20170826
THE ONE MASTER, TEACHER AND FATHER
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Ruth 2:1-3,8-11,4:13-17 ©
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Naomi had a kinsman on her husband’s side, well-to-do and of
Elimelech’s clan. His name was Boaz.
Ruth the
Moabitess said to Naomi, ‘Let me go into the fields and glean among the ears of
corn in the footsteps of some man who will look on me with favour.’ And she
said to her, ‘Go, my daughter.’ So she set out and went to glean in the fields
after the reapers. And it chanced that she came to that part of the fields
which belonged to Boaz of Elimelech’s clan.
Boaz said to
Ruth, ‘Listen, my daughter, and understand this. You are not to glean in any
other field, do not leave here but stay with my servants. Keep your eyes on
whatever part of the field they are reaping and follow behind. I have ordered
my servants not to molest you. And if you are thirsty, go to the pitchers and
drink what the servants have drawn.’ Then she fell on her face, bowing to the
ground. And she said to him, ‘How have I so earned your favour that you take
notice of me, even though I am a foreigner?’ And Boaz answered her, I have been
told all you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband’s death, and
how you left your own father and mother and the land where you were born to
come among a people whom you knew nothing about before you came here.’
So Boaz took
Ruth and she became his wife. And when they came together, the Lord made her
conceive and she bore a son. And the women said to Naomi, ‘Blessed be the Lord
who has not left the dead man without next of kin this day to perpetuate his
name in Israel. The child will be a comfort to you and the prop of your old
age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you and is more to you than seven sons
has given him birth.’ And Naomi took the child to her own bosom and she became
his nurse.
And the
women of the neighbourhood gave him a name. ‘A son has been born for Naomi’
they said; and they named him Obed. This was the father of David’s father,
Jesse.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 127(128):1-5 ©
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Indeed thus shall be blessed the man who fears
the Lord.
O blessed are those who fear the Lord
and walk in his ways!
By the labour of your hands you shall eat.
You will be happy and prosper.
Indeed thus shall be blessed the man who fears
the Lord.
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
in the heart of your house;
your children like shoots of the olive,
around your table.
Indeed thus shall be blessed the man who fears
the Lord.
Indeed thus shall be blessed
the man who fears the Lord.
May the Lord bless you from Zion
all the days of your life!
Indeed thus shall be blessed the man who fears
the Lord.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Ps118:36,29
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Bend my heart to your will, O Lord,
and teach me your law.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Mt23:9,10
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Alleluia, alleluia!
You have only one Father,
and he is in heaven;
you have only one Teacher,
the Christ.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 23:1-12 ©
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Addressing the people and his disciples Jesus said, ‘The scribes
and the Pharisees occupy the chair of Moses. You must therefore do what they
tell you and listen to what they say; but do not be guided by what they do:
since they do not practise what they preach. They tie up heavy burdens and lay
them on men’s shoulders, but will they lift a finger to move them? Not they!
Everything they do is done to attract attention, like wearing broader
phylacteries and longer tassels, like wanting to take the place of honour at
banquets and the front seats in the synagogues, being greeted obsequiously in
the market squares and having people call them Rabbi.
‘You,
however, must not allow yourselves to be called Rabbi, since you have only one
master, and you are all brothers. You must call no one on earth your father,
since you have only one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor must you allow
yourselves to be called teachers, for you have only one Teacher, the Christ.
The greatest among you must be your servant. Anyone who exalts himself will be
humbled, and anyone who humbles himself will be exalted.’
THE ONE MASTER, TEACHER AND FATHER
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ RUTH 2:1-3, 8-11; 4:13-17; MT 23:1-12 ]
A common
question that people often ask is, why do we address our priests as
‘Father’ when the gospel specifically says that we must call no one on
earth ‘Father’, since we have only one Father? Of course, they often
forget that if we were to apply literally what Jesus said, then we should also
stop addressing our earthly father as ‘Father’ as well. And not only with
regard to our own father, but the terms, ‘Teacher’ and ‘Mr or Master’ should
also be forbidden. Consequently, those who question why we priests are
addressed as ‘Father’ are reading the scriptures literally, or are simply
ignorant of the real meaning of the scriptures since, like the latter, they
have interpreted the words of Jesus out of context.
Hence, if we
were to grasp the full import of Jesus’ words, then we must find out the
context. What then is the context? It is this.
The Jewish religious leaders were not doing what they preached. Instead,
we are told that they only “tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s
shoulders” but not lift a finger to move them. Furthermore, they do
things to impress people so that they might be honoured. In other words,
the real issue that Jesus was trying to deal with is the question of the
failure of religious leaders to put into practice what they preached.
Now, this is surely a cause of scandal. Of course, the failure of the
Pharisees, the Scribes and the Priests is also our failure today. Whether
as priests or lay leaders, we often fail in our example. Quite often, we
do not practise what we preach. By so doing, we disqualify ourselves from
being called “Father” of the faith.
Conversely,
those who practise what they preach and live a righteous and holy life are
considered our Fathers in faith. St Paul himself called Timothy “my true
son in the faith” (1 Tim 1:2). He also addressed Titus as “my true son in
our common faith” (Tit 1:4). In the letter to Philemon, St Paul wrote, “I
appeal to you to show kindness to my child, Onesimus. I became his father in
the faith while here in prison” (Philemon 1:10).
St John in his letters addressed his audience as “My little children.”
(Cf 1 Jn 2:1; 12).
Abraham is of course universally acclaimed as the Father of faith in the New
Testament (cf Rom 4:12; Heb 11:11).
The early Church theologians and Bishops who were renowned for their faith and
orthodoxy in theology are given the title “Fathers of the Church”. Hence,
the word “Father” is given to all those who impart the faith to us either by
their teaching or holiness of life. So when Catholics address their priests
reverentially with the title “Father” or call the Pope the “Holy Father” they are
not denying that God is their Father but that these people are responsible for
imparting the faith to them.
The next
question therefore is: how do we respond to those religious leaders who
preach without doing? The truth is that for most of us, we do not
wish to listen to those who preach without demonstrating their words in their
lives. We shut our ears to them the moment we hear them preaching.
However, Jesus today advises us that such an attitude would be detrimental to
our well being and spiritual life. By ignoring the teaching of the
religious leaders, we would be depriving ourselves of spiritual food and
guidance. Thus, instead of closing our ears and minds, Jesus told His
disciples, “You must therefore do what they tell you and listen to what
they say.” Of course, we must not “be guided by what they do”.
Now this command of Jesus to continue to be open to such hypocritical leaders
may sound too difficult for us.
This hindrance
can be resolved if we understand the basis of Jesus’ exhortation. If we are
called to listen to the religious leaders regardless of their practical lives,
it is because they are merely instruments of God. All human
and religious masters, teachers or fathers are but the means by which God
reaches out to us. Human fatherhood is founded on the Fatherhood of
God. Every authority, teaching or otherwise is rooted in the authority of
God. In the final analysis, there is only one Teacher, one Master and one
Father.
The corollary
therefore is this: to listen to the human teacher, master or
father is to listen to God who works through them. And so what is important
is that we listen to what religious leaders teach, even if they do not practise
it in their lives. They themselves are accountable before God. We should not be
too judgmental of them, nor should we be too concerned that they are not living
out the gospel truth in their lives. Our part is simply to hear the
authentic word of God and to imitate Jesus who is the only true Teacher and
Master who can lead us to God who is our real and only Father. As the
axiom says, we should not throw the baby out with the bath water. We will
only spite ourselves if we do.
In other words, we
must make a distinction between ontological truths and existential
truths. So long as leaders are speaking the ontological truths, then
we must believe and listen to what they say. This is not to say that it
is unimportant whether religious leaders live the existential truths in their
lives. It certainly does matter. For unless ontological truths are
expressed in existential truths, we will have doubts about the ontological
truths that are spoken or taught. Religious leaders who do not live up to
what they preach will certainly lose credibility in what they say; not because
what they say is not true but it will be less convincing to those who have not
yet experienced the ontological truths for themselves.
However, it is
equally true that none of us can claim to always live by what we
preach. This is because we are imperfect. This does not
mean that we are disqualified from teaching at all, because if we were only to
teach what we live, we would have nothing much to teach at all. The truth
is that we do not preach ourselves. We are not the measure of truth,
wisdom and goodness. We preach Jesus and His gospel. We
preach the goal, the reality and the truth which we have received from Christ.
As the gospel
tells us today, there is only one Father, one Teacher and one
Master. Only the true teacher, master and father is
consistent with regard to His words and actions. Of course, only
Jesus Himself is one with His words. Only in Jesus is the message one
with Him. For in Jesus, the cause is identical with the person.
Within this context, we must certainly say that no one on earth can be called
the Teacher, the Master or the Father. For the rest of us, we can only
imitate Jesus, our real teacher, and hopefully one day become like Him.
Realizing our own inadequacies and failure to be consistent with what we say
and what we do, then we must all the more recognize that we are only poor
instruments of God. Hence, whether as teachers, superiors or fathers;
religious or otherwise, we must come close to Jesus, our real Master, and the
Holy Spirit, who is our inner Teacher, so that we can imitate God our heavenly
Father.
Let us imitate
the good example of Ruth who was faithful to her mother-in-law, Noami, to her
people and her God. It was her fidelity to her mother-in-law and her
people that won the admiration of Boaz. He said, “I have been told all
you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband’s death, and how you
left your own father and mother and the land where you were born to come among
a people whom you knew nothing about before you came here.” And because
of that, Boaz married her. She gave birth to Obed who was the father of
David’s father, Jesse. Indeed, it was Ruth’s fidelity to her faith that made
possible for the future Messiah to be born. We too are called to be
faithful to the people that we are called to serve by being faithful to God in
our lives. In this way, we become the father and mother of those who come
to know God through us.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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