20180302
DREAMERS FOR GOD AND HUMANITY
02 MARCH, 2018, Friday, 2nd Week of Lent
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
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First reading
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Genesis 37:3-4,12-13,17-28 ©
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Let us kill him: then we shall see what becomes of his dreams
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Israel loved Joseph more than all his other sons, for he was the
son of his old age, and he had a coat with long sleeves made for him. But his
brothers, seeing how his father loved him more than all his other sons, came to
hate him so much that they could not say a civil word to him.
His brothers
went to pasture their father’s flock at Shechem. Then Israel said to Joseph,
‘Are not your brothers with the flock at Shechem? Come, I am going to send you
to them.’ So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
They saw him
in the distance, and before he reached them they made a plot among themselves
to put him to death. ‘Here comes the man of dreams’ they said to one another.
‘Come on, let us kill him and throw him into some well; we can say that a wild
beast devoured him. Then we shall see what becomes of his dreams.’
But Reuben
heard, and he saved him from their violence. ‘We must not take his life’ he
said. ‘Shed no blood,’ said Reuben to them ‘throw him into this well in the
wilderness, but do not lay violent hands on him’ – intending to save him
from them and to restore him to his father. So, when Joseph reached his
brothers, they pulled off his coat, the coat with long sleeves that he was
wearing, and catching hold of him they threw him into the well, an empty well
with no water in it. They then sat down to eat.
Looking up
they saw a group of Ishmaelites who were coming from Gilead, their camels laden
with gum, tragacanth, balsam and resin, which they were taking down into Egypt.
Then Judah said to his brothers, ‘What do we gain by killing our brother and
covering up his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let us not
do any harm to him. After all, he is our brother, and our own flesh.’ His
brothers agreed.
Now some
Midianite merchants were passing, and they drew Joseph up out of the well. They
sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty silver pieces, and these men took
Joseph to Egypt.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 104(105):16-21 ©
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Remember the wonders the Lord has done.
The Lord called down a famine on the land;
he broke the staff that supported them.
He had sent a man before them,
Joseph, sold as a slave.
Remember the wonders the Lord has done.
His feet were put in chains,
his neck was bound with iron,
until what he said came to pass
and the word of the Lord proved him true.
Remember the wonders the Lord has done.
Then the king sent and released him
the ruler of the people set him free,
making him master of his house
and ruler of all he possessed.
Remember the wonders the Lord has done.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Jn3:16
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Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son:
everyone who believes in him has eternal life.
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
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Gospel
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Matthew 21:33-43,45-46 ©
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This is the landlord's heir: come, let us kill him
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Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people,
‘Listen to another parable. There was a man, a landowner, who planted a
vineyard; he fenced it round, dug a winepress in it and built a tower; then he
leased it to tenants and went abroad. When vintage time drew near he sent his
servants to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his
servants, thrashed one, killed another and stoned a third. Next he sent some
more servants, this time a larger number, and they dealt with them in the same
way. Finally he sent his son to them. “They will respect my son” he said. But
when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, “This is the heir. Come
on, let us kill him and take over his inheritance.” So they seized him and
threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Now when the owner of the
vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?’ They answered, ‘He will
bring those wretches to a wretched end and lease the vineyard to other tenants
who will deliver the produce to him when the season arrives.’ Jesus said to
them, ‘Have you never read in the scriptures:
It was the stone rejected by the builders
that became the keystone.
This was the Lord’s doing
and it is wonderful to see?
‘I tell you, then, that the kingdom of God will be taken from you
and given to a people who will produce its fruit.’
When they
heard his parables, the chief priests and the scribes realised he was speaking
about them, but though they would have liked to arrest him they were afraid of
the crowds, who looked on him as a prophet.
DREAMERS FOR GOD AND HUMANITY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ GEN 37:3-4, 12-13, 17-28; PS 105:16-21; MT 21:33-43, 45-46]
In the
gospel, we read about the Parable of the Tenants in the vineyard. For the
Jewish people, Israel was the vineyard of the Lord. God had
chosen them out of all the peoples to be His Chosen People. Their duty
was to bear fruits for the Lord by living out the Covenanted Life and so draw
others into faith in God. They were chosen not for themselves but for the
sake of the rest of humanity. Instead of living the covenanted life, they
were unfaithful to the Lord. This was despite God’s patience and mercy in
sending messengers, one after another to call the people back to the
Covenant. However, they killed the prophets, including God’s only Son.
We too are
God’s chosen people. We have been chosen in Christ to share in the life of God
as His adopted sons and daughters. We too have been given our unique
talents and resources to bear fruits for the Kingdom of God. We have been
blessed in many ways, with a loving family, good health and good food,
luxurious living and a good education. The question is, how we have been
faithful to the blessings that we have received. Have we used them well
for His greater glory and for the building of His kingdom? The tragedy is
that when we forgot His blessings and lived careless and aimless lives, the
Lord in His mercy and compassion sent His messengers and angels to bring us to
consciousness of how we should we live our lives. However, we continued
to reject the prophets He sent in our parents, teachers, elders, friends,
priests and religious. We seek to live our own lives and deliberately cut
God off from our lives, like the Israelites and the Jews did. They said,
“This is the heir. Come on, let us kill him and take over his inheritance.’ So
they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.”
The tragedy
of life is that many of us are living in vain and fail to make use of the
resources the Lord has entrusted to us. When we do not expend them well, not
only do we deprive others whom God wants us to reach out to but we also hinder
our own growth and stifle the potentials of life and love within us.
Indeed, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end and lease the vineyard
to other tenants who will deliver the produce to him when the season
arrives.” It behooves us therefore to consider how we use the blessings
the Lord has entrusted to us.
Today, we are
called to be dreamers for God and for humanity, like Jesus and Joseph. In the first reading,
Joseph was a dreamer. He was a man who was never contented just to be a
shepherd like his brothers. He had a vision and passion for life and for
his people. He dreamt that one day, he would be great and even his
brothers would have to bow down to him. (cf Gn 37:5-11) Jesus
too was a dreamer. He dreamed of the kingdom of God where all men and
women would live in equality and in love. He outlined His dream in His
teaching on the Beatitudes and how one should live in the life of the Kingdom
in His sermon on the Mount. (cf Mt 5-7)
He inaugurated His mission by citing from the Prophet Isaiah when He said, “The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news
to the poor.” (Lk 4:18)
What about
us? Are we dreamers for Christ and His people? We need to dream
dreams if we are to live our lives meaningfully and purposefully. The
trouble with many people who lack passion in what they do is because they do
not dream dreams. They do not have a vision in life and so they have
nothing to strive for. We need a goal or a dream to sustain us and to
pull us along, especially when we are lazy and bored. But it is not
enough to dream dreams for ourselves. If we just dream for ourselves, we
will be sadly disappointed when the dream is fulfilled. When we have all
that we want, in wealth, in status and in position, life becomes empty and
meaningless. The only dream that can see us through living a life of
excitement and passion is when we build dreams for God and for His people.
Dreaming is
the first step. Making the dream come true is even more difficult.
We will face lots of challenges when we try to realize the dreams. Many will oppose our
dreams simply because it is not their dream! When we have a dream for the
church, for our organization, for the country and the people, we will get
resistance because those who are complacent do not want to be unsettled and
disturbed. They prefer things to be status quo and avoid any attempts at
change or progress as they only want to live for themselves and remain in their
comfort and secured zone.
This was the
case of Joseph and Jesus. The jealousy of Joseph’s brothers resulted in him almost being
killed before they eventually settled on selling off. And throughout his
stay in Egypt, he confronted many obstacles before he eventually rose to be the
Prime Minister of Egypt. Jesus too in His ministry and in the
pursuit of His dream of the Kingdom of God met with stiff opposition and subtle
persecutions. Unlike Joseph whose life was spared, Jesus’ life was not
spared. He was that Son of the owner of the Vineyard who was put to death
by the tenants. Many of us who seek to do good for the Church and for our
people are often misunderstood, opposed, ridiculed and put down by those who
are jealous of our dream. Indeed, oppositions are mainly rooted in
insecurity, laziness and jealousy.
Today, we are
called to be strong and firm in our dreams as Joseph and Jesus were. Joseph never gave up.
He was strong and he knew that his dream would be fulfilled in God’s own
time. He did not resist but submitted humbly to the Lord to take care of
him. Joseph was patient in allowing the dream of God to
unfold. So too, Jesus was focused in His mission. His enemies
could not deter Him from proclaiming the Good News. He was resolute in
going up to Jerusalem where He would reveal the love of His Father and
establish the kingdom of God. “When the days drew near for him to be received
up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.” (Lk 9:51)
The
responsorial psalm invites us to trust in God and “remember the wonders the
Lord has done. The Lord called down a famine on the land; he broke
the staff that supported them. He had sent a man before them, Joseph,
sold as a slave. His feet were put in chains, his neck was bound with
iron, until what he said came to pass and the word of the Lord proved him true. Then
the king sent and released him the ruler of the people set him free, making him
master of his house and ruler of all he possessed.” God is faithful to us
if we are faithful to Him. He will see us through in our efforts to make
the dream come true.
We must make
Christ our cornerstone in all that we do. Jesus said to them, “Have
you never read in the scriptures: It was the stone rejected by the
builders that became the keystone. This was the Lord’s doing and it is
wonderful to see?” Whilst we must dream dreams and do all we can to
realize the dream, we must rely on Christ who is the cornerstone in all that we
do. Jesus must remain the center of our lives and the foundation of all
our dreams. To think that we can achieve our dreams without God, like the
tenants in the vineyard, is to take the path of perdition. When Christ is
not the center of our dreams, then we will become selfish, ambitious and
self-serving.
For this
reason, we must also take a page from Joseph and learn humility. Whilst Joseph was
blessed with vision, he lacked humility. He boasted to his brothers about
his greatness one day. When we lack humility, we cause unnecessary
opposition. Rather, we should be like Jesus, humble and meek in His
ministry, healing and touching the hearts of people, yet refusing to claim
credit or to make a spectacle out of His miracles. Jesus came as a lowly
servant to reveal God’s mercy and love, especially to those who were
marginalized and were considered as outcasts and sinners. We must serve with
humility and selflessness if we are to bear fruits for God. Unlike Israel
who loved “Joseph more than all his other sons, for he was the son of his
old age, and he had a coat with long sleeves made for him”, we too must serve
without prejudice lest we cause others to feel inferior or second class.
Rather, in God’s kingdom, we are all equal before God’s eyes, because He loves
us all as His children.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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