20160109 REAL JOY OF A TRUE SERVANT OF GOD
First Reading 1John 5:14-21
14 Our fearlessness towards him consists in this, that if
we ask anything in accordance with his will he hears us.
15 And if we know that he listens to whatever we ask him,
we know that we already possess whatever we have asked of him.
16 If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that is not a deadly sin, he has only to pray, and God will give life to this brother -- provided that it is not a deadly sin.
There is sin that leads to death and I am not saying you must pray
about that.
17 Every kind of wickedness is sin, but not all sin leads to death.
18 We are well aware that no one who is a child of God sins, because he who was born from God protects him, and the Evil One has no hold over him.
19 We are well aware that we are from God, and the whole
world is in the power of the Evil One.
20 We are well aware also that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may
know the One who is true. We are in the One who is true as we are in his Son, Jesus Christ. He is
the true God and this is eternal life. Children, be on your guard
against false gods.
Psalms 149 :1-6,9
1 Alleluia! Sing a new song to Yahweh: his praise in the
assembly of the faithful!
2 Israel shall rejoice in its Maker, the children
of Zion delight in their king;
3 they shall dance in praise of his name, play to him on
tambourines and harp!
5 The faithful exult in glory, shout for joy as they
worship him,
6 praising God to the heights with their voices, a two-edged sword in
their hands,
9 to execute on them the judgement passed -- to the honour of all his faithful.
Gospel John 3:22-30
22 After this, Jesus went with his
disciples into the Judaean countryside and stayed with them there and baptised.
23 John also was baptising at Aenon near Salim, where there was plenty of water, and people
were going there and were being baptised.
24 For John
had not yet been put in prison.
25 Now a discussion arose between some of John's
disciples and a Jew about purification,
26 so they went to John
and said, 'Rabbi, the man who was with you on the far side of the Jordan, the man to whom you bore witness, is baptising now, and everyone
is going to him.'
27 John replied: 'No one can have anything except what is
given him from heaven.
28 'You yourselves can bear me out. I said, "I am
not the Christ; I am the one who has been sent to go in front of him."
29 'It is the bridegroom who has the bride; and yet the
bridegroom's friend, who stands there and listens to him, is filled with joy at
the bridegroom's voice. This is the joy I feel, and it is complete.
30 He must grow greater, I must grow less.
REAL JOY OF A TRUE SERVANT OF GOD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: 1 JOHN 5:14-21; PSALM 149:1-6,
9; JOHN 3:22-30
What is the basis of your joy in life? For those of
us who have already been enlightened, we know that it is not money, power or
status that can give us happiness in life. Indeed, it is only in
service, especially to the poor and our fellow brothers and sisters, that we
find meaning, purpose and fulfilment in life. It is a joy that the world
cannot give.
Yet, the old sin of Adam does not leave us so easily. This is
also true in the area of service to the poor, the church or to
humanity. Though our intentions are good and noble in wanting to
serve humanity, yet, the Old Sin of Adam, especially of pride and insecurity,
does not leave us in peace. More often than not, unconsciously we seek,
perhaps not material things like money, recognition and power. This
explains why even those who have given up their lives to serve God and humanity
are also very unhappy, priests and religious included. Why is joy lacking
in service to God and our fellowmen when we thought that service and charity
should bring us joy and freedom?
This is because unconsciously, although we think that we
are serving God freely, we are not that free. Our ego, masked desire for power
and control, our pride expressed in the need for success, to be appreciated and
recognized are still very much deeply seated in our hearts. This explains
why members often fight for positions, power and authority within the Church
and in NGOs as well. They seek the limelight and want to be recognized
for how gracious and generous they are. Some are rather insecure,
and want people to know that they have power, especially when they work closely
with the priests and religious. They need to let people know that they
have special access to them and wield influence over the priests and have power
over the members.
Consequently, they often labour with the view to see
success and tangible rewards. They are worried about what people
think of them. Their focus is more on themselves rather than the good of
everyone. As a result, such a competitive spirit breeds insecurity,
jealousy and envy. They only want things to happen their way. There
is no collaboration and often it is a dictatorial way of working, with lots of
manipulation of members to get their support. To make matters worse, they
destroy the credibility of other people or groups by gossiping.
This was exactly what happened with the disciples of John
the Baptist. They were envious that many were going to Jesus for baptism
instead of coming to John the Baptist. They felt threatened and insecure
by the fact that others were joining Jesus. And like our
parishioners, they will bring such matters to the ears of their leaders as
John’s disciples did, “Rabbi, the man who was with you on the far side of the
Jordan, the man to whom you bore witness, is baptising now; and everyone is
going to him.” The advice of St John is important. He said,
“Children, be on your guard against false gods.” Truly, we must be alert, for
these false gods continue to tempt us in new ways, often so subtle without our
conscious knowledge of our motivation.
Today, we have the shinning and exemplary leadership of
St John the Baptist. He showed himself to be a true leader and a disciple
of our Lord. His focus was clear. He knew his mission in
life. He came to accomplish his mission and then exit the
scene. He did not intend to relish in the limelight of his
mission. His job was not to promote himself but to prepare the people
for the coming of the Messiah. He was contented to be only a friend of
the bridegroom and not be the bride. He was ever ready to hand over
the baton to Christ when He arrived. John the Baptist never felt
threatened by the Lord. He was ready to bow out of the stage. In
fact, he was so delighted and happy that Jesus came because it meant his job
was done.
This requires great humility, which itself is a condition
for self-awareness. St John the Baptist knew himself. He did
not entertain any illusive grandeur of himself and what he could do. He
knew what was expected of him. He knew that all power and positions come
from God. It is not for us to decide but simply to take our lot in life
as He destined for us. His immediate reply from his heart to those
who were envious or would like him to be envious of Jesus was, “A man can lay
claim only to what is given him from heaven.” That was why, John
the Baptist never vied with Jesus for power or popularity. He was
conscious of his role in life. The last thing he sought for was power,
status or recognition. On the contrary, he said with great joy, “This
same joy I feel, and now it is complete. He must grow greater, I must grow
smaller.”
So what was the secret of the joy of St John the
Baptist?
Firstly, it was simply to be the friend of Jesus, the
bridegroom. All that St John the Baptist wanted was to be with Jesus,
to be in intimacy with Him. He was contended to play the second
fiddle, for he did not aspire to be His bride but only His friend.
Truly, if we have Jesus in our hearts and if we have
intimacy with Him, this is all we need. The joy of being
with Jesus in prayer, contemplation and basking in His love brings more than
enough joy to satisfy us. To have Jesus in our hearts is to share in His
sonship and in His relationship and communion with the Father. People
seek for things, fame and power in life only because they are insecure.
They need people’s recognition and praises to make them feel that they are good
enough to be loved. This explains why the world today is so bereft
of the presence of God. Facebook and blogging have become their new gods,
fulfilling their desperate need for praise, affirmation and
appreciation! It all boils down to low self-esteem and pride.
But for those of us who have found a true friend in life, we realize that all
these pursuit of power, office, positions and recognition are a social burden
rather than a help to us. Those in love do not need much to be happy,
only the company of each other.
What more if this person is our Lord! What great joy
would one have because only Christ, the bridegroom, can fill us with a joy and
love that the world cannot give? With Jesus, we are no more
insecure. He accepts us for what we are! He loves us even when we
are sinners. We do not need to buy or win His love. We do not need
to prove ourselves so that He would love us more since He has already loved us
completely without reservation. Nothing can make Him love us more. So
with Jesus, we are complete! Basking in His love is more than enough.
As the friend of Jesus, St John only wanted to please
Jesus, to make Him known and loved, to share in the joy of our Lord. He was
always so happy to know that Jesus was loved and recognized as the
messiah. He was delighted to fade out from the scene so that more
and more of his disciples could follow Jesus. With sincerity, he
encouraged his disciples, John and Andrew, to follow Jesus.
So the ultimate question we need to examine ourselves is
this, “Can you sincerely and truly be happy without recognition, power and
glory when we serve the Lord and His people?” This is the crux and the
litmus test of our sincerity to serve God and His people solely, for Him alone
and not for ourselves. If we could be happy without position and
equally feel loved, then we know that we are working for God not for
self. When one is totally disinterested in power and honour, one is truly
working for God.
Our real joy must simply be to be loved by Christ and
loving Him in return in the way He wants us to love Him, in the way He chooses
us to serve Him. In other words, whatever will make our Lord truly
happy, we will do because we seek to do His will and do everything for His
greater glory, not ours. Our joy is to see the Lord loved and be known
That is why John the Baptist could say, “He must grow
greater, I must grow smaller.” Is this our attitude in service as
well? Is our happiness dependent on whether we are seen to be
responsible for the growth of the organization we serve, or are we happy to see
the organization grow, regardless who sowed the seed or watered the
plant? Do we work in such a way that we prepare for our departure
and for the renewal of leadership? Are we already actively and
consciously seeking for new ones to take over from us even whilst we are in
service? Let us do what we are called to be. Once the work is done,
let us be content to be in the background and bask in the love and intimacy of
the Lord. Let our joy be found in Him alone and in loving His people.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic
Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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