20230123 SOWING DOUBTS AND DIVISION IS THE WORK OF THE EVIL ONE
23 January 2023 Monday, Week 3 in Ordinary Time
First reading |
Hebrews 9:15,24-28 © |
Christ offers himself only once to take on the faults of many
Christ brings a new covenant, as the mediator, only so that the people who were called to an eternal inheritance may actually receive what was promised: his death took place to cancel the sins that infringed the earlier covenant. It is not as though Christ had entered a man-made sanctuary which was only modelled on the real one; but it was heaven itself, so that he could appear in the actual presence of God on our behalf. And he does not have to offer himself again and again, like the high priest going into the sanctuary year after year with the blood that is not his own, or else he would have had to suffer over and over again since the world began. Instead of that, he has made his appearance once and for all, now at the end of the last age, to do away with sin by sacrificing himself. Since men only die once, and after that comes judgement, so Christ, too, offers himself only once to take the faults of many on himself, and when he appears a second time, it will not be to deal with sin but to reward with salvation those who are waiting for him.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 97(98):1-6 © |
Sing a new song to the Lord for he has worked wonders.
Sing a new song to the Lord
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.
Sing a new song to the Lord for he has worked wonders.
The Lord has made known his salvation;
has shown his justice to the nations.
He has remembered his truth and love
for the house of Israel.
Sing a new song to the Lord for he has worked wonders.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
ring out your joy.
Sing a new song to the Lord for he has worked wonders.
Sing psalms to the Lord with the harp
with the sound of music.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
acclaim the King, the Lord.
Sing a new song to the Lord for he has worked wonders.
Gospel Acclamation | Ps24:4,5 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Teach me your paths, my God,
make me walk in your truth.
Alleluia!
Or: | cf.2Tim1:10 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Our Saviour Jesus Christ abolished death
and he has proclaimed life through the Good News.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 3:22-30 © |
A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand
The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem were saying, ‘Beelzebul is in him’ and, ‘It is through the prince of devils that he casts devils out.’ So he called them to him and spoke to them in parables, ‘How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot last. And if a household is divided against itself, that household can never stand. Now if Satan has rebelled against himself and is divided, he cannot stand either – it is the end of him. But no one can make his way into a strong man’s house and burgle his property unless he has tied up the strong man first. Only then can he burgle his house.
‘I tell you solemnly, all men’s sins will be forgiven, and all their blasphemies; but let anyone blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and he will never have forgiveness: he is guilty of an eternal sin.’ This was because they were saying, ‘An unclean spirit is in him.’
SOWING DOUBTS AND DIVISION IS THE WORK OF THE EVIL ONE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [HEB 9:15,24-28; MARK 3:22-30]
We are living in very challenging times. Not only we are struggling against sins but we are confused over what is sin today! In a world of relativism, with so much information in the mass media, finding the truth is very complicated. We are not too sure what is right or wrong today. Indeed, like the scribes and the Pharisees who accused Jesus of colluding with Beelzebul the prince of the devils, the Church too, and all faithful Catholics who seek to live the truths of the gospel are being accused of being rigid, heartless and lacking compassion.
The greatest strategy of the Evil One today is not denying that what the Church is doing is good, but to confuse Catholics about what is really true. This was the same tactic that the Evil One used to bring about the fall of Adam and Eve. In the story of the Fall, the crafty Serpent put doubts into the mind of Eve when he said to her, “‘Did God say, “You shall not eat from any tree in the garden?”‘ The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden;” but God said, “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.”‘ But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not die for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.'” (Gn 3:1-4)
Indeed, the Devil today is sowing the seeds of half-truths to confuse Catholics and the world through the ideology of relativism and agnosticism. Living in this world is rather bewildering because we are swamped with so many opinions all claiming to speak the truth, so much so we no longer know what is the truth and who is speaking the truth or who has the truth. Life in the olden days was easier as society was homogenous. With globalization, all traditional and time immemorial truths and practices are put in question. Even fundamental truths like the nature and identity of human beings, the institutions of marriage and the family, the dignity of the human person, the sacredness of life, are being redefined.
The Church, which claims to possess the fullness of truth in Jesus Christ who is the Son of God and who is promised the gift of infallibility in teaching and believing, is also being put in question. It is hard to maintain that the Church possesses the fullness of truth when our doctrinal and moral positions keep on changing, whether it is in the name of “development” or “deepening of the truths previously received”, creating much confusion among the People of God. What is even more discouraging is that Church leaders are not all speaking the same language and are not in agreement with each other. At least in the past, the Magisterium always spoke as one Church, but now even the bishops are divided on many issues.
Understandably, the pastors are in a dilemma. If they do not succumb to the relativistic trend of the current world based on contextual theology and situational ethics, then they could be accused of being out of touch and not in sync with the world and even not hearing the voice of God speaking to us. The worst is to be accused of lacking compassion and understanding when pastors seek to be true to the deposit of the faith of the Church passed on in scripture and tradition. Some, out of fear of being unpopular, bend to the wishes of the majority. The day when we say that the Church has been wrong in her doctrines, it would mean that nothing taught should be held seriously as it might change over time. There will then no longer be a need to believe and hold common doctrines. When the dogma of infallibility is put in doubt, all other institutions of the Church no longer have any real foundation.
When that happens, truth will be left to the individual to decide “according to his conscience”. This simple principle is rather ambiguous in itself as there are different levels of conscience, some erroneous, some culpably erroneous. Some are so paralyzed by the web of information that no decision is possible. When we can no longer say that someone possesses the objective truths, or rather that no objective truths exist as all are dependent on changing circumstances, then we can no longer say that anything is right or wrong because at different times, what is supposedly the truth can turn out to be wrong, and what was considered wrong then is now acceptable. That is why, relativism and subjectivism are the “absolute truths” promoted by the world today.
This was precisely what the scribes “who had come down from Jerusalem were saying: ‘Beelzebul is in him’ and, ‘It is through the prince of devils that he casts devils out.'” This is fundamentally a distortion of truth. And the harsh warning from Jesus was swift and decisive when He said in no uncertain terms, “all men’s sins will be forgiven, and all their blasphemies: but let anyone blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and he will never have forgiveness: he is guilty of an eternal sin.” St Mark gave us the context of this saying, “This was because they were saying, ‘An unclean spirit is in him.'” The day when we cannot see truth anymore or exchange truth for a lie we are done in. “They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator.” (Rom 1:25)
How can we be sure of victory over the Evil One? Jesus tells us, “No one can make his way into a strong man’s house and burgle his property unless he has tied up the strong man first. Only then can he burgle his house.” Indeed, our battle with the Evil One cannot be fought alone with the human mind and with our strength. We are fighting with unseen forces. St Paul wrote, “For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Eph 6:12) To fight against the spiritual forces of evil, we need the Holy Spirit. Only the Holy Spirit can help us to make the right discernment on what is true. God continues to speak to the Church through the Holy Spirit. But where is the Holy Spirit? St Irenaeus tells us, “Where the Church is, there is the Holy Spirit!” So the Church, especially the Magisterium, must pray that the Holy Spirit will lead the Church to the fullness of truth. Only the Holy Spirit can reveal to us the truth and give us the grace to recognize it.
Secondly, we must protect the unity among Catholics, even Christians. What the devil seeks to do in putting doubt among us is to sow seeds of discord and disharmony. Once the Church is divided, especially among the leaders, it is the beginning of destruction. We need support from each other and we must not travel alone. In this sense, the Holy Father who is the symbol of unity like the rest of the bishops must always work in collegiality with each other. This too is the advice of Jesus when He said, “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot last. And if a household is divided against itself, that household can never stand. Now if Satan has rebelled against himself and is divided, he cannot stand either – it is the end of him.” It is the end of us too when Catholics, especially bishops and theologians, are divided among themselves. We must seek to promote the unity of the Church.
Thirdly, this calls for humility and dying to our desires, selfishness, pride and ego. Leaders must die to themselves as Christ did for us. We read in Hebrews, “Instead of that, he has made his appearance once and for all, now at the end of the last age, to do away with sin by sacrificing himself. Since men only die once, and after that comes judgement, so Christ, too, offers himself only once to take the faults of many on himself.” Whilst taking upon the sins, the struggles, the pains and wounds of our flock and the world upon ourselves, following Jesus who carried our sins in His body, we must die to self. We must submit to Jesus and the Word of God as handed down to us in faith and in obedience. We must not create our own doctrines and allow the ambiguous ideology of the world to distract us from the truths found in Scripture and tradition as constantly taught by the Church.
Finally, we can be guaranteed of God’s victory in Jesus’ victory over the Evil One by conquering sin and death. We should not live in fear or fall into despair even in the midst of confusion, division and even the possibility of schism breaking out in the Church. We must be courageous in searching for the truth through prayer and dialogue. We must cling to the victory won by Jesus. “Christ brings a new covenant, as the mediator, only so that the people who were called to an eternal inheritance may actually receive what was promised: his death took place to cancel the sins that infringed the earlier covenant.” The earlier covenant failed because it was not written on the hearts of men. Just as He has conquered sin and death, we too must unite ourselves with Jesus in being faithful to the will of God.
Let us walk in love and serve the Lord in holiness, and He will deliver us from the hands of our enemies. In humility, we pray that the grace of God and the light of the Holy Spirit will dispel from our hearts the darkness of sin. Christ has come to set us free from our foes so “that free from fear, and saved from the hands of our foes, we might serve him in holiness and justice all the days of our life in his presence.” (Lk 1:73) Then like John the Baptist, we must be the prophets of God the Most High. “You shall go ahead of the Lord to prepare his ways before him, to make known to his people their salvation through forgiveness of all their sins, the loving-kindness of the heart of our God who visits us like the dawn from on high. He will give light to those in darkness, those who dwell in the shadow of death, and guide us into the way of peace.” (cf Lk 1:76-79)
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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