20140725 TRUE SERVANTHOOD PRESUPPOSES THAT WE HAVE EXPERIENCED THE
SERVICE OF THE CHIEF SERVANT
Reading 1, Second Corinthians 4:7-15
7 But we hold this treasure in pots of earthenware, so
that the immensity of the power is God's and not our own.
8 We are subjected to every kind of hardship, but never
distressed; we see no way out but we never despair;
10 always we carry with us in our body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus,
too, may be visible in our body.
11 Indeed, while we are still alive, we are continually
being handed over to death, for the sake of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus,
too, may be visible in our mortal flesh.
12 In us, then, death is at work; in you, life.
13 But as we have the same spirit of faith as is
described in scripture -- I
believed and therefore I spoke -we, too, believe and therefore we, too, speak,
14 realising that he who raised up the Lord Jesus will raise us up
with Jesus in our
turn, and bring us to himself -- and you as well.
15 You see, everything is for your benefit, so that as grace spreads,
so, to the glory of God,
thanksgiving may also overflow among more and more people.
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6
2 then our mouths filled with laughter, and our lips with
song. Then the nations kept saying, 'What great deeds Yahweh has done
for them!'
4 Bring back, Yahweh, our people from captivity like
torrents in the Negeb!
5 Those who sow in tears sing as they reap.
6 He went off, went off weeping, carrying the seed. He
comes back, comes back singing, bringing in his sheaves.
Gospel, Matthew 20:20-28
20 Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came with her sons to
make a request of him, and bowed low;
21 and he said to her, 'What is it you want?' She said to
him, 'Promise that these two sons of mine may sit one at your right hand and
the other at your left in your kingdom.'
22 Jesus answered, 'You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?' They replied, 'We can.'
23 He said to them, 'Very well; you shall drink my cup,
but as for seats at my right hand and
my left, these are not mine to grant; they belong to those to whom they have
been allotted by my Father.'
24 When the other ten heard this they were indignant with
the two brothers.
25 But Jesus called
them to him and said, 'You know that among the gentiles the
rulers lord it over
them, and great men make their authority felt.
26 Among you this is not to happen. No; anyone who wants
to become great among you must be your servant,
27 and anyone who wants to be first among you must be your
slave,
28 just as the Son of man came not to
be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom
for many.'
TRUE
SERVANTHOOD PRESUPPOSES THAT WE HAVE EXPERIENCED THE SERVICE OF THE CHIEF
SERVANT
Today, we celebrate the
Feast of St James the Greater, one of the two sons of Zebedee. From the
gospel, it is clear that James was a very selfish, self-centered,
egoistic and judgmental person before the death and resurrection of
Jesus. Apparently James did not grasp the teaching initially when Jesus
spoke of unconditional love, humility and humble service. James urged
Jesus to rain down fire and brimstone on the village that did not welcome
them. And almost totally insensitive to Jesus’ imminent suffering in
Jerusalem, he even asked Jesus for a place of honour in His kingdom. His
motives for following Christ were ambivalent, although his self-centred motives
were quite evident.
However, the other
apostles were no better because they too, desired such honour in the secret
recesses of their hearts although they were less blatant in displaying such
ambition; “when the other ten heard this they were indignant with the two
brothers.” Their envy is but an expression of missed opportunities, and
not because they were indignant that the brothers were insensitive to Jesus’
pensive disposition at that point.
Furthermore, Jesus took the
occasion to explain to the apostles, and not simply to the sons of Zebedee,
on the authentic meaning of authority and service. He said, “You know
that among the pagans the rulers lord it over them, and their great men make
their authority felt. This is not to happen among you. No; anyone who
wants to be great among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants to be
first among you must be your slave.” Hence, the message of humble service
is directed to all the apostles, because all of them harbored the hidden
aspiration to be rich, powerful and recognized. They were too dense then
to understand the true meaning of discipleship, authority and service.
But before we condemn them,
we must also realize that we are not very different from them. Our
motives for service are not always pure. On the conscious level,
we provide positive and noble reasons for wanting to be in ministry.
However, our conscious motives quite often belie our real motives; the unconscious
motives. This is because we are good at rationalizing whatever we
do. It would be too devastating and humiliating for us to admit that we
serve the Church and the people of God for ulterior motives. We tend to
deceive ourselves into believing that we are selfless and pure in service and
love.
However, it is not that
difficult to discover our real motives in serving the Lord. We
only need to examine the concrete situations in our lives. Why do we take
up certain tasks assigned to us? Are we motivated by the benefits we can
get, be it monetary, prestige or otherwise? Why is it that many of us feel
slighted and angry when we are not appreciated for the work we do for the other
parishioners, the priests, or our fellow ministry members? When we do not
“perform” well in our ministry, do we feel disheartened or disappointed?
The fact that we are more worried about success and achievement clearly shows
that we are ego-centered. For the true servant of the Lord, as Blessed
Mother Teresa always said, is called to be faithful to the mission of the Lord
and not to be successful. Success or failure must be left to the Lord.
In the light of the above,
it is thus important that we are honest with ourselves. This is
the first step towards spiritual maturity through the purification of
motives. Like the apostles, we are still learning how to love and
serve. Like them, we need to purify our motives in serving the Lord and
discover the hidden agenda within us.
However, we should not
become discouraged just because we are aware that we are still inadequate
in our love for the Lord. We are only earthenware jars, imperfect, weak and
fragile. Yet, at the same time, we have the heavenly treasure, which is
God’s Spirit, in us. For this reason, St Paul could say, “we are in
difficulties on all sides, but never cornered; we see no answer to our
problems, but never despair; we have been persecuted, but never deserted;
knocked down, but never killed.” Through our mistakes and
difficulties, we grow and learn to be more focused and pure in our motives and
service. Instead of falling into depression and self-hatred, we must turn
to the Lord for His mercy and grace.
We can be confident of the
Lord’s love and mercy. Even though James and John and the rest of the
apostles failed to live up to the exhortation of Jesus on humility and poverty,
He did not condemn them for aspiring to places of glory. Instead, He saw
in them not so much arrogance and pride, but ignorance and a conditioned
mindset. This explains His remark, “You do not know what you are
asking.” Furthermore, when He asked them, “Can you drink the cup
that I am going to drink? They replied, “We can.” And Jesus answered,
“‘Very well’, He said ‘you shall drink my cup’”. Did they know what they
were asking for? Their answer was based on their pride and
self-confidence, but mostly ignorance.
Isn’t it true that we also
have given the same answer when asked the same question why we volunteer our
services in Church? We too, declare confidently that we want to serve
God and do His work. But when confronted with trials and difficulties,
how many of us become angry with God, with those who hurt us and we even
consider abandoning our ministry? Although we know that service is a
sacrifice, many of us are blind to the sufferings and sacrifices that would be
required of us, as well as the purification of faith, love and service that ensue.
Hence we cannot sustain our
efforts by our own means. We need the grace and power of
God. St Paul says, “We are only the earthenware jars that hold this
treasure, to make it clear that such an overwhelming power comes from God and
not from us.” Only God can change and transform us. For His grace
to work in our lives, we must allow Jesus to serve us. After all, Jesus
Himself has declared, “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and
to give his life as a ransom for many.” Only when we have been touched by
His unconditional love and mercy, can we follow Him to do likewise.
In a similar vein, St
Paul reiterates that it is because of the death and resurrection of Jesus that
we can be confident that God will transform and give us the strength to be
like Jesus in the power of the Spirit. He said, “We too believe and
therefore we too speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus to life will
raise us with Jesus in our turn, and put us by his side and you with us. You
see, all this is for your benefit, so that the more grace is multiplied among
people, the more thanksgiving there will be, to the glory of God.”
We must continue to
cooperate with His grace to die to our selves. St Paul and the apostles too walked in that path.
Thus he said, “Always wherever we may be, we carry with us in our body the
death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus, too, may always be seen in our body.
Indeed, while we are still alive, we are consigned to our death every
day, for the sake of Jesus, so that in our mortal flesh the life of Jesus, too,
may be openly shown. So death is at work in us, but life in you.”
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No comments:
Post a Comment