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