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Scripture Reflections




Tuesday, 31 July, 2012, 17th Week, Ordinary Time


LIVING THE MYSTERY OF THE PRESENCE OF GOOD AND EVIL

SCRIPTURE READINGS: JER 14:17-22; MT 13:36-43

When we look around us, we cannot but be confronted with the reality of evil even in places that should be free from evil. Indeed, for many of us, we find it difficult to accept that evil even prevails in our seminaries, religious houses and in the Church. For many of us, this is a scandal to our faith. As a result some of us have given up our faith because we cannot reconcile the reality of evil with the claim of the presence of God. For others, they feel the messianic zeal to uproot all evil completely. If today we find it difficult to accept the fact of evil present side by side with goodness, then we are not alone in this.

The truth is that the mystery of evil in the midst of goodness is a mystery that humankind has asked right from the very beginning. Even during the time of Jesus, His contemporaries were asking how Jesus could claim that the Kingdom of God is here when they still saw the pervading presence of evil. It is within this context, perhaps that the parable of the darnel and the wheat was told. In Matthew’s community, they too were faced with the question of the presence of evil in their own communities. We must not be too simplistic to think that an ideal Christian community existed in the early Church as recorded in Acts chapter 4. Even if it did exist, it did not last long because not long after, we are told that Ananias and his wife sold a property but kept part of the money for themselves.

So the truth is that in any situation, evil will always be present. That is why, when a lady who came to see me recently and told me that she wanted to leave the Church because of the scandals she had encountered, I responded by saying that leaving the Church is not a real problem. The truth is that she will never be able to find a perfect community where all are purists and everyone is sinless. There is no community here on earth that does not have its own problems. So it is an illusion to think that one can find a perfect community here on earth. For this reason, we are invited to accept the reality of evil in the midst of goodness instead of running away from it. There is no answer to this question. What needs to be done is simply to embrace it in faith. How can one go about doing this? Today’s scripture lessons give us some guidelines.

Firstly, we must not be too presumptuous to think that we are sinless and have no faults. But the very fact when we ask the question, “why are there sinful people in the community?”, we speak as if we are not part of this community of sinners. Like the Israelites in the first reading, we must learn to recognize our own human failures and frailties. When we realize that we are not so perfect and holy after all, then we would not impose such a high standard on others. In this way, we can accept their struggles just as we accept ours in growing in holiness and perfection.

Secondly, we must realize that good and evil in the mystery of God’s plan is permitted simply because evil can be a stepping stone for our growth in perfection. We are all unpolished gems and diamonds. We need to rub against each other in order to even out the sharp edges. Hence, we need each other to grow, both good and not so good people. The good can certainly enable us to grow in love through their examples and affirmations. But the evil can also do that because they can be our spiritual benefactors by challenging us to grow. Indeed, until and unless we have been tested, we never know that we have grown in holiness. Without such tests, we might even live under the false illusion that we have already attained the seventh mansion, as Teresa of Avila did. So, it is not whether there are good or bad elements that matter in the final analysis, it is our response to them.

Thirdly, we can learn from today’s gospel that there is ambiguity in every situation of life. This is very well illustrated in the parable of the darnel and the wheat. Darnel is called by the Jews bastard wheat because they look so similar to wheat that one can easily mistake one for the other. It is true too when we plant chilli. When they are young, it is difficult indeed to tell which are chilli seedlings and which are weeds. Hence, what appears to be good can turn out to be evil; and what appears to be evil often turns out to be good. It is difficult to tell our enemies from our friends. People who come to us as friends could really be our enemies. In front of us, they are saying all the nice things about us; but behind our back, they are stabbing and cursing us. Whereas those who apparently are our enemies because they seem to be picking at us all the time could be doing it not out of malice but out of love and concern for our growth. Hence, we must be careful in judgement.

Finally, we must realize that judgment is real and it will happen. This is what both the scripture readings of today want to tell us. Although, we should not judge each other before the time comes, yet judgment is a fact. No one can face judgment. However, the judgment of God is different from ours. We tend to judge a particular situation, or a person’s past or his present only. However for God, His judgment takes into consideration the whole life of a person. We are not judged by a single act. For the reality of life is that some people of importance may appear to have done lots of good, but as their term of office draws to an end, they are found to have committed severe indiscretions and are unceremoniously disposed of for their wrong doings. Yet there are others who have lived an evil life, but because of some life-transforming experiences, changed for the better. A clear example is St Augustine. Today, he is a great saint and we are proud to have him because he was a sinner turned saint.

If that is the way God judges us, we should also be careful not to judge others too narrowly. We can judge a person only at the end of his life. So long as the person is alive, there is still hope of conversion. Just as God has always been faithful to us, which both readings today underscore, we must also continue to trust and hope that evil will one day be ultimately overcome. Consequently, we must not be too narrow-minded in our judgment. As Paul tells us, the best is that we leave judgment to God and not to judge prematurely. Let us pray that we will live this mystery of good and evil prevailing in our lives in this manner, as enlightened by Jesus in today’s gospel. By so doing, we will bring about our growth in holiness and perfection.

Written by Rev. Fr. William Goh