Monday, 22 June 2015

DEALING WITH DIVISION THAT COMES WITH SUCCESS

20150623 DEALING WITH DIVISION THAT COMES WITH SUCCESS
Readings at Mass

First reading
Genesis 13:2,5-18 ©
Abram was a very rich man, with livestock, silver and gold. Lot, who was travelling with Abram, had flocks and cattle of his own, and tents too. The land was not sufficient to accommodate them both at once, for they had too many possessions to be able to live together. Dispute broke out between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and those of Lot’s. (The Canaanites and the Perizzites were then living in the land.) Accordingly Abram said to Lot, ‘Let there be no dispute between me and you, nor between my herdsmen and yours, for we are brothers. Is not the whole land open before you? Part company with me: if you take the left, I will go right; if you take the right, I will go left.’
  Looking round, Lot saw all the Jordan plain, irrigated everywhere – this was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah – like the garden of the Lord or the land of Egypt, as far as Zoar. So Lot chose all the Jordan plain for himself and moved off eastwards. Thus they parted company: Abram settled in the land of Canaan; Lot settled among the towns of the plain, pitching his tents on the outskirts of Sodom. Now the people of Sodom were vicious men, great sinners against the Lord.
  The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted company with him, ‘Look all round from where you are towards the north and the south, towards the east and the west. All the land within sight I will give to you and your descendants for ever. I will make your descendants like the dust on the ground: when men succeed in counting the specks of dust on the ground, then they will be able to count your descendants! Come, travel through the length and breadth of the land, for I mean to give it to you.’
  So Abram went with his tents to settle at the Oak of Mamre, at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.

Psalm
Psalm 14:2-5 ©
The just will live in the presence of the Lord.
Lord, who shall dwell on your holy mountain?
He who walks without fault;
he who acts with justice
and speaks the truth from his heart;
he who does not slander with his tongue.
The just will live in the presence of the Lord.
He who does no wrong to his brother,
who casts no slur on his neighbour,
who holds the godless in disdain,
but honours those who fear the Lord.
The just will live in the presence of the Lord.
He who keeps his pledge, come what may;
who takes no interest on a loan
and accepts no bribes against the innocent.
Such a man will stand firm for ever.
The just will live in the presence of the Lord.

Gospel Acclamation
Mt11:25
Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are you, Father,
Lord of heaven and earth,
for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom
to mere children.
Alleluia!
Or
Jn8:12
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the light of the world, says the Lord;
anyone who follows me will have the light of life.
Alleluia!

Gospel
Matthew 7:6,12-14 ©
Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls in front of pigs, or they may trample them and then turn on you and tear you to pieces.
  ‘So always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that is the meaning of the Law and the Prophets.
  ‘Enter by the narrow gate, since the road that leads to perdition is wide and spacious, and many take it; but it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it.’


DEALING WITH DIVISION THAT COMES WITH SUCCESS

SCRIPTURE READINGS: GN 13:2.5-18; MT 7:26. 12-14
The fact of life is that when we are poor and downtrodden, we tend to come together and support each other.   This is because we feel with each other in our poverty and suffering.  At the same time, we know that we cannot do without each other.  So the unity that is brought about by suffering is due to the realization that no man is an island.  Suffering and privation in life teach us humility and inter-dependence.  Most of all, in our weaknesses, we know that we cannot depend on ourselves alone; we need to rely on God.
Unfortunately, we are forgetful people.  We tend to forget our humble beginnings when we become successful in life.  As it is often said, success goes to the head.  With success comes power, whether it is political, economic or religious power. The danger is that power corrupts and the greater the power, the greater the corruption.  We see this in the office, in the corporate, political and even religious world.   When someone becomes powerful, he or she tends to abuse his or her authority, exercising the power for his or her self-interest and convenience rather than for humble and selfless service of the people.  Often, power is employed to generate wealth.  But we never have enough wealth.  Greed is one of the seven capital sins.  The more we have, the more we want.  The more possessions we have, the more we are possessed by our possessions.  We become envious, competitive, and dishonest, because mammon becomes our goal in life.
Alas, instead of bringing men happiness, love and peace, success, power and wealth bring nothing but division, jealousy, competition, greed and even murder.  Our situation is not much different from that of the time of Abraham.   We read that “dispute broke out between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and those of Lot’s.”  What brought about this so called misunderstanding among themselves?  The author tells us that “the land was not sufficient to accommodate them both at once, for they had too many possessions to be able to live together.”  It seems ironical and even contradictory to say that they were rich “with livestock, silver and gold” and yet the land could not accommodate them.
Obviously, it was not because the land was too small to feed the needs of the people but it was too small to feed their greed.  They were rich and had more than sufficient, but the richer they became, the more they wanted.  Initially, they were working side by side, supporting each other. With riches, they became more independent of each other.  They could employ more workers and had more free time to strategize, dream and to let evil thoughts enter their minds.  After all, the idle mind is the devil’s workshop!  Isn’t it true that the rich are often tempted to sin more because they have power, money and time?  Indeed, we see how often this happens when brothers or friends come together to start up a company.  When the company is still in its infancy, they are great collaborators, but as soon as it becomes successful, the green eyed monster and greed start to take over, and then each will want to have a bigger share of the pie until eventually greed separates them.
How, then, can we prevent such a situation from happening?  At the end of the day, we must be clear of the things we truly value in life.  Money or friendship?  Aggrandizement or generosity?  Power or influence?  Unity or division?  We must be discerning, otherwise by failing to distinguish between what is truly of value and what is not, we will fall into the situation where we mistake the non-essentials for the true essentials of happiness in life.  This is what Jesus is warning us in today’s gospel.  By behaving thus are we not like the dogs and pigs that are unappreciative because of folly?  Jesus said, “Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls in front of pigs, or they may trample them and then turn on you and tear you to pieces.”  This is tragic!  
Not the case of Abraham though!  Consider how wise he was.   He is truly the just man of faith portrayed in the bible.  Firstly, although rich, he was never greedy.  He was a contented man.  He knew that the most important value of life is peace and harmony among his kinsmen and workers.  Unity and peace were more important than riches and influence.  He realized that with all the wealth in the world, everything would be lost when the family is lost.  So when he saw that greed was dividing and tearing the family apart, instead of shelving the problem, he decisively told his nephew, “Let there be no dispute between me and you, nor between my herdsmen and yours, for we are brothers.  Is not the whole land open before you?  Part company with me: if you take the left, I will go right; if you take the right, I will go left.”
In making this suggestion, it shows the detachment and generosity of Abraham.  As the uncle, he was entitled to choose the better part of the deal.  Instead, he deferred to his nephew, allowing him to choose whatever part of the land he preferred.  In contrast, selfishness had the better of Lot’s heart.  We read that he chose the greener pasture, for after “looking around, Lot saw all the Jordan plain, irrigated everywhere … like the garden of the Lord or the land of Egypt, as far as Zoar.  So Lot chose all the Jordan plain for himself and moved off eastwards. “
What about us?  How many of us put family unity and love before everything else?  The truth is that most Singaporeans seek success before everything else, including their wife and children.   Many of us have no time for our spouse because of our ambition to make more money and climb the corporate ladder.  We neglect our children and do not give them quality time and love.  As a result, spousal relationship suffers, divorce ensues, children grow up resentful of their parents, distant from them, with some ending in unhealthy relationships with their friends who, like them, are all so desperately seeking love and acceptance which they do not find at home.
Today, we have much to learn from Abraham, the just man and the family man.  He is that person described in the responsorial psalm. “He who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord. He who walks blamelessly and does justice; who thinks the truth in his heart and slanders not with his tongue. Who harms not his fellow man, nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor; By whom the reprobate is despised, while he honors those who fear the Lord.  Who lends not his money at usury and accepts no bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be disturbed.”  He is that man who lived the principle that Jesus enunciated, “’So always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that is the meaning of the Law and the Prophets.”
What was his secret?  He was a man who had a deep reverence for the Lord and he was a man of faith.  We read that “Abram went with his tents to settle at the Oak of Mamre, at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.”  How reverential Abraham was!  He never did anything that the Lord did not desire.  He sought to fulfill the Lord’s will and he trusted in Him completely, never fearing that he would be worse off, if he did not use his human ingenuity to get the best deal in human relationship.  He knew the Lord would protect the just man.  True enough, the Lord was faithful to His promise.  He gave him as much land and most posterity with “descendants like the dust on the ground.”
Let us take courage to walk the way of justice, even though we might feel that we are losers in the world where competition for power and wealth make people nasty and cruel to each other.  Rather, let us enter the narrow gate of truth and love for humanity, and faith in God “since the road that leads to perdition is wide and spacious, and many take it; but it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”  Let us commit ourselves to the Lord as Abram did and we will be richly rewarded by the Lord, not only with wealth and influence, but with love, peace and unity.  Jesus walked this path as Abraham did and hence, He is for us the Way, the Truth and the Life.


Written by The Most Rev William Goh
Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore

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