20240223 RADICAL LIVING OF THE GOSPEL
23 February 2024, Friday, 1st Week of Lent
First reading |
Ezekiel 18:21-28 © |
I prefer to see the wicked man renounce his wickedness and live
Thus says the Lord:
‘If the wicked man renounces all the sins he has committed, respects my laws and is law-abiding and honest, he will certainly live; he will not die. All the sins he committed will be forgotten from then on; he shall live because of the integrity he has practised. What! Am I likely to take pleasure in the death of a wicked man – it is the Lord who speaks – and not prefer to see him renounce his wickedness and live?
‘But if the upright man renounces his integrity, commits sin, copies the wicked man and practises every kind of filth, is he to live? All the integrity he has practised shall be forgotten from then on; but this is because he himself has broken faith and committed sin, and for this he shall die. But you object, “What the Lord does is unjust.” Listen, you House of Israel: is what I do unjust? Is it not what you do that is unjust? When the upright man renounces his integrity to commit sin and dies because of this, he dies because of the evil that he himself has committed. When the sinner renounces sin to become law-abiding and honest, he deserves to live. He has chosen to renounce all his previous sins; he shall certainly live; he shall not die.’
Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 129(130) © |
If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt, Lord, who would survive?
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord,
Lord, hear my voice!
O let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleading.
If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt, Lord, who would survive?
If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt,
Lord, who would survive?
But with you is found forgiveness:
for this we revere you.
If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt, Lord, who would survive?
My soul is waiting for the Lord.
I count on his word.
My soul is longing for the Lord
more than watchman for daybreak.
(Let the watchman count on daybreak
and Israel on the Lord.)
If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt, Lord, who would survive?
Because with the Lord there is mercy
and fullness of redemption,
Israel indeed he will redeem
from all its iniquity.
If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt, Lord, who would survive?
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Amos5:14 |
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Seek good and not evil so that you may live,
and that the Lord God of hosts may really be with you.
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Or: | Ezk18:31 |
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Shake off all your sins – it is the Lord who speaks –
and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Gospel | Matthew 5:20-26 © |
Anyone who is angry with his brother will answer for it
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.
‘You have learnt how it was said to our ancestors: You must not kill; and if anyone does kill he must answer for it before the court. But I say this to you: anyone who is angry with his brother will answer for it before the court; if a man calls his brother “Fool” he will answer for it before the Sanhedrin; and if a man calls him “Renegade” he will answer for it in hell fire. So then, if you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back and present your offering. Come to terms with your opponent in good time while you are still on the way to the court with him, or he may hand you over to the judge and the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison. I tell you solemnly, you will not get out till you have paid the last penny.’
RADICAL LIVING OF THE GOSPEL
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [EZEKIEL 18:21-28; PS 130:1-8; MT 5:20-26]
Jesus said to His disciples: “If your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.” Most of us are very contented with a superficial and nominal living of the gospel. Christians with a nominal faith are contented to live their Christian life as a matter of custom. This is the consequence of a faith that is taken for granted, not reflected upon deeply and not personally embraced. Although they profess themselves as Christians or Catholics, they do not attend church services, they hardly pray at all, they do not read the scriptures, they do not know, much less understand, the teachings of the Church. They do not take their Christian life seriously.
Quite often, it happens when someone is born into the faith. In saying this, we are not saying that it is a disadvantage to come from traditional faith families. In fact, those families that are faith-filled, fervent and active in their faith communities, will be able to pass on the faith to their children. The real challenge comes when the family that a young child is born into is nominal in their faith. Then the succeeding generations most likely will only have a nominal faith. This passes on from generation to generation, and as in the case of many Catholics and Christians in Europe, there is no longer any faith present.
In the gospel, our Lord gave us some examples of superficial spirituality. In this instance, He spoke about charity towards our brothers and sisters. He illustrated the hypocrisy of how we deal with our brothers and sisters. We think that we have fulfilled the law simply because we do not kill. But the Lord goes deeper than just not breaking the letter of the law. “Anyone who is angry with his brother will answer for it before the court; if a man calls his brother ‘Fool’ he will answer for it before the Sanhedrin, and if a man calls him ‘Renegade’, he will answer for it in hell fire.” Indeed, the different grades of anger, leading to contempt or accusation are a prelude to killing, if not physically, at least emotionally and reputationally. He also gave examples of adultery committed in the heart and how we take oaths. (cf Mt 5:27-30; 33-37)
For this reason, the liturgy today reminds us that we must make a radical choice for the Lord, a radical choice for life or for death, a radical choice to live the life of Christ, or live the superficial spirituality of the religious leaders. In the first reading, from the Prophet Ezekiel, the people thought that one’s salvation is dependent on the merits that he has earned over his entire life; and that God, at the end of the day, would weigh their merits and evil deeds on the scale. Depending on which is more, he or she would be sent to hell or heaven. But that is not how God measures us.
God is not concerned with our past. He is only concerned with the present. How we live our past does not matter to Him, but how we live today. God is the I Am, the now and always present in the moment. He wants us to make a radical choice for Him now, and every moment in our lives. Making a choice for God is not something we do in some special moment or event in our lives. Not even in an ordination, or when we receive the sacraments. Of course, on the day of our ordination, baptism, or marriage, we make a solemn vow to be faithful to God and to our vocation in life. But it is just the beginning. It does not mean that once we are ordained, or baptized, or married, we will always remain faithful to our vows and promises. On the contrary, every day, every moment in our lives, we need to renew that vow or promise we have made. Otherwise, we can no longer say that we have chosen God.
A radical choice for God therefore means that we want to give up sin that leads to death, and choose virtues that lead to life. We do not need to wait for a special occasion to do that. We only need to make a choice here and now. This is why the Lord said, “If the wicked man renounces all the sins he has committed, respects my laws and is law-abiding and honest, he will certainly live; he will not die. All the sins he committed will be forgotten from then on; he shall live because of the integrity he has practiced. But if the upright man renounces his integrity, commits sin, copies the wicked man and practices every kind of filth, is he to live? All the integrity he has practiced shall be forgotten from then on; but this is because he himself has broken faith and committed sin, and for this he shall die.” So the choice we make now will determine how we live, as well as our happiness. Choosing life or death is within our hands.
God wants us to live. This is His desire for us all. When the people complained that this was unjust, the Lord said, “What! Am I likely to take pleasure in the death of a wicked man and not prefer to see him renounce his wickedness and live? But you object, ‘What the Lord does is unjust.’ Listen, you House of Israel: is what I do unjust? Is it not what you do that is unjust? When the upright man renounces his integrity to commit sin and dies because of this, he dies because of the evil that he himself has committed. When the sinner renounces sin to become law-abiding and honest, he deserves to live. He has chosen to renounce all his previous sins, he shall certainly live; he shall not die.” Indeed, the psalmist says, “If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt, Lord, who would survive? Because with the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption, Israel indeed he will redeem from all its iniquity.”
This does not mean that our past does not matter with respect to our choices, even if it does not matter to God. How we live our past can influence how we live the present. Quite often, our history molds us into what we are today. Our background, upbringing, ambience, experiences and formation will determine how we respond to the grace of God. Having said that, it does not mean that we are fated to be that way because the grace of God can work beyond our historical conditioning. God can give us special graces as He did to Saul who later became Paul. When that happens, a person who is more aware of his choices can choose to make his preferences according to his convictions. Hence, we cannot blame our parents or others for what we are today. This was why Ezekiel earlier on challenged the popular collective retribution believed by the Israelites that we suffer for the sins of our ancestors. Instead the prophet made it clear that whilst this might be the case in terms of sociological and psychological consequences, it does not take away the freedom of a person to act contrarily and transcend sociological conditioning. Indeed, he reiterated that, “The person who sins shall die. A child shall not suffer for the iniquity of a parent, nor a parent suffer for the iniquity of a child; the righteousness of the righteous shall be his own, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be his own.” (Ez 18:20)
Hence, to live deeply, we must act here and now. With respect to getting angry with our brother, the Lord not only said, “If you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering before the altar, go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back and present your offering”, but we must do it now and not delay, otherwise it might be too late and we might miss the opportunity to live. “So then, Come to terms with your opponent in good time while you are still on the way to the court with him, or he may hand you over to the judge and judge to the officer and you will be thrown into prison.” Every moment that is delayed when it comes to conversion, is an opportunity lost. And we might have to pay every penny for our sins.
Most of all, when we choose God and life now, we will also determine our future. Every decision that we make for God, for life, for truth and for love will reinforce our disposition. The future is created by present decisions just as the present is created by our past decisions. What we sow is what we reap. This is what St Paul reminds us. “Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.” (Gal 6:7-10)
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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