20230208 EXERCISE OF FREEDOM REQUIRES KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
08 February 2023 Wednesday, 5th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
Genesis 2:4-9,15-17 © |
The Lord God fashioned man out of dust
At the time when the Lord God made earth and heaven there was as yet no wild bush on the earth nor had any wild plant yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth, nor was there any man to till the soil. However, a flood was rising from the earth and watering all the surface of the soil. The Lord God fashioned man of dust from the soil. Then he breathed into his nostrils a breath of life, and thus man became a living being.
The Lord God planted a garden in Eden which is in the east, and there he put the man he had fashioned. The Lord God caused to spring up from the soil every kind of tree, enticing to look at and good to eat, with the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the middle of the garden. The Lord God took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden to cultivate and take care of it. Then the Lord God gave the man this admonition, ‘You may eat indeed of all the trees in the garden. Nevertheless of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you are not to eat, for on the day you eat of it you shall most surely die.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 103(104):1-2,27-30 © |
Bless the Lord, my soul!
Bless the Lord, my soul!
Lord God, how great you are,
clothed in majesty and glory,
wrapped in light as in a robe!
Bless the Lord, my soul!
All of these look to you
to give them their food in due season.
You give it, they gather it up:
you open your hand, they have their fill.
Bless the Lord, my soul!
You take back your spirit, they die,
returning to the dust from which they came.
You send forth your spirit, they are created;
and you renew the face of the earth.
Bless the Lord, my soul!
Gospel Acclamation | cf.2Tim1:10 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Our Saviour Jesus Christ abolished death
and he has proclaimed life through the Good News.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn17:17 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your word is truth, O Lord:
consecrate us in the truth.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 7:14-23 © |
It is what comes out of a man that makes him unclean
Jesus called the people to him and said, ‘Listen to me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that goes into a man from outside can make him unclean; it is the things that come out of a man that make him unclean. If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen to this.’
When he had gone back into the house, away from the crowd, his disciples questioned him about the parable. He said to them, ‘Do you not understand either? Can you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside cannot make him unclean, because it does not go into his heart but through his stomach and passes out into the sewer?’ (Thus he pronounced all foods clean.) And he went on, ‘It is what comes out of a man that makes him unclean. For it is from within, from men’s hearts, that evil intentions emerge: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within and make a man unclean.’
EXERCISE OF FREEDOM REQUIRES KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [GEN 2:4-9,15-17; PS 104:1-2, 27-30; MK 7:14-23]
We all seek freedom. Life has no meaning without freedom. This desire for freedom is in the DNA of every human person. Even God respects our freedom. In creating us, He gave us the highest gift of freedom, even to the point of allowing us to reject Him. This gift of freedom is brought out in today’s story when God explicitly told man, “You are free to eat of all the trees in the garden. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you are not to eat; for the day you eat of that, you are doomed to die.”
Perhaps, the greatest mistake of humanity is that we want freedom like Adam and Eve, without God. This is the moral of the story of the Fall. They wanted to be like God without God. We seek absolute autonomy, failing to realize that our autonomy is dependent on God. When we want to be free without God, we end up being slaves to our passion, our ignorance and our desires. Those who allow their passion to control their lives are certainly not free at all. True freedom is when we exercise full control over ourselves in what we want and what we should be doing.
The tragedy of human beings is that we seek freedom, but we do not know how to use our freedom. How dangerous it is to give a gift to someone who is not mature enough to use it. Do we give a car to a ten-year-old boy? We don’t, because he cannot handle it. So even when we speak of the gift of freedom, we must realize that there is no absolute freedom, but it has to be exercised according to the maturity and knowledge of the person. A younger person would require more supervision than someone who is more mature. It is for this reason that laws are needed to guide those who are not disciplined or responsible enough to manage freedom. St Paul tells us that laws are not meant for the just but for the sinners. “The law is good, if any one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly.” (1 Tim 1:8f)
Of course, the best way to exercise responsible freedom presumes a good understanding of the laws and knowledge of what is good and true. But today, with so many views of life, we no longer know what is true and good. The growing number of people who profess agnosticism and relativism confirm this tendency. They do not know whether God exists or whether there are absolute truths in life. The irony is that in a world of mass communication and information technology, there is so much information on everything that we are no longer able to distinguish one from the other. It is not enough to have knowledge, but we need to know whether they are true. It is significant that on the cross, the Lord said, “Father forgive them for they know not what they are doing!” So how do we blame those whose conscience is inculpably erroneous?
Having knowledge and understanding does not mean we can or will do the right thing. Knowing the law or the truth about something only reveals to us our ignorance and our sins. “Yet, if it had not been for the law, I should not have known sin. I should not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, finding opportunity in the commandment, wrought in me all kinds of covetousness.” (Rom 7:7f) So knowledge of what is good and evil is no guarantee that we will walk the truth. That is why the Lord warned our first parents, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you are not to eat; for the day you eat of that, you are doomed to die.” We can study ethics and morality yet remain powerless to overcome sin. St Paul shared his own struggle with us. “We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin. I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” (Rom 7:14f)
The truth is that our heart is drawn to evil, if not, at least selfishness. This is what the Lord says, “It is what comes out of someone that makes that person unclean. For it is from within, from the heart, that evil intentions emerge: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within and make a person unclean.” Jeremiah remarked, “The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse – who can understand it?” (Jer 17:9) We suffer from a wounded heart. We are basically self-preservative. No one wants to suffer and most of us fear death and separation. We seek security through money, power and status. Yet, these are false security.
Furthermore, the heart is also drawn to the flesh. Just knowing what the right thing is does not mean that we can resist the temptations of the flesh. We know that the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. So, no matter how much we try, we fail. Not all of us are so determined or disciplined. We all want to be good, but it is not easy. Many of us want to be healthy and slim but are unable to resist food or control our diet or be regular in our exercise. So, desiring something does not mean that we can arrive at it. Basically, we all seek to do good but our needs, desires; comfort and convenience take precedence above others. Most of us are concerned about short term needs rather than the long-term impact on future generation. Today, everyone is for himself without regard for the future of the planet or humanity. Until today, the evil of the human heart is still the same. Technology can solve many problems, but they cannot stop war, famine, inequality, injustice and diseases.
So, what is needed for the exercise of freedom? Life is a pedagogy. We learn to grow in love and in freedom, which is something not achieved overnight and not by our strength alone but by His grace. In reality, we will remain sinners. No matter how much we try, we fail now and then. But what is important is that we pick ourselves up again and again, without giving up.
In the final analysis, we need to submit to His mercy and rely on God’s grace. We can only depend on His mercy and forgiveness. Grace is what justifies us. We must believe that God is all merciful and forgiving. He does not hold His grievances against us. “Who is a God like thee, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion upon us; he will tread our iniquities under foot. Thou wilt cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” (Mic 7:18f) The psalmist praised God who sustains creation. “All of these look to you to give them their food in due season. You give it, they gather it up: you open your hand, they have their fill. You take back your spirit, they die, returning to the dust from which they came. You send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the earth.” We need to surrender ourselves to God who can renew us in His Spirit. Only in His Spirit, can we be renewed.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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