20170822
CALLED AND EMPOWERED
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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Judges 6:11-24 ©
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The angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah
which belonged to Joash of Abiezer. Gideon his son was threshing wheat inside
the winepress to keep it hidden from Midian, when the angel of the Lord
appeared to him and said, ‘The Lord is with you, valiant warrior!’ Gideon
answered him, ‘Forgive me, my lord, but if the Lord is with us, then why is it
that all this is happening to us now? And where are all the wonders our
ancestors tell us of when they say, “Did not the Lord bring us out of Egypt?”
But now the Lord has deserted us; he has abandoned us to Midian.’
At this the
Lord turned to him and said, ‘Go in the strength now upholding you, and you
will rescue Israel from the power of Midian. Do I not send you myself?’ Gideon
answered him, ‘Forgive me, my lord, but how can I deliver Israel? My clan, you
must know, is the weakest in Manasseh and I am the least important in my
family.’ the Lord answered him, ‘I will be with you and you shall crush Midian
as though it were a single man.’ Gideon said to him, ‘If I have found favour in
your sight, give me a sign that it is you who speak to me. I beg you, do not go
away until I come back. I will bring you my offering and set it down before
you.’ And he answered, ‘I will stay until you return.’
Gideon went
away and prepared a young goat and made unleavened cakes with an ephah of
flour. He put the meat into a basket and the broth into a pot, then brought it
all to him under the terebinth. As he came near, the angel of the Lord said to
him, ‘Take the meat and unleavened cakes, put them on this rock and pour the
broth over them.’ Gideon did so. Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip
of the staff in his hand and touched the meat and unleavened cakes. Fire sprang
from the rock and consumed the meat and unleavened cakes, and the angel of the
Lord vanished before his eyes. Then Gideon knew this was the angel of the Lord,
and he said, ‘Alas, my Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!’
the Lord answered him, ‘Peace be with you; have no fear; you will not die.’
Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it The-Lord-is-Peace.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 84(85):9,11-14 ©
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The Lord speaks peace to his people.
I will hear what the Lord God has to say,
a voice that speaks of peace,
peace for his people and his friends
and those who turn to him in their hearts.
The Lord speaks peace to his people.
Mercy and faithfulness have met;
justice and peace have embraced.
Faithfulness shall spring from the earth
and justice look down from heaven.
The Lord speaks peace to his people.
The Lord will make us prosper
and our earth shall yield its fruit.
Justice shall march before him
and peace shall follow his steps.
The Lord speaks peace to his people.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Ps24:4,5
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Teach me your paths, my God,
make me walk in your truth.
Alleluia!
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Or
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2Co8:9
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Jesus Christ was rich,
but he became poor for your sake,
to make you rich out of his poverty.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 19:23-30 ©
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Jesus said to his disciples, ‘I tell you solemnly, it will be hard
for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Yes, I tell you again, it is
easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to
enter the kingdom of heaven.’ When the disciples heard this they were
astonished. ‘Who can be saved, then?’ they said. Jesus gazed at them. ‘For men’
he told them ‘this is impossible; for God everything is possible.’
Then Peter
spoke. ‘What about us?’ he said to him ‘We have left everything and followed
you. What are we to have, then?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I tell you solemnly, when
all is made new and the Son of Man sits on his throne of glory, you will
yourselves sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. And
everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children or
land for the sake of my name will be repaid a hundred times over, and also
inherit eternal life.
‘Many who
are first will be last, and the last, first.’
CALLED AND EMPOWERED
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ Jdg 6:11-24; Mt 19:23-30 ]
There are so
many challenges facing the Church, society and the world today. The Church is facing
many challenges from within and without. From within, the Church has to
deal with scandals, bureaucracy, connectivity to our people. From
without, the Church has to deal with the question of mission in the new era of
ecumenism, inter-religious dialogue and secularism. Above all, within and
without, the Church is divided on ethical and moral issues, especially those
that deal with family and marriage. Society is divided as there are no
common values to hold all together because of relativism. There is also
the tension of integrating migrants into the host country. The
world is more unstable today because of wars and the abuse of ecology. If
not properly handled, the world could risk destruction.
In the face
of these challenges, many simply lament about the state of the Church, society
and the world. Like Gideon, we feel distressed at the developments in the
world. When we are facing trials, not just on the global front but within
our own families, because of broken marriages and dysfunctional children, we
cannot but blame God and the world for the state we are in. Gideon said,
“Forgive me, my lord, but if the Lord is with us, then why is it that all this
is happening to us now? And where are all the wonders our ancestors tell us of
when they say, ‘Did not the Lord bring us out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has
deserted us; he has abandoned us to Midian.” Indeed, where is the
God whom we believe in, the God of love, mercy and might? So much so in
our trials, we wonder whether God really exists, because He does not seem to be
able to help us.
Instead of
looking outside ourselves and finding fault with the situation, the truth is
that the problems of society begin with us. We do not see that the problems
are created by us. When Gideon complained why God had deserted them, it
was a wrong judgment. God did not abandon Israel but rather, it was they
who abandoned the Lord and sought false gods. They did not obey the
commandments given to them to help them in their relationship with God and with
each other. So it was they who left God and went on their own ways
instead of following the ways of God. They believed in
themselves. It is true of the world today. In a world
of relativism, everyone seeks to go his or her own way. It is based on
subjectivism. We find all sorts of reason to justify our opinions.
We pride
ourselves for being pragmatic people, doing what is best at the point in time
without having the wisdom and insight to consider the implications of our
decisions for tomorrow and for the future of humanity. We just have to
examine the short-sighted policies advocated by the world today, be it the
redefinition of family and marriage, population control, abortion and
euthanasia, the destruction of ecology, etc, all because we want to have a good
life now. So the sufferings we are going through and the problems
we are facing is the result of so-called pragmatic policies and decisions that
we made earlier. Only from hindsight do we learn that policies
which we thought were good for humanity are actually destructive. So instead of
over-population, we are now have a depopulation; with the resultant effect that
a decreasing workforce is now having to shoulder the burden of looking after a
burgeoning aged population, in addition to the young.
Indeed, this
is the folly of the world. This is what the scripture readings are telling us.
The ways of God are not our ways. The way to find life is not through
riches, power and glory. Indeed, the Lord said, “I tell you solemnly, it
will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Yes, I tell
you again, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than
for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.” Such teaching of Jesus
was revolutionary because it was always thought that wealth is a sign of God’s
blessings and poverty, the consequence of sin. Hence, “when the disciples
heard this they were astonished. ‘Who can be saved, then?’”
This was the
same question that Gideon raised when the Lord said to him, “’Go in the strength now
upholding you, and you will rescue Israel from the power of Midian. Do I
not send you myself?’ Gideon answered him, ‘Forgive me, my Lord, but how can I
deliver Israel? My clan, you must know, is the weakest in Manasseh and I am the
least important in my family.’” He was too weak to be sent to save
his people. He found himself inadequate and lacking the capacity to
accomplish the task of setting his people free from the enemies. His
immediate reaction was, “I am not the one! I cannot do it!”
Isn’t this our response too when called upon to undertake a mission or an
appointment for the greater good of the community? We would say, “Choose
someone else, not me!”
The truth is
that we are shirking our responsibilities. Instead of stepping out to
make a difference in the lives of our fellowmen, we lament and hide. This
was the case of Gideon. He was hiding from his enemies. Gideon “was
threshing wheat inside the winepress to keep it hidden from Midian.”
Indeed, those who are called are not willing to sacrifice themselves for the
service of the Church, society and the country. They want to protect
their comfort zone. This was the same attitude of the rich man in
the gospel. He was a man of great wealth and when asked to sell
everything to give to the poor and follow Jesus, he declined.
The sad
reality in the world today is not that there are not enough leaders to lead. We have prophets and
leaders, but not many are ready to sacrifice their comfort, convenience and
security to offer themselves for public service, either in Church, in NGOs or
in the government. God has never failed to supply us with good leaders
and shepherds. But not many are responding because they are afraid of the
sacrifices both to themselves and their families. But if we are called,
we cannot say “no” since we have been endowed with the talents and skills for
the job. Otherwise, by leaving our job to others who are not called, the
little that we have will be taken away because bad leaders will destroy not
just themselves but the whole Church, society and country.
The Lord
wants to give the world peace through us. This is what the psalmist says, “I will
hear what the Lord God has to say, a voice that speaks of peace, peace for his
people and his friends and those who turn to him in their hearts.
Mercy and faithfulness have met; justice and peace have embraced.
Faithfulness shall spring from the earth and justice look down from heaven. The
Lord will make us prosper and our earth shall yield its fruit. Justice shall
march before him and peace shall follow his steps.” We know that we are
called when God stirs our hearts like He stirred Gideon’s. He knew that
something was not right and something had to be done. But instead of
offering himself, he was thinking that others should do it. In the same
way too, it is not right to complain about the poor leadership in our Church
and country if we do not give ourselves for service.
If we are
willing to say “Yes”, God will make peace a reality through us. It will
not be with our own strength. Just as Jesus gazed at the disciples, He
would also gaze at us and say, “For men, this is impossible; for God everything
is possible.” Indeed, we are called to rely on God
alone in all that we do. By our own strength and reasoning, we
cannot go far. Without the superior light of faith and revelation, we
cannot see the long-term implications of the rationalistic decisions we make
for today. This was what the Lord said to Gideon. “Go in the
strength now upholding you, and you will rescue Israel from the power of
Midian. Do I not send you myself? I will be with you and you shall crush
Midian as though it were a single man.” We are not to depend on our
riches and self-sufficiency. We are called to rely on His grace
alone.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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