 June, 2022, Thursday, 13th Week in Ordinary Time

First reading

Amos 7:10-17 ©

The Lord took me from herding the flock and sent me to prophesy

Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel as follows. ‘Amos is plotting against you in the heart of the House of Israel; the country can no longer tolerate what he keeps saying. For this is what he says, “Jeroboam is going to die by the sword, and Israel go into exile far from its country.”’ To Amos, Amaziah said, ‘Go away, seer;’ get back to the land of Judah; earn your bread there, do your prophesying there. We want no more prophesying in Bethel; this is the royal sanctuary, the national temple.’ ‘I was no prophet, neither did I belong to any of the brotherhoods of prophets,’ Amos replied to Amaziah ‘I was a shepherd, and looked after sycamores: but it was the Lord who took me from herding the flock, and the Lord who said, “Go, prophesy to my people Israel.” So listen to the word of the Lord.

‘You say:

‘“Do not prophesy against Israel,

utter no oracles against the House of Isaac.”

‘Very well, this is what the Lord says,

‘“Your wife will be forced to go on the streets,

your sons and daughters will fall by the sword,

your land be parcelled out by measuring line,

and you yourself die on unclean soil

and Israel will go into exile far distant from its own land.”’

---

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 18(19):8-11 ©

The decrees of the Lord are truth and all of them just.

The law of the Lord is perfect,

  it revives the soul.

The rule of the Lord is to be trusted,

  it gives wisdom to the simple.

The decrees of the Lord are truth and all of them just.

The precepts of the Lord are right,

  they gladden the heart.

The command of the Lord is clear,

  it gives light to the eyes.

The decrees of the Lord are truth and all of them just.

The fear of the Lord is holy,

  abiding for ever.

The decrees of the Lord are truth

  and all of them just.

The decrees of the Lord are truth and all of them just.

They are more to be desired than gold,

  than the purest of gold

and sweeter are they than honey,

  than honey from the comb.

The decrees of the Lord are truth and all of them just.

---

Gospel Acclamation

Mt11:25

Alleluia, alleluia!

Blessed are you, Father, 

Lord of heaven and earth,

for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom

to mere children.

Alleluia!

Or:

2Co5:19

Alleluia, alleluia!

God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself,

and he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled.

Alleluia!

---

Gospel

Matthew 9:1-8 ©

'Your sins are forgiven; get up and walk'

Jesus got in the boat, crossed the water and came to his own town. Then some people appeared, bringing him a paralytic stretched out on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, ‘Courage, my child, your sins are forgiven.’ And at this some scribes said to themselves, ‘This man is blaspheming.’ Knowing what was in their minds Jesus said, ‘Why do you have such wicked thoughts in your hearts? Now, which of these is easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Get up and walk”? But to prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,’ – he said to the paralytic – ‘get up, and pick up your bed and go off home.’ And the man got up and went home. A feeling of awe came over the crowd when they saw this, and they praised God for giving such power to men.

 

THE COURAGE TO SPEAK THE TRUTH

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SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Amos 7:10-17; Ps 19:8-11; Mt 9:1-8]

It is inevitable that when we speak the truth, we will be confronted by opposition.  This is because speaking the truth challenges those walking in falsehood to change their lives.  This was the case of the Israelites when they heard the warnings of the Prophet Amos. His prophecy did not sit well with them because it was perceived as discouraging and negative.  Most of all, it hurt those who were in positions of power.  In the case of Amaziah who was the high priest of the sanctuary of Bethel, his influence and luxurious life was threatened by Amos’ prophecy as it might make the people question the status quo.  Hence, out of fear Amaziah informed the King that the prophet said, “Jeroboam is going to die by the sword, and Israel go into exile far from its country.”  In truth, Amos did not say that Jeroboam would die by the sword, but that Israel would go into exile.  The intention of Amaziah was to accuse Amos of treason and brand him as a traitor.  Amaziah told Jeroboam, King of Israel that “Amos is plotting against you in the heart of the House of Israel; the country can no longer tolerate what he keeps saying.”

That Amos was not welcomed is understandable.  No one likes to hear bad news.  This is true even in our day.  It is extremely difficult to tell those under our charge, our children, our subordinates and even our friends, that they are wrong.  They will react with hostility and resentment.  No one wants to be told that they are wrong because we all have our views on what is good or bad.  In such a situation today, we would choose the way of compromise, to accommodate both views so that there is peace, albeit an uneasy and superficial peace.  It is always difficult to speak the truth today because when the interests of those involved are affected, we can be sure that they will rise up to defend their interests.

In the gospel, Jesus was also not appreciated and often misunderstood.  We read of the growing opposition against Him in chapter 9 of St Matthew’s gospel. In spite of the miracles and good works He performed, He was perceived as a deviant.  The religious leaders felt threatened by Him.  So they sought to remove the irritant from their community. In the case of the healing of the paralytic, they were scandalized by Jesus who acted in the name of God in forgiving the sins of the paralytic.  Instead of recognizing the power of God at work in Jesus through His preaching, reconciliation and healing, they saw Him as one who broke the Law.

Yet, both Amos and our Lord continued with their ministry undeterred by the opposition they were facing.  They did not give up as easily as we do when we find ourselves facing our critics.  Most of us would just shake the dust off our feet and leave them alone.  We are afraid of hardship and opposition.  But Amos and Jesus remained firm in their convictions and ministry.  They did not give in to opposition or succumb to threats and false accusations.  They were resolute in doing what they had been sent for.

What could be the reason for their fortitude and perseverance?  Simply, it was because they were convinced that they were sent by God.  They did not choose this.  They were sent.  The defence of Amos was this, “I was a shepherd, and looked after sycamores: but it was the Lord who took me from herding the flock, and the Lord who said, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.”   He could have remained a shepherd and lived a contented life.  He was not making money from the Prophetic ministry as suggested by Amaziah when he sneered at him saying, “Go away, seer; get back to the land of Judah; earn your bread there, do your prophesying there.”  But since the Lord took him from being a shepherd to his flock of sheep and called him to be a prophet, he could not go against the Lord.  He said, “So listen to the word of the Lord.”

Consequently, the confidence with which we serve the Lord and speak the truth is dependent on our own inner conviction of what the Lord is telling us.  If we are certain that what we are saying is from the Lord and not from ourselves, we know that it will bear fruit.  Clearly, the prophet Amos was not trying to sell his ideas or propagate his ideology, but he was sent to communicate a message from the Lord.  It was not about his interests but the good of the nation.  This was also the situation of the Lord.  He had been called to proclaim the Good News to the poor.  Like Jesus, we will speak with the authority of God because we have heard what the Lord wants of us and what He wants us to say.  This explains why it is so important that those of us who are preachers, teachers or visionaries must be people of prayer who are very much in contact with the Lord, especially through the Word of God.  When we preach or teach from our intellectual knowledge, we cannot go far in changing lives, unless we speak from our inner convictions.  Only when we speak in truth and from the Lord, are our words efficacious.

In the gospel, when Jesus told the paralyzed man, “Courage, my child, your sins are forgiven”, the man did not react, unlike the scribes who were scandalized.  This was because the paralyzed man knew himself better than others.  He was fully aware of his sins and therefore did not deny the fact.  In truth, he needed to hear the words of forgiveness desperately.  He could not forgive himself and his past, which was the cause of his paralysis.  He took the words of Jesus positively.  Only the sinner knew how much he needed to let go and to be assured of God’s forgiveness of his sinful past and the many mistakes he had made.  It was the truth revealed to him by the Lord that helped him to find healing.

In the final analysis, it is not difficult to distinguish between a false and true prophet.  The false prophet speaks from his own interests and he has a hidden agenda of which he might or might not be conscious of, due to the lack of self-awareness.  This could spring from fear and selfishness.  A true prophet has no ambition and no self-interests.  He says what needs to be said because he has heard the message from the Lord.  When we become resentful because our plans are not accepted and retaliate in anger, most likely our ego and interests are affected.  In the case of Amos, it came to a stage when he had to say the sad truth that repentance was too late because it would be a matter of time when Assyria would conquer Israel and they would be sent into exile.  A prophet is sad for those who live in darkness, but he is not reactive.

If we want to be true prophets, let us examine our own motives and be sure that we have prayed deeply so that we can distinguish the voice of God from our own voice.   No one can be so presumptuous to say “the Lord says” unless we have heard Him clearly in prayer, contemplation and reflection.  The true prophet remains focused and suffers with his people in their sins and the consequences of their folly.

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Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved. 

 

SAINTS PETER AND PAUL, WITNESSES OF THE FAITH

20220629 SAINTS PETER AND PAUL, WITNESSES OF THE FAITH

 

 

29 June, 2022, Wednesday, Ss Peter and Paul, Apostles

First reading

Acts 12:1-11 ©

'Now I know the Lord really did save me from Herod'

King Herod started persecuting certain members of the Church. He beheaded James the brother of John, and when he saw that this pleased the Jews he decided to arrest Peter as well. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread, and he put Peter in prison, assigning four squads of four soldiers each to guard him in turns. Herod meant to try Peter in public after the end of Passover week. All the time Peter was under guard the Church prayed to God for him unremittingly.

  On the night before Herod was to try him, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, fastened with double chains, while guards kept watch at the main entrance to the prison. Then suddenly the angel of the Lord stood there, and the cell was filled with light. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him. ‘Get up!’ he said ‘Hurry!’ – and the chains fell from his hands. The angel then said, ‘Put on your belt and sandals.’ After he had done this, the angel next said, ‘Wrap your cloak round you and follow me.’ Peter followed him, but had no idea that what the angel did was all happening in reality; he thought he was seeing a vision. They passed through two guard posts one after the other, and reached the iron gate leading to the city. This opened of its own accord; they went through it and had walked the whole length of one street when suddenly the angel left him. It was only then that Peter came to himself. ‘Now I know it is all true’ he said. ‘The Lord really did send his angel and has saved me from Herod and from all that the Jewish people were so certain would happen to me.’

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Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 33(34):2-9 ©

From all my terrors the Lord set me free.

or

The angel of the Lord rescues those who revere him.

I will bless the Lord at all times,

  his praise always on my lips;

in the Lord my soul shall make its boast.

  The humble shall hear and be glad.

From all my terrors the Lord set me free.

or

The angel of the Lord rescues those who revere him.

Glorify the Lord with me.

  Together let us praise his name.

I sought the Lord and he answered me;

  from all my terrors he set me free.

From all my terrors the Lord set me free.

or

The angel of the Lord rescues those who revere him.

Look towards him and be radiant;

  let your faces not be abashed.

This poor man called, the Lord heard him

  and rescued him from all his distress.

From all my terrors the Lord set me free.

or

The angel of the Lord rescues those who revere him.

The angel of the Lord is encamped

  around those who revere him, to rescue them.

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

  He is happy who seeks refuge in him.

From all my terrors the Lord set me free.

or

The angel of the Lord rescues those who revere him.

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Second reading

2 Timothy 4:6-8,17-18 ©

All there is to come now is the crown of righteousness reserved for me

My life is already being poured away as a libation, and the time has come for me to be gone. I have fought the good fight to the end; I have run the race to the finish; I have kept the faith; all there is to come now is the crown of righteousness reserved for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that Day; and not only to me but to all those who have longed for his Appearing.

  The Lord stood by me and gave me power, so that through me the whole message might be proclaimed for all the pagans to hear; and so I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from all evil attempts on me, and bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

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Gospel Acclamation

Mt16:18

Alleluia, alleluia!

You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.

And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it.

Alleluia!

---

Gospel

Matthew 16:13-19 ©

You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ‘But you,’ he said ‘who do you say I am?’ Then Simon Peter spoke up, ‘You are the Christ,’ he said ‘the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.’

 

SAINTS PETER AND PAUL, WITNESSES OF THE FAITH

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SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Acts 12: 1-11; Ps 33:2-9; 2 Tim 4, 6-8, 17-18; Mt 16, 13-19]

The call to witness to Christ is an obligation by virtue of our baptism.  We are all called to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth, announcing Christ as our Saviour and Redeemer.  The command to spread the gospel of Christ and to win converts for our Lord is very challenging in a world like ours today, when there is great sensitivity to proselytism and acceptance of the gospel values enshrined in Catholic doctrines and morality.  We read how in the early Church the apostles suffered persecution and even death for the sake of the gospel.  Ss Peter and Paul, the great pillars of the Church, whose feast we celebrate today, suffered martyrdom for the sake of the gospel.  Because of their witnessing, the Church grew in strength and in the world.

Today, we are called to learn from Ss Peter and Paul how to witness for Christ effectively.  The fundamental truth is to rely on divine intervention.   The gospel cannot change lives if it is only dependent on our intellectual capacity, our eloquence, and strategies in communication.  We must rely on divine intervention.  It is God who makes our work fruitful rather than our ingenuity and talents alone.  The Lord said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.”  (Jn 15:5) Writing to the Corinthians, Paul said, “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”  (1 Cor 3:5-7) 

The first reading from the Acts of the Apostles recounts how St Peter was released from prison through God’s intervention.  St Peter was persecuted by the Jewish political authorities.  King Herod who beheaded James saw it as a political gain because the Jews supported him, sought to arrest Peter as well.  He was placed in prison before the trial.  But an angel delivered Peter from prison.  Clearly, this was a case of divine intervention.  This shows that without divine intervention, the gospel would not have spread to the whole world.  The gospel in the early Church spread quickly, because God worked signs through the apostles.  “Now many signs and wonders were done among the people through the apostles. Yet more than ever believers were added to the Lord, great numbers of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on cots and mats, in order that Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he came by. A great number of people would also gather from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all cured.”  (Acts 5:12-16)

In the gospel, we read of God’s intervention in enlightening St Peter on the identity of our Lord.  When Jesus asked the apostles, “who do you say I am?”, “Simon Peter spoke up, ‘You are the Christ,’ he said, ‘the Son of the living God’. Jesus replied, ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven.”  Indeed, St Peter received the divine revelation, without which he would not have been able to confess in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God.  Without a personal conviction of the identity of our Lord, one would not be able to give his or her life to Christ.  This was why when the Lord asked His disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”, they said, “Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”  In a pointed way, He then asked them, “But you, who do you say I am?”  Truly, it was Peter’s personal conviction bolstered by divine inspiration and revelation that made him the rock of the Church.   In other words, through sharing the faith of St Peter, the Church will grow in strength and be able to withstand the onslaughts of the world.  As St Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”  (Jn 6:69)

Even then, having the right confession of faith does not mean that St Peter and the rest of the apostles fully understood what they were saying.  More likely, their understanding of Christ’s messiahship was warped and influenced by popular opinions in their time.  No human category could describe Jesus and His ministry.  Jesus was greater than all the prophets of the Old Testament.  Again, for this reason, Jesus spoke of another divine intervention needed to understand what He had told them. “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”  (Jn 16:12f) The Holy Spirit will continue to guide the Church to walk in the way of our Lord.

In the final analysis, the scripture readings today underscore that the Church is ultimately built on Christ, the rock of the Church, our cornerstone.  When the Lord said to St Peter, “You are Peter and on this rock, I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven”, it meant first and foremost that He is the rock of the Church.  This was the interpretation of St Augustine.  Jesus is the rock simply because He is the Son of the Living God.  This is the faith of St Peter and the faith of the Church.  St Peter is the little rock insofar as he founded his faith in Christ, the rock of the Church.

Turning to St Paul, he too spoke of God’s intervention in His life many times in His ministry.  He would pay attention to God’s voice. Once he had a vision of a man in Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”  Convinced of God’s call for them, they immediately crossed over to Macedonia to proclaim the good news to them. (Acts 16:9f) Then at Thessalonica, the Lord freed Paul and Silas from prison miraculously through an earthquake “so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened.”  (Acts 16:26) Clearly the gospel would be preached not just by St Paul’s eloquence and conviction but through the power of God.  Indeed, God told Paul when he returned to Jerusalem for trial, “That night the Lord stood near him and said, ‘Keep up your courage! For just as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, so you must bear witness also in Rome.'” (Acts 23:11) At the end of his life and ministry, St Paul surmised it by saying, “The Lord stood by me and gave me power, so that through me the whole message might be proclaimed for all the pagans to hear; and so I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from all evil attempts on me, and bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

St Paul shows us what it means to persevere in faith and to be focused in life especially during persecution.  Having found Christ, he gave his life entirely to Him because he encountered His love and mercy for him in spite of the fact that he was a persecutor of the church.  At the conclusion of his life and ministry, St Paul wrote, “As for me, my life is already being poured away as a libation, and the time has come for me to be gone.”  Being a witness of Christ is never easy.  He himself was not just persecuted from without, from his fellow Jews but even from fellow Christians.  He wrote with sadness, “Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm, he strongly opposed our message.”  (2 Tim 4:10,14,15) But if our eyes are focused on the Lord, we will triumph and be able to fight “the good fight to the end”, “to run the race to the finish” and keep the faith like St Paul.  As the psalmist says, “I sought the Lord and he answered me; from all my terrors he set me free. Look towards him and be radiant; let your faces not be abashed. This poor man called, the Lord heard him and rescued him from all his distress. The angel of the Lord is encamped around those who revere him, to rescue them.”

As we celebrate the Feasts of Ss Peter and Paul, let us as a community not just pray to them but ask them for the grace to witness powerfully not just as individuals but as a community of believers.  May our lives and our faith inspire others to come to know Jesus.  May our fidelity to the gospel encourage others to continue to persevere to the end.

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Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved. 

A MATTER OF THE HEART

20220628 A MATTER OF THE HEART

 

 

28 June, 2022, Tuesday, 13th Week in Ordinary Time

Hosea 8 :4-7

4 They made kings, but not through me. 

They set up princes, but without my knowledge. 

With their silver and gold they made idols 

for their own destruction. 

5 I have^c spurned your calf, O Samaria. 

My anger burns against them. 

How long will it be 

till they are pure 6 in Israel?^d

A workman made it; 

it is not God. 

The calf of Samaria 

shall be broken to pieces.^e

7 For they sow the wind, 

and they shall reap the whirlwind. 

The standing grain has no heads, 

it shall yield no meal; 

if it were to yield, 

aliens would devour it.

 

Matthew 9:32-37

32 As they were going away, behold, a dumb demoniac was brought to him. 33 And when the demon had been cast out, the dumb man spoke; and the crowds marveled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.” 34 But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.” 

35 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every infirmity. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;

 

A MATTER OF THE HEART

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SCRIPTURE READINGS: [HOS 8:4-7, 11-13; MT 9:32-37]

We all know how painful it is when we are misunderstood, especially when we mean well.  We get very hurt and discouraged when people impute dubious motives in what we do, or even suggest that we have done something wrong or that we are benefiting from it.  We can imagine how Jesus would have felt when His opponents accused Him of casting out devils “through the prince of devils.” Indeed, His enemies never had anything good to say about Him, regardless of what He said or did.  They always had an axe to grind and were always finding fault with Him, watching Him and waiting to catch Him making a mistake.  We too have many people like that in our lives, even in Church ministry.  It pains us to know that even our so-called brothers and sisters in Christ are attacking us and slandering us and our reputation when we are serving the Church, often at our own expense and time.

In contrast, we read that the common people, those who needed assistance and divine intervention, were the ones who were moved by the compassion and the healing power of our Lord.  They were amazed and remarked, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”  So on one hand, the hierarchy and the established institution frowned upon the work of Jesus and sought to remove Him, whereas the people saw Him as their Saviour and deliverer.  Such contrasting reactions all go to show that it is not a matter of logic or even fact, because the fact is that people were healed and those possessed were delivered.  But it is a matter of the heart.  We do not see things as they are, but we see things as we are.  This is shaped by our past experiences, needs and situation in life.  For those who are self-sufficient and secure in their own world, they would not need Jesus to help them.  They feel they can manage on their own.  So the reaction is one of scepticism and even hostility.  However, one day, when they are desperate, because either they or their loved ones are terminally ill, then they will turn to the Lord for mercy and for miracles.

With such people, there is no reason to argue with them.  Jesus did not react much to their negativities.  He was clear of what He was doing.  He did not spend much time arguing with them or getting discouraged by such hurtful remarks.  Rather, we read that He continued to make “a tour through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness.”  Jesus did not stop doing good just because some people were not happy with Him or tried to discredit His ministry.  We, too, must be like Jesus and not react to destructive people by withdrawing, but continue the good works we are doing.  Not all people will appreciate us but those who need our services and our help will be grateful.  We serve those who desire to have our services.  To resign from ministry just because of some false allegations would not be the best thing to do.

Of course, we need to examine our motives and consider the criticisms of our detractors.  Sometimes, they could be right as we could be blind in self-awareness.  The truth is always difficult to accept because we do not like to be told that we are not good enough.  Rejection of our works is often taken as a rejection of the person.  We become discouraged and fall into despair.  So when we are criticized, we must immediately bring such criticisms into prayer and to see whether the comments of our critics are true.  Truth has different degrees.  By entering into ourselves and examining the truth of the criticisms of our enemies with humility, we might be able to learn something from them.  The mud that they sling at us could very well be the means by which we are refined, polished and purified. So let us make good use of our critics for our growth.  Discard the criticisms however if they are not true.

In the case of Jesus, He was a man of great compassion.  He always acted out of mercy and empathy for those who are suffering.  He did not perform miracles for show or to prove Himself.  He always acted spontaneously in response to a need, regardless of the situation.  Whether it was a fellow Jew who asked Him for help, to heal or to raise someone from the dead; or even from a non-Jew, He would help without worrying whether He had broken the ritual laws.  Even when the ear of the slave of the high priest was cut off by Peter, His immediate reaction was to heal the man (Luke 22:51).  Hence, we can feel with the Lord for His people.  “And when he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd.  Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.'”

We too must be motivated not by power, glory, honour and status but simply by the sufferings of our people.   Why are we in the ministry?  Are we motivated because many are living aimless lives in this world, without direction, purpose and meaning?  If so, then we are called to proclaim the Gospel of our Lord so that we can give meaning to their lives.  Some of us might be motivated by the sufferings of humanity.  Hence, we are involved in social ministry, whether serving those who are physically sick, materially poor or those who are lonely or emotionally hurt.  Different people are called to different ministries, depending on what moves us.  This explains why personal contact with those who are suffering would often touch the hearts of people.  When we see the poor being deprived of basic needs and those who are going through much emotional pains and struggles, our hearts go out to them.  The natural response of the human heart is to heal and to help them.  What we do not see with our eyes or touch with our hands, we are not easily moved.  Hence, the invitation to do charitable works and give to the poor is not based on logic but on moving the hearts of people to give out of their abundance.

In the first reading, the prophet Hosea delivered God’s judgement on the Northern Kingdom of Israel.  In contrast, they were not motivated by truth but by pride and selfish reasons.  They erected their own sanctuaries so that their people would not have to go down to Jerusalem to worship.  They appointed their own kings and even adapted their faith by importing the pagan worship and practices. By so doing, the leaders, both political and religious, misled the people and caused them to sin against the Lord.  They were not sincere in wanting to worship the Lord or obey the laws of the Lord.  “Ephraim has built altar after altar, they have only served him as occasion for sin.  Were I to write out the thousand precepts of my law for him, they would be paid no more attention than those of a stranger.”  At the end of the day, it was not because the leaders wanted God to be worshipped or the laws to be observed; they established their own political and religious systems purely for political and selfish motives.

Similarly, the religious leaders too could not accept Jesus not because His teachings were at odds with some of their teachings.  Granted that for some of them so steeped in their faith, they were not able to accommodate any different interpretations of the Laws other than their own.  But for some, it was not just the religious institution that was at stake, but their status quo was being challenged.  If they were to agree with Jesus, they would have to abandon their ways of doing things and change the way they see religions.  It would have meant the loss of prestige, position and power.

So in the light of Christ’s example, we certainly must respond to His call to join Him in the harvest.  We cannot remain indifferent and waste our time squabbling over petty issues, rules and laws.  This is not to say that policies and rules are not important, but they are meant for efficiency, transparency, accountability and unity.  My fear is that we spend so much time debating over all these when the real work of proclaiming the Good News, bringing people to know Jesus in worship and in prayer, teaching and studying of the faith, and most of all, reaching out to the poor and suffering are neglected and become secondary.

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Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.