20160224 ARE YOU READY TO DRINK THE CUP OF SERVICE?
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
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First reading
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Jeremiah
18:18-20 ©
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‘Come on,’ they said,
‘let us concoct a plot against Jeremiah; the priest will not run short of
instruction without him, nor the sage of advice, nor the prophet of the word.
Come on, let us hit at him with his own tongue; let us listen carefully to
every word he says.’
Listen to me, O Lord,
hear what my
adversaries are saying.
Should evil be
returned for good?
For they are digging
a pit for me.
Remember how I stood
in your presence
to plead on their
behalf,
to turn your wrath
away from them.
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Psalm
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Psalm
30:5-6,14-16 ©
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Save me in your
love, O Lord.
Release me from the
snares they have hidden
for you
are my refuge, Lord.
Into your hands I
commend my spirit.
It is you
who will redeem me, Lord.
Save me in your
love, O Lord.
I have heard the
slander of the crowd,
fear is
all around me,
as they plot together
against me,
as they
plan to take my life.
Save me in your
love, O Lord.
But as for me, I
trust in you, Lord;
I say:
‘You are my God.
My life is in your
hands, deliver me
from the
hands of those who hate me.’
Save me in your
love, O Lord.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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cf.Jn6:63,68
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Glory to you, O
Christ, you are the Word of God!
Your words are
spirit, Lord, and they are life;
you have the message
of eternal life.
Glory to you, O
Christ, you are the Word of God!
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Or
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Jn8:12
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Glory to you, O
Christ, you are the Word of God!
I am the light of the
world, says the Lord;
anyone who follows me
will have the light of life.
Glory to you, O
Christ, you are the Word of God!
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Gospel
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Matthew 20:17-28
©
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Jesus was going up to
Jerusalem, and on the way he took the Twelve to one side and said to them, ‘Now
we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man is about to be handed over to
the chief priests and scribes. They will condemn him to death and will hand him
over to the pagans to be mocked and scourged and crucified; and on the third
day he will rise again.’
Then the
mother of Zebedee’s sons came with her sons to make a request of him, and bowed
low; and he said to her, ‘What is it you want?’ She said to him, ‘Promise that
these two sons of mine may sit one at your right hand and the other at your
left in your kingdom.’ ‘You do not know what you are asking’ Jesus answered.
‘Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?’ They replied, ‘We can.’ ‘Very
well,’ he said ‘you shall drink my cup, but as for seats at my right hand and
my left, these are not mine to grant; they belong to those to whom they have
been allotted by my Father.’
When the
other ten heard this they were indignant with the two brothers. But Jesus
called them to him and said, ‘You know that among the pagans the rulers lord it
over them, and their great men make their authority felt. This is not to happen
among you. No; anyone who wants to be great among you must be your servant, and
anyone who wants to be first among you must be your slave, just as the Son of
Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for
many.’
ARE YOU
READY TO DRINK THE CUP OF SERVICE?
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: Jer 18:18-20;
Ps 30:5-6, 14-16; Mt 20:17-28
Giving
ourselves in service to the community, the Church or the country is indeed a
noble thing. We are
grateful that within the Christian community, many have offered themselves to
serve in the Church freely. Many men and women have given
themselves voluntarily to the call of priestly and religious vocations in the
Church. Many more of our faithful serve in the Church as volunteers,
full-time or part-time, whether in Church ministries or charitable
organizations. Yet not many know that even whilst giving ourselves in
service to the Church, there is a price to be paid, not just in terms of monetary
rewards but the need to drink the cup of service.
What
is this cup of service?
The cup in the bible is often referred to as the cup of wrath and the cup of
suffering. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane prayed, “Father, if thou art
willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but thine, be
done.” (Lk 22:42)
In the gospel reading today, Jesus asked the same question to James and John,
“Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?” This is the cup
of suffering, of rejection, humiliation and even death. This was what
Jeremiah went through himself. In the first reading, we read of the
oppositions against Him from the rulers and the authorities. They were
irritated and annoyed by His message. No one would stand a dissenting
voice. Jeremiah was seen as a nuisance. Jesus in the gospel
too warned His disciples the third time as He approached Jerusalem, “Now we are
going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man is about to be handed over to the
chief priests and scribes. They will condemn him to death and will hand him
over to the pagans to be mocked and scourged and crucified; and on the third
day he will rise again.” He would be unjustly condemned to
death. He would be humiliated by the soldiers and the crowd, stripped
naked and paraded. He would be physically tortured and disfigured.
Finally, He would die on the cross.
The
question is: are we ready to drink this cup of service? Unfortunately, we are all so blinded by
our ambition, subtle pride and self-confidence that like the apostles, we reply
without hesitation, “We can.” And Jesus would say to us, “Very
well, you shall drink my cup, but as for seats at my right hand and my left,
these are not mine to grant; they belong to those to whom they have been
allotted by my Father.” Being blind and ignorant to our real
motives in service to the Lord is the cause of much tragedy and pain. The
reality is that in wanting to serve the Lord and His people, the sin of pride
and self-centeredness will subtly manifest itself in the way we do things and
act. We pay lip-service that we want to serve God with humility and
selflessness, presumably, proven that we are working for the Church for free
and even if paid, we assume that we can get a better paid job with better
benefits and perks in the commercial world.
Yet,
when we read the undertones of how our clergy, religious and faithful talk, it
smacks of careerism even in Church ministry. When a priest is transferred to a smaller parish or
made as assistant priest, we would say that he is “demoted.” Conversely,
when he is given a bigger appointment, we say he is “promoted.”
Such terms used already reveal our unconscious perception of service. It
has to do with power, glory and honour. This is the same even in Church
organizations. We feel proud to be made chairman of the parish council or
some organizations. Much as we say that we are not interested in position
and power, we are not too willing to let go even when asked. Of course,
most of the time this is unconscious and many are not really aware of their
real feelings. Many of us in truth lack self-consciousness. We tend
to have an exaggerated notion of who we are, what we can do and how good we
are. There is arrogance in us. So we can understand why the
political and religious leaders could not accept Jeremiah, the prophets and
even Christ Himself.
However,
it is more than just power and glory that we seek, like James and John who wanted to be seated one
at “your right hand and the other at your left in your kingdom.” It
has to do with security and convenience. When we are in a place for a
long time, we will eventually find our niche. We become comfortable with
the environment, with the lifestyle, the people around us and the things we
do. So when we are removed from office, we suddenly feel that we have
lost control over the situation and our lives. We can no longer determine
our lives because others probably will have charge over us. Things might
change and most of us are not ready for change because we are creatures of
habit. So it is natural for people to react and defend their interests,
especially when the status quo is changed. We all need to have a sense of
security to live our lives in peace.
But
most of all, many of us are not ready for rejection and suffering in
service. We can
feel with Jeremiah when he cried to the Lord, “Listen to me Lord, hear what my
adversaries are saying. Should evil be returned for good? For they are digging
a pit for me. Remember how I stood in your presence to plead on their behalf,
to turn your wrath away from them.” We cannot but feel
misunderstood and angry that in spite of all that we do, presumably, without
self-interests for our people, we are being slandered, accused falsely and
unappreciated. The sense of injustice is felt deeply by those who
suffer under such circumstances. We cannot forgive and we bear resentment
in our hearts because we feel wronged, especially when that injustice comes
from people whom we love and trust. Indeed, I know many Church
workers and volunteers have left the Church or even given up their faith
because of perceived injustices and rejection by the Church.
How
do we respond to those who reject us in service? We retaliate, take
revenge, hit back at our enemies and seek to destroy them! Even Jeremiah was not that
compassionate and forgiving. Understandably, he reacted in anger and
disgust. Jeremiah prayed, “Therefore deliver up their children to
famine; give them over to the power of the sword, let their wives become
childless and widowed. May their men meet death by pestilence, their
youths be slain by the sword in battle.” (Jer 18:20f)
But
this was never the way of Jesus. He took the path of the Suffering
Servant of Isaiah.
He was like a lamb lead to the slaughter house, and before the shearers He kept
silent and did not open His mouth. Christ demonstrated to us the height of true
humble and selfless service. Instead of taking revenge and losing His
temper with His enemies or His foolish and insensitive apostles, He took all
these in stride. With the apostles who were certainly ambitious and
self-centered, He did not write them off completely for being so slow to learn
the demands of true service. Towards His enemies, Jesus forgave
them and made excuses for their ignorance and sins. He wanted to believe that
they were innocent and it was more out of ignorance that they misunderstood Him
as a lawbreaker, a heretic, a political rebel and instigator. He prayed for
them, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they were doing.”
As St
Peter urges us, we too must “Therefore let those who suffer according to
God’s will do right and entrust their souls to a faithful Creator.” (1 Pt 4:19) Like the
psalmist, we must pray to God and surrender all things to His holy will. “Save
me in your love, O Lord. Release me from the snares they have hidden for you
are my refuge, Lord. Into your hands I commend my spirit. It is you who will
redeem me, Lord. But as for me, I trust in you, Lord; I say: ‘You are my
God. My life is in your hands, deliver me from the hands of those who hate
me.” This then is the path of true service to the Lord and the way
to follow Jesus, by giving our “life as a ransom for many”.
In
the final analysis, we are reminded that we are called to be servants not just
to serve. We
must bear in mind, especially those who are leaders and in authority that their
authority invested in them is for humble and disinterested service, not
dominance or for one’s security and benefits. In the gospel, Jesus
reminds us that greatness lies in service. “You know that among
the pagans the rulers lord it over them, and their great men make their
authority felt. This is not to happen among you. No; anyone who wants to be
great among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants to be first among
you must be your slave, just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to
serve.” People admire great people who are powerful and influential, but
only love those who serve humbly, selflessly and generously. So if we are
servants, then we have no rights. We should be grateful to God that we
are given an opportunity to serve Him. Jesus taught us, “So you
also, when you have done all that is commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy
servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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