20170808
SPEAKING OUT AGAINST THE LORD’S APPOINTED
LEADERS
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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Numbers 12:1-13 ©
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Miriam, and Aaron too, spoke against Moses in connexion with the
Cushite woman he had taken. (For he had married a Cushite woman.) They said,
‘Has the Lord spoken to Moses only? Has he not spoken to us too?’
The Lord
heard this. Now Moses was the most humble of men, the humblest man on earth.
Suddenly, the Lord said to Moses and Aaron and Miriam, ‘Come, all three of you,
to the Tent of Meeting.’ They went, all three of them, and the Lord came down
in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the Tent. He called Aaron and
Miriam and they both came forward. The Lord said, ‘Listen now to my words: If
any man among you is a prophet I make myself known to him in a vision, I speak
to him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses: he is at home in my house; I
speak with him face to face, plainly and not in riddles, and he sees the form
of the Lord. How then have you dared to speak against my servant Moses?’
The anger of
the Lord blazed out against them. He departed, and as soon as the cloud
withdrew from the Tent, there was Miriam a leper, white as snow! Aaron turned
to look at her; she had become a leper.
Aaron said
to Moses: ‘Help me, my lord! Do not punish us for a sin committed in folly of
which we are guilty. I entreat you, do not let her be like a monster, coming
from its mother’s womb with flesh half corrupted.’
Moses cried
to the Lord, ‘O God,’ he said ‘please heal her, I beg you!’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 50(51):3-7,12-13 ©
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Have mercy on us, Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.
In your compassion blot out my offence.
O wash me more and more from my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.
Have mercy on us, Lord, for we have sinned.
My offences truly I know them;
my sin is always before me
Against you, you alone, have I sinned;
what is evil in your sight I have done.
Have mercy on us, Lord, for we have sinned.
That you may be justified when you give sentence
and be without reproach when you judge,
O see, in guilt I was born,
a sinner was I conceived.
Have mercy on us, Lord, for we have sinned.
A pure heart create for me, O God,
put a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
nor deprive me of your holy spirit.
Have mercy on us, Lord, for we have sinned.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Jn8:12
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Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the light of the world, says the Lord;
anyone who follows me will have the light of life.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Jn1:49
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Rabbi, you are the Son of God,
you are the King of Israel.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 14:22-36 ©
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Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the
other side while he would send the crowds away. After sending the crowds away
he went up into the hills by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there
alone, while the boat, by now far out on the lake, was battling with a heavy
sea, for there was a head-wind. In the fourth watch of the night he went
towards them, walking on the lake, and when the disciples saw him walking on
the lake they were terrified. ‘It is a ghost’ they said, and cried out in fear.
But at once Jesus called out to them, saying, ‘Courage! It is I! Do not be
afraid.’ It was Peter who answered. ‘Lord,’ he said ‘if it is you, tell me to
come to you across the water.’ ‘Come’ said Jesus. Then Peter got out of the
boat and started walking towards Jesus across the water, but as soon as he felt
the force of the wind, he took fright and began to sink. ‘Lord! Save me!’ he
cried. Jesus put out his hand at once and held him. ‘Man of little faith,’ he
said ‘why did you doubt?’ And as they got into the boat the wind dropped. The
men in the boat bowed down before him and said, ‘Truly, you are the Son of
God.’
Having made
the crossing, they came to land at Gennesaret. When the local people recognised
him they spread the news through the whole neighbourhood and took all that were
sick to him, begging him just to let them touch the fringe of his cloak. And
all those who touched it were completely cured.
SPEAKING OUT AGAINST THE LORD’S APPOINTED LEADERS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ NUM 12:1-13; Ps 50:3-7,12-13; Mt 15:1-2, 10-14 ]
In the first
reading we read that Moses was the Lord’s appointed leader. This was what the Lord said
of him, “If any man among you is a prophet I make myself known to him in a
vision; I speak to him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses: he is at
home in my house; I speak with him face to face, plainly and not in riddles, and
he sees the form of the Lord.” Such was the great trust and love the Lord
had showered upon Moses, His servant.
But some were
not happy with Moses. As usual, leaders would speak ill of other leaders. They like to
discredit other leaders so that they would be seen in a better light.
Miriam and Aaron, the relatives of Moses, spoke against him “in connection with
the Cushite woman he had taken. (For he had married a Cushite woman.) They
said, ‘Has the Lord spoken to Moses only? Has he not spoken to us too?’”
In these words, we hear the undertones of their discontentment. It was
not so much that Moses married a Cushite woman even though there could be some
grounds for it as inter-marriages were forbidden later. But before that,
no such prohibition existed. At any rate, God did not defend Moses on his
marriage to an alien woman.
Jesus said to
Miriam and Aaron, “How then have you dared to speak against my servant Moses?” Is it wrong
to criticize our leaders? In the gospel, Jesus was always criticizing
the Jewish leaders, the Pharisees and the Scribes. In the gospel today, in
response to the Jewish leaders’ complaint that His “disciples break away from
the tradition of the elders” because “they do not wash their hands when they
eat food’, Jesus said, “What goes into the mouth does not make a man unclean;
it is what comes out of the mouth that makes him unclean.” And the
disciples told the Lord, “Do you know that the Pharisees were shocked when they
heard what you said?”
Jesus was not
against tradition. Human beings create traditions as a way to express
themselves.
No religious institution is spared from traditions. We have Roman
Catholic tradition, Orthodox tradition, Methodist tradition, Anglican
tradition, etc. Each organization and institution will have their
traditions to regulate the conduct of the members and to help them to express
their values through practices. So traditions, even though
man-made, are good and helpful for the community.
But
traditions must serve the truth or the laws of the bible and ultimately the
service and love of God and our fellowmen. Traditions cannot be a law
unto themselves, but they are placed there to serve the laws. This means
that traditions can change and must change according to the needs of the
time. Even in the bible, we see how traditions and practices changed over
time, whether it is with regard to marriage, ablutions, food restrictions,
slavery, etc. Small traditions that are not divinely ordained but
man-made have a place in the expression of our faith and the community.
However, foundation traditions passed on by the Lord cannot be changed because
they are critical to the faith. This is called Tradition with a capital
“T”, and singular. It refers to the basic doctrines of the faith, like
the Passion, Death and the Resurrection of our Lord, the Trinity, the
Eucharist, the Sacraments, the Priesthood, etc. These do not change with
time, unlike those traditions that serve to enhance the Tradition of the
Church.
In the final
analysis, Jesus made it clear that whatever traditions we have must serve God
and humanity;
“Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and
so passes on? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart,
and this defiles a man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder,
adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what
defile a man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.” (Mt 15:17-20)
So we can
criticize leaders provided our motives are clear. What God was
unhappy about was the way they maligned the character of Moses. They
were jealous of Moses’ authority. They envied his position. Instead
of dealing with their own insecurity, they found an excuse to denigrate Moses
and weaken his authority over the people. Indeed, this is often the
case of many of us who are not happy with our leaders. We think we are
better than them. We feel we should be sitting in their chairs and holding
their offices. Those who are not elected or appointed to the office would
often find trouble and means to discredit the leader so that they could be
appointed or be seen to be better than the leader. Instead of examining
their motives, they find reasons to bring down the authority of the
leader. This is very true in politics, in the corporate world and even in
religious institutions. Envy and jealousy can cause much backbiting,
slander and division.
So for those
of us who wish to criticize our leaders, we must be sure that we are objective
and do not have an axe to grind or because we have unmentioned or unconscious
motives that spring from pride, recognition, power, glory and envy. Before we criticize the
appointed leaders, we must purify our intentions so that we speak not with the
intention of destroying the leaders or diminishing their authority but to help
them to serve better. The motive must be constructive, not destructive.
And for this reason, unhappiness with the leaders should be dealt with behind
closed doors and through dialogue which helps both parties to understand each
other better. Often, criticisms are made because of one-sided information
or even skewed and distorted information that lead people to make presumptuous
judgment on the actions of their leaders. If we are sincere, such
criticisms are always made with charity and humility.
For those of
us who are leaders under scrutiny and critique, we must also take such
criticisms positively and sincerely search our conscience to see where we have
failed and where we can change and do better. Leaders are not beyond reproach. They
too must listen to the prophets sent by the Lord to assist us. Instead of
being defensive and reactive, we should be humble, like Moses. We read
that “Moses was the most humble of men, the humblest man on earth.”
Instead of retaliating against Miriam and Aaron, he was quiet. He did not
fight back but humbly suffered the harsh critique against him. He was
ever forgiving and interceded for Miriam, “O God, please heal her, I beg you!”
But there is
also a warning. For those of us who are quick to judge and condemn the
appointed leaders of the Lord, we will also be judged accordingly. As Jesus in the
gospel said, “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will
not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be
given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will
be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”
(Lk 6:37f)
For judging Moses and making rash remarks, Miriam was punished by the
Lord. “The anger of the Lord blazed out against them. He departed,
and as soon as the cloud withdrew from the Tent, there was Miriam a leper,
white as snow! Aaron turned to look at her; she had become a leper.”
Similarly in
the gospel, Jesus warned leaders who do not act rightly or are themselves
ignorant and blind. “Any plant my heavenly Father has not planted will be
pulled up by the roots. Leave them alone. They are blind men
leading blind men; and if one blind man leads another, both will fall into a
pit.” If leaders do not live up to the trust of God for the office
given to them, they would be removed eventually. And if leaders
themselves are blind, ignorant and still very broken, it is more likely that
instead of leading their sheep, they might bring them to perdition. So
leaders must ask themselves whether they are in a position to lead because of
the lack of integrity and wisdom in their own lives.
Whether we
are critics or leaders who are criticized, let us turn to God for mercy and
forgiveness.
Leaders surely have their failures and those who are very critical of leaders
often do so without charity or out of selfish interests. Hence, like
Aaron, we must cry out to God, “Help me, my lord! Do not punish us for a sin
committed in folly of which we are guilty.” With the psalmist, we
pray, “Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness. In your compassion blot out my
offence. O wash me more and more from my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. My
offences truly I know them; my sin is always before me. Against you, you alone,
have I sinned; what is evil in your sight I have done. That you may be
justified when you give sentence and be without reproach when you judge, O see,
in guilt I was born, a sinner was I conceived.” Indeed, only God
can pass the sentence; not us. Only God who knows all and reads the
intentions of our hearts can judge justly and with mercy. And that was
what He did, He lightened the punishment of Miriam to just a week of alienation
outside the camp before He healed her. (cf Num 12:14f)
We too must turn to the Lord for mercy and forgiveness for our lack of
humility, integrity and compassion.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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