[stephenkhoo]

Scripture Reflections
Friday, 08 March, 2013, 3rd Week of Lent
REPENTANCE AS THE KEY TO ENTER THE KINGDOM OF GOD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: HOS 14:2-10; PS 81: 6c-8a, 8bc-9, 10-11ab, 14, 17; MK 12:28-34

We are coming to the end of the third week of Lent, which means that we are halfway through the season of Lent. Three weeks from now, we will celebrate Good Friday. The first part of the Lenten season invites us to focus on intensifying our spiritual growth whilst the second part of Lent invites us to focus specifically on the passion of our Lord. As we approach the end of the first part of the Lenten program, the liturgy once again calls to mind the fundamental message of Lent, which is to “repent and believe the Good News.” What is the Good News if not the personal love of God for us in Jesus Christ?

But in order that we might be able to receive the love of God into our lives, we must first remove the blocks and barriers that prevent His coming. These obstacles are what we call “sin.” Indeed, Hosea pinpoints so accurately the cause of our misery and unhappiness in life. He reproaches the people of Israel saying, “your iniquity was the cause of your downfall.”

What specifically is the sin that brings us down? It is the sin of self-reliance, which is another name for “pride”. Like the Israelites who relied on foreign powers and military might rather than God, we too rely on our strength and ingenuities only. That is why, Hosea told the people that they must realize “Assyria cannot save us, we will not ride horses any more.” When we rely on ourselves instead of God we make ourselves gods. That is why we pray in the responsorial psalm, “I am the Lord your God. Listen, my people, to my warning.” Indeed, the psalm says, “Let there be no foreign god among you, no worship of an alien god.”

When we think that we are gods and that we are in charge of our lives, we begin to adore and worship the works “our own hands have made.” As a result, we create idols for ourselves. But this idolatry of self is manifested in small gods seen in the worship of power, glory, recognition, money, sex, attachment and self-indulgence. The corollary to all these would be fear, anger, jealousy, envy, revenge and competition. Indeed, it is all these that make us miserable and unhappy in life because we are not at peace within and without.

The tragedy is that some of us are just like the Israelites who said, “A voice I did not know said to me; “I freed your shoulder from the burden; your hands were freed from the load. You called in distress and I saved you.” Indeed, today, we are called to repent and say to God, “Take all iniquity away so that we may have happiness again and offer our words of praise.”

But how can we repent? Repentance can only be realized when we learn to trust in the compassion of the Lord. God, as Hosea tells us, is present to the orphans for in Him, they find compassion. We who feel abandoned and helpless in our sins are orphans because we are without love. But God is compassionate and thus He reaches out to us by offering words of consolation. God knows how sinful we are and how we are struggling in our sins.

God is not only compassionate; more importantly, He is always forgiving. Yes, Hosea assures us that we can come back to the Lord because He has turned His anger from us. God is ever ready to forgive and take us back. How do we know this? In His compassion, He loves us with a love that is personal and from His heart. He said, “I will heal their disloyalty, I will love them with all my heart.” Truly, it is a compassionate, forgiving love that can heal us from within. Unless we recognize our sinfulness and open our hearts to Him, we cannot truly experience the Good News.

When we are touched by His love then we will find everything else to be secondary. Indeed like the Israelites, we would say, “What has Ephraim to do with idols any more when it is I who hear His prayer and care for Him?” This explains why the threefold great commandment cited by Jesus in today’s gospel can only be understood and lived when we have been loved by the Lord in the first place. Indeed, to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength would be an impossible demand, for no human being can love in that manner unless he has been loved so totally by someone.

When we give ourselves completely to Him, we will find ourselves enriched. Fruitfulness is the consequence of our union with the vine. Indeed, God said, “I am like the cypress ever green, all your fruitfulness comes from me.” Truly, as Hosea prophesied, “I will fall like dew on Israel. He shall bloom like the poplar, his shoots will spread far; he will have the beauty of the olive and the fragrance of Lebanon. They will come back to live in my shade; they will grow corn that flourishes, they will cultivate vines as renowned as the wine of Helbon.”

We can only consider the second commandment, “You must love your neighbour as yourself“ if we are in union with God, sharing in His life and love. The authentic love of self and others presupposes that we have been loved by God. For the love of self and of others demands that we are first healed from within. This is what Hosea speaks about in the first reading. Only God’s love and forgiveness can heal us from within. Only a heart that is healed can in turn become a source of strength and solace to others.

When we are in communion with God and with others, then we are in the heart of God. For this reason, Jesus told the scribe, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” For what is the kingdom of God if not the heart of the Father, the heart of compassion, forgiveness and love? The question is whether we have understood wisely like the scribe. As Hosea said, “Let the wise man understand these words. Let the intelligent man grasp their meaning. For the ways of the Lord are straight, and virtuous men walk in them, but sinners stumble.”