20150306 THE CALL TO BE VISIONARIES AND DREAMERS
Readings at Mass
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First reading
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Genesis
37:3-4,12-13,17-28 ©
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Israel loved Joseph
more than all his other sons, for he was the son of his old age, and he had a
coat with long sleeves made for him. But his brothers, seeing how his father
loved him more than all his other sons, came to hate him so much that they could
not say a civil word to him.
His
brothers went to pasture their father’s flock at Shechem. Then Israel said to
Joseph, ‘Are not your brothers with the flock at Shechem? Come, I am going to
send you to them.’ So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
They saw
him in the distance, and before he reached them they made a plot among
themselves to put him to death. ‘Here comes the man of dreams’ they said to one
another. ‘Come on, let us kill him and throw him into some well; we can say
that a wild beast devoured him. Then we shall see what becomes of his dreams.’
But
Reuben heard, and he saved him from their violence. ‘We must not take his life’
he said. ‘Shed no blood,’ said Reuben to them ‘throw him into this well in the
wilderness, but do not lay violent hands on him’ – intending to save him
from them and to restore him to his father. So, when Joseph reached his
brothers, they pulled off his coat, the coat with long sleeves that he was
wearing, and catching hold of him they threw him into the well, an empty well
with no water in it. They then sat down to eat.
Looking
up they saw a group of Ishmaelites who were coming from Gilead, their camels
laden with gum, tragacanth, balsam and resin, which they were taking down into
Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, ‘What do we gain by killing our brother
and covering up his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let us
not do any harm to him. After all, he is our brother, and our own flesh.’ His
brothers agreed.
Now some
Midianite merchants were passing, and they drew Joseph up out of the well. They
sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty silver pieces, and these men took
Joseph to Egypt.
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Psalm
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Psalm 104:16-21 ©
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Remember the
wonders the Lord has done.
The Lord called down
a famine on the land;
he broke
the staff that supported them.
He had sent a man
before them,
Joseph,
sold as a slave.
Remember the
wonders the Lord has done.
His feet were put in
chains,
his neck
was bound with iron,
until what he said
came to pass
and the
word of the Lord proved him true.
Remember the
wonders the Lord has done.
Then the king sent
and released him
the ruler
of the people set him free,
making him master of
his house
and ruler
of all he possessed.
Remember the
wonders the Lord has done.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Jn3:16
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Praise and honour to
you, Lord Jesus!
God loved the world
so much that he gave his only Son:
everyone who believes
in him has eternal life.
Praise and honour to
you, Lord Jesus!
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Gospel
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Matthew
21:33-43,45-46 ©
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Jesus said to the
chief priests and the elders of the people, ‘Listen to another parable. There
was a man, a landowner, who planted a vineyard; he fenced it round, dug a
winepress in it and built a tower; then he leased it to tenants and went
abroad. When vintage time drew near he sent his servants to the tenants to
collect his produce. But the tenants seized his servants, thrashed one, killed
another and stoned a third. Next he sent some more servants, this time a larger
number, and they dealt with them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to
them. “They will respect my son” he said. But when the tenants saw the son,
they said to each other, “This is the heir. Come on, let us kill him and take
over his inheritance.” So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and
killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those
tenants?’ They answered, ‘He will bring those wretches to a wretched end and
lease the vineyard to other tenants who will deliver the produce to him when
the season arrives.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the
scriptures:
It was the stone
rejected by the builders
that became the
keystone.
This was the Lord’s
doing
and it is wonderful
to see?
‘I tell you, then,
that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will
produce its fruit.’
When
they heard his parables, the chief priests and the scribes realised he was
speaking about them, but though they would have liked to arrest him they were
afraid of the crowds, who looked on him as a prophet.
THE
CALL TO BE VISIONARIES AND DREAMERS
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: GEN 37:3-4; 12-13, 17-28; PS 105: 16-17, 18-19, 20-21; MT
21:33-43, 45-46
As we
come to the end of the second week of Lent, it is important that we be mindful
of the objective of the Lenten season so that we will not carry out the Lenten
program with all its spiritual exercises aimlessly. What is the goal of the
Lenten season? Simply this: to give us a new life. But
how can this new life be ours unless we have a clear vision of the outcome of
this Lenten program? It is for this reason that at the start of the
Second week of Lent on Sunday, we have the Transfiguration event to give us a
preview of the ultimate goal of Lent. Having said this, the new life
cannot simply be mere words or a concept but it must be translated in our
daily lives.
For
this reason, it is necessary that we work out some concrete vision of life
for ourselves. Without a vision in life, we become mediocre
people. We do not live life because we do not grow through life.
Instead we go through life drifting through without any sense of
direction. For such people, life is rather meaningless as they live their
life without any self-determination. People and events will act to
determine their lives; and they always react accordingly. There is
another group of people; they are called dreamers. They are the
idealists. As dreamers, they live in their dreams. They do not live
in reality and therefore are cut off from the world. For such people,
they are also not really living since they are not conscious.
There
is a third group of people whom we can really classify as visionaries.
These are people who have the courage to dream dreams. They do not
simply dream, but they consciously dream dreams. In other words, they are
creative people who are able to map out for themselves their future, and they
are clear as to what they want to do with their life. Instead of simply
drifting through life, they take command and control of their lives. Such
people are truly visionaries.
In
today’s scripture readings, we have people who are truly visionaries. In
the first reading we have Joseph, who was ridiculed by his brothers as a
dreamer. But Joseph was more than a dreamer. He had the courage
to dream dreams. He must have been a creative and resourceful person,
which explains why Pharaoh later made him his Prime Minister. Perhaps
this also accounts for Issac’s special love for Joseph. Joseph was
certainly a man who was ahead of his time. He had great foresight and
later became a source of blessing for his family and his people.
Similarly
in today’s gospel, we have allusions to other dreamers as well. First, we
have God as the greatest dreamer. His great dream is that all
of us, His creation, would share in His life and love. He is
the source of all other dreams. Our life is nothing else but to share
in this over-arching dream. The prophets sent by God also had their
own dreams; that Israel would become a great nation with one people living in
love and unity and thus manifest the glory of God. Finally, Jesus is
the incarnation of God’s dream in person. Jesus came to share with us
the dream of God’s plan for us all by proclaiming to us the Kingdom of God.
But to
have vision alone does not make us true visionaries. The truth is that in
life many people have dreams but many do not realise their dreams because of
obstacles they encounter along the way. To be a true visionary, we
must be willing to pay a price for our dreams. Joseph, we are told,
almost paid for his dream with his life, as he was threatened by his brothers
due to jealousy and envy. But Joseph did not allow such setbacks to deter
him from realizing his dreams. Jesus in the gospel too, refused to give
up His dreams. He paid for His dream with His life as well. Like
Joseph, He was also sold for some silver pieces, and like Joseph, He gave His
life as a slave for His own kind.
The second truth about
being a visionary is that we must expect opposition. Since visionaries are people
ahead of their time, their ideas are not easily understood or accepted.
That is why visionaries have to suffer much for their dreams. Not
only are they rejected because their insights and foresight are not perceived,
but they are rejected due to human insecurity such as jealousy and envy.
Hence, those who do not want to change will find such people a nuisance in
their lives. This is certainly true of the chief priests and the elders
in today’s gospel. Jesus’ dream had made life uncomfortable for
them. Hence, they had to find fault with Jesus and His dream.
Thirdly, visionaries are
those who are able to live by their convictions because of their faith in the
providence of God. Without
faith, it would be very difficult to continue to stand by one’s beliefs, since
quite often a visionary goes against the tide of the situation. Only
faith that God and providence will prove them right, can sustain them in their
fidelity to their dreams. Indeed, Joseph, the prophets and Jesus Himself
could only have survived and died for their beliefs because of their faith in
God. And of course, we know that history will often prove them right.
Today we too, must ask
ourselves what kind of vision we have in life. Certainly, all of
us want to have a new life at Easter. But this new life will not just be
given to us on a plate without our own self-discovery. For life is
given to all but each one of us must work out for ourselves how this life can
and should be lived. Thus, it is necessary to consider the
over-arching dream which is the New Life given to us in Christ, and then
specify the short-term and medium-term goals to live this life. The
short-term goal would be to consider how this Lenten season can help us to
re-orientate our life and our priorities. A medium-term goal would be to
consider how and what we can do to live out our Christian calling to mission.
It is important that we
have these visions in mind so that we can direct ourselves to these goals. Unless these goals are clear, we
cannot apply ourselves assiduously to what we are doing each day in life.
We might find ourselves doing many things, but with no links whatsoever.
Without an integrated life, we cannot live in a wholesome manner and have great
zeal and enthusiasm for what we do. Let us translate our hope of the New
Life at Easter into reality.
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV
WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP
OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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