If we want God’s mercy, forgiveness, and grace, first, we need to be merciful, forgiving, and generous in our giving to others. If we do not want to be judged by God and by others, first, we should not judge. This was a lesson from yesterday’s Scripture Readings (Daniel 9:4b-10; Psalm 79:8, 9, 11 and 13; 6:36-38). Otherwise, our prayer to God for His mercy, forgiveness, and grace would be a prayer of hypocrites.
We have already
forgiven by God for many sins that we had committed. Otherwise, we could have
been perished a long ago. Yet, why do we still hold grudges and remain unable
to forgive those who have offended us? Haven’t we learned a lesson from Matthew
18:21-35?
Are we a kind of
people, who want God and others to be nice to us but we are hardly nice to God
and others? Are we hoping that God and others will forgive our debt and
offenses but holding grudges and unable to forgive others and angry at God or
our miseries?
If we have this
problem, then, this must be cleansed not only out of our surface but out of our
deeper inner being. Otherwise, we would waste Lent as hypocrites
No matter how piously
we pray, no matter our ascetically we fast, and no matter how generously we
give alms, no matter how well we cite creeds, no matter how often we do devotions,
and even we attend Mass everyday, all of these Lenten activities are
meaningless.
And, today’s Scripture
Reading (Isaiah 1:10, 16-20 ;Psalm 50:8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and 23 ; Matthew
23:1-12) shall tell us so and reminds that this problem is associated with
arrogance due to a lack of humility.
“Why do you
recite my statutes, and profess my covenant with your mouth, though you hate
discipline and cast my words behind you?” (Psalm 50:16-17)
Cited in today’s Responsorial Psalm, these are words
of God against the wicked and warned them of sure punishment (Psalm 50:21). To
whom does God cast these words?
“Hear the Word
of the Lord, princes of Sodom! Listen to the instruction of our God, people of
Gomorrah!” (Isaiah 1:10), said God through Prophet Isaiah, as in the First
Reading (Isaiah 1:10, 16-20).
Who are the princes of Sodom and the people of
Gomorrah?
These have proverbial meaning for the wicked, as God
destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for their obstinate wickedness, having refusing to
repent (Genesis 18:16-19:29; Ezekiel 16:48-49).
At the time of Isaiah speaking these words of God to
warn his people, the northern kingdom, Israel, was already destroyed. The
remaining kingdom of the Israelites was a small Judah and God did not want this
kingdom. In order to save this remaining Jewish kingdom, Judah, God confronted the
sinfulness of Judah (Isaiah 1:2-9), as He did not want the kingdom of Judah to
be like the kingdom of Israel, which was destroyed for its sinfulness in 722
BC. Not to mention, God did not want Judah to follow the suit of Sodom and
Gomorrah. So, God called Judah’s attention (Isaiah 1:10) and spoke about how He
saw the hypocritical worship practice (Isaiah 1:12-15). And, God called for
Judah’s metanoia with compunctio cordis, genuinely deep
conversion from Judah’s superficial faith and genuine faith, thus, from wickedness
and hypocrisy to purity (Isaiah 1:16-20). Through He warned about a prospect of
punishment (Isaiah 1:20), God expressed His willingness to give Judah another chance
if they were truly willing to convert with these comforting words out of His
mercy:
Come
now, let us set things right. Though your sins be like scarlet, they may become
white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they may become white as wool. If
you are willing, and obey, you shall eat the good things of the land
(Isaiah 1:18-19).
We listened to God’s invitation to return to Him on
Ash Wednesday (Joel 2:12) to start our Lenten journey. And, today, Tuesday of
the Second Week of Lent, we listen to God’s call for reconciliation through our
deep conversion – not just changing our behaviors superficially as the
hypocrites do – but through true interior repentance (CCC 1431), which is about
metanoia with compunctio cordis.
Besides obvious wickedness, as in the case with
Sodom and Gomorrah, in today’s Scripture Readings, an emphasis is put on the
wickedness under superficial piety, namely, the hypocrisy, as typified with a
heartless religious practice, as addressed in Isaiah 1:11-15, and as reflected
in the Responsorial Psalm (50:8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and 23).
Given this, in the Gospel Reading (Matthew 23:1-12)
today, through the words of Jesus, we are reminded of what the hypocrisy that
God is disgusted with is about. So, now we have no excuse to say, “O Lord, I
did not know what I was doing triggered your anger. I thought I was observing
your commandments”.
Through the Gospel Reading, Jesus gives a very
helpful psychological insights to be sure that we do not become hypocrites. And
it is his advice for humility.
An important lesson we take to heart today is that
Jesus really wants us to become and remain humble so that we do not become
hypocrites. He knows so well that we tend to fall to hypocrisy when we strive
for piety, letting our pride latch on the piety we work hard for. So, Jesus
says these words in concluding today’s Gospel Reading:
The
greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be
humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted
(Matthew 23:11-12).
Humility is an antidote to pride, which leads to arrogance and hypocrisy. And hypocrisy is the wickedness beneath superficial piety. Such superficial piety is disgusting to God. Thus, it may be subject to His judgement, comparable to that on Sodom and Gomorrah.
We shall take a lesson from God’s destruction of
Sodom and Gomorrah, though we may argue that we are not as wicked as them. In
fact, such an argument is a sign of spiritual pathology of pride, which blinds
us about our own wickedness within. And this is what needs to be changed
through deep conversion, through interior repentance: metanoia with compunctio
cordis, rather than a superficial patch work of behavior change.
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