20160119 DISCERNMENT OF THE HEART
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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1 Samuel 16:1-13
©
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The Lord said to
Samuel, ‘How long will you go on mourning over Saul when I have rejected him as
king of Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of
Bethlehem, for I have chosen myself a king among his sons.’ Samuel replied,
‘How can I go? When Saul hears of it he will kill me.’ Then the Lord said,
‘Take a heifer with you and say, “I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.” Invite
Jesse to the sacrifice, and then I myself will tell you what you must do; you
must anoint to me the one I point out to you.’
Samuel
did what the Lord ordered and went to Bethlehem. The elders of the town came
trembling to meet him and asked, ‘Seer, have you come with good intentions
towards us?’ ‘Yes,’ he replied ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Purify
yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.’ He purified Jesse and his sons
and invited them to the sacrifice.
When they
arrived, he caught sight of Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the Lord’s anointed one
stands there before him’, but the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Take no notice of his appearance
or his height for I have rejected him; God does not see as man sees; man looks
at appearances but the Lord looks at the heart.’ Jesse then called Abinadab and
presented him to Samuel, who said, ‘The Lord has not chosen this one either.’
Jesse then presented Shammah, but Samuel said, ‘The Lord has not chosen this
one either.’ Jesse presented his seven sons to Samuel, but Samuel said to
Jesse, ‘The Lord has not chosen these.’ He then asked Jesse, ‘Are these all the
sons you have?’ He answered, ‘There is still one left, the youngest; he is out
looking after the sheep.’ Then Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Send for him; we will not
sit down to eat until he comes.’ Jesse had him sent for, a boy of fresh
complexion, with fine eyes and pleasant bearing. The Lord said, ‘Come, anoint
him, for this is the one.’ At this, Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed
him where he stood with his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord seized on
David and stayed with him from that day on. As for Samuel, he rose and went to
Ramah.
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Psalm
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Psalm
88:20-22,27-28 ©
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I have found
David, my servant.
Of old you spoke in a
vision.
To your
friends the prophets you said:
‘I have set the crown
on a warrior,
I have
exalted one chosen from the people.
I have found
David, my servant.
‘I have found David
my servant
and with
my holy oil anointed him.
My hand shall always
be with him
and my
arm shall make him strong.
I have found
David, my servant.
‘He will say to me:
“You are my father,
my God,
the rock who saves me.”
And I will make him
my first-born,
the
highest of the kings of the earth.’
I have found
David, my servant.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Ps118:18
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Open my eyes, O Lord,
that I may consider
the wonders of your
law.
Alleluia!
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Or
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cf.Ep1:17,18
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Alleluia, alleluia!
May the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ
enlighten the eyes of
our mind,
so that we can see
what hope his call holds for us.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 2:23-28 ©
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One sabbath day Jesus
happened to be taking a walk through the cornfields, and his disciples began to
pick ears of corn as they went along. And the Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why
are they doing something on the sabbath day that is forbidden?’ And he replied,
‘Did you never read what David did in his time of need when he and his
followers were hungry – how he went into the house of God when Abiathar
was high priest, and ate the loaves of offering which only the priests are
allowed to eat, and how he also gave some to the men with him?’
And
he said to them, ‘The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath; the
Son of Man is master even of the sabbath.’
DISCERNMENT
OF THE HEART
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: 1 SM 16:1-13; Ps 88:20-22,
27-28; MK 2:23-28
One
of the most difficult decisions in life is to find the right person. We all have to make decisions on
who to pick for our life partner, our confidante and trusted friends,
collaborators and leaders. Leaders, particularly, need to exercise great
prudence and discernment in choosing people to work with them.
Making the wrong choices can cause irreparable damage to both our personal and
public life. But it is not always easy to know who to choose or
employ. How do we choose our life partner, our friends, our collaborators
and leaders?
Unfortunately,
for most of us, our criteria are based on what we can see with our eyes. This is called judgment based on
external forum. We judge from external factors, namely, the impression
the person makes on us, his personality, his eloquence, his dressing, his
knowledge and skills. This is also what the world does. Today, we
have courses to help people to speak eloquently and convincingly; to help
people to dress up elegantly and to present oneself. The world is easily
impressed by looks, personality, knowledge and skills. For the world,
titles are important. The world judges by what you wear, the kind of car
you drive, the people you associate with, where you go and which restaurants
you eat at. So many people try to sell themselves via facebook and
you-tube. We are always taught to make an impression on our
listeners.
But
this judgment based on externals is what the scripture readings of today warn
us about. The
Lord told Samuel. “When they arrived, he caught sight of Eliab and
thought, ‘Surely the Lord’s anointed one stands there before him,’ but the Lord
said to Samuel, ‘Take no notice of his appearance or his height for I have
rejected him; God does not see as man sees; man looks at appearances but the
Lord looks at the heart.’” In the same way, the Lord defended His disciples
who were plucking the ears of the corn when they were walking through the
cornfields. “Did you never read what David did in his time of need when
he and his followers were hungry – how he went into the house of God when
Abiathar was high priest, and ate the loaves of offering which only the priests
are allowed to eat, and how he also gave some to the men with him?”
What
is more important is not simply the external qualities the person exhibits, but
the real character of the person. At the end of the day, our decision must be based on
the integrity and virtues of the person, such as generosity, compassion,
diligence, obedience, humility. This was the case in the selection of the
king in the first reading. The election of Saul turned out to be a poor choice
because of his deep insecurity and the need for attention and popularity.
His envy and jealousy destroyed him and made him lose perspective and judgement
of peoples and situation. Threatened by the popularity of David, instead
of ruling the kingdom, he became more anxious to protect his crown than to give
his time in serving the people.
Secondly,
in choosing, we need to discern the heart, which includes the person’s motives
for doing what he is doing. Motivation, besides character, is critical in selecting
the right person. Unless the person is rightly motivated, he will only work for
his interests and not ours. Such a person is self-serving, caring only
for his interests. He or she has no heart for us or for others. It
is all about himself, his needs, his desires, his ambition, his power and his
position. All others are just pawns for him to make use of to fulfill his
ambitions. Surely, that is not the kind of person, we want to choose for
our life partner, regardless how handsome he is, or beautiful she is!
Surely, that would not be the leader we want to have, regardless how smart and
intelligent he or she may be! Surely, that is not the kind of person we
want to have as a friend, for he or she will only want to make use of us!
This
is what Jesus is trying to teach us in today’s gospel when He remarked, “The Sabbath was
made for man, not man for the Sabbath; so the Son of Man is master even of the
Sabbath.” Jesus was speaking about the purpose of the
Sabbath. God does not need the Sabbath. He does not even need to
rest, or for us to render Him worship. God does not need affirmation and
love or attention, unlike King Saul, who was rejected by God and his
people. What is important is not the observance of the Sabbath Law to its
minute details, or speculating on what determines “work” on the Sabbath.
God does not mean us to be over scrupulous on what we can do or not do in order
to keep the Sabbath holy.
The
purpose of the Sabbath is made for man, so that he will know when to rest and
be with his family and most of all, to be connected with God who is the source
of life and all blessings. Otherwise, he can be so taken up by his work that either
he lacks rest or he forgets that life is more than achievements. Rather, life
is basically about building and treasuring our relationships, especially with
our loved ones and our fellowmen. Of course, the Sabbath primarily is to
remind us that the most foundational and fundamental relationship is our own
relationship with God. So, to keep the Sabbath holy by focusing on
God and our fellowmen and doing good, is what is intended by the Law. We
are not to squabble over the rules and parameters established by men with
respect to the observance of the Sabbath Law, or for that matter, all laws.
Nevertheless, they remain true guidelines to assess ourselves.
The
choice of David might go against the external criteria of the world. He was the youngest among the
children of Jesse. No one even thought of him. But God always
had His eyes on him. This is what the Lord said in the psalm. “Of
old you spoke in a vision. To your friends the prophets you said: ‘I have set
the crown on a warrior, I have exalted one chosen from the
people. I have found David my servant and with my holy oil anointed
him. My hand shall always be with him and my arm shall make him strong.” And I
will make him my first-born, the highest of the kings of the
earth.’” So when Samuel saw him, “a boy of fresh complexion, with fine
eyes and pleasant bearing. The Lord said, ‘Come, anoint him, for this is
the one.’ At this Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him where he
stood with his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord seized on David and stayed
with him from that day on.”
God
knew the heart of David.
He was a shepherd and God knew that David had a heart of love and compassion.
But He also knew he was weak. Nevertheless, he was also resourceful, as we see
later how he fought with the Philistines. He was also a very loyal
subject of King Saul, as we read later how, in spite of what Saul did to him
and even pursued him to kill him, yet, when given the opportunity, he never
retaliated. He was also a loyal friend to Jonathan, the son of
Saul. Most of all, he was humble and obedient to the Lord. He
was conscious that he was the servant of God. “He will say to me: “You
are my father, my God, the rock who saves me.” He was humble and contrite
when his faults were pointed out to him by the prophet Nathan. Such
was the character of the future king of Israel. Indeed, he became a true
shepherd after the heart of God, the great shepherd of Israel.
We,
too, must not be short-sighted. Parents, particularly, should not focus too much on the
academic and worldly achievements of your children. When we choose our
partners, friends or leaders to work with us, what is even more important than
all these human skills and achievements is their moral and spiritual
character! Those without integrity, generosity, compassion and honesty;
even if they are smart and intelligent, will not be of service to you, to the
Church or to society. They will end up serving themselves and their ego
at our expense. Like Saul, they will not be happy because they are insecure and
fearful. Only those who love God and serve their fellowmen humbly will find
life and joy.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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