20180708
CALLED TO BE FAITHFUL, NOT SUCCESSFUL
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Ezekiel 2:2-5 ©
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These rebels shall know that there is a prophet among them
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The spirit came into me and made me stand up, and I heard the Lord
speaking to me. He said, ‘Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to
the rebels who have turned against me. Till now they and their ancestors have
been in revolt against me. The sons are defiant and obstinate; I am sending you
to them, to say, “The Lord says this.” Whether they listen or not, this set of
rebels shall know there is a prophet among them.’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 122(123) ©
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Our eyes are on the Lord till he shows us his
mercy.
To you have I lifted up my eyes,
you who dwell in the heavens;
my eyes, like the eyes of slaves
on the hand of their lords.
Our eyes are on the Lord till he shows us his
mercy.
Like the eyes of a servant
on the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes are on the Lord our God
till he show us his mercy.
Our eyes are on the Lord till he shows us his
mercy.
Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.
We are filled with contempt.
Indeed all too full is our soul
with the scorn of the rich,
with the proud man’s disdain.
Our eyes are on the Lord till he shows us his
mercy.
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Second reading
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2 Corinthians 12:7-10 ©
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The Lord's power is at its best in weakness
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In view of the extraordinary nature of these revelations, to stop
me from getting too proud I was given a thorn in the flesh, an angel of Satan
to beat me and stop me from getting too proud! About this thing, I have pleaded
with the Lord three times for it to leave me, but he has said, ‘My grace is
enough for you: my power is at its best in weakness.’ So I shall be very happy
to make my weaknesses my special boast so that the power of Christ may stay
over me, and that is why I am quite content with my weaknesses, and with
insults, hardships, persecutions, and the agonies I go through for Christ’s
sake. For it is when I am weak that I am strong.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Jn1:14,12
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The Word was made flesh and lived among us:
to all who did accept him
he gave power to become children of God.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Lk4:18
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord has sent me to bring the good news to the poor,
to proclaim liberty to captives.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 6:1-6 ©
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'A prophet is only despised in his own country'
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Jesus went to his home town and his disciples accompanied him.
With the coming of the sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue and most of
them were astonished when they heard him. They said, ‘Where did the man get all
this? What is this wisdom that has been granted him, and these miracles that
are worked through him? This is the carpenter, surely, the son of Mary, the
brother of James and Joset and Jude and Simon? His sisters, too, are they not
here with us?’ And they would not accept him. And Jesus said to them, ‘A
prophet is only despised in his own country, among his own relations and in his
own house’; and he could work no miracle there, though he cured a few sick
people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.
08 JULY, 2018, Sunday, 14th Week,
Ordinary Time
CALLED TO BE FAITHFUL, NOT SUCCESSFUL
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ Ez 2:2-5; Ps 123:1-5; 2 Cor 12:7-10; Mk 6:1-6 ]
Many of us
have chosen to follow Jesus and serve Him by giving ourselves to Him in service, especially in the Church
or even outside of our parishes and in NGO activities. But serving the
Lord is not always easy. Serving people who appreciate us is very
easy. But when we have to serve those who are always fighting with us, criticizing
and opposing us, it can get very tiresome and discouraging, especially when we
are giving voluntary and free services. This is how some of us priests,
religious and church ministry members feel. At times, we fail in our
projects because of the lack of support, and then we are blamed for them.
This accounts for why many who serve in the Church or in charitable
organizations become jaded, skeptical, resentful, disillusioned and angry with
those in authority and those under them after some time.
Eventually, many leave the ministry as they do not want to waste time on
ingrates.
This was the
case for the Prophet Ezekiel and St Paul in today’s scripture readings. They faced the same
struggles and experience of rejection, opposition and apparent failure in their
mission. The prophet Ezekiel was called by God to upbraid the people for
their sins, their rebellion against Him. He said, “Son of man, I am
sending you to the Israelites, to the rebels who have turned against me. Till
now they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me. The sons are
defiant and obstinate; I am sending you to them, to say, ‘The Lord says
this’.” In spite of the fact that Ezekiel was prophesying to those in
exile, they refused to admit their sins and repent. St Paul
similarly suffered persecution and opposition in his ministry. In
his letter to the Corinthians, he had to assert his authority as an apostle and
a true disciple of the Lord in the face of those who raised objections to his
position as an apostle of our Lord. He had to face enemies from within
and enemies from without. Above all, he was suffering
physically. He spoke of “a thorn in the flesh”, which could have been a
chronic ailment that was debilitating and constraining him from giving more
fully to the ministry and preaching.
Jesus, too,
was not spared of rejection in His mission. In fact, His entire mission ended in
apparent failure on the cross. Although the outcasts, the sinners, the
poor and the sick appreciated Him, the religious authorities and those who had
political power and influence found Him a nuisance. Even His own
family members and friends rejected Him. “Most of them were astonished
when they heard him. They said, ‘Where did the man get all this? What is this
wisdom that has been granted him, and these miracles that are worked through
him? This is the carpenter, surely, the son of Mary.’ And they would not accept
him.”
They were
prejudiced against Him. Some were jealous of His talents, charisms and success. He was rejected
because He was seen as one of their peers and only a carpenter. They had
their preconceived notions of who Jesus should be and not who He really
was. They were blinded to the truth by their inner fears, so much so they
could not hear Jesus and accept Him as the Son of God. As a consequence, they
were the losers instead; not our Lord who came to save them. The poignant
words of Jesus summed up His own experience of being rejected when He remarked,
“A prophet is only despised in his own country, among his own relations and in
his own house’; and he could work no miracle there, though he cured a few sick
people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of
faith.” Indeed, Jesus could not work any miracles because no miracle
could change their hearts since they could not accept His word or believe that
He was from God. Hence, Jesus looked elsewhere to serve those who had
faith in Him and would respond to His Word.
In the light
of what we see in the lives of great leaders, we must come to realize as well
that they remained great leaders despite rejection, not because they were
successful in their ministry but because they were faithful. The measure of
success in the eyes of God is not whether a leader can bring people to
conversion, measured by productivity numbers and KPIs. The success of a
prophet is dependent on his obedience to God’s Word, not on whether others
accept the message. Whether they listen or not, is the grace of God and
their cooperation with His grace. That is why the Lord said to the
prophet Ezekiel, “Whether they listen or not, this set of rebels shall know
there is a prophet among them.” Jesus said the same thing. “A
prophet is only despised in his own country.” However, that does not make
His his work less important. We do not have to be respected or honoured
to be useful to God. We only have to do what the Lord asks of us.
So, we must
not allow rejection, opposition and failure to keep us from serving God. We
must never forget that we are serving God, not man. St Paul wrote, “Whatever
your task, put yourselves into it, as done for the Lord and not for your
masters. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for whatever wrong has
been done, and there is no partiality.” (Col 3:23, 25)
This is what St Teresa of Calcutta reminded her missionaries. “What the
Lord is asking of us is to be faithful not successful!”
So, like St
Paul, we must keep our conscience clear, doing our best. Writing to Bishop Timothy,
he said, “As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time
of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished
the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the
crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on
that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his
appearing.” (2 Tim 4:6-8) He was not always successful. In
fact, he also shared painfully about his opponents. (cf 2 Tim 4:14-16)
Indeed,
failures, weaknesses and persecutions keep us humble. This is God’s way of
reminding us that it is His kingdom that He is building, not ours. Ours is made by human
hands but His is only possible in the power of His Holy Spirit. When we
are intelligent, bright, influential, wealthy and have plenty of resources, we
will rely only on our own abilities and strength. We become proud and
self-reliant instead of depending on God. People who can depend on
themselves do not need to pray or depend on God because they can do it on their
own. That is why such proud people hardly pray, because they do not
believe in the power of grace and prayer.
St Paul sees
his weaknesses as strength instead. He said, “In view of the extraordinary nature of these
revelations, to stop me from getting too proud I was given a thorn in the
flesh, an angel of Satan to beat me and stop me from getting too proud!”
It was his limitations, whether physical, material or opposition from his
enemies that made him rely on God’s strength and not his own. With regard
to the thorn in his flesh, he said, “I have pleaded with the Lord three times
for it to leave me, but he has said, ‘My grace is enough for you: my power is
at its best in weakness’.” Indeed, His grace was sufficient for St Paul,
and for us too.
God does not
always remove our weaknesses but He promises us His assistance and divine
power. With
respect to his opponents, Paul wrote, “But the Lord stood by me and gave me
strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the
Gentiles might hear it.” (2 Tim 4:17)
Indeed, God allows us to feel weak so that we can strengthen our Christian
character and deepen our spiritual life. Ezekiel was obedient to
the word of God and He was filled with His spirit to carry out His work.
“As he said these words the spirit came into me and made me stand up, and I
heard him speaking to me.” When we are weak, God fills us with his
power. Only His strength can empower us to be effective and give our work
lasting value, resulting in a real transformation of hearts, not just
superficial results and activities that we see so often in some church
programs.
At the same
time, our weakness will demonstrate the power of God, that it is not on our own
strength that we accomplish His work. As St Paul wrote, “If I must boast, I will boast of the
things that show my weakness.” (2 Cor 11:30)
“So I shall be very happy to make my weaknesses my special boast so that the
power of Christ may stay over me, and that is why I am quite content with my
weaknesses, and with insults, hardships, persecutions, and the agonies I go
through for Christ’s sake. For it is when I am weak that I am strong.” (cf also 2 Cor 12:10)
So let us
trust in the primacy of grace. Only those who believe in grace will pray
with faith and fervor. Like the psalmist, we say, “To you have I lifted up my
eyes, you who dwell in the heavens; my eyes, like the eyes of slaves on the
hand of their lords. Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy. We are filled
with contempt. Indeed all too full is our soul with the scorn of the
rich, with the proud man’s disdain.”
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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