Internalized laws

Nobody likes hypocrites. They do not practise what they preach. Had they shut up, people would have been more tolerant towards them. People are offended because the hypocrites seem to be above the law. Paul criticized them harshly in Romans 2.

The Jews were a privileged people because of their special relationship with God. They deserved to be proud. Paul knew them through and through. Therefore, in Romans 2, he painted a picture of an ideal Jew.
But if you call yourself a Jew and rely upon the law and boast of your relation to God
and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed in the law, 
and if you are sure that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,
a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth  (Romans 2:17-20).
The Jews were very proud of themselves because they had received the Torah from the hands of Moses.
For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him?
And what great nation is there, that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day? (Deuteronomy 4:7-8)
Since they were instructed in the law, which was the embodiment of knowledge and truth (Romans 2:20), they knew the will of God. They could be a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish and a teacher of children. The Jews felt a kind of superiority over the other peoples because of this Torah. However, in reality, they were conquered by the Assyrians and Babylonians. The Jews were superior no more. What had gone wrong? It was because they did not practise what they preached (Romans 2:21-23). Paul concluded with a quotation from Isaiah.

To begin with, it seems to be human nature to pass judgment on others. There is no harm passing judgment on others only when you are blameless. In most cases, the sins you condemn are exactly the same sins you commit. Paul said that in passing judgment on others, you pass judgment on yourself (Romans 2:1). Only God is blameless enough to judge.
In our Moral Theology course, Fr. Robert Ng, S.J. always emphasizes that we do not know the conscience of other people enough. Only God knows. Only God can pass judgment on their conscience. Though the Church forbids suicide, she has never condemned Judas to hell. His conscience might be very confused and his fury would have rendered his will impotent. God might have a very special way unknown to us to save his soul.
Paul warned people not to take advantage of God's kindness and mercy.
First of all, no sinner can escape God's punishment.
Secondly, nobody can take advantage of God's kindness.
Or do you presume upon the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not know that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?(Romans 2:4)
God is merciful because He wants to lead us to repentance.
To conclude his argument for the righteousness of God, Paul warned his readers and stated in no uncertain term that God is impartial.
For God shows no partiality (Romans 2:11).
In the final analysis, everybody agrees that actions speak louder than words. Only actions count.
For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified (Romans 2:13).

Psychologists have argued that the moral development of man goes through several stages. We obey law out of a fear of punishment, out of the rewards we get for following the laws or we even want to gain approval from the others. Psychologists think that this kind of morality belongs to a lower level because laws are imposed from without. When we mature, we may bypass external laws because we have built up a set of laws within our hearts. 

Psychologists think that this kind of morality belongs to a higher level. It comes from within. We call such an entity, conscience.
They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps excuse them (Romans 2:15).

Dear Lord, we thank St. Paul for enlightening us on the true nature of morality. Grant us discernment to know what actions are acceptable to You and torch our hearts to put our discernment into action. Amen.

Appendix:
τὸ γὰρ ὄνομα τοῦ θεοῦ δι' ὑμᾶς βλασφημεῖται ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν
The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you (Roman 2:24)
δἰ ὑμᾶς διὰ παντὸς τὸ ὄνομά μου βλασφημεῖται ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν. (Isaiah 52:5b)

The righteousness and wrath of God

Paul was eager to preach the gospel which he personally received from Jesus on his way to Damascus. He claimed that this gospel did not come from men, but came directly from the Lord.
For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not man's gospel.
For I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:11-12).
Paul had personally experienced the power of this gospel. He was converted from a persecutor to a persecuted. He had been a Pharisee for many years, yet it was incomparable to the life as a Christian. Unlike the other apostles, Paul was "forced" to receive this revelation while the others were gently invited by Jesus. The experience was powerful. Therefore for Paul, the gospel was the power of God.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek (Romans 1:16).
Immediately, Paul switched to another concept --- the righteousness of God.
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, "He who through faith is righteous shall live." (Romans 1:17)
What did Paul mean by the righteousness of God?
How does the Habakkuk quotation prove his point? I think this quotation was Paul's favourite. It summarizes neatly the theology of Paul. Through faith in the risen Lord, man becomes justified and righteous. Then man can gain eternal life. Of course, our righteousness is different from the righteousness of God. But Paul did not continue to develop the concept of the righteousness of God. He simply stated that the gospel revealed God's righteousness and he quotedHabakkuk to support this statement. Immediately, he turned his attention to more urgent problems. I am sure Paul will return to treat the topic more thoroughly in the future.

For Paul, not believing in God was illogical. God revealed Himself in the Creation. Therefore, God is approachable and understandable. Man has enough intelligence to discern God. Even though God is undetectable through human senses, man can still apply his rationality to make sense of the existence of God. There were no more excuses for not knowing and acknowledging God (Romans 1:20b).
But for Paul, the worse sin is not a disbelief in God but idolatry.
and [they] exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man or birds or animals or reptiles (Romans 1:23).
The consequences were terrible. God would give them up to Satan. Giving them up was the wrath of God.
Delivering the sinful brethren up to Satan was a familiar theme of Paul's theology (1 Corinthians 5:5, 1 Timothy 1:20). Here in Romans, Paul concretized Satan by claiming that God would give those idolaters up to lustful passions. Paul equated idolatry with lust. Then Paul strongly condemned homosexual acts between women and women, men and men. Probably, this was a serious threat the Roman culture posed upon Christians. Probably, this was a result of the Pharisaic background of Paul. He was harsh towards homosexuals.
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a base mind and to improper conduct (Romans 1:28).
This image of God is very righteous and is not quite compatible with the merciful God portrayed in the gospels. Therefore, while we are reading the Romans, we must keep in mind the mercy of God as well so as not to become onesided, making God one-dimensional.  

Dear Lord, we thank You for giving us intelligence and rationality. We further thank You that the Original Sin has not completely wiped out the function of our rationality. May we make good use of our intellect to discern You more. Amen.

Appendix:
ὁ δὲ δίκαιος ἐκ πίστεως ζήσεται.
He who through faith is righteous shall live (Romans 1:17b RSV).
ὁ δὲ δίκαιος ἐκ πίστεώς μου ζήσεται (Habakkuk 2:4b LXX)

Introductory greeting in the Romans

We will spend the following four weeks reading St. Paul's epistle to the Romans. The Romans is the masterpiece of St. Paul. Many commentaries, both ancient and modern, have been written for it. However, it is no exaggeration to say that nobody, except Paul himself, can claim a thoroughout understanding of this theological gem.

Today, we begin reading the introductory greeting (Romans 1:1-15). Already, Paul had packed this greeting with a lot of theology.
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God
which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures,
the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh
and designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,
through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,
including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ (Romans 1:1-6)
In introducing himself, Paul presented a threefold role in front of the recipients (Romans 1:1):
1) He was one of the many servants of Jesus Christ whom the recipients knew and confessed to be their Lord.
2) He was called to be an apostle, to be sent out to proclaim the message, the gospel of the Lord. Here, Paul simply asserted his authority as an apostle. He might have met people who challenged his apostle status, especially because this church in Rome was established by St Peter.
3) He was holy, sacred and saintly because he was set apart to serve God.
In case the recipients did not know what the gospel was, Paul had made several points about this gospel.
1) This gospel had been promised by the prophets in the holy scripture (Romans 1:2). From this, we hypothesize that some of the recipients were Jewish Christians in Rome; or at least people who were sympathetic with Judaism, who knew something about prophets of the Old Testament.
2) This gospel was about the Son of God who incarnated as an offspring of King David. From this, Paul affirmed the status of Jewish Christians because Jesus himself was a Jew, a descendant of King David.
3) Spiritually, this Jesus Christ was the Son of God by virtue of his death and resurrection.
The Christology is ambiguous here. Did Jesus become the Son of God because of his passion and resurrection? Or rather, was Jesus the Son of God, therefore he died and came back to life for us? This was an early stage of theology development. The language might not be precise enough.
4) Paul and his companions had received grace and apostleship from Jesus Christ, the Lord, to preach the gospel among the nations, to bring about the conversion of many peoples all over the world. The expression "for the sake of his name" is very Jewish.
5) The recipients had received this gospel and belonged to Jesus Christ.

The paragraph above is no more than a paraphrasing of Paul's greeting. It is not even a summary or an outline. From this greeting, we are already able to see that St. Paul was very anxious in defending the gospel. I am sure we will be reading about it very soon.
St. Paul continues to praise the Romans for their faith which had become well known all over the Roman Empire. He further expresses his strong desire to visit them.
For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you,
that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine (Romans 1:11-12).
What a paradox! What a surprise! In giving the Romans a spiritual gift, Paul would be encouraged and strengthened! Perhaps this was only the rhetoric of St. Paul. But perhaps there is a certain truth in it. One plus one can be more than two. The mutual support St. Paul mentioned could generate more enthusiasm than each tried to generate or sustain individually. After all, Christianity is a social religion, not a solitary one.
St. Paul further explained that it was his obligation to preach the gospel. Again, he left an enigma behind.
I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish:
so I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome (Romans 1:14-15).
So, were the Romans wise or stupid?

Dear Lord, inflame my heart so that I may appreciate the passion Paul had in the writing of the Romans. Amen.

Twenty Eighth Ordinary Sunday (Year B)

In the study of Moral Theology, Fr. Robert Ng, S.J. told us to differentiate among the three different types of ethics found in the Bible.
1) Practical: This is the ordinary principles and regulations which we are familiar with. For example, Christian couples should not divorce (Mark 10:9); Christians should settle their disputes within the Church. They should not bring their cases to magistrates outside the Church (1 Corinthians 6:1-6) etc.
2) Transcendental: Animated by the grace of God, Christians lead a life of faith, hope and charity. They are willing to turn the other cheek, to walk an extra mile, to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them (Matthew 5-7). Christians practise these virtues in response to God's call.
3) Eschatological: This is confined to a selected few. They lead a life that brings in the Kingdom of God. For example, the evangelical counsels, the communism practises by the early Church in Jerusalem.
In the gospel reading today, we heard of the story of the rich young man. Let's take a closer look at the story.

And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" (Mark 10:17)
This man was really sincere. He knelt before Jesus and asked for enlightenment. From his question, we could sense that this man was very idealistic. Perhaps he was rich, perfectly sheltered from the plights of the world. Probably he had never seen poverty or starvation. Therefore, he asked Jesus to enlighten him so that he could attain eternal life.
To bring him back to reality, Jesus asked if he had kept all the commandments. He did. Keeping the commandment is such a basic thing that nearly all cultures and civilizations have similar precepts to help us lead a normal life. Without these precepts, social life will become chaotic. In short, these commandments make social life possible and prevent the disintegration of a community.
And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." (Mark 10:21)
Jesus saw a potential apostle in this young man. He invited him to lead a life of eschatological ethics. To bring the Kingdom of God on earth, Jesus called this young man to follow him. The response to this call entailed a renunciation of one's riches and one's whole life. This was far too difficult for this idealistic and egocentric young man.
We do not know what became of this young man. I am sure he remained a good man. But he failed to respond to Jesus' call. He had missed the opportunity to receive greater grace from God. He had chosen to tread down another path. The Church has one saint less. But why didn't Jesus force him to answer His call like what he had done to Jonah?
Jesus behaved very differently from the Yahweh of the Old Testament. Jesus encouraged certain behaviours but he never forced anybody to follow his instructions. This was a demonstration of God's respect for man's freedom. In the Old Testament, man's responsibility was diminished because very often, God intervened. Now, Jesus respected our freedom. Consequently, our responsibility reaches its full share. We become fully responsible for our choices and actions.

Dear Lord, in my younger days, I did not respond to Your invitation. I have loved You too late. May the days ahead be filled with Your blessings so that the people I meet will be healed. Amen.

Beat plowshares into swords?

We are familiar with the Isaiah verse.
He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more (Isaiah 2:4).
Isaiah was not the only one who predicted about a peaceful future. We have a nearly identical verse in Micah.
He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide for strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more (Micah 4:3).
However, if we think the Bible gives us a bright and peaceful future, we are only 66.67% correct. Read Joel.
Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, "I am a warrior." (Joel 3:10 RSV, 4:10, MT)

Joel was telling the post-exile Jews that God would restore their fortunes.
For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will enter into judgment with them there, on account of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations, and have divided up my land,
and have cast lots for my people, and have given a boy for a harlot, and have sold a girl for wine, and have drunk it. (Joel 3:1-3 RSV, 4:1-3 MT).
God seemed to be avenging for His Chosen People who had suffered enough.
Ever since Isaiah, prophets saw the invasions of Gentiles as God's chastening. These foreign nations were carrying out God's plan. However, if they overdid, God would harshly punish them instead. For example, the Assyrians. They were conquered by the Babylonians because the Assyrians had done more than God required. They wanted to conquer, not to punish.
When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem he will punish the arrogant boasting of the king of Assyria and his haughty pride(Isaiah 10:12).
Similarly, God raised Cyrus, the Persian king to release the Jewish exiles from Babylonian Captivity.
In previous times, God raised alien nations to punish Israel/Judah as well as to deliver them. Now in Joel's time, the Jews were under the dominion of the Greek Empire. The Jews believed that this time, God would not make use of yet another foreign nation to deliver them. He would come Himself. "The Day of the Lord" became the buzzword of the day.

Joel had missed the whole point. Truly, the Day of the Lord was drawing near. But the Messiah would not be a military one. Rather, God took up human flesh, lived among us and died for us. From death, He came back to life so as to conquer death once and for all. With limited understanding and perspective, prophets were not expected to pass on the whole truth. Joel saw a revengeful God instructing the Chosen People to beat plowshares to swords. Joel, or any other prophets, could be unable to know God's plan for sure. Even when Jesus told his apostles plainly God's plan, his apostles could not accept such a plan. We don't blame Joel.

Dear Lord, You sent us prophets to reveal Your plan of redemption. May we be more attentive in discerning Your will. Amen.

God might change His mind

We will spend two days reading the second minor prophet, Joel. Biblical scholars believe that Joel was a post-exile prophet of around 400 B.C.
Joel began talking with the devastation of the land by a swarm of locusts (Joel 1:4). We cannot tell whether it was a vision, an actual natural disaster that Joel had experienced, or a metaphor for an invading army (Joel 1:5-10). For Joel, it was "the Day of the Lord".
Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes (Joel 1:15).

Different prophets use the term "the Day of the Lord" with different meanings. Some used it as a judgment against the nations (Jeremiah 46:10, Ezekiel 30:3, Obadiah 1:15). Amos said it was a day of darkness (Amos 5:18). Others seemed to suggest the end of the world (Isaiah 13:6, Joel 1:15, Zechariah 14:1, Malachi 4:5). Still others used the term to proclaim judgment on the leaders of Israel (Zephaniah 1:8).
However, we have to be cautious with all prophecies of the Bible. Scholars believe that these prophecies can be predictions of both short-term and long-term. That is to say, a prediction of the destruction of Israel could be fulfilled by the destruction of Israel a short time in the future and it can also be a description of the end of the world.
In the case of Joel, he was obviously talking about the near future. It is because he told the priests, leaders, elders and the people to weep for their sins, to repent and to cry to the Lord before the altar in the hope that God would change His mind and spare them.
Return to the LORD, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and repents of evil.
Who knows whether he will not turn and repent, and leave a blessing behind him, a cereal offering and a drink offering for the LORD, your God? (Joel 2:13-14)
A search on the Old Testament shows that "slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love" seems to be a formula and appears many times in different places (Exodus 34:6; Numbers 14:18; Nehemiah 9:17; Psalm 86:15, 103:8, 145:8; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2).
Only three prophets, Jeremiah, Joel and Jonah mention the Lord repented of evil. The expression can also be found in three other places (Exodus 32:14, 2 Samuel 24:16, 1 Chronicles 21:15). The last two verses talk about the same incident.
So, God is a merciful God. He is extremely patient and slow to anger. Even if He is angry, He could change His mind and Joel was urging the people to repent so as to make God change His mind. This is indeed very encouraging for sinners. Without this tolerance of God, who could survive? We should learn from this patience of God.

Dear Lord, I thank You for allowing me enough time to develop my potentials. I pray that one day, I may be able to serve You and Your Church well. Amen.

When Jesus came to the Church, ...

Malachi was the last of the 12 minor prophets. Near the end of his book, he talked about the forerunner of God.
Behold, I send my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts (Malachi 3:1).
God would come and pass judgment on those who did not keep His commandments.
It is interesting to read that God would suddenly come to His Temple. About 100 years before Malachi took up the office of a Prophet, Ezra organized the remnant, who had returned from the Babylonian Captivity, to rebuild the Temple. They did not have kings anymore. Then, priests took up greater authority and virtually rule the nation from the Temple. Abuses and corruptions crept in and Malachi criticised them.
True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity.
For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
But you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble by your instruction; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the LORD of hosts(Malachi 2:6-8).

When Jesus came to the Temple, he was annoyed by the market scene. Jesus took actions and drove out the merchants.
And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.
and he would not allow any one to carry anything through the temple.
And he taught, and said to them, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? But you have made it a den of robbers." (Mark 11:15-17)
Jesus combined the teaching of two prophets, Isaiah and Jeremiah, to teach the people that the Temple is a house of prayer for all nations and condemn the priests for their mismanagement of the Temple.

The Jews suffered an unprecedented trauma when the Temple was burned down by the Romans in 70 A.D. God seems not to show favour anymore for His house in Jerusalem because of the fault of the priests. Christianity was able to expand and fill up the vacuum left by Judaism. They believe that their churches all over the world have replaced the sacred Temple in Jerusalem. Nowadays, the hope of rebuilding the Temple is going to be slim because on the site of the Temple Mount has been built a Muslim mosque --- The Dome of Rock.

St. Paul has developed the theology of the Mystical Body of Jesus, and identified the Church with this Body. He also made use of the image of man and wife to describe the relationship between Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5:31-32).
Imagine what the reactions of Jesus would be when he suddenly visits one of the Churches on earth. I am sure buying and selling things in the Church does not bother Jesus so much. Rather, it is the mismanagement of the Church and the failure of the priests to instruct the believers.
Malachi serves as a reminder for us not to be complacent.

Dear Lord, life in the parish may not be perfect. Forgive our shortcomings. Strengthen my soul and open up my heart so that I may learn the proper way to instruct Your people. Amen.