20170902
THE DANGER OF EXCLUSIVITY
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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1 Thessalonians 4:9-11 ©
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As for loving our brothers, there is no need for anyone to write
to you about that, since you have learnt from God yourselves to love one
another, and in fact this is what you are doing with all the brothers throughout
the whole of Macedonia. However, we do urge you, brothers, to go on making even
greater progress and to make a point of living quietly, attending to your own
business and earning your living, just as we told you to.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 97(98):1,7-9 ©
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The Lord comes to rule the people with fairness.
Sing a new song to the Lord
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.
The Lord comes to rule the people with fairness.
Let the sea and all within it, thunder;
the world, and all its peoples.
Let the rivers clap their hands
and the hills ring out their joy
The Lord comes to rule the people with fairness.
at the presence of the Lord: for he comes,
he comes to rule the earth.
He will rule the world with justice
and the peoples with fairness.
The Lord comes to rule the people with fairness.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Ph2:15-16
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Alleluia, alleluia!
You will shine in the world like bright stars
because you are offering it the word of life.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Jn13:34
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Alleluia, alleluia!
I give you a new commandment:
love one another just as I have loved you,
says the Lord.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 25:14-30 ©
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You have been faithful in small things: come and join in your
master's happiness
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Jesus spoke this parable to his disciples: ‘The kingdom of Heaven
is like a man on his way abroad who summoned his servants and entrusted his
property to them. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to a third one;
each in proportion to his ability. Then he set out.
‘The man who
had received the five talents promptly went and traded with them and made five
more. The man who had received two made two more in the same way. But the man
who had received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s
money.
‘Now a long
time after, the master of those servants came back and went through his
accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents came forward
bringing five more. “Sir,” he said “you entrusted me with five talents; here
are five more that I have made.”
‘His master
said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have shown you can be
faithful in small things, I will trust you with greater; come and join in your
master’s happiness.”
‘Next the
man with the two talents came forward. “Sir,” he said “you entrusted me with
two talents; here are two more that I have made.” His master said to him, “Well
done, good and faithful servant; you have shown you can be faithful in small
things, I will trust you with greater; come and join in your master’s
happiness.”
‘Last came
forward the man who had the one talent. “Sir,” said he “I had heard you were a
hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not
scattered; so I was afraid, and I went off and hid your talent in the ground.
Here it is; it was yours, you have it back.” But his master answered him, “You
wicked and lazy servant! So you knew that I reap where I have not sown and
gather where I have not scattered? Well then, you should have deposited my
money with the bankers, and on my return I would have recovered my capital with
interest. So now, take the talent from him and give it to the man who has the
five talents. For to everyone who has will be given more, and he will have more
than enough; but from the man who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
As for this good-for-nothing servant, throw him out into the dark, where there
will be weeping and grinding of teeth.”’
THE DANGER OF EXCLUSIVITY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 TH 4:9-12; MT 25:14-30 ]
Without
denying the fact that all of us are unique and different, there is also the
danger that an over-emphasis on our distinctiveness can lead to a situation or
attitude of exclusivity. Indeed, there is this over-exaggeration among the present
generation of the need to be exclusive in the way they live. And so we
have bred a generation that wants to be members of exclusive clubs, wearing
exclusive branded clothing and accessories, dining in exclusive restaurants and
even worshipping in exclusive temples and churches. Such exclusivity goes
against the fundamental gospel message that whilst affirming the uniqueness of
each person, it also wants all to recognize their equality and common
brotherhood.
Indeed, this
is the thrust of today’s scriptural readings. St Paul’s letter to the
Thessalonians speaks about the love that they had for each other throughout the
whole of Macedonia. St Paul however also urged them to live their lives
in such a way that they would earn the respect of those outside the Church so that
they too might come to believe and experience the all-inclusive love of God for
them in Christ. In contrast, the gospel today criticizes those who were
exclusive in their attitude towards others. This is the motif that runs
throughout the parable of the talents. When we use the rule of
thumb in reading parables, the focus is always on the last person. This
third servant was entrusted with the one talent but hid it instead of investing
it to earn interest. It seems that he wanted to hide it from others so
that he could exclude them from having a share in his money.
The question
is, who is this third man in the parable? Firstly, when we interpret this
parable on the first level, that is, the situation of the life of Jesus, then
we know that the original intention of this parable was directed at the Jewish
religious leaders. They were the ones who were steeped in the Mosaic Law and
traditions. Being so meticulous and legalistic in their observance of the
laws, it could not but exclude the ordinary man and the Gentiles because they
had to make a living. If they were to observe the laws the way the
Pharisees did, they would not have been able to live a normal life because
their trade would have disqualified them from worship. Hence, in condemning
the third man, Jesus was hitting out at the Jewish religious leaders for
leading such an exclusive spiritual life, excluding sinners from their tables
and treating them as outcasts. By so doing, they were excluding many
people from the Kingdom of God.
What is said
of the religious leaders in those days surely also applies to us. Often, in trying
to maintain our distinctiveness as the “holy” people of God, we also
unwittingly alienate ourselves from people. There are some of us who
would not want to be seen with people who are so-called “unchristian” or
“unholy.” We regard non-Catholics, sinners, gays, divorcees and lapsed
Catholics with disdain and condemnation instead of compassion and
understanding. We only want to be associated with those who are considered
“saved”, whereas all others are presumed to be without grace. Not only
that, we draw too distinct a line between the clergy and the laity.
Sometimes, even our liturgy is too daunting for the laity. At
times, the Liturgy of the Hours is only promoted among the religious and the
clerical world and ironically, as an “obligation” when it is meant to be the
Prayer of the Church. Some occasions too, we choose to sing hymns,
especially Latin chants, which are certainly beautiful at liturgy but
unappreciated fully. This is because we have not taught them how to sing
and thus exclude them from our worship. We make them feel as if they are
novices in prayer, whereas we can pray and sing in a special language, or our
music is too classical for anyone without musical inclination to be able to
sing. They are reduced to mere spectators!
This is
precisely what the Holy Father, Pope Francis wants to avoid, being an exclusive
Church.
He preaches a Church of inclusivity and compassion, although many wrongly mistake
that he has given up on the teachings of the Church with regard to marriage,
divorce, same-sex couples and other “sinful situations” that Catholics find
themselves in. Indeed, the Church must uphold the teachings of Christ and
the gospel. Yet, the gospel is meant for the converted and the
renewed. The Sermon on the Mount is meant for those who were truly
believers of our Lord and had experienced His unconditional love and
mercy. The teachings of Jesus cannot be lived by those whose relationship
with the Lord is weak. Unless they experience the love of Christ
unconditionally first, they would not be able to find the grace to live out the
gospel life. Otherwise, we would be placing burdens upon them that they
are unable to fulfill. Instead of liberating them for the Good News, we
make their spiritual life burdensome, putting guilt on them and making them
miserable. Hence, making the Catholic Church so elite and exclusive would
mean closing the door to sinners and those who are struggling to come to know
God and live a righteous life. By accepting their limitations and
embracing their weaknesses, we can help them to gradually grow in faith and
love so that they can live the life of Christ with His grace.
On the second
level of interpretation of the early Church, this parable would be directed at
the Church at large. The historical fact is that the primitive Church, which was
dominated by Jewish converts to Christianity, brought with them their Jewish
traditions and customs and practices as well. But what was unacceptable
were their attempts to impose such practices on the non-Christian Jews.
We read of such manipulations and bickering in the Acts of the Apostles.
In fact, this would have been a divisive issue if it were not handled properly
by the Apostles. It would be against the gospel if, as Church, we allowed
ourselves to be bogged down by petty quarrels over ecclesiastical disciplines
and uniformity. Such pre-occupations would only divide the Church further
and sap us of our energy to build the kingdom of love and unity and,
ironically, make us counter-witnesses of the gospel.
In the same
vein, when we reflect upon ourselves as Church, we must also consider whether
we are open to people who are different from us. Have our churches
become so nationalistic to the extent that we have lost our universal flavor?
This can certainly happen if we allow everything to be in line with our
cultures. On the other hand, as it was in the past, the Catholic Church,
in stressing unity, has also mistaken unity for uniformity and thus made laws,
be it juridical or liturgical laws, that are inappropriate for those of
different cultures. Then again, in our own communities, we must reflect
whether we have become so racialistic that we divide ourselves into different
communities in competition with each other. The sad situation we see in
some churches is that some communities are not only neglected but they suffer
discrimination by the larger communities.
Another
consideration in terms of exclusivity is whether our churches have become too
sectarian in the way we worship that others are excluded. Quite often too, we
have competition over the different ways we worship and the different
spiritualties. Some are intolerant of other forms of spirituality and
even despise those who worship or pray in a different way. Such spiritual
snobbishness certainly is what the parable is against. Instead of
competing with each other and excluding others from our life, we are called to
reach out and to share with each other whatever gifts we have. No one has
a monopoly of spiritual life and spirituality. All are useful for
the Church and for different people at different times of their life. So
we should not act in an arrogant manner, looking down on others because they
have a different spirituality.
Finally, when
we interpret this parable on the level of the evangelist, this parable is
transformed into an eschatological parable. It is concerned with the coming of God’s
kingdom. Here, the evangelist is exhorting us to recognize our
responsibility in making the Kingdom known to others. Between the time of
the Church, that is, after ascension and the time of the second coming of
Christ, symbolized by the master going away and coming back, all of us in our
own ways are called to be faithful to our master by using all that we have to
prepare ourselves for the kingdom and to bring more people into that
kingdom. The question is, whether we have been active in bringing Christ
to others.
This is
possible only if we witness to Christ with our own lives, both in words and
deeds.
Every Christian is therefore called to work diligently in love to spread the
gospel message that he has received. It would indeed be a tragedy if he
were to keep the Good News only for himself. In fact, if he did, then it
shows his failure to understand the fundamental message of the Good News, which
is God’s vision of unifying us all into one brotherhood in love and service
under His reign of love. In this sense, the gospel reaches out to all men
and women, even those from other religions. We are called to work with
them in building a community of love and peace. We must recognize that
the Holy Spirit is also at work in them invisibly in ways unknown to us.
Whenever we see truth, grace and love in their religions, we must give them due
credit and exhort them to grow in the fullness of truth and grace.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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