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RITUALS TAKE OVER WHEN RELATIONSHIPS FAIL
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07-19-2013, 09:39 AM
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RITUALS TAKE OVER WHEN RELATIONSHIPS FAIL
Scripture Reflections
19 July 2013, Friday, 15th Week, Ordinary Time RITUALS TAKE OVER WHEN RELATIONSHIPS FAIL SCRIPTURE READINGS: EX 11:10-12:14; MT 12:1-8 What is the place of laws, rituals, traditions and customs in our lives? In every organization, whether religious, political or social, laws and rituals are needed to keep the spirit of the organization and the movement alive. They are the expression and celebration of the ethos of the community. By practicing the laws, traditions and celebrating them in the rituals, the community becomes more cohesive and united. Even the State affirms its identity by having a flag and celebrates its national character with the singing of the National Anthem, almost tantamount to giving it a sacred character. Clearly, traditions and rituals are not only inevitable, but they are indispensable. In this light, we can appreciate why in the first reading we have a detailed description of the celebration of the Passover. The intent of the celebration was of course to keep alive the amazing way the Lord delivered their forefathers from the slavery of the Egyptians, by first saving the life of the first-born of the Hebrews, and then through His mighty works, brought them safely across the Red Sea, through the desert and into the Promised Land. In a nutshell, the Passover Celebration was a celebration of Life through the sacrifice of the lamb and the symbol of blood. Not surprisingly therefore, when it comes to the observance of the Laws, Jesus kept to the intent of the traditions of the Jews. He did not merely carry out the letter of the Law. As far as Jesus was concerned, the practice of the Law and the celebration of the rituals must be for the sake of man and not for the sake of the Law itself. “The Sabbath is made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” (Mk 2:27) From such a perspective, therefore, Jesus defended His disciples who picked the ears of corn to eat as they were hungry, like the soldiers of David who ate the consecrated bread meant for the priests. In excusing His disciples and making an exception for them, it must not be misconstrued that Jesus was against the laws and customs. Jesus Himself did not break the laws to please Himself, except when there was a greater need for Him to exercise mercy and compassion, as in the miracles of healing. By so doing, He draws us back to the heart of the Law, which is to celebrate the mercy and compassion of God. Laws and rituals are meant to celebrate life, promote love and unity. This was what He said, “if you had understood the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the blameless.” And if Jesus could call Himself the “the master of the sabbath”, it was because He observed the Law as it should be observed, not for the sake of pride nor to destroy or humiliate people, especially those who could not observe them, but primarily for the service of love and celebration. What about us? Are we master of the Sabbath, or otherwise? The sad reality is that most of us fail in the observance of the Law. We feel guilty and shameful. It can lead to inferiority complex, guilt and even self-hatred, because we cannot forgive ourselves. This leads to hypocrisy and a double life. On the other hand, for those of us who are able to observe the letter of the Law, we tend to have a superiority complex and a hidden pride, thinking that we are much holier than others, despising the sinners around us. Truly, there is a real temptation that many of us are more concerned with the adherence of practices, traditions, rituals and laws in our homes, offices, organizations and even in our Church, than with the living out of the spirit of the Law. Why do we give more importance to obeying the Law than being true to the Spirit of the Law? The answer is simple. Because love is lacking! When we have no love in our hearts, we substitute love with the Law. When there is no relationship between us and God, we are satisfied with a mere perfunctory performance of the rituals. Truly, many Catholics are contented with saying a set of prayers and fulfilling some obligatory duties like attending mass and doing penance on Fridays without understanding the meaning and the purpose of what they do. Priests and religious too, when their relationship with the Lord is dull and without fervor, they too pray the Divine Office and celebrate the Eucharist without passion and enthusiasm. This is also true with respect to human relationships. When love is no longer present in a relationship and when the relationship has become routine, formal, impersonal and legalistic, then we begin to measure each other by the things we do and the duties we carry out. When the relationship between husband and wife is just a matter of fulfilling obligations, then both become calculative as to who is giving more and doing more. Husbands and wives can even speak “words of love”, but in a routine fashion that no longer comes from the depths of the heart. So, too, when parents are not in touch with their children, do not feel with them, share their joys and sorrows, are not sincerely interested in what they do, their relationship with them would soon deteriorate into one of a supervisor and disciplinarian maser; not like a father who is interested to help his child to grow in love and experience his love. Most of all, many of us in Church organizations tend to behave like the Pharisees in Jesus’ time. We consider ourselves holier than others because we observe the rules of the organization. Instead of using the Laws to inspire us to grow to be more perfect, we use them as a gauge to differentiate between the weaker and strong members, and label them accordingly. The Law becomes a tool for us to find fault with our brothers and sisters; and the means to boost our status and to boast about our achievements. And even if we don’t, we harbor a hidden pride in us! Furthermore, instead of looking at the goodness of our members, appreciating their desire to serve, to contribute, meager though it might be, we despise their little contributions. We even demand more from them according to our expectations, otherwise, we would deem them to be non-performing members and hence not deserving of the privileges due to those who satisfy our standards. Such a Christian community becomes like any other corporate organization that is based on a system of reward and penalty, no longer competing in love and service, desiring to serve without recognition, just being happy to be of service to God and His people. Indeed, when love and enthusiasm for Jesus and the gospel is lacking, we only have the external observance of the rules to motivate us. Custodians of the laws who become overly ambitious and occupied with how their performance is judged by others, will be led to exercise the rules to pressurize members to comply so that they can control them. No longer would leaders be concerned with their members’ feelings, needs, personal problems, etc, but simply see them in terms of the functions they can perform. Instead of the Church being at the service of the members, the latter is now solely at the service of the Church, as if they are no longer important. The thrust of today’s gospel is that God always see the goodness in us, no matter who we are. He is not here to catch us falling, like the way the Pharisees did. Rather, He is here to catch us when we fall, and to lift us up. He knows our struggles and our feeble attempts to be faithful to the gospel and to our true identity as sons and daughters of God. So in no way can we buy His love because it is already given freely. That is the way God deals with us. The only Law He knows is mercy and compassion, not judgment and condemnation. When we fall short of our target, which is what sin is all about, God chooses mercy over judgment, understanding over condemnation. We are important to Him, as He said earlier, because we are all His children. This is what the psalmist also declares, “Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones. I am your servant, the son of your handmaid; you have loosed my bonds.” He regards us as individuals, unique and important, not according to the measures of the world but the illogical logic of divine love. In the face of such a love, we can only say, “I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord. How shall I make a return to the Lord for all the good he has done for me? The cup of salvation I will take up, and I will call upon the name of the Lord.” And we must add, “I will love everyone, especially those who are poor, marginalized, unworthy, sinners and a nuisance to the world.” This will be the cup of salvation, the cup of sacrifice, the cup of thanksgiving. Written by The Most Rev Msgr William Goh Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved |
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