20170211 FACING OUR INADEQUACIES BY TURNING TO JESUS
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
|
First reading
|
Genesis 3:9-24 ©
|
The Lord God called
to the man. ‘Where are you?’ he asked. ‘I heard the sound of you in the
garden;’ he replied ‘I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.’ ‘Who told you
that you were naked?’ he asked ‘Have you been eating of the tree I forbade you
to eat?’ The man replied, ‘It was the woman you put with me; she gave me the
fruit, and I ate it.’ Then the Lord God asked the woman, ‘What is this you have
done?’ The woman replied, ‘The serpent tempted me and I ate.’
Then the
Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this,
‘Be accursed beyond all
cattle,
all wild beasts.
You shall crawl on
your belly and eat dust
every day of your
life.
I will make you
enemies of each other:
you and the woman,
your offspring and
her offspring.
It will crush your
head
and you will strike
its heel.’
To the woman he said:
‘I will multiply your
pains in childbearing,
you shall give birth
to your children in pain.
Your yearning shall
be for your husband,
yet he will lord it
over you.’
To the man he said,
‘Because you listened to the voice of your wife and ate from the tree of which
I had forbidden you to eat,
‘Accursed be the soil
because of you.
With suffering shall
you get your food from it
every day of your
life.
It shall yield you
brambles and thistles,
and you shall eat
wild plants.
With sweat on your
brow
shall you eat your
bread,
until you return to
the soil,
as you were taken
from it.
For dust you are
and to dust you shall
return.’
The man named his
wife ‘Eve’ because she was the mother of all those who live. The Lord God made
clothes out of skins for the man and his wife, and they put them on. Then the
Lord God said, ‘See, the man has become like one of us, with his knowledge of
good and evil. He must not be allowed to stretch his hand out next and pick
from the tree of life also, and eat some and live for ever.’ So the Lord God
expelled him from the garden of Eden, to till the soil from which he had been
taken. He banished the man, and in front of the garden of Eden he posted the
cherubs, and the flame of a flashing sword, to guard the way to the tree of
life.
|
Responsorial
Psalm
|
|
Psalm
89(90):2-6,12-13 ©
|
O Lord, you have
been our refuge from one generation to the next.
Before the mountains
were born
or the
earth or the world brought forth,
you are
God, without beginning or end.
O Lord, you have
been our refuge from one generation to the next.
You turn men back to
dust
and say:
‘Go back, sons of men.’
To your eyes a
thousand years
are like
yesterday, come and gone,
no more
than a watch in the night.
O Lord, you have
been our refuge from one generation to the next.
You sweep men away
like a dream,
like the
grass which springs up in the morning.
In the morning it
springs up and flowers:
by
evening it withers and fades.
O Lord, you have
been our refuge from one generation to the next.
Make us know the
shortness of our life
that we
may gain wisdom of heart.
Lord, relent! Is your
anger for ever?
Show pity
to your servants.
O Lord, you have
been our refuge from one generation to the next.
|
Gospel
Acclamation
|
Mt4:4
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
Man does not live on
bread alone,
but on every word
that comes from the mouth of God.
Alleluia!
|
Gospel
|
Mark 8:1-10 ©
|
A
great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat. So Jesus called his
disciples to him and said to them, ‘I feel sorry for all these people; they
have been with me for three days now and have nothing to eat. If I send them
off home hungry they will collapse on the way; some have come a great
distance.’ His disciples replied, ‘Where could anyone get bread to feed these
people in a deserted place like this?’ He asked them, ‘How many loaves have
you?’ ‘Seven’ they said. Then he instructed the crowd to sit down on the
ground, and he took the seven loaves, and after giving thanks he broke them and
handed them to his disciples to distribute; and they distributed them among the
crowd. They had a few small fish as well, and over these he said a blessing and
ordered them to be distributed also. They ate as much as they wanted, and they
collected seven basketfuls of the scraps left over. Now there had been about
four thousand people. He sent them away and immediately, getting into the boat
with his disciples, went to the region of Dalmanutha.
FACING
OUR INADEQUACIES BY TURNING TO JESUS
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ GEN 3:9-24; MARK 8:1-10 ]
“A
great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat. So Jesus called his
disciples to him and said to them, ‘I feel sorry for all these people; they
have been with me for three days now and have nothing to eat.” As a
priest I can easily identify myself with Jesus. Indeed, day in and day
out, I receive one request after another for assistance. Some are
thirsting for knowledge; others for understanding, still others for healing and
restoration of relationships. Others still, are under some kind of bondage,
spiritual or emotional, especially unforgiveness. Many are lost, confused and
are on the verge of giving up on their lives. Then there are those who
are coping with grief, failures and disappointments. More often than not,
I feel totally inadequate to meet the numerous demands that come from every
quarter of life, mostly due to time constraint, or sometimes due to
helplessness, as they are beyond my competency.
I have
no doubt that all of us, regardless, whether we are priests or lay, have many
demands placed on us. Those of us in the service industry, social work,
or are caregivers will surely understand the stress in serving those who come
to us for help. Even parents get upset with their children when they are
unable to satisfy their unending requests. Conversely, some of us are
upset with our parents, especially when they make unreasonable demands on us.
Deep in our hearts, we want to serve and fulfill their requests, but we too
feel so powerless. As a consequence, some of us end up suffering burnout
in our ministry. We lose zeal or hope, and give up completely on those
people whom we are serving.
If you are feeling helpless
and inadequate, then at least, there is hope. This was how the disciples
felt when Jesus told them, “If I send them off home hungry they will collapse
on the way; some have come a great distance.’ His disciples replied, ‘Where
could anyone get bread to feed these people in a deserted place like this?’”
They too were exasperated when Jesus hinted that they should provide the food
for the four thousand. Perhaps Jesus wanted to stretch His
disciples to the point of desperation so that they will turn to Him.
Why does Jesus want us to
come to our limits? This is a necessary step in order for one to come to
Jesus, the Good Shepherd. So long as we think we can solve the problems
on our own, we will rely only on our own strength and ingenuity. This was
what happened to Adam and Eve. They wanted to be like God without
depending on God, and thus fell into the devil’s deception by partaking of the
fruit from the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They wanted full
autonomy without founding their autonomy on God who is the source of our
freedom. Unfortunately, instead of recognizing their folly and acknowledging
their failure, they put the blame on someone else. Adam placed the blame
on the woman saying, “It was the woman you put with me; she gave me the fruit,
and I ate it.” He refused to take any blame. The woman in
turn pushed the guilt to the serpent, saying, “‘The serpent tempted me and I
ate.”
Pride prevented them for
acknowledging their inadequacies. What about us? Are we ready to
admit that we are sinners and that we are nothing before the majesty of
God? This is how the psalmist felt before the greatness of God. He
said, “Before the mountains were begotten and the earth and the world were
brought forth, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. You turn man back
to dust, saying, ‘Return, O children of men.’ For a thousand years in your
sight are as yesterday, now that it is past, or as a watch of the night.
You make an end of them in their sleep; the next morning they are like the
changing grass, which at dawn springs up anew, but by evening wilts and
fades.” Truly, we are nothing before the majesty of God.
Perhaps,
the punishments meted to Adam and Eve who sought to usurp the position of God
was meant to put them in their place. To the serpent, God told him
that he will ultimately lose the battle. He said, “I will make you enemies of
each other: You and the woman, your offspring and her offspring. It will
crush your head and you will strike its heel.’ Hence, the power of Satan
is limited. And to the woman who wanted to be the Lord, this will be the
consequence, “I will multiply your pains in childbearing, you shall give birth
to your children in pain. Your yearning shall be for your husband, yet he will
lord it over you.” And finally to the man, God said, “Accursed be the soil
because of you. With suffering shall you get your food from it every day of
your life. It shall yield you brambles and thistles, and you shall eat
wild plants. With sweat on your brow shall you eat your bread, until you return
to the soil, as you were taken from it. For dust you are and to dust you shall
return.” Yes, as the psalmist says, “Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart. Return, O Lord! How long? Have pity on your
servants!” Sufferings and straits in life are meant to remind us that we are
not gods. We are not omnipotent, nor the creator of our lives.
Unless we know our limitations, God will not help us.
But
once we acknowledge our dependence on the Lord and in humility turn to Him for
help, like the crowd in the gospel, then Jesus as the Good Shepherd will reach
out to us. When asking His disciples to feed the crowd, Jesus knew that
only He could do it. Indeed, it is impossible to fulfill the requests of
so many people in our lives. We cannot accede to everyone’s needs.
For this reason, we must humbly admit with the disciples that on our own
strength alone, we cannot feed the multitude of hungry people. Only Jesus
who is the Good Shepherd can do it.
So what must we do? Instead
of deceiving ourselves into thinking that we are the saviour of the world, we
must recognize that we are only messengers of Christ. What we must do is
to direct people to Jesus, not to ourselves. Jesus would be able to
multiply the seven loaves for the four thousand. When we give Jesus,
especially the Eucharist and the Word of God, He will personally satisfy them
and feed them with His Word and the Bread of life. Indeed, we must not
underestimate the power of the Eucharist and the Word of God in changing
peoples’ lives and empowering them to find a solution to their struggles and
problems. We might not be able to solve everyone’s problems but if we
pray for them and bring their problems to the Lord, He will know how to reach out
to them. He will somehow give Himself to them through the Eucharist, the
Word of God or through others.
Of
course, it does not mean that we do nothing, but like the disciples, we must do
all we can with the resources given to us. Like the disciples, we
need to present the loaves to Jesus and let Him make use of them in whatever
ways He deems fit. Yes, if we only surrender our resources, our strength,
our mind and will to Jesus, He will use them efficaciously for the good of our
brothers and sisters. We are not the Good Shepherd, but shepherds after
His own heart. So let us do all we can on our part, but let us leave the
rest to Jesus who knows better than we do as to how to satisfy the hungry and
lonely hearts of every human person.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights
Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment