20220726 MYSTERY OF EVIL OVERCOME BY MYSTERY OF GRACE
26 July, 2022, Tuesday, 17th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
Jeremiah 14:17-22 © |
We confess our wickedness; you, God, are our hope
The Lord said to me:
Say this word to the people:
‘Tears flood my eyes
night and day, unceasingly,
since a crushing blow falls on the daughter of my people,
a most grievous injury.
If I go into the countryside,
there lie men killed by the sword;
if I go into the city,
I see people sick with hunger;
even prophets and priests
plough the land: they are at their wit’s end.’
‘Have you rejected Judah altogether?
Does your very soul revolt at Zion?
Why have you struck us down without hope of cure?
We were hoping for peace – no good came of it!
For the moment of cure – nothing but terror!
Lord, we do confess our wickedness
and our fathers’ guilt:
we have indeed sinned against you.
For your name’s sake do not reject us,
do not dishonour the throne of your glory.
Remember us; do not break your covenant with us.
Can any of the pagan Nothings make it rain?
Can the heavens produce showers?
No, it is you, Lord.
O our God, you are our hope,
since it is you who do all this.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 78(79):8-9,11,13 © |
Rescue us, O Lord, for the glory of your name.
Do not hold the guilt of our fathers against us.
Let your compassion hasten to meet us;
we are left in the depths of distress.
Rescue us, O Lord, for the glory of your name.
O God our saviour, come to our help.
Come for the sake of the glory of your name.
O Lord our God, forgive us our sins;
rescue us for the sake of your name.
Rescue us, O Lord, for the glory of your name.
Let the groans of the prisoners come before you;
let your strong arm reprieve those condemned to die.
But we, your people, the flock of your pasture,
will give you thanks for ever and ever.
We will tell your praise from age to age.
Rescue us, O Lord, for the glory of your name.
Gospel Acclamation | 1P1:25 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The word of the Lord remains for ever:
What is this word?
It is the Good News that has been brought to you.
Alleluia!
Or: |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The seed is the word of God, Christ the sower;
whoever finds this seed will remain for ever.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
Matthew 13:36-43 © |
As the darnel is gathered up and burnt, so it will be at the end of time
Leaving the crowds, Jesus went to the house; and his disciples came to him and said, ‘Explain the parable about the darnel in the field to us.’ He said in reply, ‘The sower of the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world; the good seed is the subjects of the kingdom; the darnel, the subjects of the evil one; the enemy who sowed them, the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; the reapers are the angels. Well then, just as the darnel is gathered up and burnt in the fire, so it will be at the end of time. The Son of Man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that provoke offences and all who do evil, and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. Then the virtuous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Listen, anyone who has ears!’
MYSTERY OF EVIL OVERCOME BY MYSTERY OF GRACE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [JER 14:17-22; MT 13:36-43]
In the first reading, we read of the grief of Jeremiah over the destruction of his homeland by the Babylonian army. In spite of his forewarnings, his compatriots did not believe in him. They continued to rebel against God and aligned themselves with foreigners. Most of all, they were not faithful to the Covenant. This national tragedy led the inhabitants, including Jeremiah, to try to understand the significance of their sufferings. As the true prophet, it behoved Jeremiah to interpret for the people how their sufferings were God’s judgment on His people and also part of a larger plan that God had for Judah.
When we face crises in life, we, too, like Jeremiah, always begin by lamenting about our predicament. Such a time of mourning is always necessary. However, it is more important that such events force us to look deeply into ourselves and search for God’s plan for us. Through failures, mistakes and sufferings, we are driven to self-realization and wisdom. Through the trials and challenges of life, we experience the growing pains of Christ’s kingdom inside us. Let us not delude ourselves into thinking that God’s kingdom always comes in spectacular ways. More often than not, it works quietly like the seed and yeast. Our frustrations, doubts and questions, sinning and repenting are all the growing pains of Christ coming to life in us. This is the message of today’s scripture readings.
There is a purpose for God permitting sin and evil to exist in this world. The parable of the weeds and wheat is a clear reminder that goodness and evil co-exist in this world. At any time, there is a hostile power that is at work seeking to destroy goodness. In this world, there will always be tension between doing the right thing and the wrong thing. The kingdom of God does not come without a struggle. This battle takes place ordinarily in our daily struggles in our relationships and in the choices we make. Often, we feel rather frustrated because we are always torn between doing good and succumbing to evil. The temptation is for us to fall into legalism and see all things as neatly demarcated into evil and good. The truth is that we do not want to live in tension. This is what fundamentalists seek to do when it comes to difficult areas of doctrines, be they concerned with morals or faith.
The truth is that life is rather complex, and decision-making is never easy. The discernment process is even trickier. This is what the parable of the weeds and wheat is meant to illustrate. We must not seek the easy way out by bundling everything into good or evil. Like the tares and the wheat, they look so alike. In the early stages, the tares closely resemble the wheat that it is impossible to tell one from the other. Only much later, when both have headed out, can they be distinguished. Unfortunately, by then the roots of both would have been so inter-twined that it is impossible to remove the tares without also pulling up the wheat.
In our lives too, we must be careful not to judge people too quickly when we do not have all the facts about the person. Often we hear one or two remarks about the person, and we are ready to sum up the person. Knowing just a part of the person does not give us the right to judge the whole person. How often have we come across people who appear to be good and holy, only to find out later that they are living double and hypocritical lives? And the reality is, how many of us can truly say that we always live lives of integrity? The world is so quick to judge and is very unforgiving of people who make mistakes. The world will pass judgement on those who have sinned or failed in their responsibilities, as if we ourselves are faultless. All the good that the person has done are immediately forgotten. We choose to pick that one fault and the person is condemned. Indeed, we must be careful that we do not label or classify people too quickly without first examining all the facts. This explains why all judgment must be left to the Lord. Only He can read the hearts of men when we can only see their external actions. Only He can see our whole life from the day we were conceived in our mother’s womb till the day we die, whereas we can see only certain actions of our fellowmen.
Secondly, we too can ill afford to remove difficult people from our lives just because we find them irritable. We also have to learn to live with the imperfections and sins that we have inherited or cultivated. We are what we are today partly because of our upbringing, the culture we have inherited and our own personal choices. As it is said, we are spiritual benefactors to each other. The good can influence us to be like them. The bad can purify our love and our motives. The difficult people who are always finding fault with us could very well be agents of God’s purifying work to help us grow in love. Consequently, we must accept the mystery of God’s grace at work in our lives. Good or evil, we can be influenced either way. It is how we want to respond to grace. So we must let both the strong and the weak, good and evil, healthy and sick co-exist. Through their interaction, the strong becomes stronger and the weak becomes strong. The weak purifies the strong; and the strong strengthens the weak.
Consequently, it behoves us to recognize that we are in solidarity with others in sin. Before we pass judgment on others, let us be conscious that none of us can say that he is without sin, for all of us have sinned, albeit differently. So like Jeremiah, although he lamented at the ruins of Israel, he did not condemn his own countrymen for causing the downfall of all, especially the innocent. On the contrary, he identified himself as a fellow sinner with the rest, imploring God for His forgiveness, mercy and compassion. He prayed, “Lord, we do confess our wickedness and our father’s guilt: we have sinned against you.”
Of course, we must always be on guard lest we drag each other down the slippery path. Because as the gospel says, there will be a final judgment. “Well then, just as the darnel is gathered up and burnt in the fire, so it will be at the end of time. The Son of Man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that provoke offences and all who do evil, and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. Then the virtuous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Listen, anyone who has ears!”
In the meantime, we must place all our hopes in Christ. He will be victorious in the end. He intends that the stones He puts in our way be stepping stones to heaven. It is said that if God sends us stony paths, He also provides strong shoes. So if God allows us to suffer disasters in life, it is to help us to appreciate who we are and what we have forgotten. One of the greatest artists in history is Rembrandt, a 17thcentury Dutch painter. His wife died in the midst of his career and that caused him to fall into deep depression and sadness. Upon coming out of his bereavement, he assumed his work with greater passion. It seems that the mourning period for his wife was the turning point of his career. As in all things, and as in the case of the Israelites, God allows tragedy in life to mould us according to His designs for us. God wants to transform us into His image. Leo Tolstoy once remarked, “It is by those who suffer that the world has been advanced.”
This faith in the triumph of goodness is possible because God is faithful to His name and His covenant. That was how Jeremiah and the psalmist prayed. “For your name’s sake do not reject us, do not dishonour the throne of your glory. Remember us; do not break your covenant with us.” Jeremiah appealed to God’s power as the basis for this surety of God’s promise, “Can any of the pagan Nothings make it rain? Can the heavens produce showers? No, it is you Lord our God, you are our hope, since it is you who do all this.” So too we pray with the psalmist, “For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.”
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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