20170708
RECEPTIVITY TO THE MYSTERY OF GOD’S PLAN
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Genesis 27:1-5,15-29 ©
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Isaac had grown old, and his eyes were so weak that he could no
longer see. He summoned his elder son Esau, ‘My son!’ he said to him, and the
latter answered, ‘I am here.’ Then he said, ‘See, I am old and do not know when
I may die. Now take your weapons, your quiver and bow; go out into the country
and hunt me some game. Make me the kind of savoury I like and bring it to me,
so that I may eat, and give you my blessing before I die.’
Rebekah
happened to be listening while Isaac was talking to his son Esau. So when Esau
went into the country to hunt game for his father, Rebekah took her elder son
Esau’s best clothes, which she had in the house, and dressed her younger son
Jacob in them, covering his arms and the smooth part of his neck with the skins
of the kids. Then she handed the savoury and the bread she had made to her son
Jacob.
He presented
himself before his father and said, ‘Father.’ ‘I am here;’ was the reply ‘who
are you, my son?’ Jacob said to his father, ‘I am Esau your first-born; I have
done as you told me. Please get up and take your place and eat the game I have
brought and then give me your blessing.’ Isaac said to his son, ‘How quickly
you found it, my son!’ ‘It was the Lord your God’ he answered ‘who put it in my
path.’ Isaac said to Jacob, ‘Come here, then, and let me touch you, my son, to
know if you are my son Esau or not.’ Jacob came close to his father Isaac, who
touched him and said, ‘The voice is Jacob’s voice but the arms are the arms of
Esau!’ He did not recognise him, for his arms were hairy like his brother
Esau’s, and so he blessed him. He said, ‘Are you really my son Esau?’ And he
replied, ‘I am.’ Isaac said, ‘Bring it here that I may eat the game my son has
brought, and so may give you my blessing.’ He brought it to him and he ate; he
offered him wine, and he drank. His father Isaac said to him, ‘Come closer, and
kiss me, my son.’ He went closer and kissed his father, who smelled the smell
of his clothes.
He blessed
him, saying:
‘Yes, the smell of my son
is like the smell of a fertile field blessed by the Lord.
May God give you
dew from heaven,
and the richness of the earth,
abundance of grain and wine!
May nations serve you
and peoples bow down before you!
Be master of your brothers;
may the sons of your mother bow down before you!
Cursed be he who curses you;
blessed be he who blesses you!’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 134(135):1-6 ©
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Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good.
or
Alleluia!
Praise the name of the Lord,
praise him, servants of the Lord,
who stand in the house of the Lord
in the courts of the house of our God.
Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good.
or
Alleluia!
Praise the Lord for the Lord is good.
Sing a psalm to his name for he is loving.
For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself
and Israel for his own possession.
Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good.
or
Alleluia!
For I know the Lord is great,
that our Lord is high above all gods.
The Lord does whatever he wills,
in heaven, on earth, in the seas.
Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good.
or
Alleluia!
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Gospel Acclamation
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Ps118:135
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Let your face shine on your servant,
and teach me your decrees.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Jn10:27
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice,
says the Lord,
I know them and they follow me.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 9:14-17 ©
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John’s disciples came to him and said, ‘Why is it that we and the
Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?’ Jesus replied, ‘Surely the
bridegroom’s attendants would never think of mourning as long as the bridegroom
is still with them? But the time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away
from them, and then they will fast. No one puts a piece of unshrunken cloth on to
an old cloak, because the patch pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets
worse. Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; if they do, the skins
burst, the wine runs out, and the skins are lost. No; they put new wine into
fresh skins and both are preserved.’
RECEPTIVITY TO THE MYSTERY OF GOD’S PLAN
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ GN 27:1-5. 15-29; Ps 134:1-6; Mt 9:14-17 ]
Sometimes, we
are not happy with our lives. We wish it could be otherwise. We are not
satisfied with our career, our academic achievements or with our status in
life. We are unhappy with the state our of life. Why did the boss
not choose us when we are much better for a position or an office. We
feel that we can do a better job. Why did the person get promoted over
me, or honored, when I am more senior in age and experience. Worse
still, when we feel the person chosen is not the right one for the job.
We fall into the sin of envy. We become resentful of God.
We fail to
realize that God’s plan is a mystery. We will never understand His plan for us. His
election of us is free. He alone decides what He wills for us. It
is not for us to argue with Him or question His choice of leaders and our lot
in life. As the psalmist says, “Praise the Lord for the Lord is
good. Sing a psalm to his name for he is loving. For the Lord has chosen
Jacob for himself and Israel for his own possession. For I know the Lord
is great, that our Lord is high above all gods. The Lord does whatever he
wills, in heaven, on earth, in the seas.”
We see the
marvelous and incomprehensible plan of God in the history of salvation. For example, why did God
prefer Abel’s offerings over that of Cain’s? As a result, Cain became jealous
of Abel and ended up killing him. (Cf Gn 4:1-16)
Or again, why did God choose Isaac over Ishmael? (Cf Gn 16:1-15).
Humanly speaking, Abraham thought that since his wife, Sarah, was childless,
the only way way to realize the promise of God for descendants was to take
Hagar, the slave-girl of Sarah. Again, in today’s first reading, we read
how Rebekah tricked Isaac into bestowing his blessing upon Jacob when Esau had
the birthright. The mother and son were so cunning in manipulating the
situation to their interest. Humanly, we say it is not fair.
There was injustice and a lack of fair play. The blessing should have
been given to Esau, being the first-born.
But God had
different plans. God writes straight in crooked lines. He does not go
according to our plan. He does not follow man’s plan. Abraham thought it
was Ishmael that would be his descendant to carry on the family line.
Isaac thought it was Esau, whom he loved, who should be given the honor, since
he was the first born. Man can manipulate the situation but God’s
plan will unfold accordingly. Nothing can thwart the plan of God.
His ways are more powerful than man’s manipulation. His ways are beyond
man’s ways. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my
ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my
ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isa 55:8f)
St Paul, contemplating on the role of Israel in our salvation said, “As regards
the gospel they are enemies of God for your sake; but as regards election they
are beloved, for the sake of their ancestors; for the gifts and the calling of
God are irrevocable. Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now
received mercy because of their disobedience, so they have now been disobedient
in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy. For
God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.
O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are
his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ‘For who has known the mind
of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift
to him, to receive a gift in return?’ For from him and through him and to him
are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.” (Rom 11:28-36)
In the
Gospel, Jesus asks us to flow with God’s plan. We must not hinder the
plan of God in our lives. We must instead dance with the Lord in
everything. This is the meaning of today’s parable. When “John’s
disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast,
but your disciples do not?’ He replied, ‘Surely the bridegroom’s attendants
would never think of mourning as long as the bridegroom is still with
them? But the time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away from
them, and then they will fast. No one puts a piece of unshrunken cloth on
to an old cloak, because the patch pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets
worse. Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; if they do, the
skins burst, the wine runs out, and the skins are lost. No; they put new
wine into fresh skins and both are preserved.'” In other words, we must
be consistent with the mystery of God’s plan. We fast only when the Lord
is taken away. We must match new wine with new wineskins as old wineskins
are hardened and will break easily. It is a question of being in sync
with what is the reality.
So we must be
docile to the will of God. We must be attentive to His plans for us and His holy
will. If we cooperate with God’s plan and His will, we find
happiness. It is only when we want to have things our way, that we cross
the path of God. The cross is heavy to carry only because we are not
aligned with His will for us. The more we fight His will, the less peace
we will have. When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, He was
struggling with the will of God. The moment He resigned Himself to the
Father’s will, He found peace. Doing God’s will does not mean that
we will be spared of the suffering that comes from doing His will. But
there will be an inner peace and a joy that the world cannot give.
So long as we
do His will, God will work in and through us effectively. We must not desire anything
except His will. But to find His will, we need purity of intention.
Do we desire to do His will or our own? Very often, it is because of our
ego that we want to have things our ways. We want to be listened to and
we want to be seen as being right. So we fight and argue to win our case.
Those of us who cannot surrender themselves to the decision of the authorities
have a problem with their ego rather than with justice. They think that
they are the best and the most righteous. Those who fight against
legitimate authorities think that they know more than those in authority and so
the authority must listen to them. And if their views are not accepted,
they get angry and feel rejected. In truth, it is all vanity and
pride. It is their ego that is bruised.
St Paul
assures us, “We know that all things work together for good for those who love
God, who are called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:28)
God is just and He is all wise. His plans are unaffected but those who
refuse to abide by His divine plan will be punished by their own folly.
So Abraham suffered the division in the family because of the tussle between
Sarah and Hagar after the latter gave birth to Ishmael. Instead of
waiting patiently for the Lord to work out His promise, he was impatient.
“He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had
conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. Then Sarai said to Abram,
‘May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my slave-girl to your embrace, and
when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the
Lord judge between you and me!’ But Abram said to Sarai, ‘Your slave-girl
is in your power; do to her as you please.’ Then Sarai dealt harshly with
her, and she ran away from her.” (Gn 16:4-6)
In the case of Rebekah and Jacob, for being deceitful, mother and son were
separated for 20 years as Esau wanted the life of Jacob for stealing his birthright.
Jacob was forced to take refuge with his uncle Laban in Harlan. (Cf Gn 27:41-45)
So let us not be foolish and impatient. Instead of taking things into our
own hands, we must do His will and abide by His plans. Let us trust in
His divine wisdom that regardless what He has allotted to us, it will be for
our good and greater happiness. “All these are activated by one and the
same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit
chooses.” (1 Cor 12:11)
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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