20160120 MANAGING OPPOSITION
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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1 Samuel
17:32-33,37,40-51 ©
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David said to Saul,
‘Let no-one lose heart on his account; your servant will go and fight the
Philistine.’ But Saul answered David, ‘You cannot go and fight the Philistine;
you are only a boy and he has been a warrior from his youth.’
‘The Lord
who rescued me from the claws of lion and bear’ David said ‘will rescue me from
the power of this Philistine.’ Then Saul said to David, ‘Go, and the Lord be
with you!’
He took
his staff in his hand, picked five smooth stones from the river bed, put them
in his shepherd’s bag, in his pouch, and with his sling in his hand he went to
meet the Philistine. The Philistine, his shield-bearer in front of him, came
nearer and nearer to David; and the Philistine looked at David, and what he saw
filled him with scorn, because David was only a youth, a boy of fresh
complexion and pleasant bearing. The Philistine said to him, ‘Am I a dog for
you to come against me with sticks?’ And the Philistine cursed David by his
gods. The Philistine said to David, ‘Come over here and I will give your flesh
to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.’ But David answered the
Philistine, ‘You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come
against you in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel
that you have dared to insult. Today the Lord will deliver you into my hand and
I shall kill you; I will cut off your head, and this very day I will give your
dead body and the bodies of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the
wild beasts of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in
Israel, and that all this assembly may know that it is not by sword or by spear
that the Lord gives the victory, for the Lord is lord of the battle and he will
deliver you into our power.’
No sooner
had the Philistine started forward to confront David than David left the line
of battle and ran to meet the Philistine. Putting his hand in his bag, he took
out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead; the stone
penetrated his forehead and he fell on his face to the ground. Thus David
triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone and struck the
Philistine down and killed him. David had no sword in his hand. Then David ran
and, standing over the Philistine, seized his sword and drew it from the
scabbard, and with this he killed him, cutting off his head. The Philistines
saw that their champion was dead, and took to flight.
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Psalm
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Psalm
143:1-2,9-10 ©
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Blessed be the
Lord, my rock.
Blessed be the Lord,
my rock,
who
trains my arms for battle,
who
prepares my hands for war.
Blessed be the
Lord, my rock.
He is my love, my
fortress;
he is my
stronghold, my saviour
my shield, my place
of refuge.
He brings
peoples under my rule.
Blessed be the
Lord, my rock.
To you, O God, will I
sing a new song;
I will
play on the ten-stringed lute
to you who give kings
their victory,
who set
David your servant free.
Blessed be the
Lord, my rock.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Heb4:12
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The word of God is
something alive and active:
it can judge secret
emotions and thoughts.
Alleluia!
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Or
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cf.Mt4:23
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Jesus proclaimed the
Good News of the kingdom
and cured all kinds
of sickness among the people.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 3:1-6 ©
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Jesus
went again into a synagogue, and there was a man there who had a withered hand.
And they were watching him to see if he would cure him on the sabbath day,
hoping for something to use against him. He said to the man with the withered
hand, ‘Stand up out in the middle!’ Then he said to them, ‘Is it against the
law on the sabbath day to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to kill?’
But they said nothing. Then, grieved to find them so obstinate, he looked
angrily round at them, and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He
stretched it out and his hand was better. The Pharisees went out and at once
began to plot with the Herodians against him, discussing how to destroy him.
MANAGING
OPPOSITION
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: 1SM 17:32-33. 37. 40-51; PS 143:1-2, 9-10; MK 3:1-6
We
all have our critics, opponents, slanderers, detractors and enemies in life. No one is exempted, especially
when you are a leader. Even the Holy Father has many critics. He
has many fans and supporters, but there are also many people, including
conservative and traditional Catholics, who are opposed to his teachings and
the direction he is taking for the Church. As Archbishop, I too have my
fair share of critics, from within and from without. Dealing with those
who oppose us can be frustrating and energy sapping. That is why in
politics and in business there is much scheming, lobbying, manipulating and
strategizing how to overcome one’s competitors and enemies. In fact, such
politicking drains our energy and leave with us little time to do our work and
get on with the tasks we are supposed to accomplish. Such people are often very
destructive, divisive and vindictive. Yet, these people need to be managed
carefully, because they destroy or hinder us from accomplishing what we are
trying to build. So how should we deal with the resistance of our cynics,
disparagers, sceptics and oppositions?
Firstly,
we must be aware of our human emotions and immediate reactions. In the gospel, Jesus, even whilst
trying to do good by healing and exorcising, was often confronted by the
hostile religious leaders who sought to get rid of Him, or were ever ready to
find fault with Him. We read in the gospel, that “they were watching him
to see if he would cure him on the Sabbath day, hoping for something to use
against him” and they would “plot with the Herodians against him, discussing
how to destroy him.” In the face of opposition, Jesus was “grieved
to find them so obstinate” and “he looked angrily round at
them.” We can imagine the frustration of Jesus, the anger at their
inflexibility, rigidity and insensitivity to the sufferings of others.
For Jesus, it was so clear that someone was suffering and therefore needed to
be healed as soon as possible. The Jewish leaders instead were squabbling
over laws and traditions.
Secondly,
we must be aware of where our anger is coming from. It is not wrong to get
angry, but as St Paul said, we must not sin. He wrote, “Be angry but do
not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity
to the devil.” (Eph 4:26f)
So the anger Jesus felt for His enemies was that of a holy anger, because it
was not directed at their persons per se, but at their callous attitude towards
the man who was suffering; their stubbornness at not letting go; and their
pride in wanting to maintain their theological position. Yet, it must be noted
that the evangelist recorded that Jesus was not only angry but He was grieved,
that is to say, He felt sad for His enemies, and sadder still that they were
preventing the performance of good works on the Sabbath, and that their
cold-heartedness caused those who were in distress to prolong their
pain. Being aware of the cause of our anger is important; as St
Paul says, otherwise that anger will permit the devil to have access into our
faculties.
In
the case of the Jewish leaders, their anger originated not from compassion but
from pride, envy, insecurity and anger. They were too proud to admit that Jesus was right
in breaking the Sabbath Law for the greater good of the people. Indeed,
their total silence to the Jesus’ question of whether it was “against the law
on the Sabbath day to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to kill?” shows
that they knew the truth but were not willing to admit it. They could not
retort because the truth prevails. Because they felt threatened by Jesus,
and humiliated by Him because their falsehood was exposed, they became
reactive, resentful, angry and vindictive. This, too, was the same
mistake of the Philistine warrior. He was too full of himself,
presumptuous, so proud of his strength, physique and military might that he was
unprepared to meet David when he was confronted in an unconventional battle.
Jesus
had the right disposition towards His enemies, and that accounted for His
firmness and clarity of mind. He did not respond to the defamations and scheming tactics of
His opponents. His only concern was the suffering of the man with the
shriveled hand. Jesus could identify with the man in his suffering,
shame and limitations. We can be sure that if we were the man, we would
have been rather ashamed of the state of our withered hand, which no doubt
would have attracted unwelcome attention from others. So the reaction of
Jesus was prompt and spontaneous. But Jesus was equally compassionate
with those who opposed Him, because He knew that they were ignorant, closed in
their minds and hardened in their hearts to see the truth. The anger of
Jesus was out of compassion; not out of spite. Because His conscience was
clear that He was doing the right thing, He was fearless in dismissing the
objections of His opponents.
So,
too, was David.
His motive was clear. He took up the challenge, not for his own glory
and honour but for his country, king and people. All he wanted to do
was to be loyal to his King, to serve him and his people. But David
knew his limitations. He had nothing to boast about himself. As
King Saul said to him when he volunteered to fight against the Philistine, “You
cannot go and fight the Philistine; you are only a boy and he has been a
warrior from his youth.” Even the Philistine, upon seeing him, was
“filled… with scorn, because David was only a youth, a boy of fresh complexion
and pleasant bearing.” Insulted that he was fighting a boy, he
remarked, “Am I a dog for you to come against me with sticks? Come
over here and I will give your flesh to birds of the air and beasts of the
field.”
However,
David knew that his strength and victory would not come from himself but from
the power of God.
He was humble enough to acknowledge and trust in the power of God to deliver
him from the Philistine, as he said to King Saul, “The Lord who rescued me from
the claws of lion and bear, will rescue me from the power of this
Philistine.” David said the same thing to the Philistine at the battle
ground. “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come
against you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel
that you have dared to insult. Today the Lord will deliver you into my
hand and I shall kill you; I will cut off your head, and this very day I will
give your dead body and the bodies of the Philistine army to the birds of the
air and the wild beasts of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there
is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that it is not by sword
or by spear that the Lord gives the victory, for he is lord of the battle and
he will deliver you into our power.” Such was the faith of David in the
power of the Lord. He did not pride himself for being so resourceful and
creative in strategizing his fight with the Philistine. He recognized
that victory belonged to the Lord, and he attributed everything to the power
and mercy of God.
Consequently,
in the face of our enemies, we, too, need to search our motives in defending
what we are doing.
We must be clear that whatever we do, we do so for the glory of God, the
greater good of our people whom we serve and not for ourselves, our glory or
for our self-interests. The truth is that the real enemy is never from
without but from within. We are our worst enemies. We will destroy
ourselves, like the Jewish leaders, if our objections are self-centered and
revengeful. In trying to prevent others from living and have life, we
will first and foremost destroy our own lives.
So,
like Jesus and David, our motives must be truly for the service of God and our
fellowmen. There
must be no self-interests to gain, no ambition or achievements for
ourselves. When we are totally altruistic, we have nothing to lose.
Only then, can we act with confidence and dignity before our enemies.
Most of all, like David, we do everything for the glory of God, to make known
His power and mercy. Like David, we must give all glory to God. We
are only humble servants of God. Without Him and His grace and mercy, we
are only weaklings. With the psalmist we say, “He is my love, my fortress; my
savior, my shield.”
Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore
© All Rights Reserved
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