20240127 ORDER OUT OF CHAOS
27 January 2024, Saturday, 3rd Week of Ordinary Time
First reading |
2 Samuel 12:1-7,10-17 © |
David's penitence over Uriah
The Lord sent Nathan the prophet to David. He came to him and said:
‘In the same town were two men,
one rich, the other poor.
The rich man had flocks and herds
in great abundance;
the poor man had nothing but a ewe lamb,
one only, a small one he had bought.
This he fed, and it grew up with him and his children,
eating his bread, drinking from his cup,
sleeping on his breast; it was like a daughter to him.
When there came a traveller to stay, the rich man
refused to take one of his own flock or herd
to provide for the wayfarer who had come to him.
Instead he took the poor man’s lamb
and prepared it for his guest.’
David’s anger flared up against the man. ‘As the Lord lives,’ he said to Nathan ‘the man who did this deserves to die! He must make fourfold restitution for the lamb, for doing such a thing and showing no compassion.’
Then Nathan said to David, ‘You are the man. So now the sword will never be far from your House, since you have shown contempt for me and taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.”
‘Thus the Lord speaks, “I will stir up evil for you out of your own House. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to your neighbour, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. You worked in secret, I will work this in the face of all Israel and in the face of the sun.”’
David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’ Then Nathan said to David, ‘The Lord, for his part, forgives your sin; you are not to die. Yet because you have outraged the Lord by doing this, the child that is born to you is to die.’ Then Nathan went home.
The Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David and it fell gravely ill. David pleaded with the Lord for the child; he kept a strict fast and went home and spent the night on the bare ground, covered with sacking. The officials of his household came and stood round him to get him to rise from the ground, but he refused, nor would he take food with them.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 50(51):12-17 © |
A pure heart create for me, O God.
A pure heart create for me, O God,
put a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
nor deprive me of your holy spirit.
A pure heart create for me, O God.
Give me again the joy of your help;
with a spirit of fervour sustain me,
that I may teach transgressors your ways
and sinners may return to you.
A pure heart create for me, O God.
O rescue me, God, my helper,
and my tongue shall ring out your goodness.
O Lord, open my lips
and my mouth shall declare your praise.
A pure heart create for me, O God.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Ps26:11 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Instruct me, Lord, in your way;
on an even path lead me.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn3:16 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son:
everyone who believes in him has eternal life.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 4:35-41 © |
'Even the wind and the sea obey him'
With the coming of evening, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let us cross over to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd behind they took him, just as he was, in the boat; and there were other boats with him. Then it began to blow a gale and the waves were breaking into the boat so that it was almost swamped. But he was in the stern, his head on the cushion, asleep. They woke him and said to him, ‘Master, do you not care? We are going down!’ And he woke up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Quiet now! Be calm!’ And the wind dropped, and all was calm again. Then he said to them, ‘Why are you so frightened? How is it that you have no faith?’ They were filled with awe and said to one another, ‘Who can this be? Even the wind and the sea obey him.’
ORDER OUT OF CHAOS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [2 SM 12:1-7, 10-17; PS 51:12-17; MARK 4:35-41]
This life is much more chaotic than ever in the history of humanity. Indeed, when we look at the situation in the world today, there is chaos. The trade wars and nationalistic fervour of some countries have caused the economic volatility in the world. Powerful countries are seeking to control the smaller and weaker countries through the use of monetary, trade and political pressures, and when these do not work, they sow seeds of discord among the peoples, finance opposition so that the country will be in disarray and collapse. But there is also another war that has been waging silently over the last 40 years by secularists, relativists and materialists. It is an ideological cultural war. They seek to destroy the eternal values of humanity by diminishing the sacredness of marriage into a trivial and mundane event. Through the powerful use of mass media, entertainment, and celebrities, they have slowly normalized what was considered out of place in society, such as same-sex union, transgender, divorce, abortion euthanasia and the use of drugs.
In our own life, our family is messy and we feel incapable of holding the members of the family together. Spouses are living separate personal lives. Children and parents cannot communicate because of the generation gap. Values of children are no longer imbibed from their parents, because the latter are hardly around, but picked up from the internet and social media. Since there are so many views, they will follow what is popular, which means those that speak the loudest and of highest publicity. It is a herd mentality because with so many voices, it is impossible to verify all the information. We just follow what we like, or what the world sees as ‘cool’.
Even the Church is facing chaos. There are so many voices today, compared to 40 years ago when things were a lot clearer. Doctrines were accepted without question then. But today, our own Catholics espouse relativistic views, choosing what they agree with and discarding teachings that they do not agree with. It is a selective reading and following of the doctrines. Even bishops, theologians and priests are not in accord. Even the competence of the teaching of the Pope is put in question. With doctrinal confusion, be they doctrines or morals, and with the scandals in the hierarchy of the Church, one wonders whether the Catholic Church is truly the Church of Christ. By extension, one even wonders whether Christ is real, because He does not seem to be protecting the Church as He promised St Peter.
We are just like the disciples of our Lord in the boat. They were in the midst of the storm. The Lord was with them. Apparently, He was asleep, tired after a long day of preaching and ministering. He was sleeping soundly at the stern of the boat even though the boat was tossing, waves crashing in, the disciples yelling and shouting for help in fear, in spite of the fact that some were experienced fishermen. But Jesus did not seem to be perturbed by what was happening. So “they woke him and said to him, ‘Master, do you not care? We are going down!'” Isn’t this the same question we ask every day and so often of our Lord? Do you not care that we are sinking into the mud? Do you not care that we are drowning in our sorrows, confusion and division in the world? Do you not care that the Church seems to be losing her battle in building the kingdom of God? Instead of seeing the Church as a mustard seed growing from strength to strength, we see the influence of the Church diminishing, marginalized, and instead of being held in regard, she is viewed with suspicion. The power of evil in the world seems to be gaining strength and momentum. The negative values of the world seem to be gradually accepted as the norm of life. What is good in the past is now seen as outdated. What is evil in the past is seen as something good. Even Satanism is promoted in the world as a religion and occult books are sold publicly to children. So is Jesus sleeping, is He aware?
Perhaps, it is not the Lord who is sleeping but we are sleeping. We are still in our ignorance, like the disciples. We do not know who Jesus truly is. That is why we do not have faith and confidence in Him. After Jesus calmed the storm, the Lord said to the disciples, “Why are you so frightened? How is it that you have no faith?” We read that “they were filled with awe and said to one another, ‘Who can this be? Even the wind and sea obey him.'” Who is this man? Who is He that even the wind and the sea obey Him? He must of course be God because it was God who created the world. Only God can command the seas and the winds to obey Him. God is in charge. He has power over all creation. Hence, when the Lord “rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Quiet now! Be calm!’ And the wind dropped, and all was calm again.”
The irony of this event shows that the real fear is not the fear of creation and even of death. The real fear that we should have is the fear of God. So we read that the disciples were filled with awe, a holy fear of God. Initially they were fearful of the winds and the waves. But now when everything was calm, they feared God because they intuited the divinity in Jesus. But isn’t that what the Lord said, “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!” (Lk 12:4f) Unless we fear Him, we lose all perspective of life. The book of Wisdom tells us that the fear of the Lord is true Wisdom. “The fear of the Lord delights the heart, and gives gladness and joy and long life. Those who fear the Lord will have a happy end; on the day of their death they will be blessed. To fear the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; she is created with the faithful in the womb. The fear of the Lord is the crown of wisdom, making peace and perfect health to flourish. To fear the Lord is the root of wisdom, and her branches are long life. (Sirach 1:12-14,18,20)
This was initially the case of King David after he had sinned. He was fearful of the punishment that came from sin. God does not punish us for our sins. Rather, our sins punish us. In other words, God always forgives us, but we might not be spared from the consequences of our sins. David committed adultery and murder. As a consequence the Lord told him, “So now the sword will never be far from your House, since you have shown contempt for me and taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. I will stir up evil for you out of your own House. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to your neighbour, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. You worked in secret, I will work this in the face of all Israel and in the face of the sun.” Nathan said to David, “The Lord, for his part, forgives your sin; you are not to die, the child that is born to you is to die.” Although, it is phrased as if God punished David, it is more accurate to say that the effects of the sins of David caught up with him.
Whatever we do in life, we will reap the consequences. If we sow evil, then evil will be sown in our family and in society. This is true for the decadent world as well. Evil might seem to be triumphant. But it is not. Evil will destroy itself. Evil people will destroy others and eventually also destroy themselves. This is the greatest deception of the Evil One. With the destruction of religious authority, political authority, parental authority, what is there left for this world except relativism and pragmatism? Society without moral guidance, without knowledge of what is right or wrong will destroy itself because the values promoted by the world are selfish, inward-looking, individualistic and not holistic or for the common good of humanity.
Like King David and the disciples, we must fear God! We must come to realize that God is the ultimate power in life. The world may seem to be winning in its evil influence but we do not just live for this life but in the life to come. We should not just fear death but eternal death. If we are faithful and repentant, then eternal life awaits us. We should not fear that we are losing the battle because Jesus is with us in the storms of life. He is in charge. Rather, we should simply pray with King David, “A pure heart create for me, O God, put a steadfast spirit within me. Give me again the joy of your help; with a spirit of fervour sustain me.”
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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