08-02-2012, 10:04 AM
Scripture Reflections
Thursday, 02 August, 2012, 17th Week, Ordinary Time
A NEW LIFE WITH GOD ENTAILS ACCEPTING OUR PAST AND BEING OPEN TO THE NEW POSSIBILITIES
SCRIPTURE READINGS: JER 18:1-6; MT 13:47-53
What is most consoling about today’s scripture passages is that none of us, no matter who we are, is doomed. Until the day of reckoning comes, as the parable of the dragnet tells us, this is a time of grace. Indeed, both readings speak about the possibility of change and conversion so long we are still alive. They are not concerned with judgement. God who is patient with the Israelites in their fidelity is also patient with us.
But what is even more encouraging about today’s scripture message is that the change that is envisaged will happen in such a way that it does not do violence to our natural process of growth. God is gentle with us even when He invites us to conversion. Indeed, the new life that God wants to give us would basically be derived from the old. That is what the parable of the potter and the clay meant to tell us. Like the potter who uses the same clay to re-mould the pots that he is dissatisfied with, so too God will use all our weaknesses, mistakes and limitations for our personal growth in grace. Indeed, our sins and limitations would be the very means by which God will re-mould us into His likeness.
Consequently, we who are struggling to remain faithful to God and to the gospel life need not despair, especially when we find that the strength to change is rather weak, or when we find that we have an ugly past. For many of us, we find it difficult to thank God for our past, especially our broken past. Indeed many of us find it difficult to thank God for our weaknesses, especially in our struggles to be true to ourselves. Most of us would rather hate and hide our past than admit them.
However, the scripture readings today want to remind us that we need not be ashamed of our past. To deny our past will not help us to be whole and to be healed. What is not exposed cannot be healed. Hence, the only way when true healing can take place is when we accept our past with gratitude and thankfulness. Let the past be the instruments of God’s purification for us in our endeavour to find the truth. Indeed, our weaknesses and failures would be the very means by which God will bring us to realization and true conversion. Even sins, although abhorred by God, can be transformed into powerful means of grace.
But that is not all. The gospel also says that we must be like the learned scribe who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old. It is not enough to dwell on our past, even if we can accept it with gratitude. Equally important is that we must also be open to what is being offered to us. We must be open to the new possibilities for change. We must be open to the new movements of the Spirit in our institutions and in the world.
But there is an implicit warning here as well. Just as not everything that is old should be discarded, conversely, we must realize that not everything that is new is necessarily good and from the Spirit. This is where it calls for discernment. What is old can actually be new if we perceive the reality of it. And what is new is actually old more often than not, simply old ideas in new clothing. Consequently, newness or oldness is not a reality in themselves but they are always clothed in various ways according to the epoch of our day. Reality cannot be new, neither can reality be old. Reality is always as it is. But the way we perceive reality can be new.
Thus, the fullness of life would basically be a life that is carved from the old and in view of the potential life ahead of us. In the blending of the old and the new, we find life. In the blending of the old and the new, we see reality as it is. Yes, between our inherited tradition and the progressive theologies, our faith grows and becomes dynamic and renewed. Life is never of the past or even of the future. Life is lived only in the present – but a present that is born of the past and from the future revealed to us by Christ.
Written by Rev. Fr. William Goh
Thursday, 02 August, 2012, 17th Week, Ordinary Time
A NEW LIFE WITH GOD ENTAILS ACCEPTING OUR PAST AND BEING OPEN TO THE NEW POSSIBILITIES
SCRIPTURE READINGS: JER 18:1-6; MT 13:47-53
What is most consoling about today’s scripture passages is that none of us, no matter who we are, is doomed. Until the day of reckoning comes, as the parable of the dragnet tells us, this is a time of grace. Indeed, both readings speak about the possibility of change and conversion so long we are still alive. They are not concerned with judgement. God who is patient with the Israelites in their fidelity is also patient with us.
But what is even more encouraging about today’s scripture message is that the change that is envisaged will happen in such a way that it does not do violence to our natural process of growth. God is gentle with us even when He invites us to conversion. Indeed, the new life that God wants to give us would basically be derived from the old. That is what the parable of the potter and the clay meant to tell us. Like the potter who uses the same clay to re-mould the pots that he is dissatisfied with, so too God will use all our weaknesses, mistakes and limitations for our personal growth in grace. Indeed, our sins and limitations would be the very means by which God will re-mould us into His likeness.
Consequently, we who are struggling to remain faithful to God and to the gospel life need not despair, especially when we find that the strength to change is rather weak, or when we find that we have an ugly past. For many of us, we find it difficult to thank God for our past, especially our broken past. Indeed many of us find it difficult to thank God for our weaknesses, especially in our struggles to be true to ourselves. Most of us would rather hate and hide our past than admit them.
However, the scripture readings today want to remind us that we need not be ashamed of our past. To deny our past will not help us to be whole and to be healed. What is not exposed cannot be healed. Hence, the only way when true healing can take place is when we accept our past with gratitude and thankfulness. Let the past be the instruments of God’s purification for us in our endeavour to find the truth. Indeed, our weaknesses and failures would be the very means by which God will bring us to realization and true conversion. Even sins, although abhorred by God, can be transformed into powerful means of grace.
But that is not all. The gospel also says that we must be like the learned scribe who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old. It is not enough to dwell on our past, even if we can accept it with gratitude. Equally important is that we must also be open to what is being offered to us. We must be open to the new possibilities for change. We must be open to the new movements of the Spirit in our institutions and in the world.
But there is an implicit warning here as well. Just as not everything that is old should be discarded, conversely, we must realize that not everything that is new is necessarily good and from the Spirit. This is where it calls for discernment. What is old can actually be new if we perceive the reality of it. And what is new is actually old more often than not, simply old ideas in new clothing. Consequently, newness or oldness is not a reality in themselves but they are always clothed in various ways according to the epoch of our day. Reality cannot be new, neither can reality be old. Reality is always as it is. But the way we perceive reality can be new.
Thus, the fullness of life would basically be a life that is carved from the old and in view of the potential life ahead of us. In the blending of the old and the new, we find life. In the blending of the old and the new, we see reality as it is. Yes, between our inherited tradition and the progressive theologies, our faith grows and becomes dynamic and renewed. Life is never of the past or even of the future. Life is lived only in the present – but a present that is born of the past and from the future revealed to us by Christ.
Written by Rev. Fr. William Goh