20151009 HANDLING OUR CRITICS IN THE MINISTRY
Readings at Mass
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First reading
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Joel
1:13-15,2:1-2 ©
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Priests, put on
sackcloth and lament.
Ministers of the
altar, wail.
Come, pass the night
in sackcloth,
you ministers of my
God.
For the house of our
God has been deprived
of oblation and
libation.
Order a fast,
proclaim a solemn
assembly;
elders, call together
all the inhabitants
of the country
to the house of the
Lord your God.
Cry out to the Lord,
‘Oh, what a day!
For the day of the
Lord is near,
it comes as a
devastation from Shaddai.’
Sound the trumpet in
Zion,
give the alarm on my
holy mountain!
Let all the
inhabitants of the country tremble,
for the day of the
Lord is coming,
yes, it is near.
Day of darkness and
gloom,
day of cloud and
blackness.
Like the dawn there
spreads across the mountains
a vast and mighty
host,
such as has never
been before,
such as will never be
again
to the remotest ages.
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Psalm
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Psalm
9A:2-3,6,16,8-9 ©
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The Lord will
judge the world with justice.
I will praise you,
Lord, with all my heart;
I will
recount all your wonders.
I will rejoice in you
and be glad,
and sing
psalms to your name, O Most High.
The Lord will
judge the world with justice.
You have checked the
nations, destroyed the wicked;
you have
wiped out their name for ever and ever.
The nations have
fallen in the pit which they made,
their
feet caught in the snare they laid.
The Lord will
judge the world with justice.
But the Lord sits
enthroned for ever.
He has
set up his throne for judgement;
he will judge the
world with justice,
he will
judge the peoples with his truth.
The Lord will
judge the world with justice.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Jn10:27
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The sheep that belong
to me listen to my voice,
says the Lord,
I know them and they
follow me.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Jn12:31-32
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Now the prince of
this world is to be overthrown,
says the Lord.
And when I am lifted
up from the earth,
I shall draw all men
to myself.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 11:15-26 ©
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When Jesus had cast
out a devil, some of the people said, ‘It is through Beelzebul, the prince of
devils, that he casts out devils.’ Others asked him, as a test, for a sign from
heaven; but, knowing what they were thinking, he said to them, ‘Every kingdom
divided against itself is heading for ruin, and a household divided against
itself collapses. So too with Satan: if he is divided against himself, how can
his kingdom stand? – Since you assert that it is through Beelzebul that I
cast out devils. Now if it is through Beelzebul that I cast out devils, through
whom do your own experts cast them out? Let them be your judges then. But if it
is through the finger of God that I cast out devils, then know that the kingdom
of God has overtaken you. So long as a strong man fully armed guards his own
palace, his goods are undisturbed; but when someone stronger than he is attacks
and defeats him, the stronger man takes away all the weapons he relied on and
shares out his spoil.
‘He who
is not with me is against me; and he who does not gather with me scatters.
‘When
an unclean spirit goes out of a man it wanders through waterless country
looking for a place to rest, and not finding one it says, “I will go back to
the home I came from.” But on arrival, finding it swept and tidied, it then
goes off and brings seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in
and set up house there, so that the man ends up by being worse than he was
before.’
HANDLING
OUR CRITICS IN THE MINISTRY
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SCRIPTURE
READINGS: Joel 1:13-15;
2:1-2; Ps 9A: 2-3, 6, 16, 8-9; Lk 11:15-26
Many of
us would probably respond to Joel’s message of repentance by turning over a new
leaf so that the Day of the Lord, the day of punishment, will not catch up with
us. Upon our conversion, we will involve ourselves in doing good
works. Many of us think that living a good life and offering ourselves
for the service of the Church and of humanity would bring us much fulfillment
and happiness. We think that people will appreciate our services and be
grateful to us for giving our time and resources freely. Yet others may take a
pay cut, thinking that it would be a noble thing to sacrifice for the good of
others through service to God and humanity.
But to
our dismay and disappointment, we find ourselves no better off, as if from a
frying pan into the fire. Life in the ministry often is not much easier
than in the corporate world. In fact, it could be worse because at least
in the corporate world, there are strict rules of governance and best
practices. Most things are more professionally run and staff are
remunerated and recognized for their contributions. Working in charitable
organizations including the Church and Church organizations and ministries,
where financial resources are lacking, there are many constraints with regard
to manpower, remuneration and professionalism. Most operate on a
generosity basis. For those who wish to give their lives in service to
God and His people, we do not mind the sacrifices.
What we
cannot accept and tolerate is that often our services are not accepted
kindly. We face a lot of critics in whatever we do. When they are
not able to logically defend their charges, they resort to slander and
discrediting our character. Some slander us and impute low motives to our
good intentions. They call us names. They accuse us of things we
are not responsible for, or distort the facts and confuse others so that they
too will turn against us. Even in doing good, there will be some who will
oppose us in what we want to do. Often, there is a lack of cooperation
among the people we work with. Instead of working together, we find
ourselves working against each other. The general feeling is that we feel
unappreciated, especially by those in charge of us. Instead of listening
to our side of the story, often our superiors jump on every complaint and judge
us guilty without clarifying with us. When things are doing well, everyone
takes for granted the efficiency. But when things do wrong, they only
know how to point fingers and complain, but would not lift a finger to do
anything to help the situation.
If we
are feeling this way, misunderstood, ridiculed, maligned and unappreciated,
then we can identify with the Lord in His ministry as well. Christ
Himself was not always appreciated for what He said or did, even when He was
performing good works like healing the sick and exorcising those possessed by
the Evil One. In the gospel, the enemies of Jesus tried to discredit His
work and attribute His power of exorcism to His being in league with the prince
of devils. When they could not argue against Jesus and when reason failed
to win and convince, they resorted to malice, lies and falsehood. So when
we consider how Jesus faced much opposition from the authorities, especially
the religious leaders, we can imagine how much pain Jesus went through
Himself. He came to do good and to bring life and redemption. Instead,
the evil and selfish people not only opposed Him and His works and teachings
but sought to disgrace Him and confuse the ignorant people. And indeed,
some turned against Him because of the instigation of the religious leaders and
those opposed to Jesus because He was a threat to their status quo.
Jealousy, fear and resentment resulted in plots aimed at eradicating Jesus and
finally, their hatred for Jesus led to His crucifixion. So if our master
had gone down that road, we are not exempted.
How,
then, should we handle such malevolent critics in our ministry? Most
importantly, Jesus taught us not to retaliate without thinking through.
Most of us tend to react to criticisms by defending ourselves or, worse still,
using the same tactics as our accusers to destroy our opponents. We must
not allow our emotions to react in self-defense. Such spontaneous
vindictive acts will make matters worse and will also hurt ourselves.
What we
need to do is to be like Jesus in dealing with the criticisms on the logical
level. So when He was accused of being in league with the prince of
demons, He asked them, “Now if it is through Beelzebul that I cast out devils,
through whom do your own experts cast them out? Let them be your judges,
then.” A rational response to impulsive and emotional accusation is the
most appropriate response. We should deal with the facts; not respond to
the emotional outbursts. They require separate responses.
Otherwise, when we are muddle-headed and emotionally worked up, we will fall
into the same trap and that will hinder us from thinking through logically to
face the criticisms and suggest a reasonable response and solution.
Secondly,
we need to continue to do good and not get discouraged. If our conscience
is clear and we have searched our motives and considered their criticisms, we
must remain focused in doing what we have to do; even if we are criticized and
some react negatively towards us. Jesus warns us in the parable of the
idle soul how dangerous it is to allow our soul to be empty. This
man who had an unclean spirit cast out from him did not do anything good and
positive. As a consequence, upon returning and “finding it swept and
tidied, it then goes off and brings seven other spirits more wicked than
itself, and they go in and set up house there, so that the man ends up by being
worse than he was before.”
There
is no question of neutrality when it comes to evil and good. Jesus puts
it succinctly, “He who is not with me is against me; and he who does not gather
with me scatters.” Either you are for the kingdom of God or the Kingdom
of darkness. There is no question of being neutral. When we do not
fill our hearts with love and goodness, then evil will come to take that
place. It is not sufficient to guard against evil but we must
always fill our hearts and minds with good, noble and holy thoughts and
actions. As the idiom goes, “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.”
So the only way to stay out of evil is not to do nothing but to be proactive in
filling our lives with good thoughts and noble deeds.
Thirdly,
we need to stand with those who support us. Jesus said in the gospel,
“Every kingdom divided against itself is heading for ruin, and a household
divided against itself collapses.” Our greatest enemy cannot destroy us
if we do not stand alone. We need to fight this battle, not alone but
with others who are with us. That is why our greatest threat is never
from without, but it is from within. It is the traitors within the
Church, wolves wearing sheeps’ clothing who are distorting the teachings of the
Church, working with hidden agendas, often for their selfish interests, like
glory, power, status, recognition, wealth and a life of luxury and leading
others astray and destroying the Church. When the Church is divided,
especially among leaders and members, we cannot accomplish the mission of
Christ. Unity is strength.
Finally,
to withstand our critics, we must stand above all with Jesus. He said,
“But if it is through the finger of God that I cast out devils, then know that
the kingdom of God has overtaken you. So long as a strong man fully armed
guards his own palace, his goods are undisturbed; but when someone stronger
than he is attacks and defeats him, the stronger man takes away all the weapons
he relied on and shares out his spoil.” Jesus is that strongman in the
House of God. He will guard us and guide us. So against all
our detractors and opponents, we must turn to the Lord to seek strength,
consolation and wisdom. What is important at the end of the day is that
we must be sure that we are on the side of Jesus, fighting with Him and not
against Him. We must not allow our soul to remain sterile but be filled
with His Spirit instead. Abide in Him so that He can abide in us.
With
Him, we know that justice will prevail, as the psalmist says, “The Lord will
judge the world with justice. You have checked the nations, destroyed the
wicked; you have wiped out their name for ever and ever. The nations have
fallen in the pit which they made, their feet caught in the snare they laid.”
Indeed, we can defer everything to the judgment of God. We should not be
worried how the world judges us but how God judges us. His judgment is
fair and just. “But the Lord sits enthroned forever. He has
set up his throne for judgement; he will judge the world with justice, he will
judge the peoples with his truth.” This, too, was the warning of Joel to
his people who did not take heed of the message of repentance. The evil
will eventually destroy themselves and the just will be vindicated. St
James tells us, “Do not speak evil against one another, brethren. He that
speaks evil against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the
law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law
but a judge. There is one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save
and to destroy.” (Jms 4:11f)
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh
Roman
Catholic Archbishop of Singapore
©
All Rights Reserved
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