20160123 LOVING AND RESPECTING THE ANOINTED OF THE LORD
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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2 Samuel
1:1-4,11-12,17,19,23-27 ©
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David returned from
his rout of the Amalekites and spent two days in Ziklag. On the third day a man
came from the camp where Saul had been, his garments torn and earth on his
head. When he came to David, he fell to the ground and did homage. ‘Where do you
come from?’ David asked him. ‘I have escaped from the Israelite camp’ he said.
David said to him, ‘What happened? Tell me.’ He replied, ‘The people have fled
from the battlefield and many of them have fallen. Saul and his son Jonathan
are dead too.’
Then
David took hold of his garments and tore them, and all the men with him did the
same. They mourned and wept and fasted until the evening for Saul and his son
Jonathan, for the people of The Lord and for the House of Israel, because they
had fallen by the sword.
Then
David made this lament over Saul and his son Jonathan.
Alas, the glory of
Israel has been slain on your heights!
How did the heroes
fall?
Saul and Jonathan,
loved and lovely,
neither in life, nor
in death, were divided.
Swifter than eagles
were they,
stronger were they
than lions.
O daughters of
Israel, weep for Saul
who clothed you in
scarlet and fine linen,
who set brooches of
gold
on your garments.
How did the heroes
fall
in the thick of the
battle?
O Jonathan, in your
death I am stricken,
I am desolate for
you, Jonathan my brother.
Very dear to me you
were,
your love to me more
wonderful
than the love of a
woman.
How did the heroes
fall
and the battle armour
fail?
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Psalm
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Psalm 79:2-3,5-7
©
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Let your face
shine on us, O Lord, and we shall be saved.
O shepherd of Israel,
hear us,
you who
lead Joseph’s flock,
shine forth from your
cherubim throne
upon
Ephraim, Benjamin, Manasseh.
O Lord, rouse up your
might,
O Lord,
come to our help.
Let your face
shine on us, O Lord, and we shall be saved.
Lord God of hosts,
how long
will you
frown on your people’s plea?
You have fed them
with tears for their bread,
an
abundance of tears for their drink.
You have made us the
taunt of our neighbours,
our
enemies laugh us to scorn.
Let your face
shine on us, O Lord, and we shall be saved.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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2Co5:19
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Alleluia, alleluia!
God in Christ was
reconciling the world to himself,
and he has entrusted
to us the news that they are reconciled.
Alleluia!
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Or
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cf.Ac16:14
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O
Lord,
to accept the words
of your Son.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 3:20-21 ©
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Jesus went home, and
once more such a crowd collected that they could not even have a meal. When his
relatives heard of this, they set out to take charge of him, convinced he was
out of his mind.
LOVING
AND RESPECTING THE ANOINTED OF THE LORD
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: 2 SM 1:1-4. 11-12, 17, 19, 23-27; Ps 79:2-3, 5-7; Mk 3:20-21
The
scripture readings which we have been reading so far from the book of Samuel
underscore the need to be loyal and supportive of the Anointed of the Lord.
Who are the Anointed of the Lord? For us who are Catholic and
faith-believers, we believe that our Holy Father and his successors, the
bishops, are the Anointed leaders of the Lord, which is what the symbol of the
skull cap (zucchetto) is all about. Of course, by extension, in various
degrees, all of us, by virtue of our baptism are also the Anointed ones of
God. So, those who hold leadership in different categories would share in
the anointing of the Lord, for example, religious superiors, priests, even
civil and political leaders.
It is
easy to love our Anointed leaders if they are compassionate, kind,
understanding, selfless and humble in service, exercising mature, wise and firm
leadership. But how do we love and respect leaders who fail to
be exemplary in leadership, especially those who abuse their powers, are
unreasonable, discriminating, impartial, dictatorial and self-serving? Or
those we cannot agree with, even in fundamental principles? How do we
deal with them? Do we take things into our own hands? Do we
eliminate them?
In the
gospel today, we read of the rejection of Jesus as a leader. On
one hand, there was a growing popularity of Jesus. The crowd was
impressed by His teachings and excited about His miraculous powers to heal and
to exorcise. So many from all over would come to hear and see Jesus so
much so, as the gospel says, “such a crowd collected that they could not even
have a meal.” On the other hand, Jesus also faced a growing opposition
among the Jewish leaders who felt threatened by the ministry of Jesus.
They would have instigated the people to go against Him. Indeed, they
even falsely accused Him of being possessed by the devil. “The scribes
who had come down from Jerusalem were saying: ‘Beelzebul is in him’ and, ‘It is
through the prince of devils that he casts devils out.’” (Mk 3:22) Even some
of His relatives were not supportive of Jesus’ ministry. They did not
understand His identity and His mission. In fact, they thought He was
going crazy. St Mark noted, “When his relatives heard of this, they set
out to take charge of him, convinced he was out of his mind.”
In the
first reading, we read of the tragic death of Saul and Jonathan.
In spite of the fact that Saul was jealous of him because of his achievements
and success in the military expeditions, and attempted to kill him many times, David
remained firm in his love, support and loyalty to King Saul. Not
once, did David retaliate and sought to revenge himself against the injustices
he suffered from King Saul. Indeed, if anyone who had a right to kill
Saul, it would be David because he suffered much under him in spite of the many
things he did for him and the country. Instead of being repaid with
gratitude and appreciation, David had to flee the country. For many
years, he was playing hide and seek in the desert, away from Saul, and he lived
like a hunted man. This explains why he was staying in Ziklag, a
Philistine city, which was in the enemy’s territory, as he needed to take
refuge. He even had to submit himself and pretend to be friendly and
loyal to Achish, a Philistine ruler. (cf 1 Sm 27)
As we
read in the first reading yesterday, on one occasion, he had a great
opportunity to kill Saul and claim the crown, but he did not. In
fact, he only cut off the border of Saul’s cloak in order to prove his
sincerity that he had no malice or desire to kill Saul, or even to be
king. Even cutting off a corner of Saul’s royal cloak made him feel
guilty because he was conscious that Saul was the Lord’s anointed. He was
filled with remorse that he did such a thing of disrespect to King Saul.
“Afterwards
David reproached himself for having cut off the border of Saul’s cloak.
He said to his men, ‘The Lord preserves me from doing such a thing to my lord
and raising my hand against him, for he is the anointed of the Lord.’
David gave his men strict instructions, forbidding them to attack Saul.”
(2 Sm 24:6f)
Instead, he sought to reason out with Saul that he meant him no harm. He
had no secret aspirations to be king and was not a threat to his
kingship. He tried to make him see the truth. He said, “Why, your
own eyes have seen today how the Lord put you in my power in the cave and how I
refused to kill you, but spared you. ‘I will not raise my hand against my
Lord,’ I said, “’he is the anointed of the Lord.’ O my father, see, look
at the border of your cloak in my hand. Since I cut off the border of
your cloak, yet did not kill you, you must acknowledge frankly that there is
neither malice nor treason in my mind. I have not offended against you,
yet you hunt me down to take my life.”
So,
too, the disciples did not leave Jesus. They continued to stand by Him in
good and bad times.
They were there for Jesus, except when it came to the passion, out of fear for
their lives, they abandoned Him. Otherwise, they believed in Jesus even
if His own relatives and the Jewish leaders did not. They recognized Him as the
Lord’s Anointed, literally meaning, the Christ. What about us?
Where do we stand with respect to our leaders? What was the basis of
David’s firm support for Saul, regardless how bad the King was towards him?
The
first thing to remember is that David looked at King Saul through the eyes of
faith. As far as
David was concerned, Saul was the Lord’s Anointed. He was chosen by
God. He did not want to take authority into his own hands. Since
God chose him, only God could remove him. So he refused to take things
into his own hands, unlike many do today, through assassination or manipulation
in order to overthrow the legitimate leaders. David left the task
of dealing with King Saul to God as He saw fit. We might not like
our spiritual, civil and corporate leaders, but we must recognize the authority
of those who appointed them.
Only
those who appointed them can have the authority to remove them. If it is the elected
government, then it is the people. If he is a priest, then the bishop has
the authority. If he is the bishop, then it is the Pope. If he is
the Pope, then God must do it. In a nutshell, we do not undermine
rightful authority or usurp their powers. It does no one any good, but
only creates more chaos, division, suffering and even destruction of
lives. St Paul reminds us thus, “Let every person be subject to the
governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those
authorities that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore
whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist
will incur judgment.” (Rom 13:1f)
Secondly,
David focused on the goodness of Saul. He did not focus on his weaknesses. Indeed, he was
sincerely grieving when Saul was killed in the battle. “David took hold
of his garments and tore them, and all the men did the same.” His love
and respect for Saul could be seen in the poem he wrote, “Alas, the glory of
Israel has been slain on your heights! How did the heroes fall? Saul and
Jonathan, loved and lovely, neither in life, nor in death, were divided.
Swifter than eagles were they, stronger were they than lions. O daughters of
Israel, weep for Saul who clothed you in scarlet and fine linen, who set
brooches of gold on your garments. How did the heroes fall in the thick of the
battle?” David recognized the achievements and the strength of Saul as a king
and soldier.
Thirdly,
David did not focus on himself. He was thinking of Saul, Jonathan and the people of
Israel. He felt with them because Saul tried to be a good king. His
personal differences with King Saul were another matter. He had no
personal agenda against Saul. He knew how to separate personal feelings
from the larger reality. “They mourned and wept and fasted until the
evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, for the people of the Lord and for the
House of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.” David had every reason
to hate Saul, to take revenge or to hurt him. But he put aside his
personal grievances and pains and focused on the goodness of Saul
instead. Such was the magnanimity of David.
Most
of all, David had deep faith in God. He entrusted his entire life to the Lord. Although
he was anointed by Samuel to be King of Israel much earlier on, he did not rush
to assume his kingship. He was patient and ready to wait for the right
time. He knew that God would take care of everything. He did not have
to kill Saul. Instead, he was killed by his enemies in the battle. He did
not wish Saul evil, but God knew when Saul should be replaced. We must
therefore have a deep faith in God’s divine providence. God knows how and
when bad leaders should be removed. There is no need to plan and use
deceitful tactics to get things done. This was so in the case of the
Amalekite who tried to gain favour and reward from David, thinking that he was
bringing good news to Him, saying that he was killed by the enemies, when in
truth Saul was injured and took his own life. (Cf 1 Sm 31) We must be
honest and faithful to God and His Anointed. God knows what to do and
when to do if the leader does not repent and change.
Finally,
one last word for those of us who are leaders: we must realize the grave
responsibility we have in exercising our leadership well. If we are not
good stewards, what befell Saul will also befall us. God and nature have
their ways to deal with inept, selfish, inward-looking, and dictatorial,
egoistic, worldly and self-centered leaders. God will be our judge.
If we are not responsible, the consequences can be unimaginable. If we
conduct ourselves like Saul did, protective of our position, self-serving, and
discriminating; we will receive our just dessert in due time.
Leaders
must be like our Lord; passionate for His Father, for His people and deeply in
love with God and His people. Unless, like Jesus, we truly love God and His people more
than ourselves, we are not fit to govern or to rule. We must love
God above all things and when we do, we will love His people above
ourselves. Without a passionate love for God, just as David had for
God and for his good friend Jonathan, or Jesus’ love for us, we cannot live
enlightened lives for the service of God and His people. Let leaders fall
in love with the Lord before they can fall in love with their people, and so
govern them with compassion and wisdom.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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