GOD'S WORD IN DAILY LIFE
14 October/Thursday/28th Week in Ordinary Time,
Rom 3,21-29/Psa 130,1-2.3-4.5-6/Luke 11,47-54
By Most Rev. Emmanuel Kofi Fianu
First Reading Romans 3:21-30
It is the same justice of God that comes to Jew and pagan alike
God’s justice that was made known through the Law and the Prophets has now been revealed outside the Law, since it is the same justice of God that comes through faith to everyone, Jew and pagan alike, who believes in Jesus Christ. Both Jew and pagan sinned and forfeited God’s glory, and both are justified through the free gift of his grace by being redeemed in Christ Jesus who was appointed by God to sacrifice his life so as to win reconciliation through faith. In this way God makes his justice known; first, for the past, when sins went unpunished because he held his hand, then, for the present age, by showing positively that he is just, and that he justifies everyone who believes in Jesus.
So what becomes of our boasts? There is no room for them. What sort of law excludes them? The sort of law that tells us what to do? On the contrary, it is the law of faith, since, as we see it, a man is justified by faith and not by doing something the Law tells him to do. Is God the God of Jews alone and not of the pagans too? Of the pagans too, most certainly, since there is only one God.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 129(130):1-6
With the Lord there is mercy, and fullness of redemption.
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord,
Lord, hear my voice!
O let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleading.
If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt,
Lord, who would survive?
But with you is found forgiveness:
for this we revere you.
My soul is waiting for the Lord.
I count on his word.
My soul is longing for the Lord
more than watchman for daybreak.
Gospel Acclamation: Psa 110:7,8
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your precepts, O Lord, are all of them sure;
they stand firm for ever and ever.
Alleluia!
Gospel Luke 11:47-54
You have not gone in yourselves and have prevented others who wanted to
Jesus said: ‘Alas for you who build the tombs of the prophets, the men your ancestors killed! In this way you both witness what your ancestors did and approve it; they did the killing, you do the building.
‘And that is why the Wisdom of God said, “I will send them prophets and apostles; some they will slaughter and persecute, so that this generation will have to answer for every prophet’s blood that has been shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was murdered between the altar and the sanctuary.” Yes, I tell you, this generation will have to answer for it all.
‘Alas for you lawyers who have taken away the key of knowledge! You have not gone in yourselves, and have prevented others going in who wanted to.’
When he left the house, the scribes and the Pharisees began a furious attack on him and tried to force answers from him on innumerable questions, setting traps to catch him out in something he might say.
Reflection
At first sight, the accusation that Jesus levels against the scribes does not seem accurate. We generally would not see anything wrong in building the tombs of the prophets. Our contemporary experience is that the construction of tombs or the laying of tombstones on graves is a positive act. We do it to honour the person buried there so there should be no problem when the scribes do the same. We can even see a manifestation of remorse or reparation on their part, knowing that their ancestors killed those prophets. The building of the tombs of the prophets should dissociate the scribes from the crime committed by their ancestors.
Since Jesus sees something negative in the action of the scribes, we need to investigate further his accusation in order to throw more light on it. The most probable way to understand the accusation is that the ancestors of the scribes murdered the prophets and the scribes approve of this by putting tombstones on them to show that they are dead. This interpretation would indicate that it is not always that a tombstone is something positive. It can also be used to affirm a negative act. This first accusation is very similar to the second in which Jesus accuses the scribes of preventing people from obtaining true knowledge.
Today, we may not build tombstones on the graves of people our ancestors have murdered. We may however do all within our means to propagate the news of the demise of our opponents. We do so to warn others that they would face the same sort if they challenge us. This only shows how we perpetrate evil in society instead of making reparation and seeking to reconcile human society. Today, we also continue to prevent others from attaining the truth by propagating lies and forcing people to believe that we are speaking the truth. Some people find it easy to trade lies in order to hold on to their privileges in society. Others do so, in order to protect themselves. Whatever be the case, we know that this is unchristian so we should make the effort to live by the teachings of Christ even when it is difficult to do so. S Paul states in the First Reading, we have all sinned and forfeited of God’s grace. We should therefore be humble enough to repent of what is evil and seek good. God himself would provide us with the graces we need to live good Christian lives.