20150928 JEALOUSY OF GOD VS THE JEALOUSY OF MAN
Readings at Mass
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First reading
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Zechariah 8:1-8 ©
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The word of the Lord
of Hosts was addressed to me as follows:
‘The Lord of Hosts
says this.
I am burning with
jealousy for Zion,
with great anger for
her sake.
‘The Lord of Hosts
says this.
I am coming back to
Zion
and shall dwell in
the middle of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem will be called
Faithful City
and the mountain of
the Lord of Hosts, the Holy Mountain.
‘The Lord of Hosts
says this.
Old men and old women
will again sit down
in the squares of
Jerusalem;
every one of them
staff in hand
because of their
great age.
And the squares of
the city will be full
of boys and girls
playing in the
squares.
‘The Lord of Hosts
says this.
If this seems a
miracle
to the remnant of
this people (in those days),
will it seem one to
me?
It is the Lord of
Hosts who speaks.
‘The Lord of Hosts
says this.
Now I am going to
save my people
from the countries of
the East
and from the
countries of the West.
I will bring them
back
to live inside
Jerusalem.
They shall be my
people
and I will be their
God
in faithfulness and
integrity.’
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Psalm
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Psalm
101:16-21,29,22-23 ©
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The Lord shall
build up Zion again and appear in all his glory.
The nations shall
fear the name of the Lord
and all
the earth’s kings your glory,
when the Lord shall
build up Zion again
and
appear in all his glory.
Then he will turn to
the prayers of the helpless;
he will
not despise their prayers.
The Lord shall
build up Zion again and appear in all his glory.
Let this be written
for ages to come
that a
people yet unborn may praise the Lord;
for the Lord leaned
down from his sanctuary on high.
He looked
down from heaven to the earth
that he might hear
the groans of the prisoners
and free
those condemned to die.
The Lord shall
build up Zion again and appear in all his glory.
The sons of your
servants shall dwell untroubled
and their
race shall endure before you
that the name of the
Lord may be proclaimed in Zion
and his
praise in the heart of Jerusalem,
when peoples and
kingdoms are gathered together
to pay
their homage to the Lord.
The Lord shall
build up Zion again and appear in all his glory.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Jn14:6
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Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the Way, the
Truth and the Life, says the Lord;
No one can come to
the Father except through me.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Mk10:45
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The Son of Man came
to serve
and to give his life
as a ransom for many.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 9:46-50 ©
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An argument started
between the disciples about which of them was the greatest. Jesus knew what
thoughts were going through their minds, and he took a little child and set him
by his side and then said to them, ‘Anyone who welcomes this little child in my
name welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For
the least among you all, that is the one who is great.’
John
spoke up. ‘Master,’ he said ‘we saw a man casting out devils in your name, and
because he is not with us we tried to stop him.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘You
must not stop him: anyone who is not against you is for you.’
JEALOUSY
OF GOD VS THE JEALOUSY OF MAN
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SCRIPTURE
READINGS: ZECH 8:1-8;
LK 9:46-50
Some of
us may find it disappointing that the Twelve were no better than us, because
they too were fighting for status. Their motives for serving the Lord
before the Resurrection were certainly less than selfless and pure. In
their minds, they imagined that serving the Lord would also bring them power
and glory, since Jesus as the Messiah would liberate Israel from their
political enemies. Perhaps we are no better than them, even for all the
claims that we love Jesus above all things; for the stark truth is that we love
Jesus as much as ourselves. And like the disciples, we all want to
be loved, known and be regarded as important people, which presumably entails
that we have power.
But
what we find unacceptable is their total lack of sensitivity to the feelings of
Jesus. He must have been rather saddened because in spite of all the
great things He had done, sending them out on a mission, giving them the same
power to heal and to cast out devils, followed by the miraculous multiplication
of the loaves for five thousand, and culminating in the revelation to Peter on
His identity as the Christ – yet the disciples did not consider that He was
pensive about His imminent death in Jerusalem. In spite of Jesus’
prophecies regarding His crucifixion, His disciples showed no concern or
sympathy for Him. If at all, Peter remonstrated against Him for making
such a prophecy, and it was because Peter had a vested interest. They
were fighting and seeking to be greater than the others, oblivious to Jesus’ state
of His mind and soul.
The
truth is that the disciples failed to recognize that greatness in God’s
understanding does not translate to power and glory. Power in the
world is associated with might and strength. This is what Jesus wants to
debunk by His death and crucifixion. In the eyes of God, power is service
and lowliness. To underscore the kind of power which can change their
lives and the world, Jesus used the example of children to symbolize those who
are truly great in the eyes of God. “He took a little child and set him by his
side and then said to them, ‘Anyone who welcomes this little child in my name
welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For
the least among you all, that is the one who is great.’” Only humble and
selfless service can transform lives.
The
consequence of desiring to be great is that we become competitive and
jealous. We see others as our enemies and are overwhelmed by the sin of
pride, envy and greed. We seek to destroy our competitors so that we can
portray ourselves as honorable and great in the eyes of the world. When
there is competition, there will be jealousy and protectionism. When the
sin of envy lives in us, it will be manifested in different ways.
As we read in the gospel, they were initially provoking each other into
jealousy by comparing themselves with each other. But as a group too,
they were jealous that others were doing the same work they were doing.
They could not accept that others outside of their circle were also performing
miracles in the name of Jesus. They wanted to limit the powers given to
them by Jesus only to themselves and did not want others to share in that
power, as their position, status, popularity and security would be
challenged. They were too blinded by their pride, thinking that they were
special as members of Jesus’ inner circle of disciples. They did not go
beyond their narrow confines of looking beyond their interests to that of the
spread of the gospel. Instead of recognizing others as partners sent by
God to help them in their mission, they tried to stop them.
Indeed,
because of jealousy, we too often hinder others from serving in our community
and in the Church. In the office, we see each one trying to outdo each
other, not for the sake of the organization, but for promotion and
self-interest. Instead of having people in the same organization working
together to ensure that the company grows in strength, members within the
organization seek to destroy, ridicule and put down each other even when they
are doing well. This kind of jealousy happens even within the Church,
unfortunately. The sin of envy lives in us, and we often fail to nurture
new leaders because the existing leaders are unable to let go of their
authority and power. Members are often jealous of each other because some are
given more important positions. Sometimes, we see rivalry among Church
organizations vying for more members and recognition. It is ironical that we
fail to affirm each other among ourselves as Christians. Jesus makes it
clear when He declared, “You must not stop him: anyone who is not against you
is for you.”
How
then can we overcome jealousy? We are called to recognize ourselves as
children, that is, those who are insignificant in the world. By placing a
child next to Himself, He wanted to remind the disciples that we are not
entitled to any rights, positions or privileges in this world. We should
therefore not aspire for such rights. Whatever we have are blessings from
the Lord, whether these are our talents, social status, wealth or
prestige. In seating the child next to Him, Jesus was dramatizing that
only those who are humble of heart are truly the greatest in the Kingdom of
Heaven, because these people do not forget their humble beginnings even when
they become successful. He who is humble will be compassionate towards
the weak and the underprivileged, and he will never become overly proud of his
achievements. Those who recognize their undeserved blessings tend to
share their time and resources with others generously, returning to the Lord
and His people what they have received.
Of
course, there are other reasons why greatness is associated with children, as
with for their docility, faith and sincerity. To become children in order
to enter the Kingdom of God entails that we adopt the attitudes of children,
not the attitudes of childishness but childlikeness. Like them, we are
called to trust in God just as children trust in their parents, to be docile
and always willing to learn and to grow. Most of all, children speak
their minds from the depths of their hearts and do not feel the need to bend
over backwards to please others. If you want to know the truth, ask the
children and they will tell you exactly as it is, whilst we adults try to
protect ourselves, especially when we have to be politically correct when
broaching sensitive issues. By being docile to the Holy Spirit, we come
to know ourselves and discover our imperfect motives in serving Him. By
our faith in Him, we will not succumb under pressure of any kind simply because
in sincerity, we continue to serve the Lord with whatever resources He has
given us, leaving success in His hands rather than ours. Through the
exercise of such virtues, we will be able to remain humble and forgiving even
towards those who are jealous of us, feeling with and for them, rather than
getting angry and becoming intolerant of their human weaknesses and insecurity.
Jesus
is our model of humility in service. He emptied Himself of His divinity
and assumed our humanity, taking the position of a slave to serve us until
death (Phil 2:7-8).
By stooping so low in the Incarnation and the crucifixion as dramatized in the
washing of feet at the Last Supper, Jesus behaved exactly like a
servant. Indeed, He came not to be served, but to serve (Mt 20:28).
In the
first reading too, we see the true meaning of jealousy, the kind that is
permitted by God. The prophet tells us, “The Lord of hosts says this. I
am burning with jealousy for Zion, with great anger for her sake”. Our
God is a jealous God not because He is insecure like us when we fear losing our
positions or someone whom we love. God is jealous of us not because
He fears that He might lose us and therefore He is in deficit, but because He
fears that if we lose Him, we will end up losing everything. If God
sought to bring the remnants back to Jerusalem, it was because He wanted to
restore them to their glory. The jealousy of God is unlike ours, as it is
defined by pure love, concern matched by faithfulness and integrity.
Hence, His jealousy for us makes Him watchful of us, because of His concern for
our well-being. So jealous is He for us that He would not even
spare His own Son to save us all.
Therefore
if we find ourselves jealous of others, we must imitate God’s jealousy and
transform our jealousy to one of love and protection of others’
interests. We must love them more than we love ourselves and desire their
good rather than ours. On the other hand, if ever we are victims of
prejudice and slander because of envy, we can take heart that God is with us.
And that so long as He is with us, He will ensure that we will
triumph eventually, because whatever we are doing is for His glory. This
is what the psalmist invites us. He said, “The Lord will build up Zion
again, and appear in all his glory. The nations shall revere your name, O
Lord, and all the kings of the earth your glory when the Lord has rebuilt Zion
and appeared in his glory; when he has regarded the prayer of the destitute and
not despised their prayer.”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh
Roman
Catholic Archbishop of Singapore
©
All Rights Reserved
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