20221005 FIDELITY TO THE TRUTH
05 October, 2022, Wednesday, 27th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
Galatians 2:1-2,7-14 © |
They recognised the grace that God had given me
It was not till fourteen years had passed that I went up to Jerusalem again. I went with Barnabas and took Titus with me. I went there as the result of a revelation, and privately I laid before the leading men the Good News as I proclaim it among the pagans; I did so for fear the course I was adopting or had already adopted would not be allowed. On the contrary, they recognised that I had been commissioned to preach the Good News to the uncircumcised just as Peter had been commissioned to preach it to the circumcised. The same person whose action had made Peter the apostle of the circumcised had given me a similar mission to the pagans. So, James, Cephas and John, these leaders, these pillars, shook hands with Barnabas and me as a sign of partnership: we were to go to the pagans and they to the circumcised. The only thing they insisted on was that we should remember to help the poor, as indeed I was anxious to do.
When Cephas came to Antioch, however, I opposed him to his face, since he was manifestly in the wrong. His custom had been to eat with the pagans, but after certain friends of James arrived he stopped doing this and kept away from them altogether for fear of the group that insisted on circumcision. The other Jews joined him in this pretence, and even Barnabas felt himself obliged to copy their behaviour.
When I saw they were not respecting the true meaning of the Good News, I said to Cephas in front of everyone, ‘In spite of being a Jew, you live like the pagans and not like the Jews, so you have no right to make the pagans copy Jewish ways.’
Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 116(117) © |
Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News.
O praise the Lord, all you nations,
acclaim him all you peoples!
Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News.
Strong is his love for us;
he is faithful for ever.
Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News.
Gospel Acclamation | Ps118:24 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Train me, Lord, to observe your law,
to keep it with my heart.
Alleluia!
Or: | Rm8:15 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The spirit you received is the spirit of sons,
and it makes us cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 11:1-4 © |
How to pray
Once Jesus was in a certain place praying, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.’
He said to them, ‘Say this when you pray:
‘“Father, may your name be held holy,
your kingdom come;
give us each day our daily bread,
and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive each one who is in debt to us.
And do not put us to the test.”’
FIDELITY TO THE TRUTH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [GALATIANS 2:1-2,7-14; LUKE 11:1-4]
In the first reading, we read of the disagreement in the early Church with regards to Gentile converts having to submit to Jewish ritual and customary laws. It was a critical stage of the Church as Jewish converts had to embrace Gentile converts at the expense of compromising their customs. The controversy is not over the moral Laws of the Old Testament but mostly regarding the dietary laws. Gentile converts supported by Paul felt that they were not bound to Jewish dietary regulations and other customary practices, for example, circumcision, as these are not part of the gospel. This position was upheld by Peter and other Church leaders and sanctioned by the Jerusalem Council. “So, James, Cephas and John, these leaders, these pillars, shook hands with Barnabas and me as a sign of partnership: we were to go to the pagans and they to the circumcised. The only thing they insisted on was that we should remember to help the poor, as indeed I was anxious to do.” As far as Paul was concerned, God is the Father of all and all are brothers and sisters in Christ, regardless of race and status. Indeed, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28)
But this process took some time as the Jewish Christians struggled to adjust to the new situation. Although Peter himself had earlier declared after meeting the Centurion Cornelius, “God has no favorites.” under pressure however, Peter did not follow through with his conviction for fear of offending his fellow Jews. “His custom had been to eat with the pagans, but after certain friends of James arrived, he stopped doing this and kept away from them altogether for fear of the group that insisted on circumcision.” Thus, Paul admonished Peter for being inconsistent and hypocritical in his conduct with the gentiles. Paul wrote, “When Cephas came to Antioch, however, I opposed him to his face, since he was manifestly in the wrong … When I saw that they were not respecting the true meaning of the Good News, I said to Cephas in front of everyone, ‘In spite of being a Jew, you live like the pagans and not like the Jews, so you have no right to make the pagans copy Jewish ways.'” Of course, Peter was not the only one to bend to social and peer pressure; so, too, the other Jewish Christians including Barnabas.
We, too, are constantly confronted with this dilemma with respect to disagreement with our superiors or even our friends. How often have we been afraid to speak up when we cannot agree with the decisions of our superiors? Instead, we mumble to others behind their backs. We are afraid to let our superiors know the truth of the situation, or our honest opinions, for fear of losing favour with them. We are afraid of rejection and worse still, discrimination. This is particularly true even with friends. At times, they invite us to join them for some activities which we deem unhealthy or even incongruent with Christian faith and values. Yet, for fear of offending them, we go along with them, even though deep within we are not comfortable or at peace. Like Peter and Barnabas, we would go against our conscience because we fear backlash.
Today, in the name of inter-religious dialogue and ecumenism, there is a potential danger that in our attempts to find common ground with other religions or Christian communities, we would compromise our faith. Such false compromises will not bring unity but only cause greater disunity in the long run as the followers would be confused as to where the Church stands with regard to some doctrinal issues. It is therefore important to be honest in dialogue and to know what we have in common and what our differences are, so that we can truly appreciate each other’s uniqueness even if we are not in agreement.
How can this be done? St Paul shows us the way to resolve this slippery situation. He spoke the truth at all times and was courageous to do so without fear or favour. It was not because he had no respect for Peter and the other leaders of the Church. But because Peter failed to exercise his authority rightly, he had to respectfully reprimand Peter lest others might imitate his behaviour and be led astray as to what the gospel demanded of them. Paul spoke out for only one reason, namely, love. Not only did he speak out of love but he spoke in charity too. When we desire to speak out, we too must search ourselves to make sure that we are not speaking out in anger, frustration or worse still, with an ulterior motive or a personal agenda to put others down so that we can protect our selfish interests. When we speak in love, it will always be done in a respectful way, not shouting or screaming or threatening the other party. True respect for authority is rooted in love, never in fear or in anger.
Jesus in the gospel offers us the guidelines to discern how we should respond to Church leaders who fail to act responsibly or live a life of integrity. The basis for speaking out against our leaders and friends is found in a discerning mind and heart in prayer. To pray deeply entails an honest discernment of our motives and that we are guided by the gospel principles. What are these principles? These are enshrined in the Lord’s Prayer which is the Eschatological Prayer for the Kingdom. It gives us the guidelines for staying in the truth.
In the first place, the all-embracing principle calls for recognition that God is our heavenly Father. If God is our Father, the corollary is that all of us are truly His children and therefore brothers and sisters in Christ. We must therefore regard each other with love, respect and reverence. Indeed, if we know the Father’s love personally, then we can act and live as a true son to the Father, a brother and sister to each other. Secondly, in praying that God’s name be kept holy, we are asking that the Father be true to His name by bestowing on us His love and providential care for us. In the same vein, we are also saying that we desire to reflect Him in our lives so that by our lives, all will know that God is our Father. Every child sees His Father as His mentor and is called to reflect His Father.
When we pray, “your kingdom come“, we are petitioning that we be open to whatever He wants to give us. Like a child we want to be open to what God wants for us because we trust in His divine wisdom. Most of all, we want God to rule our lives and we want our lives to be governed by the values of the kingdom. Only when we live His life of love and forgiveness, could we then say that His kingdom has come. And when we pray, “give us each day our daily bread“, we pray with faith that the Father will provide us our needs, especially the Bread of Life and the Eucharist. This is the eschatological bread of the kingdom, the banquet of life and love when all are brothers and sisters united in one big family with God as our Father.
Next, when we pray, “forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive each one who is in debt to us” we are imploring that we will be like the Father, always forgiving so that there is unity among ourselves. This is the will of our heavenly Father; that we be one just as He and the Son are one in the same Spirit. And finally, when we pray, “And do not put us to the test” we are praying that the Father will preserve us from all evil because He is faithful to us and that He will not allow Satan to overcome us. Most of all, we are asking for the strength to resist the ultimate test, which is that of apostasy and infidelity to the gospel in the face of persecution and temptations.
Let us pray that we will be guided by the example of Paul’s courage in speaking the truth in love, and Peter’s humility in accepting fraternal correction. He was receptive to Paul’s admonishment. He took it in the right spirit and acknowledged his sin of hypocrisy caused by his desire to win the approval of man rather than the approval of God. As individual Christians, leaders and as Church, we need to continue to purify our motives and in the way of truth. This requires fraternal correction and humility to recognize our mistakes. It requires that members of the community grow in maturity, to offer fraternal correction with charity as we are all responsible for each other and for the good of the Church. In this way, the Church grows in the fullness of the truth and in charity. By so doing, we reflect the face of the Father in our lives, since as the psalmist says, “For steadfast is his kindness toward us, and the fidelity of the Lord endures forever.”
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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