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Scripture Reflections
Saturday, 17 March, 2012, 3rd Week of Lent

GOD DESIRES OUR LOVE AND MERCY THROUGH KNOWLEDGE OF HIM

SCRIPTURE READINGS: HOSEA 5:15-6:6; LUKE 18:9-14

The first part of Lent, that is, the first three weeks, focuses on the preparations for the celebration of the paschal mystery. It is concerned with the means, which is what the Lenten program of prayer, fasting and almsgiving intends. From Monday onwards, we will begin the second half of Lent where, after laying down the foundation, that is, the disposition, the Church begins to focus on the passion of Christ. Rightly so, at the end of the third week of Lent, the liturgy brings everything to focus by reminding us that the goal of the Lenten exercises is to help us grow in love and knowledge of God.

This love and knowledge of God is far from merely performing spiritual exercises or putting up a show for long and flowery prayers. Both scripture readings reiterate that God is not interested in such superficial and fake prayers as they do not come from the heart. This was the case of the Israelites in the first reading. Hosea told the people off for searching for the Lord only in their misery. They would repeat prayers from their ancestors, which, on the surface, looked impressive, but in actual fact were all hollow. They kept repeating the prayers of their fathers, “Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces, but he will heal us; he has struck us down, but he will bandage our wounds; after a day or two he will bring us back to life, on the third day he will raise us and we shall live in his presence.”

Well, we are no better than them when it comes to insincere prayers. Many of us have transformed the costly grace of God to cheap grace. We too keep repeating the mercy and unconditional love of God and citing even the scriptures. But we are not making any effort to change our lives or to repent of our sins. We keep asking God to be merciful to us but deep in our hearts, we have no intention of giving up the sins that bind us. We do not even fight against sin and succumb so easily when temptations draw near.

But the Lord will not hear our prayers as He did not hear their prayers because such prayers are mere lip service and lack sincerity. There was no true intention to amend their ways. Instead they were abusing the mercy and love of God. Hence, God said, “What am I to do with you, Ephraim? What am I to do with you, Judah? This love of yours is like a morning cloud, like the dew that quickly disappears. This is why I have torn them to pieces by the prophets, why I slaughtered them with the words from my mouth.” They had no real desire to repent and turn to the Lord. For this reason, God would have to give them a rude awakening. He too would give us an awakening if we continue to deceive Him because the person who will be deceived in the end is ourselves.

This hypocritical attitude towards God is exemplified in the prayer of the Pharisee in today’s gospel. He came before God not to ask for mercy or for His blessings. Rather, he came before God to boast about his merits. He prided himself in his virtues. He gave a whole litany of the many good things he had done for God. “I thank you, God, that I am not grasping, unjust, adulterous like the rest of mankind, and particularly that I am not like this tax collector here. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes on all I get.” Not only did he pride himself before God but it also led him to despise his fellowmen. He lived in a world of his own, thinking that he was above all men. By comparing himself with others, he wallowed in his pride, became judgmental and self-righteous.

Isn’t this the same for many of us, especially during the season of Lent when we engage in prayer, fasting and almsgiving? Don’t we have the smug feeling that we are holier than those who pray less than us, who cannot fast and are not so generous as we are with our time and money? If we catch ourselves falling into the sin of pride, we must be watchful and pray for the gift of humility because pride is the worst sin, the foundation of all others sins and the source of all sins. Pride will destroy and alienate us not only from God, but from our fellowmen and most of all, from our very self. When we have a false estimation of ourselves, we begin to think so highly of what we do and who we are.

In truth, it shows that like the Pharisees, we have mistaken the whole purpose of the laws, and the practice of virtues and good works. St Teresa says that the goal of prayer is charity. The fruit of all our spiritual exercises is charity. Without growth in charity, either for our neighbours, ourselves or for God, we have prayed in vain. We have not prayed rightly, not so much in using the wrong methods but having the wrong heart in prayer. Charity is a sure criterion of knowing whether we have made progress in spiritual life, rather than simply depending on the measurement of spiritual exercises and pious practices.

In contrast, we should have the attitude of the tax-collector who was a sinner despised by all men. He “stood some distance away, not daring even to raise his eyes to heaven; but he beat his breast and said, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner.’” He knew himself and he knew he was a sinner. With deep contrition and misery, aware of his sinfulness, he cried out to God in the depths of his heart, to change his life and grant him mercy and strength. He did not say much but the short prayer said it all. And Jesus said, “I tell you, he went home again at rights with God; the other did not. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the man who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Significantly, he did not condemn himself or others for leading him to sin, nor was he angry with God. His prayer was one that assumes full responsibility for his offences. He blamed no one for the circumstances he was in. He knew he had hurt himself, his fellowmen and most of all, God. He was a man of charity in spite of his sins against his fellowmen. He did not despise anyone. He did not condemn himself either, because he was sure of God’s mercy and love. He was repentant not because he was guilty that he did not observe the commandments and therefore failed to prove himself worthy before God. Rather, he was sorry that he did not love and therefore caused God to be sad and caused injury to his fellowmen. Hence, the responsorial psalm says that what God wants is mercy, not sacrifice. This is what the Lord said through the prophet Hosea, “what I want is love, not sacrifice; knowledge of God, not holocausts.”

True prayer must spring from our deep love and intimacy with God if it is to flow into works of charity. The spiritual exercises are means, not the end themselves. They are meant to lead us to the knowledge of God and, flowing from this knowledge, love and mercy. If we only really know the heart and mercy of God, it will lead us to act likewise. For this reason, true and sincere prayer is only possible if there is a true and intimate knowledge of God. Without which, most of our prayers are but an empty show, a parroting of words from some holy prayer books and a diarrhoea of words. Indeed, if the prayers of the Anawim, that is, the poor among the Israelites, were heard, it was because they prayed from the intimacy of their hearts. They knew God’s mercy and love and so they were confident of their prayers being answered, for God was so close to them, like their Father. They never doubted in God’s fidelity to His promises to look after them. In a nutshell, their prayers were born out of a relationship between God and them. Such prayers are identical with God’s prayers, just like the psalms in the bible. Although composed by men, they were inspired by God and become God’s own prayers. This is the reason why the Church prays the psalms daily and makes them as her own prayers.

So as we enter into the second part of Lent, we must now, without relaxing the Lenten exercises, contemplate more deeply on the passion of Christ. By knowing the heart of the Father through Christ, we will enter into the paschal mystery with the Lord. This is particularly so when we feel tired, disappointed, disillusioned or fed up with life. When we feel like giving up, thinking that everything has been done in vain, and when we have no more strength to love and to carry on loving, then let the passion of Jesus, the heart and mercy of God give us the strength to carry on. This is the key to sharing in the resurrection of Christ.

Written by Rev. Fr. William Goh
Spiritual Director, Catholic Spirituality Centre (CSC)
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