20231029 COMPASSION IS THE KEY TO HEALING SOCIETY
29 October 2023, Sunday, 30th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading | Exodus 22:20-26 © |
If you are harsh with the widow and orphan, my anger will flare against you
The Lord said to Moses, ‘Tell the sons of Israel this:
‘“You must not molest the stranger or oppress him, for you lived as strangers in the land of Egypt. You must not be harsh with the widow, or with the orphan; if you are harsh with them, they will surely cry out to me, and be sure I shall hear their cry; my anger will flare and I shall kill you with the sword, your own wives will be widows, your own children orphans.
‘“If you lend money to any of my people, to any poor man among you, you must not play the usurer with him: you must not demand interest from him.
‘“If you take another’s cloak as a pledge, you must give it back to him before sunset. It is all the covering he has; it is the cloak he wraps his body in; what else would he sleep in? If he cries to me, I will listen, for I am full of pity.”’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 17(18):2-4,47,51 © |
I love you, Lord, my strength.
I love you, Lord, my strength,
my rock, my fortress, my saviour.
My God is the rock where I take refuge;
my shield, my mighty help, my stronghold.
The Lord is worthy of all praise,
when I call I am saved from my foes.
I love you, Lord, my strength.
Long life to the Lord, my rock!
Praised be the God who saves me,
He has given great victories to his king
and shown his love for his anointed.
I love you, Lord, my strength.
Second reading |
1 Thessalonians 1:5-10 © |
You broke with idolatry and became servants of God; you are now waiting for his Son
You observed the sort of life we lived when we were with you, which was for your instruction, and you were led to become imitators of us, and of the Lord; and it was with the joy of the Holy Spirit that you took to the gospel, in spite of the great opposition all round you. This has made you the great example to all believers in Macedonia and Achaia since it was from you that the word of the Lord started to spread – and not only throughout Macedonia and Achaia, for the news of your faith in God has spread everywhere. We do not need to tell other people about it: other people tell us how we started the work among you, how you broke with idolatry when you were converted to God and became servants of the real, living God; and how you are now waiting for Jesus, his Son, whom he raised from the dead, to come from heaven to save us from the retribution which is coming.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Ac16:14 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O Lord,
to accept the words of your Son.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn14:23 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
Matthew 22:34-40 © |
The commandments of love
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees they got together and, to disconcert him, one of them put a question, ‘Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?’ Jesus said, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second resembles it: You must love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets also.’
COMPASSION IS THE KEY TO HEALING SOCIETY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [EX 22:20-26; 1 THESS 1:5-10; MATTHEW 22: 34-40]
This is a harsh world we live in. It is the survival of the fittest. Indeed, this is a competitive world. Everyone is competing against each other for more money, promotion, bigger house and car, etc. Yes, we all want to win. These are the false gods that St Paul speaks about when he wrote to the Thessalonians commending them for “breaking away from idolatry and become servants of the real, living God.”
Indeed, it is our attachment to the false gods in our lives that have made us calculative, intolerant and lacking forgiveness in our lives. We put success, achievements and rewards above people. We are intolerant of people’s mistakes, whether they our children or our colleagues or employees at work. We want them to do well and climb up the ladder of success. Such obsession with success can make us uncaring, unfeeling and inconsiderate of people’s pain, personal struggles and sensitivity. We are so absorbed in our own interests and needs that people are pawns and tools to serve our selfish purpose.
That is why society is not so gracious. Often, we hear political, community and religious leaders bemoaning the fact that we are not a gracious society. We are individualistic, inward-looking and demanding. We lack tolerance for the weak and the defenceless. This can be seen in the way society deals with the elderly, the mentally and physically challenged and terminally-ill, and migrants. We see them as liabilities. Those who are unproductive are deemed to be draining our valuable resources. Our dignity does not come from the fact that we are persons but only when we are useful. We are treated as utilities to be used and discarded, not persons to be loved for who we are. In such a situation, we have become very wounded.
Society is very intolerant towards those who make mistakes. Instead of trying to understand us and showing empathy in our struggles, we are condemned. In most societies, those who are caught committing crimes are punished severely with the intent to hurt them rather than to heal them. What is needed today is a compassionate society that is gracious, generous, forgiving and kind. We need to build a society that has compassion for the sick, the poor, and even those who commit crimes. When economic advancement is the motive in all we do, and achieved at the expense of compassion, the people will become more and more individualistic and self-centred. This is akin to serving false gods instead of the living God.
The key to overcome such a hostile and selfish society is the way of compassion. This is what the scripture readings of this Sunday invite us to do. In the first reading, the Lord instructed Moses to command the Israelites to treat strangers well by welcoming them, render assistance to those without support, especially the widows and the orphans well. They must show compassion towards them and treat them charitably. The poor and the deprived must not be manipulated or be used for their own interests. Indeed, compassion is the key to heal our wounds and the wounds of society. We are all hurt and rejected and often condemned.
Truly, compassion is the most powerful antidote for healing. When we show compassion for the weak, the oppressed and sinners, we heal the wounds that caused them to be in the situation they are in. By giving them love, understanding and acceptance, they begin to heal themselves. For only when they are loved and accepted, can they begin to love themselves for who they are. Hence, just showing compassion to them even without counselling them is already a very effective way to heal them of their brokenness. What most of us need is a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on and to rest on. There is nothing more therapeutic than to be understood and be given a hug when we are down and lonely. The last thing we need is to be judged.
Compassion not only heal others; it heals us too. When we reach out to others, we forget about our own problems. When we start listening to the problems of others and feel with them in their pain, we begin to see our problems in perspective. Very often, we tend to navel gaze and think that we have the biggest problems in this world. But when we hear how much others are suffering, we forget our own. Isn’t this the case of the Thessalonians in today’s second reading? They were ready to suffer for the gospel against all opposition because they learnt from St Paul and his companions. St Paul wrote, “You observed the sort of life we lived when we were with you, which was for your instruction, and you were led to become imitators of us, and of the Lord; and it was with the joy of the Holy Spirit that you took to the gospel, in spite of the great opposition all round you.”
What is the basis for compassion? Simply because God is the compassionate one! He has delivered Israel from their enemies. They were a motley crowd of people living in Egypt. They became slaves under the Egyptians. But God in His mercy dispatched Moses to deliver them from their slavery because He heard their cries and misery. And after freeing them from Egypt, He brought them to the Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey. Because God is compassionate to us, He likewise expects us to do the same to others. This is because we all belong to Him. He feels with us. Accordingly, the Lord warned the people, “if you are harsh with them, they will surely cry out to me, and be sure I shall hear their cry; my anger will flare and I shall kill you with the sword, your own wives will be widows, your own children orphans.” And with regard to the man who had no cloak to wrap his body in, the Lord said, “what else would he sleep in? If he cries to me, I will listen, for I am full of pity.” God considers all of us as His people, regardless whether we are Christians or not.
How, then, can we exercise this compassion? Firstly, we must be loved by God. This is the presupposition for the work of compassion. At the base of all healing is our need to be loved by God. We must not misunderstand the Shema quoted by Jesus “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This commandment to love God with one’s entire being, mind, heart and soul presupposes the experience of God’s unconditional love and mercy which the Israelites experienced in the Exodus when God liberated them, and along their way to the Promised Land, God fed them with manna, meat and water in the desert. Only because they had already experienced God’s unconditional love could they be commanded to love God with their entire self and their neighbours. This, too, was the case of St Paul. It was his experience of God’s unconditional love and mercy for him that made him give up his life for Christ.
Secondly, having been loved by God, we in turn will learn to love ourselves. The reason why one sin leads to another sin is because sin is a hatred for oneself, the lack of respect for oneself. When we feel that we are sinners, we will only commit more sin. But when we do not feel that we are sinners, we will act like a child of God. Similarly, when we know that God loves us and never condemns us but feels sorry for us when we sin, we will not condemn ourselves but love ourselves the way He loves us. This is what justification by faith is all about, namely, that we are loved and forgiven in Christ. On the basis of this love and His forgiveness, we are healed.
Thirdly, to have compassion for others, we must get in touch with ourselves. This is why the Lord said, “You must love your neighbour as yourself.” If we know our own desires, struggles, pains and failures, we will learn to be more forgiving, tolerant and compassionate, for we know we are imperfect. Those who are judgmental in life do not know themselves well. They see everyone’s mistakes and imperfections except their own. So to love others, let us begin by loving ourselves, recognizing our limitations and inadequacies so that we can be in solidarity and sympathy with our neighbours.
Once we are loved by God and we begin to love ourselves, we will also learn to love others. We will look at people with eyes of forgiveness, benevolence and understanding. Seeing our brokenness in them, we become more compassionate and forgiving. We begin to look at them the way God looks at us. When we see them in this manner, then our relationship with them will change. No longer do we see them with precaution, suspicion and hostility but as fellow creatures who are wounded, and have limitations and weaknesses like us. We identify with them in their struggles to be good.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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