20140829 RULED BY FEAR OR RULED BY FAITH
Reading 1, Jeremiah 1:17-19
17 'As for you, prepare yourself for action. Stand up and
tell them all I command you. Have no fear of them and in their presence I will make you
fearless.
18 For look, today I have made you into a fortified city,
a pillar of iron, a wall of bronze to stand against the whole country: the kings of Judah,
its princes, its priests and the people of the country.
19 They will fight
against you but will not
overcome you, for I am with you, Yahweh declares,
to rescue you.'
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 71:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 15, 17
1 In you, Yahweh, I take refuge, I shall never be put to
shame.
3 Be a sheltering rock for me, always accessible; you have
determined to save me, for you are my rock, my fortress.
4 My God, rescue me from the clutches of the wicked, from
the grasp of the rogue and the ruthless.
5 For you are my hope, Lord, my trust, Yahweh, since
boyhood.
6 On you I have relied since my birth, since my mother's
womb you have been my portion, the constant theme of my praise.
15 My lips shall proclaim your saving justice, your saving
power all day long.
17 God, you have taught me from boyhood, and I am still
proclaiming your marvels.
Gospel, Mark 6:17-29
17 Now it was this same Herod who had
sent to have John arrested,
and had had him chained up in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip's
wife whom he had married.
19 As for Herodias, she was furious with him and wanted to
kill him, but she was not able to do so,
20 because Herod was in awe
of John, knowing him to be a good and upright
man, and gave him his protection. When he had heard him speak he was greatly
perplexed, and yet he liked to listen to him.
21 An opportunity came on Herod's birthday when he gave a
banquet for the nobles of his court, for his army officers and for the leading
figures in Galilee.
22 When the daughter of this same Herodias came in
and danced, she delighted Herod and his
guests; so the king said to the girl, 'Ask me anything you like and I will give it
you.'
24 She went out and said to her mother, 'What shall I ask
for?' She replied, 'The head of John the Baptist.'
25 The girl at once rushed back to the king and made her
request, 'I want you to give me John the Baptist's head, immediately, on a
dish.'
26 The king was deeply distressed but, thinking of the oaths he had
sworn and of his guests, he was reluctant to break his word to her.
27 At once the king sent one of the bodyguard with orders
to bring John's head.
28 The man went off and
beheaded him in the prison; then he brought the head on a dish and gave it to
the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.
29 When John's disciples heard about this, they came and
took his body and laid it in a tomb.
RULED
BY FEAR OR RULED BY FAITH
What is it that drives
us in life? What
is it that drives us to act? What is it in the final analysis that drives
us to choose a certain career or vocation? There are only two
answers. We are either driven by fear or by faith. Every action
boils down to either of these factors ultimately. This is portrayed in a
dramatic way in today’s scripture readings, especially the gospel.
King Herod is perhaps the most pitiful man in
today’s gospel. He was driven by fear throughout his life. Although
supposedly a king and therefore commanded fear from his subjects, he lived in
fear himself. He feared John. He feared the wrath of Herodias. He
feared losing his reputation and thereby suffer the low opinion of
others. Fear drove him to play to the gallery. He feared God even,
for he “was afraid of John, knowing him to be a good and holy man, and gave him
his protection.” As a result of fear, he acted rashly and without
thinking. Fear blinded him. A heart that is lived in fear will
never find peace.
Of course, he was not
the only one to live in fear. Herodias herself was driven by fear to
the extent that fear consumed her. Hence she became vindictive and
revengeful. She feared that John the Baptist would hamper her
relationship with Herod and threaten her position as his wife. Her
daughter was also ruled by fear. Herodias must have been such a fierce
woman to cause her daughter to act almost like an automaton, unable to decide
for herself. This is true of many young people who have been brought up
by domineering and fierce parents. They remain dependent on their parents
in decision-making even when they have grown up. Fear paralyzes them, just
as it paralyzed Herodias’s daughter. She lived in fear of her mother, so
much so she could not even choose between half the kingdom and a useless
decapitated head! What was she going to do with that head?
In contrast, we have Jeremiah
and John the Baptist who were ruled by faith. Jeremiah understood
that he was called by the Lord to speak to his people. Convinced of the
Lord God, he spoke fearlessly, in and out of season. Unless, he was ruled
by faith, Jeremiah would not have been able to speak so courageously against
the false prophets and the king.
In the same vein, John
the Baptist was ruled by faith, a faith expressed by his commitment to
truth and justice. Even Herod recognized him to be “a good and holy man,
and gave him his protection.” Because of his faith in God, John the
Baptist was passionate about truth and justice. We know that he lived in
the desert and therefore could hear the voice of God speaking clearly in
him. Because he loved God, he too loved his fellowmen and fought for love,
which included truth and justice. He spoke for the marginalized, the
sinners, the outcasts and most of all for Philip, whose wife had been taken
from him. So John the Baptist’s courage came from his deep faith in God
who is truth and justice.
What about us? Are we
ruled by fear? What is it that urges us to undertake a certain
assignment or take a particular course of action e.g. remaining silent in the
face of injustice committed by our superiors or our friends, or not speaking
the truth? Is it because we are fearful of our security in the
future? Is it because we are fearful that we would fall out of favour if
we speak the truth? Or are we fearful that we would not be popular?
Some are fearful simply to be themselves and put on masks, especially in
front of their superiors. I believe that none of us would admit that the
way we live is ruled by fear for our security. We would want to
believe that what we are doing is ruled by faith. The power of fear
is so strong that quite often we deceive ourselves unconsciously. We will
always find reasons to justify whatever we want to do in life.
This is where the real
difficulty comes in. Discernment of motives is always very
ambiguous because of the tendency to cover our real motives and to rationalize
our actions. It would be too painful for us to admit that we are seeking
security in popularity, reputation, possessions, and natural talents. Out
of fear, we behave ourselves before our superiors and those whose good books we
want to be in. We do whatever they tell us. We are afraid to offend
them by speaking the truth. But with our peers, we show our true
colours. We are not so generous, polite and helpful to others who have no
influence over our security. Indeed, if we want to know whether we are
truly generous and humble in service, the best way to examine our true selves
is to see how we deal with our peers or those of lesser status than us.
Like Herod, fear
prevents us from taking heed of the dictates of our own hearts.
Supposedly, Herod was attempting to come to terms with his action. This
accounts for his apparent paradoxical attraction for John the Baptist, for
“when he had heard him speak he was greatly perplexed, and yet he liked to
listen to him.” The fact is that although he tried to suppress his
conscience and rationalize his action, the truth confronted him in his heart.
The conscience, on recognizing the truth, immediately responds to it, even when
the head tries to justify it. We too know that our motives are not right
when we feel unsettled by our decisions.
However, if our life is
ruled by faith in God’s will, there is no room for fear. If our
focus is on God, His glory and living according to His plan for us, we can live
a transparent and liberated life. There would be no need to impress people
because we are what we are. We need not even worry about the outcome of
our actions because we trust that goodness will triumph over evil, truth over
falsehood. When we are not motivated by self-interest, we can act
courageously and righteously. Without question, John suffered a brutal and
unjust death, but in his death he was truly free because he was at peace.
If we are faithful to God and His will, if we place our faith in Him, then,
just as God assured Jeremiah, He will assure us that His love is stronger than
fear and death. His grace is sufficient to see us through.
However, there is a
warning for us all as well. If we deceive ourselves and thereby
others as well, we will ultimately live in guilt and regret. The gospel
tells us “the king was deeply distressed, but thinking of the oath he had sworn
and his guests, he was reluctant to break his word to her. So the king at once
sent one of the bodyguards with orders to bring John’s head.” He
was such a coward and could not take a strong stand on what he knew to be
right. Instead, he succumbed to his fear. But throughout the rest
of his life, he lived in guilt, as we read later on when he heard about Jesus,
he dreamt that perhaps John the Baptist had come back to haunt him.
Those who put on the
mask so well and deceive their friends and superiors consciously or
unconsciously will pay a price for their lack of truthfulness. In time to
come, people will come to discover who we really are, and then it may be too
late to turn back the clock.
At any rate, fear will
prevent us from doing what is right and good. If we are unable to be
truthful to ourselves now, what makes us so sure that we can act in the
truth in the future? Fear will deter us from exercising our prophetic calling
to be like John the Baptist, to be courageous witnesses of truth and
justice. As a result, we live a mediocre life because deep down
within us, we know that we have shirked our responsibility to speak for the
truth and to act justly. Like Herod, our conscience will not be at
peace. In fact, one of the most troubling worries for those in leadership
is to have their conscience pricking them for their failure to speak for the
truth and to act rightly, justly and humbly.
Indeed, fear is the cause of
our misery and lack of freedom to choose. Today, on the feast of John the
Baptist, let us pray that we might follow his heroic example in standing
up for truth, for values and for God. Real power in life is not the power
to control others but to be able to order our lives in such a way that it is in
line with the plan of God. Death has no power over those of us who are
willing to hear God’s voice and listen to the truth. May God grant us
true courage so that we can discern His voice and follow it!
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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