20250127 RESOLVING MISUNDERSTANDINGS THROUGH DIALOGUE AND OPENNESS
27 January 2025, Monday, 3rd Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
Hebrews 9:15,24-28 |
Christ offers himself only once to take on the faults of many
Christ brings a new covenant, as the mediator, only so that the people who were called to an eternal inheritance may actually receive what was promised: his death took place to cancel the sins that infringed the earlier covenant. It is not as though Christ had entered a man-made sanctuary which was only modelled on the real one; but it was heaven itself, so that he could appear in the actual presence of God on our behalf. And he does not have to offer himself again and again, like the high priest going into the sanctuary year after year with the blood that is not his own, or else he would have had to suffer over and over again since the world began. Instead of that, he has made his appearance once and for all, now at the end of the last age, to do away with sin by sacrificing himself. Since men only die once, and after that comes judgement, so Christ, too, offers himself only once to take the faults of many on himself, and when he appears a second time, it will not be to deal with sin but to reward with salvation those who are waiting for him.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 97(98):1-6 |
Sing a new song to the Lord for he has worked wonders.
Sing a new song to the Lord
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.
Sing a new song to the Lord for he has worked wonders.
The Lord has made known his salvation;
has shown his justice to the nations.
He has remembered his truth and love
for the house of Israel.
Sing a new song to the Lord for he has worked wonders.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
ring out your joy.
Sing a new song to the Lord for he has worked wonders.
Sing psalms to the Lord with the harp
with the sound of music.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
acclaim the King, the Lord.
Sing a new song to the Lord for he has worked wonders.
Gospel Acclamation | Ps24:4,5 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Teach me your paths, my God,
make me walk in your truth.
Alleluia!
Or: | cf.2Tim1:10 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Our Saviour Jesus Christ abolished death
and he has proclaimed life through the Good News.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 3:22-30 |
A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand
The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem were saying, ‘Beelzebul is in him’ and, ‘It is through the prince of devils that he casts devils out.’ So he called them to him and spoke to them in parables, ‘How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot last. And if a household is divided against itself, that household can never stand. Now if Satan has rebelled against himself and is divided, he cannot stand either – it is the end of him. But no one can make his way into a strong man’s house and burgle his property unless he has tied up the strong man first. Only then can he burgle his house.
‘I tell you solemnly, all men’s sins will be forgiven, and all their blasphemies; but let anyone blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and he will never have forgiveness: he is guilty of an eternal sin.’ This was because they were saying, ‘An unclean spirit is in him.’
RESOLVING MISUNDERSTANDINGS THROUGH DIALOGUE AND OPENNESS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [HEB 9:15.24-28; MK 3:22-30]
One of the most painful realities of community life is being misunderstood, especially when we try to do good works. Quite often, instead of getting appreciation for all the good things we do, we get cynical remarks about our good intentions. To have people casting aspersions on us after we have given of our time and energy can be discouraging. As a consequence, we feel hurt because we feel wronged by the judgment of others. Not only do some give up their good works, they also keep the resentment in their hearts for years. Many Catholics stopped serving in church because they have been hurt whilst volunteering their services in church ministries or organizations. They also stopped attending church services because they feel so wounded by the family they loved and have sacrificed their time for.
This was certainly the experience of Jesus today in the gospel. The people did not know His true identity. But to make unfair charges against Jesus was totally unjustified. The teachers of the Law who were supposedly just and fair, accused Jesus of being possessed by Beelzebul and casting out the devils with the help of the prince of demons. We can imagine how hurt Jesus must have felt. To even think that He could collaborate with evil or to imagine that He needed the help of Satan to cast out evil spirits was unthinkable. Jesus who is from God does not need the help of Satan or even of man! His authority and power is derived from the fact that He is from God and anointed in the power of the Holy Spirit.
The greatest sin, according to Jesus, therefore, is to be closed-minded and to allow our pride and fear to deny the good works that others are doing, even if they are not of the same religion. This is what the sin against the Holy Spirit is all about. Jesus warned us thus, “I tell you solemnly, all men’s sins will be forgiven, and all their blasphemies: but let anyone blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and he will never have forgiveness: he is guilty of an eternal sin.’ This was because they were saying, ‘An unclean spirit is in him.'” The sin against the Holy Spirit is to attribute the goodness of someone to Satan. More often than not, it is the sin of pride and insecurity. We are jealous of another person’s success in his ministry, work or career. Because we feel intimidated by them, we tend to be blind to their good works and out of spite, we even accuse them of seeking to win favour with the authorities, or that their success is due to favouritism by their bosses.
Truly, jealousy, fear and competition are the cause of much division at our workplace and even in the church. Many are disillusioned when they see so much gossiping, backbiting, unethical competition for honour, power and recognition. Some try to get in the authorities’ good books in order to gain favours. So instead of being strengthened in the faith, many Catholics have become so bitter with fellow Catholics and even with their priests that they have given up on the Church. A few who are disillusioned have joined other churches, only to discover that sin permeates every community regardless of which church or religion we belong to. The only difference is the degree of hostility and the lack of charity.
So what do we do in the face of un-Christian responses to our good intentions? For many, they do not retaliate. However, they withdraw in silence or engage in cold war with those who hurt them. They refuse to communicate or let the other party know how they feel. Keeping grudges and resentment is hardly the way to heal the division or to ease the pain. For others, they adopt the opposite of retaliation by shouting, screaming and passing caustic remarks on their enemies. All these ways are merely being reactive.
We need to be more proactive rather than reactive. We must engage in dialogue. We do this not simply to defend ourselves. We must try to understand that perhaps our opponents need to be enlightened and more often than not are blinded by their fear, jealousy and pride. We must help those who misperceived us to understand us. This means that we must provide them an opportunity to overcome their ignorance, cultural fixation of certain values and to remove their obstacles to this understanding. This was the way of Jesus when He exposed the fallacy of their argument. He showed them how illogical they were. For Him to cast out the devil through the power of Satan would make Satan in division within himself. Furthermore, if this accusation holds true for Jesus, it would hold true equally for the Jewish leaders who also exercised exorcism.
Of course, opening their minds and hearts might not be easy. In spite of what Jesus said, their hearts remained hardened. The Jewish leaders were not open to reason, less still to faith in Jesus in spite of being proven how ludicrous they were. Indeed, there are some who could be hardened in their sins, anger and jealousy. It is not that serious if our anger or jealousy is a passing thing. However, if we harden our hearts, then the devil is making his foothold in our hearts. The greatest danger is that our anger and hatred can harden over time until they consume us. Indeed, those who refuse to be open to dialogue will eventually harden their hearts. We become a bondage to the devil who takes the form of anger and hatred. Hence, Jesus said, for such a person, evil has a hold over him. He is unable to overcome himself. We can hurt a person and accuse him of actions and intentions that are not true. By making rash and unfounded criticisms, we can cause such good people to be aggrieved. But at the end of the day, those who lack openness to goodness around them are truly the real losers.
Hence, the greatest sin is not so much that we sinned, but when we begin to see evil as good and when we are no longer able to distinguish between truth and falsehood. For the refusal of the scribes to recognize Jesus and to see Him as evil is a clear rejection of goodness. In all relationships, the most difficult people are those who are closed to dialogue and who refuse to listen. This is what the sin against the Holy Spirit is all about. This sin cannot be forgiven because God cannot force us to open our hardened hearts. This rejection of love and goodness and the presence of God is ultimately the rejection of God. God cannot forgive this sin because He does not force us to accept Him or His love.
Indeed, we can only do so much to enlighten people in the truth. Nevertheless, at the end of the day, conversion is the work of the Holy Spirit and the cooperation of man with His grace. We can only surrender in faith to the Father to do what is best. We can only turn to Jesus who is the mediator of the New Covenant. Through the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross, we read that Jesus our High Priest has entered heaven and won forgiveness and salvation for us. “Christ brings a new covenant, as the mediator, only so that the people who were called to an eternal inheritance may actually receive what was promised: his death took place to cancel the sins that infringed the earlier covenant.” That is why we must always seek reconciliation whenever possible through dialogue in humility and openness. We must frequent the Sacrament of Reconciliation so that anger and resentment will not take root in our hearts. We must contemplate on the death of Jesus on the cross, for it is only by recognizing His sacrificial love for us and unconditional forgiveness and compassion that we can offer the same indulgences to those who have wronged us. We must cultivate a deep love for the Sacrifice of the mass and frequent the Sacrament of Reconciliation so that we will not get used to sin and eventually allow Satan to find a foothold in our hearts.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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