20230210 SENSITIVITY AND RESPECT FOR THE DIGNITY OF THE SINNER
10 February 2023 Friday, 5th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading | Genesis 3:1-8 © |
The fall of man
The serpent was the most subtle of all the wild beasts that the Lord God had made. It asked the woman, ‘Did God really say you were not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?’ The woman answered the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden. But of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden God said, “You must not eat it, nor touch it, under pain of death.”’ Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘No! You will not die! God knows in fact that on the day you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.’ The woman saw that the tree was good to eat and pleasing to the eye, and that it was desirable for the knowledge that it could give. So she took some of its fruit and ate it. She gave some also to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they realised that they were naked. So they sewed fig-leaves together to make themselves loin-cloths.
The man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 31(32):1-2,5-7 © |
Happy the man whose offence is forgiven.
Happy the man whose offence is forgiven,
whose sin is remitted.
O happy the man to whom the Lord
imputes no guilt,
in whose spirit is no guile.
Happy the man whose offence is forgiven.
But now I have acknowledged my sins;
my guilt I did not hide.
I said: ‘I will confess
my offence to the Lord.’
And you, Lord, have forgiven
the guilt of my sin.
Happy the man whose offence is forgiven.
So let every good man pray to you
in the time of need.
The floods of water may reach high
but him they shall not reach.
Happy the man whose offence is forgiven.
You are my hiding place, O Lord;
you save me from distress.
You surround me with cries of deliverance.
Happy the man whose offence is forgiven.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Jn6:63,68 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life;
you have the message of eternal life.
Alleluia!
Or: | cf.Ac16:14 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O Lord,
to accept the words of your Son.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 7:31-37 © |
'He makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak'
Returning from the district of Tyre, Jesus went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, right through the Decapolis region. And they brought him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they asked him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, put his fingers into the man’s ears and touched his tongue with spittle. Then looking up to heaven he sighed; and he said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.’ And his ears were opened, and the ligament of his tongue was loosened and he spoke clearly. And Jesus ordered them to tell no one about it, but the more he insisted, the more widely they published it. Their admiration was unbounded. ‘He has done all things well,’ they said ‘he makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.’
SENSITIVITY AND RESPECT FOR THE DIGNITY OF THE SINNER
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [GEN 3:1-8; PS 32:1-2,5-7; MARK 7:31-37]
How do we treat sinners? Quite often, we behave like self-righteous people. We despise them and look down on them. This was the way the religious leaders regarded sinners during Jesus’ time. They were treated as outcasts of society and accordingly marginalized.
Yet, we all know that when we sin, we feel ashamed of ourselves. This was how the first couple felt. Instead of rejoicing that our cravings have been satisfied or feeling great about ourselves, we feel worse than ever. We feel ashamed. This is the worst of all punishments.
In the first instance, we are ashamed before our fellowmen. This is symbolized by the feeling of nakedness. “They realised that they were naked. So they sewed fig-leaves together to make themselves loin-cloths.” Indeed, we hate ourselves for doing what is wrong. We are disgusted with ourselves for not acting rightly even though we know what we should be doing. We are afraid of what people might say or think about us. If our crime were reported in the papers, we would be too ashamed to meet anyone, especially our relatives and friends. Some may even commit suicide because of shame.
Secondly, we feel ashamed before God. This is the reason why people turn away from God and even those whom they have hurt or betrayed. They have no dignity to look at God or their fellowmen. This, too, was the reason why Adam and Eve hid from the Lord. Because of shame, many Catholics are not willing to go for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. They are afraid the priest might know their sins. All the excuses we make for not going to a priest for confession are merely due of pride! We do not want our fellowmen to despise us. And so we conveniently say we must go to God directly.
But we all need to hear the words of forgiveness. We need to know that God has forgiven us and our fellowmen as well. We all seek forgiveness as in the case of King David. We know our wrongs. The psalmist says, “Happy the man whose offence is forgiven. But now I have acknowledged my sins; my guilt I did not hide.”
In the gospel Jesus came to restore the beauty of creation disfigured by sins. St Mark wrote, “Their admiration was unbounded. ‘He has done all things well'” But how did He do it? He did it with great sensitivity and with respect for the dignity of the sinner.
Firstly, we note that Jesus did not treat the deaf man as a case but as an individual who needed help. The man could not hear and therefore could not speak properly. Unlike the other healing miracles, Jesus, recognizing the sensitivity of the situation took him aside. Secondly, He was aware of his embarrassment; not knowing what others were saying about him, and his inability to articulate himself. Sensitive to his shame, Jesus took him aside from the crowd to heal him. “He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, put his fingers into the man’s ears and touched his tongue with spittle.”
Thirdly, Jesus used spittle to heal him as it was common in the days of old when the people believed in the power of spittle to heal. Indeed, there is much truth in this. This explains why when animals are wounded they would lick themselves. We remember how the dogs licked the wounds of Lazarus in the gospel. Jesus too would heal him in a sacramental way. He could have healed without the spittle, but He wanted to give the man the experience of being healed. By touching his tongue with spittle, Jesus mediated the healing grace of God to him. Truly, we all need the sense of touch in life. We need to be touched and to hear. This is part of the human way of being restored. We need sacramentals because we are human beings with a body and not pure spirit.
Fourthly, we read that Jesus turned to heaven and prayed. “Then looking up to heaven he sighed; and he said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened'” In other words, healing must come from God alone and not from man. We do not have the power to heal; only God has the power. Jesus turned to His heavenly Father to heal so that the people will come to know His Father’s love and mercy.
What we see in this whole process of healing is precisely how we should also heal and reconcile sinners.
Firstly, we must see them as individuals. No one is the same when it comes to temptation. We cannot say to someone, “If I can, why can’t you!” We are just different and we all have different weaknesses because of upbringing and past experiences in life. We are wounded not just by sin but by the consequences of sin that come from ourselves and those who hurt us.
Secondly, sinners feel great shame for their sins. They must be treated with great compassion and sensitivity to save their dignity. They are already so embarrassed for what they did. We should not scold them further or use harsh words on them because we will only make them hate themselves even more. This is counterproductive. Instead of making the penitent better, he will commit more sins because he lacks respect and authentic love for himself. This is important, especially when we discipline our erring children.
Thirdly, the best way to prevent someone from sinning again is to embrace the sinner in love and compassion and not condemnation. Healing his emotional wounds prevent him from repeating his sins. We must help him to experience the gentle and loving compassion of our Lord through our compassion and the desire to protect them. This is precisely what Jesus the Good Shepherd did in His relationship with sinners. He was always encouraging, affirming, understanding, forgiving and accepting.
This whole process of healing is beautifully celebrated in the Sacrament of Reconciliation when the sinner is away from the crowd and in total confidence in the secrecy of the confessional; the penitent is given the opportunity to confess his sins completely without fear of shame to a priest. And the priest, using the human words of forgiveness on behalf of the Church and in the name of the Holy Trinity, forgives the sins of the sinner. When we exercise the ministry in this way, then we bring healing and forgiveness to the sinner.
Indeed, Catholics and Christians who reject the Sacrament of Reconciliation, saying that they should not confess to a priest who is only a human being but only directly to God, are denying that we need a human mediator to hear us out and be affirmed of God’s love and mercy. Otherwise, there is no need for the incarnation as we can, like the Jews, confess directly to God for our sins to be forgiven. Of course, it remains true also that this does not preclude that we should confess directly to God as well. This practice of confession was already something that was being practiced right at the beginning of the Church when St James said, “Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16)
The real problem, I believe, is that quite often, some confessors lack compassion and sensitivity and this has put fear into the hearts of penitents, causing them to avoid this beautiful sacrament of healing. Some confessors unfortunately cause more hurt to penitents by their callousness, as when they lack mercy, sensitivity, patience, compassion and encouragement in hearing the confession of their penitents. Instead of being healed, they feel that they are sentenced to doom and that God has given up hope on them. But if the sacrament of reconciliation is celebrated with great sensitivity and compassion, then every penitent can declare with the psalmist, “And you, Lord, have forgiven the guilt of my sin.”
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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