20220721 RELIVING THE STORY OF SALVATION
21 July, 2022, Thursday, 16th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
Jeremiah 2:1-3,7-8,12-13 © |
I brought you to a fertile country and you defiled it
The word of the Lord was addressed to me, saying, ‘Go and shout this in the hearing of Jerusalem:
‘“The Lord says this:
I remember the affection of your youth,
the love of your bridal days:
you followed me through the wilderness,
through a land unsown.
Israel was sacred to the Lord,
the first-fruits of his harvest;
anyone who ate of this had to pay for it,
misfortune came to them –
it is the Lord who speaks.”
‘I brought you to a fertile country
to enjoy its produce and good things;
but no sooner had you entered than you defiled my land,
and made my heritage detestable.
The priests have never asked, “Where is the Lord?”
Those who administer the Law have no knowledge of me.
The shepherds have rebelled against me;
the prophets have prophesied in the name of Baal,
following things with no power in them.
‘You heavens, stand aghast at this,
stand stupefied, stand utterly appalled
– it is the Lord who speaks.
Since my people have committed a double crime:
they have abandoned me,
the fountain of living water,
only to dig cisterns for themselves,
leaky cisterns
that hold no water.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 35(36):6-11 © |
In you, Lord, is the source of life.
Your love, Lord, reaches to heaven;
your truth to the skies.
Your justice is like God’s mountain,
your judgements like the deep.
In you, Lord, is the source of life.
O Lord, how precious is your love.
My God, the sons of men
find refuge in the shelter of your wings.
They feast on the riches of your house;
they drink from the stream of your delight.
In you, Lord, is the source of life.
In you is the source of life
and in your light we see light.
Keep on loving those who know you,
doing justice for upright hearts.
In you, Lord, is the source of life.
Gospel Acclamation | Ps94:8 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Harden not your hearts today,
but listen to the voice of the Lord.
Alleluia!
Or: | Mt11:25 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are you, Father,
Lord of heaven and earth,
for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom
to mere children.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
Matthew 13:10-17 © |
Prophets and holy men longed to hear what you hear
The disciples went up to Jesus and asked, ‘Why do you talk to them in parables?’ ‘Because’ he replied, ‘the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven are revealed to you, but they are not revealed to them. For anyone who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough; but from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away. The reason I talk to them in parables is that they look without seeing and listen without hearing or understanding. So in their case this prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled:
You will listen and listen again, but not understand,
see and see again, but not perceive.
For the heart of this nation has grown coarse,
their ears are dull of hearing, and they have shut their eyes,
for fear they should see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their heart,
and be converted
and be healed by me.
‘But happy are your eyes because they see, your ears because they hear! I tell you solemnly, many prophets and holy men longed to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.’
RELIVING THE STORY OF SALVATION
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [JER 2:1-3,7-8,12-13; MT 13:10-17]
In the gospel, when the disciples asked our Lord, “Why do you talk to the crowds in parables?”, Our Lord replied, “Because the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven are revealed to you, but they are not revealed to them. For anyone who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough; but from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away. The reason I talk to them in parables is that they look without seeing and listen without hearing or understanding.” It is important to understand the meaning of the words of Jesus. A superficial reading of the text implies that some are chosen to understand the teaching of Christ and some are not chosen. This is not exactly what Jesus meant.
When the Lord speaks about the mysteries of the kingdom being revealed to the disciples, this word “mystery” does not mean something mysterious and cannot be known unless revealed. The word “mystery” in the scripture has a connotation of entering into the event of what is celebrated in the Greek mystery rituals. The “mystery religions” so called invite their participants to enter into the event by enacting a drama of the event or the gods they were celebrating. So, if the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven were revealed to the disciples, it was simply because they were sharing His life, living with Him each day, and learning from Him about the Kingdom of God. The Lord does not need to talk to them in parables since they are closely associated with Him and encounter God through Him, His teaching, miracles and relationship with others.
For the others who were not with Him, Jesus had to speak in parables so that they too could enter into the God experience which is what He wanted to convey. Jesus was not giving an intellectual discourse about God as what theologians do today. The teaching of Jesus about God was concrete, existential and connected with the lives of the people. It was never abstract but personal and relatable. For our Lord, understanding is not a matter of an intellectual grasping of what He taught but a personal experience of what is heard. In other words, we must be able to identify with what the Lord is teaching so that our hearts will be touched, our minds convicted, which is what an experience of God’s love and mercy is all about.
Parables, therefore, is the favourite medium of discourse used by the Lord to transmit His experience of His Father’s unconditional love and mercy to all. If the Lord spoke in parable it was not to make His teaching more complex and confusing. On the contrary, His parables were all taken from daily life events which His listeners could easily identify with. He was not using examples that His listeners could not identify with. So the parables the Lord used were very powerful images to lead His listeners to a deeper identification of what a God-experience entails, whether it is the Parable of the Sower, the Prodigal Son, the Mustard seed, etc. When we are able to make the link between our common-day experience with the experience of God, this is where we are enlightened, transformed and feel connected with our relationship with God.
This is why the Lord does not use intellectual discourse because it does not necessarily lead to personal identification. It may be good gymnastics for the mind. But the heart must be touched. This was why those who remained outside the experience of the Kingdom of God would turn the God-experience into a mere intellectual discourse. This was the case of the scribes and pharisees, splitting hairs in their teaching on God and the observance of the Law so much so there was no real relationship with God but just a legalistic observance of the religion. God was far away, distant, and more like a policeman who would watch us fall and sin so that He could condemn us and punish us with eternal damnation.
Hence, the Lord remarked, “So in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled: You will listen and listen again, but not understand, see and see again, but not perceive. For the heart of this nation has grown coarse, their ears are dull of hearing, and they have shut their eyes for fear they shall see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and be converted and be healed by me.” They were not interested in conversion of heart. Their relationship with God was warped and weak. God was distant from them. He was not their Father and He was not seen as someone merciful and compassionate.
Within this context, we can understand why Israel was unfaithful to the Lord. They did not know the Lord personally as their forefathers did. The Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the Israelites: You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.” (Ex 19:3f) When Moses commanded the people to observe the Law, he said, “take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children.” (Dt 4:9 cf Dt 4:32-40)
Unfortunately, later generations did not enter into the same experience as their forefathers did. Incidentally, the celebration of the Passover and all the other religious festivals were meant to help them to connect with their forefather’s experience of God. Moses told the people, “when your children ask you in time to come, “What is the meaning of the decrees and the statutes and the ordinances that the Lord our God has commanded you?” then you shall say to your children, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.” (Dt 6:20f)
So like the Jews, they could go through the rituals again but without entering into the story behind the rituals and the commandments, they would lack the experience of reliving the mercy of God for them. It is also true for our Catholics as well. Many second and third generation Catholics who were baptized at birth do not enter into the experience their first-generation parents who were Catholics. They encountered God deeply and were converted. They celebrate the sacraments especially the Eucharist with devotion and reverence. But those that come after them, they and their children practiced the faith as a routine. They too have lost the story. It becomes meaningless, reduced to a duty and an obligation. Many of us just go through the motion of attending mass on Sunday and perfunctorily practise all the other aspects of faith as required by the church, such as fasting and abstinence. But there is no enthusiasm, passion or even feeling connected with God. This is the danger of an inherited faith because it ends as a nominal faith.
This was the Lord’s indictment of Israel. “I remember the affection of your youth, the love of your bridal days: you followed me through the wilderness, through a land unsown. Israel was sacred to the Lord, the first-fruits of his harvest; anyone who ate of this had to pay for it, misfortune came to them. I brought you a fertile country to enjoy its produce and good things; but sooner had you entered than you defiled my land, and made my heritage detestable. The priests have never asked, ‘Where is the Lord?’ Those who administer the Law have no knowledge of me. The shepherds have rebelled against me; the prophets have prophesied in the name of Baal, following things with no power in them.”
Indeed, we will fall into the same judgment of Israel if we, and especially those of us who are leaders, have no personal knowledge of our Lord. We must reiterate that conversion and mission must come from a personal encounter of our Lord in prayer, through the liturgy, through critical life events and through the love of our brothers and sisters. Without a living experience of God’s love in our lives, the scriptures remain dead to us, merely another book to be read. But when we fall in love with God, and are filled with His Holy Spirit we will be able to enter into the life of God and share in His joy and love.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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