10-17-2013, 09:56 AM
THE THREE TRAGEDIES OF LIFE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: ROM 3:21-30; LK 11:47-54
http://www.universalis.com/20131017/mass.htm
I would like to entitle today’s gospel as the three great tragedies of life. The first tragedy is the inability to confront ourselves. We all know very well that confronting oneself is one of the most painful things in life. Many of us just cannot accept the truth about ourselves. We also do not like people to tell us the truth about ourselves. There is this natural tendency for us to defend ourselves. That is why we only listen to those whose ideas agree with ours, never mind if they are true or not; or when we argue, we are more concerned about protecting our opinions than whether our views are right or wrong. We want to win all the time, for fear that we would be rejected, and our ego wounded.
This was basically the attitude Jesus had to contend with in the scribes and Pharisees. The prophets of God were always persecuted and killed. The political and religious leaders always sought to suppress them when they spoke, especially when they challenged them for their failure to observe the covenant. And when they prophesied the eventual downfall of Israel, they were declared traitors. The contemporaries of Jesus were no different. We read that instead of discerning the truth of what Jesus was saying, “the scribes and the Pharisees began a furious attack on him and tried to force answers from him on innumerable questions, setting traps to catch him out in something he might say.” They perpetuated the attitude of their forefathers when they rejected the message of Jesus and in their hostility, set traps to dispose of Him.
But this is not the worst tragedy. There is a greater tragedy. We try to cover our guilt. Our ego is so conniving that even when we are being defensive, we do it in such a subtle manner that we cheat ourselves without even realizing we are doing so. We cover up our real motives for what we do. Of course, this is partly our psychological defense mechanism. Our real motives lie deep within our hearts. To know our motives, we should search the heart rather than the head! The latter will only rationalize and justify, making our motives look better. But the heart is where the truth really lies. When someone asks us why we love him or her, one should not use reason to find the answer, because we will not be able to provide it. Rather, if we listen carefully to the heart, we will discover the real motives for why we love, since the truth lies n our subconscious or unconscious, not in our conscious. There are hidden and selfish motives even when we love those whom we claim to love so unconditionally because they feed our ego and fulfill our unmentioned needs and desires.
This was what Jesus was condemning the Pharisees for in today’s gospel. They persecuted the prophets when they were alive, and only respected them when they were dead. Isn’t it strange that this is so true in our lives? We are only grateful to people who have left us, or who have died, but not those that are still present with us. We give beautiful eulogies for the dead, but have only unkind words for the living. All the lavish funerals sometimes are but a way to cover our guilt and soothe our conscience for failing the person when he or she was alive. So building tombs is just another way to escape from confronting the truth about ourselves. Hence, Jesus said, “Alas for you who build the tombs of the prophets, the men your ancestors killed! In this way you both witness what your ancestors did and approve it; they did the killing, you do the building.”
But the danger is this – so long as we do not face the truth about ourselves, we can never be truly liberated. A person who destroys his enemies is not necessarily at peace, even if he succeeds in exterminating all of them. The real battle fought is the battle that goes on within his heart. The ghost will not die. The real enemy is not outside of us but the evil in our hearts. So long as our hearts remain evil, selfish and insecure, we can find no rest. The problem is not resolved and will resurface in other ways at other times.
That is why those of us who have problems which we have yet to resolve should not build tombs over them by pretending that they do not exist and focus on something else that is more pleasing. For example, those of us who are lacking in our prayer life should not avoid dealing with the issue by saying that our work is our prayer; or busy ourselves with work and activities when we have problems with our studies, or cover up our lack of personal experience and relationship with God by appearing to be theologically knowledgeable and competent. Then again, some of us might have problems with authority, sexual needs and loneliness; instead of confronting and transcending them, we are tempted to cast them aside, suppress them and try to believe that they are resolved, or deny that we have repressed, unresolved wounded issues in our lives. The fact is that whatever personal problems, hang-ups we do not transcend now, we will eventually have to confront them later in our lives. There is no escape. What is repressed will eventually come back to haunt us, and more severely than ever before.
But this is not the greatest tragedy. What is even more harmful is the fact that we are supposed to be masters and leaders for others. But who is a master if not one who has outgrown his discipleship; one who has learnt to master himself and has transcended his own personal struggles? If we do not exercise self-discipline, we cannot help others to discipline themselves. So unless we have conquered the battle ourselves, we cannot be of real service to others. We are blind guides, as Jesus would accuse us in the gospel. And with the blind leading the blind, all will fall into the ditch. Unless we have overcome our own personal struggles or at least are battling them, we cannot help others in their own struggles. Being conscious of our own pains and brokenness will help us to be more compassionate with the weaknesses of others and prevent us from being too idealistic. Many of us can offer beautiful advice to others when we know that we cannot even practice what we preach in our own life situations. Jesus warns us that we would be taking away the key of knowledge from them: “Alas for you lawyers who have taken away the key of knowledge! You have not gone in yourselves, and have prevented others going in who wanted to.” If we have not personally found God in our own lives, how can we possibly give Him to others or lead others to Him?
In the first reading today, St Paul urges us to admit our brokenness and helplessness. He makes it clear that “both Jew and pagan sinned and forfeited God’s glory.” We are sinners and therefore let us not pretend that we are better than others. We all have sinned, whether we keep the Law or failed to keep the Law. Yes, St Paul reiterates that there is no room for boasting in any way. “So what becomes of our boasts? There is no room for them. What sort of law excludes them? The sort of law that tells us what to do?”
So who can liberate us from our fears in life so that we need not become so defensive? Only Jesus Christ can assure us that we are always loved and always forgiven a thousand times over, even if we sin against the Lord. We cannot save ourselves because we are weak, wounded, broken and insecure. Hence, justification, salvation or healing can only come through God who justifies us through the death and resurrection of His only Son. St Paul says, we “are justified through the free gift of his grace by being redeemed is Christ Jesus who was appointed by God to sacrifice his life so as to win reconciliation through faith. God’s justice that was made known through the Law and the Prophets has now been revealed outside the Law, since it is the same justice of God that comes through faith to everyone, Jew and pagan alike, who believes is Jesus Christ.”
Like the psalmist, in our sinfulness and helplessness, we only need to turn to the Lord again and again when we fail Him, for only “with the Lord there is mercy, and fullness of redemption. If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, Lord, who can stand? But with you is forgiveness, that you may be revered.” This does not mean that we take His grace for granted and continue to sin. Rather, because we know He is so merciful to us and is saddened by our sins, we strive to be as faithful as we can in our fallen nature to be true to our dignity as adopted sons and daughters of God because we love Him. And as St John assures us, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 Jn 1:9)
Indeed, this is the basis for our confidence in our salvation, for Jesus our Advocate will plead to the Father on our behalf. We know that we are loved always and forgiven regardless. We need not live in guilt even when we sin, so long as we are sincere in struggling to live and walk in the light. “If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 Jn 1:6-7) In this way, loved by God until the end, we too can love ourselves and in turn love others even when they are not lovable.
SCRIPTURE READINGS: ROM 3:21-30; LK 11:47-54
http://www.universalis.com/20131017/mass.htm
I would like to entitle today’s gospel as the three great tragedies of life. The first tragedy is the inability to confront ourselves. We all know very well that confronting oneself is one of the most painful things in life. Many of us just cannot accept the truth about ourselves. We also do not like people to tell us the truth about ourselves. There is this natural tendency for us to defend ourselves. That is why we only listen to those whose ideas agree with ours, never mind if they are true or not; or when we argue, we are more concerned about protecting our opinions than whether our views are right or wrong. We want to win all the time, for fear that we would be rejected, and our ego wounded.
This was basically the attitude Jesus had to contend with in the scribes and Pharisees. The prophets of God were always persecuted and killed. The political and religious leaders always sought to suppress them when they spoke, especially when they challenged them for their failure to observe the covenant. And when they prophesied the eventual downfall of Israel, they were declared traitors. The contemporaries of Jesus were no different. We read that instead of discerning the truth of what Jesus was saying, “the scribes and the Pharisees began a furious attack on him and tried to force answers from him on innumerable questions, setting traps to catch him out in something he might say.” They perpetuated the attitude of their forefathers when they rejected the message of Jesus and in their hostility, set traps to dispose of Him.
But this is not the worst tragedy. There is a greater tragedy. We try to cover our guilt. Our ego is so conniving that even when we are being defensive, we do it in such a subtle manner that we cheat ourselves without even realizing we are doing so. We cover up our real motives for what we do. Of course, this is partly our psychological defense mechanism. Our real motives lie deep within our hearts. To know our motives, we should search the heart rather than the head! The latter will only rationalize and justify, making our motives look better. But the heart is where the truth really lies. When someone asks us why we love him or her, one should not use reason to find the answer, because we will not be able to provide it. Rather, if we listen carefully to the heart, we will discover the real motives for why we love, since the truth lies n our subconscious or unconscious, not in our conscious. There are hidden and selfish motives even when we love those whom we claim to love so unconditionally because they feed our ego and fulfill our unmentioned needs and desires.
This was what Jesus was condemning the Pharisees for in today’s gospel. They persecuted the prophets when they were alive, and only respected them when they were dead. Isn’t it strange that this is so true in our lives? We are only grateful to people who have left us, or who have died, but not those that are still present with us. We give beautiful eulogies for the dead, but have only unkind words for the living. All the lavish funerals sometimes are but a way to cover our guilt and soothe our conscience for failing the person when he or she was alive. So building tombs is just another way to escape from confronting the truth about ourselves. Hence, Jesus said, “Alas for you who build the tombs of the prophets, the men your ancestors killed! In this way you both witness what your ancestors did and approve it; they did the killing, you do the building.”
But the danger is this – so long as we do not face the truth about ourselves, we can never be truly liberated. A person who destroys his enemies is not necessarily at peace, even if he succeeds in exterminating all of them. The real battle fought is the battle that goes on within his heart. The ghost will not die. The real enemy is not outside of us but the evil in our hearts. So long as our hearts remain evil, selfish and insecure, we can find no rest. The problem is not resolved and will resurface in other ways at other times.
That is why those of us who have problems which we have yet to resolve should not build tombs over them by pretending that they do not exist and focus on something else that is more pleasing. For example, those of us who are lacking in our prayer life should not avoid dealing with the issue by saying that our work is our prayer; or busy ourselves with work and activities when we have problems with our studies, or cover up our lack of personal experience and relationship with God by appearing to be theologically knowledgeable and competent. Then again, some of us might have problems with authority, sexual needs and loneliness; instead of confronting and transcending them, we are tempted to cast them aside, suppress them and try to believe that they are resolved, or deny that we have repressed, unresolved wounded issues in our lives. The fact is that whatever personal problems, hang-ups we do not transcend now, we will eventually have to confront them later in our lives. There is no escape. What is repressed will eventually come back to haunt us, and more severely than ever before.
But this is not the greatest tragedy. What is even more harmful is the fact that we are supposed to be masters and leaders for others. But who is a master if not one who has outgrown his discipleship; one who has learnt to master himself and has transcended his own personal struggles? If we do not exercise self-discipline, we cannot help others to discipline themselves. So unless we have conquered the battle ourselves, we cannot be of real service to others. We are blind guides, as Jesus would accuse us in the gospel. And with the blind leading the blind, all will fall into the ditch. Unless we have overcome our own personal struggles or at least are battling them, we cannot help others in their own struggles. Being conscious of our own pains and brokenness will help us to be more compassionate with the weaknesses of others and prevent us from being too idealistic. Many of us can offer beautiful advice to others when we know that we cannot even practice what we preach in our own life situations. Jesus warns us that we would be taking away the key of knowledge from them: “Alas for you lawyers who have taken away the key of knowledge! You have not gone in yourselves, and have prevented others going in who wanted to.” If we have not personally found God in our own lives, how can we possibly give Him to others or lead others to Him?
In the first reading today, St Paul urges us to admit our brokenness and helplessness. He makes it clear that “both Jew and pagan sinned and forfeited God’s glory.” We are sinners and therefore let us not pretend that we are better than others. We all have sinned, whether we keep the Law or failed to keep the Law. Yes, St Paul reiterates that there is no room for boasting in any way. “So what becomes of our boasts? There is no room for them. What sort of law excludes them? The sort of law that tells us what to do?”
So who can liberate us from our fears in life so that we need not become so defensive? Only Jesus Christ can assure us that we are always loved and always forgiven a thousand times over, even if we sin against the Lord. We cannot save ourselves because we are weak, wounded, broken and insecure. Hence, justification, salvation or healing can only come through God who justifies us through the death and resurrection of His only Son. St Paul says, we “are justified through the free gift of his grace by being redeemed is Christ Jesus who was appointed by God to sacrifice his life so as to win reconciliation through faith. God’s justice that was made known through the Law and the Prophets has now been revealed outside the Law, since it is the same justice of God that comes through faith to everyone, Jew and pagan alike, who believes is Jesus Christ.”
Like the psalmist, in our sinfulness and helplessness, we only need to turn to the Lord again and again when we fail Him, for only “with the Lord there is mercy, and fullness of redemption. If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, Lord, who can stand? But with you is forgiveness, that you may be revered.” This does not mean that we take His grace for granted and continue to sin. Rather, because we know He is so merciful to us and is saddened by our sins, we strive to be as faithful as we can in our fallen nature to be true to our dignity as adopted sons and daughters of God because we love Him. And as St John assures us, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 Jn 1:9)
Indeed, this is the basis for our confidence in our salvation, for Jesus our Advocate will plead to the Father on our behalf. We know that we are loved always and forgiven regardless. We need not live in guilt even when we sin, so long as we are sincere in struggling to live and walk in the light. “If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 Jn 1:6-7) In this way, loved by God until the end, we too can love ourselves and in turn love others even when they are not lovable.