20230225 THE JOY OF REPENTANCE
25 February 2023, Saturday after Ash Wednesday
First reading | Isaiah 58:9-14 © |
You will be like a spring whose waters never run dry
The Lord says this:
If you do away with the yoke,
the clenched fist, the wicked word,
if you give your bread to the hungry,
and relief to the oppressed,
your light will rise in the darkness,
and your shadows become like noon.
The Lord will always guide you,
giving you relief in desert places.
He will give strength to your bones
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water
whose waters never run dry.
You will rebuild the ancient ruins,
build up on the old foundations.
You will be called ‘Breach-mender’,
‘Restorer of ruined houses.’
If you refrain from trampling the sabbath,
and doing business on the holy day,
if you call the Sabbath ‘Delightful’,
and the day sacred to the Lord ‘Honourable’,
if you honour it by abstaining from travel,
from doing business and from gossip,
then shall you find your happiness in the Lord
and I will lead you triumphant over the heights of the land.
I will feed you on the heritage of Jacob your father.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 85(86):1-6 © |
Show me, Lord, your way so that I may walk in your truth.
Turn your ear, O Lord, and give answer
for I am poor and needy.
Preserve my life, for I am faithful;
save the servant who trusts in you.
Show me, Lord, your way so that I may walk in your truth.
You are my God, have mercy on me, Lord,
for I cry to you all the day long.
Give joy to your servant, O Lord,
for to you I lift up my soul.
Show me, Lord, your way so that I may walk in your truth.
O Lord, you are good and forgiving,
full of love to all who call.
Give heed, O Lord, to my prayer
and attend to the sound of my voice.
Show me, Lord, your way so that I may walk in your truth.
Gospel Acclamation | cfPs94:8 |
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
Harden not your hearts today,
but listen to the voice of the Lord.
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
Or: | Ezk33:11 |
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
I take pleasure, not in the death of a wicked man
– it is the Lord who speaks –
but in the turning back of a wicked man
who changes his ways to win life.
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
Gospel | Luke 5:27-32 © |
Jesus comes not to call the virtuous, but sinners to repentance
Jesus noticed a tax collector, Levi by name, sitting by the customs house, and said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And leaving everything he got up and followed him.
In his honour Levi held a great reception in his house, and with them at table was a large gathering of tax collectors and others. The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples and said, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’ Jesus said to them in reply, ‘It is not those who are well who need the doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the virtuous, but sinners to repentance.’
THE JOY OF REPENTANCE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ISAIAH 58:9-14; PS 86:1-6; LUKE 5:27-32]
At the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday, the priest puts ash on your forehead and he said, “Repent and believe in the Good News!” The beginning of repentance begins with the acceptance of the Good News. Unless the Good News is heard and experienced, there can be no real repentance. This explains why the scribes and the Pharisees had no real repentance because they did not understand the Good News. For them, the only way to be acceptable to God and men is to appear as if they are holy, particularly by observing the laws religiously. As a consequence, they became proud and self-righteous. They were judgmental and fault finding as they were in today’s gospel when they saw Jesus eating and drinking with sinners.
Jesus knew that condemning sinners and excluding them or marginalizing them would only drive them further away. Excommunication, introduced in the early Church with all good intentions, does not always produce the expected results, namely, awareness of the seriousness of one’s sins and then turning to the Lord and the community for forgiveness. I think more often than not, it only leads them to be resentful, bitter and angry with the Church. Because of pride, many have left the Church and refused to come back or to admit that they were wrong.
The way of Jesus is one of acceptance and respect. We can imagine the happiness and joy of Levi, who was also called Matthew, when the Lord called him to be His disciple. It was unimaginable that whilst his fellowmen would not even want to mix with him, a great rabbi would invite him to be His follower. For once, Levi must have felt loved and accepted. For once, he did not have the feeling that he was a hopeless case. So we can feel with Levi the joy of being loved and welcomed by the Lord. This was something he could never imagine at all. His conversion was akin to that of St Paul who was also a great sinner. So great was his joy that he got up immediately, “left everything and followed him.”
Hence, in his joy, he called all his friends for a meal with Jesus. Of course, the only friends he had were fellow tax-collectors because they were all shunned by their fellowmen who saw them as traitors and dishonest people. To a great extent, it is true that they were very dishonest and often profited themselves at the expense of the people when they collected taxes for the Roman governor. But Levi wanted to share the great news that they had hope and God had not totally abandoned them in spite of their sinfulness. In Jesus, Levi saw the unconditional love and mercy of God. That was why he invited the rest of his kind to come for the meal to experience what he himself experienced.
It is also significant that Jesus made Himself available for the meal as well. He did not reject that invitation, knowing that His presence would create gossip. But that did not deter Jesus from accepting the invite. Not unexpectedly, the scribes and Pharisees were scandalized and complained, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” The response of Jesus was clear, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Indeed, the purpose of His coming was not to save healthy and righteous men but sinners. He came to restore life and hope to those who are walking in the shadow of death and have lost hope in life. To such people the Good News of God’s love and mercy is offered. This approach to sinners is the way Pope Francis is asking of the Church as well. Like Jesus, he wants us to be compassionate and accept sinners into our community. We are called to love them and embrace them rather than treat them as if they are lepers or untouchables. Only by giving them the love of Jesus can we bring them back to the fold.
By so doing, we are not denying the reality and gravity of sins. We are not saying that sins are all right and that it does not matter whether we live a holy and righteous life or not. Repentance is the consequence of being loved and accepted. Repentance must be the result, not the cause, of living a holy life. If we are already living a righteous life, then no repentance is necessary. But it is God’s unconditional love and mercy for us that moves us to repent, because of the joy of being loved and most of all, because we love Him in return.
Indeed, in the first reading, the prophet warns us that if we continue to live in our sins, we will only hurt ourselves even more. When we oppress people, accuse them, are always angry and filled with malice against them, we cannot expect to find happiness. An angry person cannot find happiness. A person who cannot forgive cannot find peace. Those who oppress others, those who make others suffer at their expense because of their irresponsibility, injustice and selfishness, cannot expect to have a peaceful conscience. Their guilt will weigh down their soul. Rather, the prophet says, “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.” So living a life of love and compassion and honesty will bring us happiness and joy.
Similarly, those who do not keep the Sabbath, that is, put God as the first place in their lives, will only hurt themselves. The prophet reminds us, “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord.” Just look around us and we see the consequences of those who do not put the Lord at the centre of their lives, their relationships and their family. Once God is second or third place in our lives, we get all our priorities wrong. Money, power, status and career become our God. Sometimes, even our human relationships take precedence over God and because that relationship is not centered in God, it becomes lustful, selfish, inward-looking and demanding. By placing God at the centre of our lives, and by keeping the Sabbath which is made for man, then we will know the importance of rest, spending time with God and with our family instead of busying ourselves with making money, socializing and ending up with all kinds of vices. For this reason, the most important commandment in the bible is to love God. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” (Dt 6:4f)
But they will not know the truth about themselves and the beauty of the laws of God until they come to Christ. So instead of rejecting them, we must welcome them and be their friends first. Let them know that there are people who genuinely care for them and love them. We are inviting them to repent, not to make their lives miserable or take away their joy and freedom but to give them true joy, true love and real freedom. To such people, we need to be like Jesus who reached out to them in the market place and in their own territories, even going into the house of sinners to stay with them and fellowship with them. We too must be courageous and be magnanimous to love sinners genuinely, not out of condescension. When the time is opportune they, too, like the tax collectors would want to hear us out. When that happens, they too will say, “Show me, Lord, your way so that I may walk in your truth. You are my God, have mercy on me, Lord, for I cry to you all the day long. Give joy to your servant, O Lord, for to you I lift up my soul. O Lord, you are good and forgiving, full of love to all who call.”
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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