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DEALING WITH DIVISION THAT COMES WITH SUCCESS
Readings at Mass
First reading
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Genesis
13:2,5-18 ©
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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
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Psalm 14:2-5 ©
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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
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Mt11:25
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are you,
Father,
Lord of heaven and
earth,
for revealing the
mysteries of the kingdom
to mere children.
Alleluia!
Or
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Jn8:12
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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 ©
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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
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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
© All Rights Reserved
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