DO NOT COMPARE BUT ACCEPT EVERYTHING GRACEFULLY

20150819 DO NOT COMPARE BUT ACCEPT EVERYTHING GRACEFULLY

Readings at Mass

First reading

Judges 9:6-15 ©

All the leading men of Shechem and all Beth-millo gathered, and proclaimed Abimelech king by the terebinth of the pillar at Shechem.

  News of this was brought to Jotham. He came and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted aloud for them to hear:

‘Hear me, leaders of Shechem,

that God may also hear you!

‘One day the trees went out

to anoint a king to rule over them.

They said to the olive tree, “Be our king!”

‘The olive tree answered them,

“Must I forego my oil

which gives honour to gods and men,

to stand swaying above the trees?”

‘Then the trees said to the fig tree,

“Come now, you be our king!”

‘The fig tree answered them,

“Must I forego my sweetness,

forego my excellent fruit,

to stand swaying above the trees?”

‘Then the trees said to the vine,

“Come now, you be our king!”

‘The vine answered them,

“Must I forego my wine

which cheers the heart of gods and men,

to stand swaying above the trees?”

‘Then all the trees said to the thorn bush,

“Come now, you be our king!”

‘And the thorn bush answered the trees,

“If in all good faith you anoint me king to reign over you,

then come and shelter in my shade.

If not, fire will come from the thorn bush

and devour the cedars of Lebanon.”’

Psalm

Psalm 20:2-7 ©

O Lord, your strength gives joy to the king.

O Lord, your strength gives joy to the king;

  how your saving help makes him glad!

You have granted him his heart’s desire;

  you have not refused the prayer of his lips.

O Lord, your strength gives joy to the king.

You came to meet him with the blessings of success,

  you have set on his head a crown of pure gold.

He asked you for life and this you have given,

  days that will last from age to age.

O Lord, your strength gives joy to the king.

Your saving help has given him glory.

  You have laid upon him majesty and splendour,

you have granted your blessings to him forever.

  You have made him rejoice with the joy of your presence.

O Lord, your strength gives joy to the king.

Gospel Acclamation

Ps118:135

Alleluia, alleluia!

Let your face shine on your servant,

and teach me your decrees.

Alleluia!

Or

Heb4:12

Alleluia, alleluia!

The word of God is something alive and active:

it can judge secret emotions and thoughts.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Matthew 20:1-16 ©

Jesus told this parable to his disciples: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner going out at daybreak to hire workers for his vineyard. He made an agreement with the workers for one denarius a day, and sent them to his vineyard. Going out at about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the market place and said to them, “You go to my vineyard too and I will give you a fair wage.” So they went. At about the sixth hour and again at about the ninth hour, he went out and did the same. Then at about the eleventh hour he went out and found more men standing round, and he said to them, “Why have you been standing here idle all day?” “Because no one has hired us” they answered. He said to them, “You go into my vineyard too.” 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.” So those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came forward and received one denarius each. When the first came, they expected to get more, but they too received one denarius each. They took it, but grumbled at the landowner. “The men who came last” they said “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.” He answered one of them and said, “My friend, I am not being unjust to you; did we not agree on one denarius? Take your earnings and go. I choose to pay the last comer as much as I pay you. Have I no right to do what I like with my own? Why be envious because I am generous?” Thus the last will be first, and the first, last.’

DO NOT COMPARE BUT ACCEPT EVERYTHING GRACEFULLY

SCRIPTURE READINGS: JUDGES 9: 6-15; MT 20:1-16

When someone is feeling down, and he comes to us, what is the normal thing most of us would do?  We would try to console the person by asking him or her to think positive.  And the normal way to go about it is to ask the person to count his or her blessings.  But often we go beyond that and tell the person to compare his blessings with others.  Probably, we would give the example of the man who complained that he had no shoes until he walked out of his house and saw a man who had no legs. I used to advocate such an approach to suffering until one day I realized that there is a serious flaw in such kind of counsel.

It all began like this.  Some time ago, I was feeling depressed and so I turned to someone for consolation.  And this person gave me precisely this piece of advice.  I was told to think positive by looking at the blessings that I have, both in myself and in my ministry, compared with others in their situations.  In irritation, I retorted; “So in other words, my happiness is dependent on how much worse other people are compared to me.”  And so I can be happy only if another person is worse off than me!  But what if find someone who is better off than me? Does it mean that I will fall into depression again?

But such an attitude is very unchristian.  This is selfish competition.  Our happiness is therefore dependent on what we have that others have not.  If that were the case, we will always be discontented like those labourers in the vineyard.  The workers were disgruntled not because the employer was unjust but because those who worked less received more in their eyes.  Envy due to comparison was their real source of unhappiness.  It is the problem of the ego.

Against this kind of competition mentality and power-struggle, the parable teaches us the spirit of contentment.  Firstly, the parables teach us that everything is grace.  God has apportioned to each one of us whatever grace we need.  Secondly, happiness is ours only if we begin to enjoy and treasure what we already have and not compare ourselves with others.  The problem with us is that we want to compare ourselves with others.  Once we start comparing ourselves with others, we lose our happiness.  We begin to desire for things not for themselves but so that we can be better than our neighbours.  But God does not want us to compare!

That is why in the Gospel, Jesus tells us that for God, the first is last and the last, first.  Our happiness in life is not dependent on whether we are the first or the last.  Happiness is not dependent on how much or how little we have.  Rather, happiness in life is when we use whatever gifts God has given us fully, according to the situation in which we have been called.  We should avoid comparisons or else we will become bitter and resentful.

The first reading, on the parable of the king of trees, reminds us that when a good tree fails to answer the call to responsible service, the thorn bush takes over.  So, too, in our hearts, where true virtues do not rule our lives, less Christ-like attitudes surface.  Such competitive spirit not only will destroy our relationships with others but make us forever disgruntled in life.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore

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