20220823 TRADITION AND LEGITIMATE TRADITIONS
23 August, 2022, Tuesday, 21st Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
2 Thessalonians 2:1-3,14-17 © |
Stand firm and keep the traditions we have taught you
To turn, brothers, to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we shall all be gathered round him: please do not get excited too soon or alarmed by any prediction or rumour or any letter claiming to come from us, implying that the Day of the Lord has already arrived. Never let anyone deceive you in this way.
Through the Good News that we brought God called you to this so that you should share the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Stand firm, then, brothers, and keep the traditions that we taught you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father who has given us his love and, through his grace, such inexhaustible comfort and such sure hope, comfort you and strengthen you in everything good that you do or say.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 95(96):10-13 © |
The Lord comes to rule the earth.
Proclaim to the nations: ‘God is king.’
The world he made firm in its place;
he will judge the peoples in fairness.
The Lord comes to rule the earth.
Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad,
let the sea and all within it thunder praise,
let the land and all it bears rejoice,
all the trees of the wood shout for joy
at the presence of the Lord for he comes,
he comes to rule the earth.
The Lord comes to rule the earth.
With justice he will rule the world,
he will judge the peoples with his truth.
The Lord comes to rule the earth.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Ac16:14 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O Lord,
to accept the words of your Son.
Alleluia!
Or: | Heb4:12 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The word of God is something alive and active:
it can judge secret emotions and thoughts.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
Matthew 23:23-26 © |
Clean the inside of the cup first, so that the outside may become clean
Jesus said: ‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who pay your tithe of mint and dill and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the Law – justice, mercy, good faith! These you should have practised, without neglecting the others. You blind guides! Straining out gnats and swallowing camels!
‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who clean the outside of cup and dish and leave the inside full of extortion and intemperance. Blind Pharisee! Clean the inside of cup and dish first so that the outside may become clean as well.’
TRADITION AND LEGITIMATE TRADITIONS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [2 THESSALONIANS 2:1-3, 14-17; MATTHEW 23:23-26]
In the gospel, Jesus seems to make little of the traditions and customs of the Jews. These traditions and customs were extrapolated from the Law of Moses and applied to concrete daily situations in life. The Scribes and the Pharisees upheld the Law of Moses strictly and they were very meticulous in wanting to observe the Law faithfully. We must not think that they are “not good people.” In fact, they are very much akin to some of our Catholics who take the laws of the bible and the Church very seriously. They seek to observe them, if not for the love of God, certainly for the fear of going to hell or displeasing Him. Some are even scrupulous over Church and liturgical laws, and very scrupulous in not breaking moral laws.
The downside for such Catholics is that they live in fear and anxiety because of their scrupulosity. For those who break the laws or fail to observe the traditions and customs of the Church, they might see themselves as sinners, unworthy of God and condemn themselves. Some might even feel so unworthy that they leave the Church. At the other end of the spectrum, those who think that they have successfully observed the laws can become self-righteous, playing judge, finding fault with those who break the laws and condemn those who don’t make the bar.
What is even more hypocritical is that often we are so strict with regard to the observance of secondary laws and customs but we would break more serious laws without batting an eyelid. Some, for example, condemn those who do not attend church services, are late for church, do not observe penance on Fridays, or give money to the church or the poor. But they would cheat at work, using office time to do their personal things, do not treat their domestic helpers or workers with respect and consideration. This was what happened to the religious leaders of the day. Jesus said, “Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who pay your tithe of mint and dill and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the Law – justice, mercy, good faith! These you should have practised, without neglecting the others. You blind guides! Straining out gnats and swallowing camels!” Indeed, they paid so much attention to insignificant laws governing tithes but they cheated and oppressed people; and made use of them.
Whilst external observance of the laws is certainly required, more importantly, we need to examine our hearts. The Lord said, “Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who clean the outside of cup and dish and leave the inside full of extortion and intemperance. Blind Pharisees! Clean the inside of cup and dish first so that the outside may become clean as well.” Indeed, some of us are more concerned about the impression we create on people, what they think of us. So, we try to appear holy, righteous and upright to others but in our own lives, we live in such a way that is contrary to the gospel values. What is more important of course is what is inside our heart. It is not what we do but why we do that put us right before God and man. As the Lord puts His finger rightly on the problem, when we purify our hearts, all our actions would be done rightly and well.
In the final analysis, our Lord is not against the practice of traditions, that is, customs that could help a person to be more conscious of the presence of God, make him love God more and his brothers and sisters. So long as the customs are not done perfunctorily or just for show or to earn glory and recognition, such practices can be good for spiritual life and make us conscious of our obligation to love our neighbours. This is the same advice given by St Paul to the Christians in Thessalonica.
St Paul wrote, “Stand firm, then, brothers, and keep the traditions that we taught you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.” Clearly, St Paul also sees the importance of observing the oral and written traditions passed on to the Christian community. This is true in every Christian denomination including the Catholic Church. But this is true also sociologically in all human communities. There are certain traditions, even if not expressed in writing, that have been kept for ages simply because they transmit the values of the community and the organization. Without both the written and oral traditions, we would suffer the loss of our ability to unite the community, reinforce its identity and values for future generations.
Not all traditions are relevant to our times. Such traditions must change accordingly. Irrelevant customs need to make way for new traditions. Indeed, it is important for us to make a distinction between traditions and Tradition. Whereas secondary traditions, whether written or oral, can change, the primary Tradition, which would of the fundamental principles of the Faith, cannot be changed. This we see clearly in the bible as well. As Christians, we have dropped many of the Old Testament practices, whether in terms of the liturgy or in the laws governing hygiene and ritual plurality, or even concrete laws governing our obligations towards our fellowmen. However, those foundational principles enshrined in the Old Testament, such as the Ten Commandments, remain as valid as ever, because these do not change with time. It remains for us to consider how we should apply these basic commandments to concrete situations in our life.
In the case of St Paul’s admonition to the Thessalonians. He said, “To turn, brothers, to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we shall all be gathered round him: please do not get excited too soon or alarmed by any prediction or rumour or any letter claiming to come from us, implying that the Day of the Lord has already arrived.” The underlying principle is true that we all will “share the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” St Paul therefore wanted the Christians to keep their foundation firm so that they would not be led astray by all kinds of speculation and opinions from some quarters of the community.
This is true for us as well. Indeed, the central message of both of today’s scripture readings is the necessity of establishing the right foundation for our faith. When it comes to the Tradition of the Church, such as the main tenets of our faith as summarized in the Nicene Creed, teaching on the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Sacraments, particularly of the Eucharist and Penance, the foundation of the Church, the Petrine Office and the Magisterium, these are some of the hierarchy of truths that cannot be compromised. All the other customs can change with time and according to the needs of the Church. Hence, the Holy Father can reform the Roman Curia, change the Canon Law governing relationships and offices in the Church. However, the Holy Father and the Magisterium cannot change the deposit of faith that has been handed over to the Church.
The Synodal Process is thus the Holy Father’s way of consulting the People of God as to how we could adapt some of the customs to meet the modern challenges of our days. It is not, as some people think, like a Parliament, consisting of clergy and laity, to change the doctrines and laws of the Church; or worse still, unilaterally by the Bishops’ Conferences. Rather, it is an exercise of dialogue, understanding and reading the signs of the time, a prayerful, not an intellectual exercise to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Church. Discerning the “sensus fidei” of the People of God is part of this entire Synodal Process so that changes can be made in the way we minister to our people. But there are limitations because the Tradition of the gospel passed down to the Church remains the guiding principles in this work of discernment. We need to distinguish what is truly essential to our faith and therefore cannot be compromised, and what is an extrapolation, which can be modified to suit the pastoral situation of our time. We must be ready to let go of non-essential traditions and ready to make new ones so that the Church remains dynamic and yet true to her Tradition.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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