Do You Remember?
Do you remember in years past, when life was a whole lot simpler, yet it seems we were much happier then than we are now? Do you remember the years gone past, when the only technology we had was a broken television set and a little box radio, but neither we nor our children knew what it meant to be bored? Do you remember the days, the years gone by when the only social media we knew was saying hello to a neighbour, and visiting the elderly person who lived a few houses away, and communication was a whole lot easier? Do you remember, not so long ago, when parents understood very clearly, their primary role to their children was to be first and foremost parents, then anything else after? Do you remember the days, the years gone by when we greeted everyone we passed with a smile and a “good morning”, or a “good evening” that all came from the heart because we cared for each other?
This is a big one – do you remember the days, the years gone by, when every child was taught who God is, and they grew in the knowledge and the fear of God? Do you remember? Do you remember the days, the years gone by when right was right and wrong was wrong, and we knew very clearly the difference between the two, and our hearts, our minds our consciences our whole beings were a lot freer than they are today? How did we get to where we are as societies? How did we get to where we are as communities, as a nation?
The answer to these questions lie in the first reading for today where Moses said to the people: “Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe, that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. In your observance of the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin upon you, you shall not add to what I command you nor subtract from it. Observe them carefully, for thus will you give evidence of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations, who will hear of all these statutes and say, ‘This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.’ For what great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him? Or what great nation has statutes and decrees that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today?”
I would like to challenge you to please read the whole of Deuteronomy – Chapter 4, and really ponder on it for a while. For here lies great wisdom. The Word of God tells us in 2 Timothy 3: 16, “All scripture is inspired by God and useful for refuting error, for guiding people’s lives and teaching them to be upright.” Verse 4 of Deuteronomy – Chapter 4 tells us ,”but those of you who stayed faithful to Yahweh your God are all alive today.” This is a matter of life or death; of eternal life or eternal damnation.
What is wrong with our world today is that we have turned away from the statutes and the decrees of the LORD. We have turned away from that which brought us life and peace. We have turned away from the light and have chosen darkness instead. We have turned away from the blessings which the Lord our God has prepared for us. We have allowed ourselves to be duped by the gods of this world. We have fallen from wisdom into foolishness! We have turned away from our First Love and have turned to living lives of meaningless affairs much to our demise.
Going against what the first reading tells us, we have altered, we have disowned; we have treated God’s Word and the teachings of the Catholic Church like an i-hop restaurant – picking and choosing what we wanted. But the first reading tells us, “In your observance of the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin upon you, you shall not add to what I command you nor subtract from it.” Later on in that same chapter of Deuteronomy, the Word of God speaks and says to us, “But take care, as you value your lives! Do not forget the things which you yourselves have seen, or let them slip from your heart as long as you live; teach them, rather, to your children and to your children’s children.” Our homes were once the primary place where our children were taught God’s laws; where they were taught right from wrong. Our homes were once the primary place where our children were groomed to be moral citizens of our lands. Our homes were once the place where character in our children were carefully molded and fashioned to produce good, God fearing people. Our homes were once the place where our children were taught how to pray. No
w, we have wandered far from this and our homes have now become battle grounds where the enemy is given free reign to mold our children; and we see the effects of this in their lives that have become steeped in every kind of immorality possible.
Sisters, brothers, it is not all bad news. Even at this seemingly eleventh hour, we can turn back; we can repent; we can individually and collectively acknowledge before the LORD our God that we have sinned and have turned away from Him; we can allow the grace of GOD to flow once again like rivers in our lands; we can go back to our First Love.
The responsorial Psalm begs the question, who can be admitted to your tent O LORD? Who can stand before the LORD our God? The one who walks blamelessly and does justice, and thinks the truth in his heart and does not slanders others. The one who does not harm his fellow man, nor reproach his neighbor, and does not lend with interest. In other words, the one who has learnt to live by the greatest commandment – to love the LORD our God with all we have and our neighbour as ourselves.
In the second reading from James, we are told “humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls. Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves. Be doers of the Word and not just hearers. It is not enough to go to Mass every weekend. We must allow the Word of God to become so deeply rooted in us that not only will it speak to us, but it will speak through us, and others will see the manifestation of the Word of God by the way we live.
In the Gospel reading, Jesus chastised a seemingly good group of people. They did all that the law prescribed; they seemed to follow the law to the letter; why was Jesus angry with them? Well, yes they did follow the law – man made laws that is – but they had no love in their hearts. Their hearts were far from God and from their fellow men. They followed the law for one purpose and one purpose only – the love of self and to glorify themselves. Jesus is challenging us to be true and sincere in what we do and in how we live. He is challenging us all to take a closer look at ourselves – not the Mr. Hyde that people on the outside see, but the Dr. Jekyll that we really are on the inside. He is challenging us to pay attention to the sin factory that resides deep within, from where “come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly;” and allow his grace to work in us and shut the factory down.
Is it going to be easy? Is it easy to live the way Jesus wants us to? Is it easy to turn away from sin, from selfishness, from immorality and all the other forms of darkness that have consumed us as a people? NO it is not! But we have this blessed assurance, that the LORD our God is on our side. Saint Paul reminds us in Romans 8: 31, “With God on our side, who can be against us? Since God did not spare his own Son, but gave him up to benefit us all, we may be certain that after such a gift, that he will not refuse anything that he can give. Sisters, brothers, the Word of God is true! If we cry out to God with all our hearts; if we humble ourselves and acknowledge our sins before him; if we become a truly repentant people, He will hear us and heal us, and by extension, our lands.
Do you remember when life was simpler, when we learnt to put God first in all we did; when we taught our children to know and to love God; when there was peace in our homes, in our streets, in our land? Do you remember? It’s not that far away. It’s not that far away.
