20220614 LOVE THE ONLY WEAPON TO CONQUER EVIL AND SIN
14 June, 2022, Tuesday, 11th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
1 Kings 21:17-29 © |
The punishment of Ahab and Jezebel foretold
After the death of Naboth, the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, ‘Up! Go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, in Samaria. You will find him in Naboth’s vineyard; he has gone down to take possession of it. You are to say this to him, “The Lord says this: You have committed murder; now you usurp as well. For this – and the Lord says this – in the place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, the dogs will lick your blood too.”’
Ahab said to Elijah, ‘So you have found me out, O my enemy!’ Elijah answered, ‘I have found you out. For your double dealing, and since you have done what is displeasing to the Lord, I will now bring disaster down on you; I will sweep away your descendants, and wipe out every male belonging to the family of Ahab, fettered or free in Israel. I will treat your House as I treated the House of Jeroboam son of Nebat and of Baasha son of Ahijah, for provoking my anger and leading Israel into sin. (Against Jezebel the Lord spoke these words: The dogs will eat Jezebel in the Field of Jezreel.) Those of Ahab’s family who die in the city, the dogs will eat; and those who die in the open country, the birds of the air will eat.’
And indeed there never was anyone like Ahab for double dealing and for doing what is displeasing to the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife. He behaved in the most abominable way, adhering to idols, just as the Amorites used to do whom the Lord had dispossessed for the sons of Israel.
When Ahab heard these words, he tore his garments and put sackcloth next his skin and fasted; he slept in the sackcloth; he walked with slow steps. Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, ‘Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Since he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; I will bring the disaster down on his House in the days of his son.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 50(51):3-6,11,16 © |
Have mercy on us, Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.
In your compassion blot out my offence.
O wash me more and more from my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.
Have mercy on us, Lord, for we have sinned.
My offences truly I know them;
my sin is always before me
Against you, you alone, have I sinned;
what is evil in your sight I have done.
Have mercy on us, Lord, for we have sinned.
From my sins turn away your face
and blot out all my guilt.
O rescue me, God, my helper,
and my tongue shall ring out your goodness.
Have mercy on us, Lord, for we have sinned.
Gospel Acclamation | 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!
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 | Matthew 5:43-48 © |
Pray for those who persecute you
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You have learnt how it was said: You must love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say this to you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; in this way you will be sons of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on bad men as well as good, and his rain to fall on honest and dishonest men alike. For if you love those who love you, what right have you to claim any credit? Even the tax collectors do as much, do they not? And if you save your greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional? Even the pagans do as much, do they not? You must therefore be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.’
LOVE THE ONLY WEAPON TO CONQUER EVIL AND SIN
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 Kgs 21:17-29; Mt 5:43-48 ]
Why is there so much evil in the world? Why is there so much division? Why are there so many wars being fought all over the world, including civil wars. In our own homes, there is division between husband and wife; siblings and parents. Even in our Christian community, there are so many frictions, misunderstandings and quarrels. Division is always the fruit of sin.
Many do not realize that sin perpetuates and reinforces itself unless it is dealt with. One sin leads to another sin. It is a vicious cycle. Sin is relentless in reproducing itself through other sins. In the first reading, we read of the greed of King Ahab. He wanted badly the vineyard of Naboth. Using evil ways to the extent of murder in collaboration with his equally evil wife, Jezebel, they seized the land illegally. Instead of seeing Elijah as his loyal subject, he saw him as his enemy. The truth is that when we sin, our minds are darkened and our eyes our blind. We can no longer judge clearly and objectively because we are consumed by greed, lust, anger and hatred. We cannot see beyond ourselves, our needs and our pains. All we desire is to get what we want and destroy those who get in our way.
But the greatest sadness of sin is not that it hurts us and our perceived enemies in this generation, but we hurt generations to come. The pain, the wounds and conflicts will pass on to our loved ones who will suffer the consequences of our sins. We will pass the effects of our sins to our children. The history of sin is perpetuated in the world by our forefathers. This is one of the consequences of the sin of Adam. In turn, we sin as well. Even if we do not follow the shameful practices of our forefathers, we will be influenced by their negative attitudes towards life and people. Most of all, we will suffer the consequences of their sins, whether we are guilty or innocent. This is the prophecy of Elijah regarding the “punishment” meted out to King Ahab and his family in time to come. We are not spared from the sins of others even when we are innocent because unconsciously we imbibe the sins of society.
How foolish of us to think that just because our sins are not uncovered, we are saved! In truth as Jesus tells us, what is hidden will be brought to light. Our sins will be exposed in time. Let us not deceive ourselves into thinking that we would never be found out. This is what evil people think. Even if they are not uncovered, they live in fear, in guilt and the sentence they put on themselves is a lifelong sentence until death and beyond death. We are our own judge and executioner unwittingly because our conscience will condemn us, the devil will remind us and accuse us of our hypocrisy, discourage us from having any hope of redemption and finally, we will fall into depression, self-hatred and for some, annihilation. Such is the strategy of the Evil One who leads us into sin.
So what is the way out in overcoming evil in the world and in our community? There is no other way than the way of love. Evil is powerful, but love is even more powerful. We cannot underestimate the power of evil, but love conquers all, even our enemies and the evils in the world. That is why in the gospel Jesus taught us to let go of our hurts, forgive our enemies and to bless them. He said, “You have learnt how it was said: You must love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say to you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” This is how a Christian should behave and respond to those who hurt us.
Indeed, only love can draw out the love in the other person. Hatred only draws out the evil in another. When Jesus gave us the analogy of pagans and tax-collectors loving and caring for each other, He wanted to underscore that with our friends, it is easy to love simply because we are loved in return. When we love our friends, we draw from the love of their hearts to respond to our love. One does not need to be a Christian to love those who love us because this is a natural response. But if this principle is true, and applied to our enemies, we can also draw out the love latent in our enemies. In truth, all of us are capable of love to some extent because we are created by love and for love. Love is the common language of humanity. Even dishonest people, evil people, selfish people look for love. In fact, if people are vindictive, nasty, reactive and selfish, it is because they have fallen into perverted love of self because of past wounds and disappointments.
Consequently, if we wish to draw love from the well of our enemies, we must love them by not seeking justice but in giving mercy. Seeking natural justice will only make our enemies calculative towards us. The basic principle of “an eye for an eye” is not based on love or mercy but on revenge. We cannot restore justice if we define justice as restoration of rights by taking revenge on another. The fact that we seek punishment on those who hurt us is because deep within us, there is that streak of perverted joy and malice to hurt those who hurt us. This is fundamentally revenge masked in the name of justice. Indeed, we should ask ourselves sincerely every time when there is a sin committed whether we are more interested to help the sinner or to condemn him and punish him. If we are genuinely caring of our enemies, and if the aim is to restore him back to love and the community, then we should not be asking for justice but rendering mercy and compassion. In this way, overcome by our mercy and love expressed in our forgiveness for them, they become grateful and repent.
And what better way besides forgiving our brothers and sisters without conditions than to pray for them? This is the most important thing we must do for our enemies and for ourselves. If the Lord asks us to pray for our enemies and bless them, it is in order that they could be healed by our love and the love of God. By praying for our enemies, we heal them of the wounds and hurts that prevent them from seeing the truth about themselves. By praying for them, they will feel the love and mercy of God.
But praying for our enemies is not necessarily a magnanimous act on our part because it is also for our self-protection. The only way to neutralize the curses of our enemies and the onslaught of our foes is to bless them so that we do not also react to their uncharitable acts and words. We need to remain calm and non-reactive towards our enemies. Otherwise we are no better than them; and unaware, we are sucked into this vicious cycle of revenge and retaliation, which is what the devil seeks to do. But by not reacting or by responding with love, such curses and evil thoughts and words are rendered powerless and ineffective on us or on others.
This is the way of our Heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel reminds us that we are all sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. God does not discriminate us because “he causes his sun to rise on bad men as well as good, and his rain to fall on honest and dishonest men alike.” He remains the Father of us all, even towards His wayward children. He loves them no less than He loves us. In fact, it pains Him to see His children walking the slippery path of evil because they will be hurt by their own sins. Retribution will be their punishment; not God who punishes. So God wants to save them from their sins and, most of all, further consequences of their sins.
It is His desire to forgive and to save. All He asks of us, as He did for Ahab, is to repent. We read that the moment Ahab repented, God sought to limit the retribution that would come from his sins. The Lord said, “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Since he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring disaster in his days; I will bring the disaster down on his House in the days of his son.” When we are ready to admit our guilt and acknowledge our sins, the Lord will deliver us from the clutches of evil and set us free to live a liberated life.
The mercy and compassion of the Father has no limits. This is what Jesus meant when He exhorted us, “You must therefore be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” The perfection that is asked of us is that of compassion, mercy and forgiveness. Like the Heavenly Father, we must do the same for our enemies, ever ready to forgive and let go and show mercy. Is this possible? Can we be perfect in love, compassion and forgiveness?
Yes! We can do it only if we love the Father as much as He loves us. When we love someone, truly love that person, we would not want to do anything to hurt him or her. If we betray our loved ones or do things or say things that hurt them, it is because we love ourselves more than we love the other person. But when we love someone above all and even ourselves, then whatever we do, say or think will always be for the good and the interests of our beloved. Every lover seeks to please his or her beloved. So too, if we truly claim that we love God who is our Father, how can we continue to run down and hurt His other children and make Him sad because He sees us divided and hurting each other? Which parent would not feel sad if their children are fighting among themselves? So if we love God the Father, then let us love as He loves, even our enemies. Let us forgive as He forgives. Let us show mercy just as He shows mercy.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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