Wednesday, 3 December 2014

20140820 THE JUSTICE OF MAN AND THE JUSTICE OF GOD

20140820 THE JUSTICE OF MAN AND THE JUSTICE OF GOD   


Reading 1, Ezekiel 34:1-11

1 The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows,
2 'Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them, "Shepherds, the Lord Yahweh says this: Disaster is in store for the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Are not shepherds meant to feed a flock?
3 Yet you have fed on milk, you have dressed yourselves in wool, you have sacrificed the fattest sheep, but failed to feed the flock.
4 You have failed to make weak sheep strong, or to care for the sick ones, or bandage the injured ones. You have failed to bring back strays or look for the lost. On the contrary, you have ruled them cruelly and harshly.
5 For lack of a shepherd they have been scattered, to become the prey of all the wild animals; they have been scattered.
6 My flock is astray on every mountain and on every high hill; my flock has been scattered all over the world; no one bothers about them and no one looks for them.
7 "Very well, shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh:
8 As I live, I swear it -- declares the Lord Yahweh -- since my flock has been pillaged and for lack of a shepherd is now the prey of every wild animal, since my shepherds have ceased to bother about my flock, since my shepherds feed themselves rather than my flock,
9 very well, shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh:
10 The Lord Yahweh says this: Look, I am against the shepherds. I shall take my flock out of their charge and henceforth not allow them to feed my flock. And the shepherds will stop feeding themselves, because I shall rescue my sheep from their mouths to stop them from being food for them.
11 "For the Lord Yahweh says this: Look, I myself shall take care of my flock and look after it.


Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 23:1-3, 3-4, 5, 6

1 [Psalm Of David] Yahweh is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2 In grassy meadows he lets me lie. By tranquil streams he leads me
3 to restore my spirit. He guides me in paths of saving justice as befits his name.
4 Even were I to walk in a ravine as dark as death I should fear no danger, for you are at my side. Your staff and your crook are there to soothe me.
5 You prepare a table for me under the eyes of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup brims over.
6 Kindness and faithful love pursue me every day of my life. I make my home in the house of Yahweh for all time to come.


Gospel, Matthew 20:1-16

1 'Now the kingdom of Heaven is like a landowner going out at daybreak to hire workers for his vineyard.
2 He made an agreement with the workers for one denarius a day and sent them to his vineyard.
3 Going out at about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the market place
4 and said to them, "You go to my vineyard too and I will give you a fair wage."
5 So they went. At about the sixth hour and again at about the ninth hour, he went out and did the same.
6 Then at about the eleventh hour he went out and found more men standing around, and he said to them, "Why have you been standing here idle all day?"
7 "Because no one has hired us," they answered. He said to them, "You go into my vineyard too."
8 In the evening, the owner of the vineyard said to his bailiff, "Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last arrivals and ending with the first."
9 So those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came forward and received one denarius each.
10 When the first came, they expected to get more, but they too received one denarius each.
11 They took it, but grumbled at the landowner saying,
12 "The men who came last have done only one hour, and you have treated them the same as us, though we have done a heavy day's work in all the heat."
13 He answered one of them and said, "My friend, I am not being unjust to you; did we not agree on one denarius?
14 Take your earnings and go. I choose to pay the lastcomer as much as I pay you.
15 Have I no right to do what I like with my own? Why should you be envious because I am generous?"
16 Thus the last will be first, and the first, last.'

THE JUSTICE OF MAN AND THE JUSTICE OF GOD   
SCRIPTURE READINGS:EZ 34:1-11; MT 20:1-16
http://www.universalis.com/20140820/mass.htm
Today’s parable shows that Jesus had a dark sense of humour.  Not only did He surprise us by having the owner reward the workmen who had toiled all day last, but they were further given false hope of getting more.   Surely if we were those workmen, we would not think it is funny.  In fact, we would be just as angry as them.  Like them, we would also complain that God is unjust.

Indeed, life can seem unfair at times.  I am sure you have your own life experiences where you believe you had been given a raw deal.  You slog so hard on a team project, whilst others failed to pull their weight, and then they end up with better grades than you!  Or you slaved for the company for years, hoping to get that promotion, and then somebody with higher qualifications comes along and takes it from right under your nose.  Wouldn’t you think God is unfair?  But is He really unfair? 
When we think in this manner, then we are thinking like the Pharisees who were the original audience of today’s parable.  The Pharisees felt that they were the holy ones and the faithful ones, very close to God because they observed the Torah and prayed seven times a day.  That was why they were angry with Jesus for extending God’s love to sinners and outcasts.  In the mind of the Pharisees, these people were unworthy of God’s love and mercy.   Only they themselves were worthy.

But precisely, in telling today’s parable, Jesus wanted to emphasize to us that that is not the way God looks at us.  If we think that God is unfair and is not sufficiently meritocratic, then it is because we see life by the way of logic and reason.  But reason is cold and it deals with facts.  It is objective and therefore, often, it is legal justice.  It does not take into consideration the feelings and circumstances and needs of the person.  Reason demands that those who work hard should be paid more.   Reason demands that we behave according to logic and merit.

But behind the justification of reason is actually our selfishness.  When we follow the way of strict justice, it is not because of a matter of fair play but because we want to protect ourselves.  We are not concerned about others’ interests but ours.   Indeed, the workmen were not happy, not because they were treated unjustly, but because in their selfishness they could not bear to see others happy.   They became jealous of others’ success and good fortune.  They became calculative.   So much so that they were not even able to thank God for the work that had been given to them, which in itself is a gift from God.  Furthermore, at least they had not idled their time away; and had gained something in terms of growth for themselves.   No, they could not see all these benefits that God had already blessed them with. They were like the bad shepherds in today’s first reading from the book of Ezekiel, without love for others in their hearts.  The bad prophets were more concerned with their needs than attending to the needs of others.  They were not willing to share their blessings with those who were deprived.

However, the way of love is different.  The way of love is concerned that others are also saved.  Love always thinks of others before self.   And that was why the landowner felt pity for those who had no work.  It was not their fault that they were not working, but they did not have the privilege of being employed.   And so God called them at different times in their life.  God wants all men to be in His vineyard.  When and how we are called is ultimately the grace of God.

Indeed, if God were to act according to the norms of human justice, none of us would qualify for the kingdom.  This is the meaning of grace.  In having the workmen who did a full day’s work paid last, Jesus intended to shock the Pharisees and all the selfish people who thought that way.   Love is beyond logic.  Love feels.  Love is compassionate.  Love considers the other’s interests.  Love only desires to bring happiness into the lives of others.   It is not envious of others who are happy or successful.

Yes, the true shepherds of Jesus are those who are able to say:  My greatest happiness in life is to see and make others happy.  In making others happy, we indirectly find our happiness.  But when we try to make ourselves happy without others, we cannot find our happiness.  Let us pray that we may not behave like the bad shepherds in the first reading.  

WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

No comments:

Post a Comment