20180923
THE CHRISTIAN
PERSPECTIVE OF AMBITION
23 SEPTEMBER,
2018, Sunday, 25th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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Wisdom 2:12,17-20 ©
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The wicked prepare to ambush the just
man
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The godless say to themselves:
‘Let us lie in wait for the virtuous man,
since he annoys us
and opposes our way of life,
reproaches us for our breaches of the law
and accuses us of playing false to our
upbringing.
‘Let us see if what he says is true,
let us observe what kind of end he himself
will have.
If the virtuous man is God’s son, God will
take his part
and rescue him from the clutches of his
enemies.
Let us test him with cruelty and with
torture,
and thus explore this gentleness of his
and put his endurance to the proof.
Let us condemn him to a shameful death
since he will be looked after – we
have his word for it.’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 53(54):3-6,8 ©
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The Lord upholds my
life.
O God, save me by your name;
by your power, uphold my
cause.
O God, hear my prayer;
listen to the words of my
mouth.
The Lord upholds my
life.
For proud men have risen against me,
ruthless men seek my life.
They have no regard for God.
The Lord upholds my
life.
But I have God for my help.
The Lord upholds my life.
I will sacrifice to you with willing heart
and praise your name for it is
good.
The Lord upholds my
life.
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Second reading
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James 3:16-4:3 ©
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The wisdom that comes from above makes
for peace
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Wherever you find jealousy and ambition,
you find disharmony, and wicked things of every kind being done; whereas the
wisdom that comes down from above is essentially something pure; it also makes
for peace, and is kindly and considerate; it is full of compassion and shows
itself by doing good; nor is there any trace of partiality or hypocrisy in it.
Peacemakers, when they work for peace, sow the seeds which will bear fruit in
holiness.
Where
do these wars and battles between yourselves first start? Isn’t it precisely in
the desires fighting inside your own selves? You want something and you haven’t
got it; so you are prepared to kill. You have an ambition that you cannot
satisfy; so you fight to get your way by force. Why you don’t have what you
want is because you don’t pray for it; when you do pray and don’t get it, it is
because you have not prayed properly, you have prayed for something to indulge
your own desires.
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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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cf.2Th2:14
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Through the Good News God called us
to share the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 9:30-37 ©
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Anyone who welcomes one of these little
children in my name welcomes me
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Jesus and his disciples made their way
through Galilee; and he did not want anyone to know, because he was instructing
his disciples; he was telling them, ‘The Son of Man will be delivered into the
hands of men; they will put him to death; and three days after he has been put
to death he will rise again.’ But they did not understand what he said and were
afraid to ask him.
They
came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house he asked them, ‘What were you
arguing about on the road?’ They said nothing because they had been arguing
which of them was the greatest. So he sat down, called the Twelve to him and
said, ‘If anyone wants to be first, he must make himself last of all and
servant of all.’ He then took a little child, set him in front of them, put his
arms round him, and said to them, ‘Anyone who welcomes one of these little
children in my name, welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not me
but the one who sent me.’
THE CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE OF AMBITION
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ Wisdom 2:12, 17-20; James 3:16 – 4:3; Mark 9:30-37 ]
From young, we are
encouraged to have an ambition in life. One of the first essays we wrote when we were
young was ‘My Ambition’. Indeed, without ambition we will lack the drive
and motivation to work hard or even to live. That is why those who are
without ambition just drift through life, living from day to day, aimlessly and
meaninglessly. They are bored, and instead of doing meaningful
activities, they get involved in all kinds of mischief, getting themselves into
trouble and making life difficult for others because they want to seek some fun
or purpose. Some are misled into a life of sin and pleasure.
Without a goal and a
purpose, we can never do anything well. This explains why many of our
young people are lazy when it comes to study. This is because many of them do not have a
clear goal in life, in what they want to do and how they want to live.
They are just studying because that is what their parents want them to
do. They are not motivated to study hard. The motives given to them
are to achieve better results than their friends so that they can have a good
life ahead of them. But why should they be bothered, especially when
their parents are well off? They already have a good life, a comfortable
life, and good food. This is true also for those at the workplace.
Some staff are just going through the motions. They are just fulfilling
their tasks but they do not see their work as contributing to the greater goal,
not just of the office or the corporation, but for the good of society.
Consequently, one of the
first thoughts planted in our minds from young by our parents, elders and
teachers is our ambition in life. Yet, this good intention unfortunately
can turn awry. Underscoring
ambition as an attempt to drive a person to do something worthwhile is
useful. But it is a double-edged sword because ambition tends to focus on
self. It is about making a success in life for oneself. It is about
self-fulfillment. When our ambition is directed at exalting ourselves,
then such ambition can become ruthless, competitive and manipulative. We
find this in every area of life, whether in school, in the sports field, in
business, in the office and even in Church. In order to be successful and
be better than others, we will use every means, even unscrupulous, dishonest
and harmful means, to get what we want. This is what St James warns us in
the second reading.
Ambition leads to
restlessness in our hearts and this will be manifested in our unhappiness with
others. “Where do these
wars and battles between yourselves first start? Isn’t it precisely in the
desires fighting inside your own selves? You want something and you haven’t got
it; so you are prepared to kill. You have an ambition that you cannot satisfy;
so you fight to get your way by force.” The consequence of ambition is
disharmony and division. “Wherever you find jealousy and ambition, you
find disharmony, and wicked things of every kind being done.” Isn’t this
the case of those who are ambitious? They have no peace, no joy, no rest
but they are always chasing after their goals and often neglect their loved
ones and God. They see everyone else as their competitors and enemies.
They have no time for real relationship and they have no true friends either.
This was the case of the
apostles in today’s gospel. They were squabbling over position, power and
glory. They were arguing
on the road about which of them was the greatest. They were motived to
follow Jesus, but their motives were not pure. They were following Jesus
for their sake, but not for the sake of Jesus and for the good of their
people. They were so absorbed by what they would get when Jesus
came into His kingdom, so much so they could not even feel with Jesus in His
anxiety about the passion ahead of Him. Jesus was thinking through the
implications of His imminent passion, but they were imagining what positions
they would get.
That is why, instead of
just having an ambition that is focused on self, we should speak of a vocation. The latter speaks of a calling from
God to serve humanity. Having a vocation perfects our ambition. The
only ambition that is truly self-fulfilling is service to God and
humanity. This was what the Lord said to His apostles. “If anyone
wants to be first, he must make himself last of all and servant of all.”
Service must be the motivation of all that we do. Fulfilment in a
job is more than just securing a good job with a good remuneration but it is
something that we feel is meaningful in our contribution to society. This
explains why successful companies are those with a sense of mission for the
good of society. When they explain their mission to their staff, they get
buy-in, and the staff no longer regard themselves as workers but as
collaborators in the mission of the organization.
Vocation is always a
service to charity and to the truth. We are called to serve everyone,
especially the weakest of society, symbolized in the children in today’s
gospel. Jesus
took a little child, set him in front of them, put His arms round him, and said
to them, “Anyone who welcomes one of these little children in my name, welcomes
me; and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent
me.” Children in those days were regarded as insignificant
persons. But Jesus made it clear that the greatest form of service is
towards those who are poor, helpless, weak and vulnerable. To serve them
is to serve the Lord. In whatever work or business we undertake, we
should not just be making profits for the company but the whole intent should
be to serve society. The task of the entrepreneur is to make society
better, take care of his workers and their families, and to use the profits to
generate better services and to help the rest of society. It is
interesting that the concept of social engagement today is considered a value
in most corporations because the profits that they make must not stay just
within the company and their shareholders but they must show that they are
contributing back to the development of society.
But the most difficult
form of vocation is at the service of truth. Many things in society require prophets to
speak out. We are called to be the voice of the voiceless, the weak and
the vulnerable. Those who hold positions in society and those who are
influential are called to stand up for what is right and true. However,
doing so may make them unpopular and they may lose the support of the
people. They may be persecuted, vehemently opposed and ridiculed by
godless men who make money from immoral living. This is what the first
reading is warning us about, “The godless say to themselves, ‘Let us lie in
wait for the virtuous men, since he annoys us and opposes our way of life,
reproaches us for our breaches of the law and accuses us of playing false to
our upbringing.'”
Having made a
distinction between ambition and vocation, things are never that clear. Many who are working for a cause,
in the name of God, the poor and truth, can become ambitious. There is
the danger that we might fall into spiritual worldliness when we transfer the
worldly motives to so-called Christian service and ministry. That is why those
who are working in the Church, in charitable organizations and NGOs are also
bickering among themselves for position and honour. They are ambitious
and encourage politicking. As a result, service for charity and for truth can
also bring about much division and frustration.
So even in this area of
service we must be purified in our intentions and motives. Jesus was certainly a man who was
focused on His mission. He gave Himself wholeheartedly to the mission of
proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom. But He met with much
opposition. He could still struggle on and fight with His enemies.
He submitted to His Father’s will that His mission ends in failure on the
cross. He prophesied, “The Son of Man will be delivered into the hand of
men; they will put him to death; and three days after he has been put to death,
he will rise again.” It must have been something difficult for
Jesus to accept. But because He was seeking to do the Father’s will and
not His own, He was willing to be led by the Lord in doing good. We too,
unless we are willing to give up our dream if demanded by the Lord, we can be
sure that we are fulfilling our ambition and not our vocation.
To have a dream, to have
a vocation, is not the same as having an ambition. A dream is for
humanity, a vocation is in response to God’s will. With or without the success of this dream,
a person should be happy so long as he knows that he is giving himself to God
and society the way God desires. When we can surrender our plans to the
Lord, then we will find true peace and joy in humble service. St James
says, “the wisdom that comes down from above is essentially something pure; it
also makes for peace, and is kindly and considerate; it is full of compassion
and shows itself by doing good; nor is there any trace of partiality or
hypocrisy in it. Peacemakers, when they work for peace, sow the seeds which
will bear fruit in holiness.”
So let us in all things
discern our vocation in life and His will for us. St James exhorts us to
pray. “Why you don’t
have what you want is because you don’t pray for it; when you do pray and don’t
get it, it is because you have not prayed properly, you have prayed for
something to indulge your own desires.” Prayer helps us to move from
fulfilling our will to seeking God’s will. It is to choose what He wants
us to do for Him. Instead of getting God to do our will, we will do His instead.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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