20191119
FAILURE
IN DISCIPLESHIP AND MENTORING
19 NOVEMBER,
2019, Tuesday, 33rd Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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2 Maccabees 6:18-31 ©
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Eleazar, one of the foremost teachers of
the Law, a man already advanced in years and of most noble appearance, was
being forced to open his mouth wide to swallow pig’s flesh. But he, resolving
to die with honour rather than to live disgraced, went to the block of his own
accord, spitting the stuff out, the plain duty of anyone with the courage to
reject what it is not lawful to taste, even from a natural tenderness for his
own life. Those in charge of the impious banquet, because of their
long-standing friendship with him, took him aside and privately urged him to
have meat brought of a kind he could properly use, prepared by himself, and
only pretend to eat the portions of sacrificial meat as prescribed by the king;
this action would enable him to escape death, by availing himself of an act of
kindness prompted by their long friendship. But having taken a noble decision
worthy of his years and the dignity of his great age and the well earned
distinction of his grey hairs, worthy too of his impeccable conduct from
boyhood, and above all of the holy legislation established by God himself, he
publicly stated his convictions, telling them to send him at once to Hades.
‘Such pretence’ he said ‘does not square with our time of life; many young
people would suppose that Eleazar at the age of ninety had conformed to the
foreigners’ way of life, and because I had played this part for the sake of a
paltry brief spell of life might themselves be led astray on my account; I
should only bring defilement and disgrace on my old age. Even though for the
moment I avoid execution by man, I can never, living or dead, elude the grasp
of the Almighty. Therefore if I am man enough to quit this life here and now I
shall prove myself worthy of my old age, and I shall have left the young a
noble example of how to make a good death, eagerly and generously, for the
venerable and holy laws.’
With
these words he went straight to the block. His escorts, so recently well
disposed towards him, turned against him after this declaration, which they
regarded as sheer madness. Just before he died under the blows, he groaned
aloud and said, ‘The Lord whose knowledge is holy sees clearly that, though I
might have escaped death, whatever agonies of body I now endure under this
bludgeoning, in my soul I am glad to suffer, because of the awe which he
inspires in me.’
This
was how he died, leaving his death as an example of nobility and a record of
virtue not only for the young but for the great majority of the nation.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 3:2-7 ©
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The Lord upholds me.
How many are my foes, O Lord!
How many are rising up against
me!
How many are saying about me:
‘There is no help for him in
God.’
The Lord upholds me.
But you, Lord, are a shield about me,
my glory, who lift up my head.
I cry aloud to the Lord.
He answers from his holy
mountain.
The Lord upholds me.
I lie down to rest and I sleep.
I wake, for the Lord upholds
me.
I will not fear even thousands of people
who are ranged on every side
against me.
The Lord upholds me.
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Gospel Acclamation
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cf.Ps129:5
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Alleluia, alleluia!
My soul is waiting for the Lord,
I count on his word.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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1Jn4:10
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Alleluia, alleluia!
God so loved us that he sent his Son
to be the sacrifice that takes our sins
away.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 19:1-10 ©
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Jesus entered Jericho and was going
through the town when a man whose name was Zacchaeus made his appearance: he
was one of the senior tax collectors and a wealthy man. He was anxious to see
what kind of man Jesus was, but he was too short and could not see him for the
crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus
who was to pass that way. When Jesus reached the spot he looked up and spoke to
him: ‘Zacchaeus, come down. Hurry, because I must stay at your house today.’
And he hurried down and welcomed him joyfully. They all complained when they
saw what was happening. ‘He has gone to stay at a sinner’s house’ they said.
But Zacchaeus stood his ground and said to the Lord, ‘Look, sir, I am going to
give half my property to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody I will pay him
back four times the amount.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come
to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has
come to seek out and save what was lost.’
FAILURE IN
DISCIPLESHIP AND MENTORING
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [2 Mc 6:18-31; Ps 3:2-7; Lk 19:1-10 ]
Those of us from the
older generation are bewildered at the current state of affairs in the world
today, especially with respect to faith and morality. The younger generations are losing faith
in God even though some of them might be coming to Church and for catechism
classes. Deep in their hearts, many are unsure or even do not believe
that God exists or that Jesus is real. When it comes to morality, they are
even more confused because of relativism, individualism, pragmatism and
materialism. Values such as fidelity, chastity, loyalty, filial piety and
generosity are no longer held by them. To them it is about whether I am
served and whether my needs are satisfied. That is why they no longer
cherish the integrity of the family and even marriage life.
Why is society’s
morality degenerating each passing year? The reason is simply because we
have failed our children and the younger generation in terms of setting an example
for them as to how we live out our faith and life. The truth is that there are many teachers
telling them what to do and how to do, but there are few practitioners and
witnesses. Pope Paul VI often reminded us that what the world needs today
are not teachers but witnesses. When leaders, parents, teachers,
guardians and elders do not set the right example of being faithful servants of
God in their lives, we cannot expect our younger generation to do better than
us. What we do is what they imitate. In fact, what we say have less
impact on them than what we do every day and how we conduct ourselves in life.
Indeed, there is a
dearth of witnesses in Christian living. As elders we have failed our younger generation
because we did not show them how to be true Christians in the way we practice
our faith and in the way we translate what we believe into daily life.
There is a dichotomy between faith and life. Religious leaders do
not live out the vows of simplicity, chastity, obedience and poverty that they
take publicly. They fail to radiate the compassion of Christ in their
dealing with those under their charge. Parents live irresponsible lives,
are either lazy or not helping out with the household chores, or wasting time
and money in gambling, excessive drinking and even in extra-marital
affairs. When we live a double life, the young lose confidence in the
adults and in leaders. So glaring is this separation that our younger
generation have grown up to be rather skeptical of all that we say and do because
they know that in our private life, we contradict what we say and so in public.
In contrast, we have the
exemplary example of Eleazar, “one of the foremost teachers of the Law, a man
already advanced in years.” He was a man of integrity. Not only was he a teacher of the
Law but he put into practice what he taught. His life was consistent with
the scriptures he read. Hence, when he was forced to submit to the pagan
laws and customs, such as eating pig’s flesh and the sacrificial meat to the
pagan gods, he was defiant and refused to do so. Eleazar was adamant in
his obedience to God even in the face of the death.
Eleazar’s sense of
integrity was not merely an external performance but he sought to be consistent
in whatever he said, believed and did.
He would not perform even an external action if it was not truly expressive of
what he interiorly believed just to protect himself from harm. Hence, when
encouraged by his concerned friends to simply simulate the act of eating the
sacrificial meat to satisfy the king’s command so that he could escape death,
he rejected the offer. Eleazar did not feel right to pretend even though
he was not disobeying the laws because he was not eating pork.
But what is important to
take note also is that he was living a life of fidelity to God and His
commandments not simply for his own salvation but for the salvation of
others. He
was conscious that his actions not only affected himself and his salvation but
others as well. This explains why Eleazar was not only thinking
about himself and his salvation. In his mind, it is a grievous sin for
one to pretend to break the law, even though one does not break the laws per
se. This is because we give the wrong impression to others by our bad
example. Indeed, he said, “Such pretence does not square with our time of
life; many young people would suppose that Eleazar at the age of ninety had
conformed to the foreigners’ way of life, and because I had played this part
for the sake of a paltry brief spell of life might themselves be led astray on
my account; I should only bring defilement and disgrace on my old age.”
When we do wrong or even pretend to do what others do without an interior
conviction, it is still a sin because it affects others around us. This
is what St Paul wrote as well. “We do not live to ourselves, and we do
not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we
die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the
Lord’s. So then, each of us will be accountable to God.” (Rom 14:7f, 12)
Jesus in today’s gospel
is another example of what it means to live a life of integrity. We read that Zacchaeus, “one of the
senior tax collectors and a wealthy man…was anxious to see what kind of man
Jesus was.” This is quite significant because Zacchaeus was living a
sinful life. He knew that he was making a dishonest living through cheating
and levying exorbitant taxes. He knew that his life was not in
order. But if his life was bad, in truth the religious leaders and so
called pious Jews like the Pharisees and the scribes, were even worse than the
tax-collectors because they lived double lives. This was what the Lord
Himself remarked, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’
seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do
as they do, for they do not practice what they teach.” (Mt 23:2) They are like “whitewashed tombs,
which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of
the dead and of all kinds of filth.” (Mt 23:27)
For this reason,
Zacchaeus was perhaps looking for a religious leader with integrity and
authenticity. He was so desperate to find a mentor, a true teacher. Being short, not just physically
but short of virtues, he was rejected by the people, seen as an outcast; he
could only manage to have a glimpse of the Lord passing by. But “when
Jesus reached the spot he looked up and spoke to him: ‘Zacchaeus, come down
here. Hurry, because I must stay at your house today.’ And he hurried down and
welcomed him joyfully.” To have the Lord enter into His house and see Him
personally, listening to Him and watching how He related with others must have
won him over that evening. He was impacted by the life of Jesus, a man of
integrity, living out what He preached. For this reason, when others
complained, that Jesus had “gone to stay at a sinner’s house”, “Zacchaeus stood
his ground and said to the Lord, ‘Look, sir, I am going to give half my
property to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody I will pay them back four
times the amount.'”
And Jesus said to him,
“Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of
Abraham; for the Son of Man has
come to seek out and save what was lost.” Zacchaeus was saved by the
authenticity of Jesus. He came to see the true man. As a
consequence, he was able to give back all the money and goods he had stolen and
cheated. He was now at peace with himself, for now he lived a life of
integrity. He was no longer living a double but an honest life. He
could continue to be a tax-collector but an honest one.
Living such a life of
integrity in today’s world is very hard because of the pressure of society and
peer pressure. We
are afraid to profess our faith publicly, to acknowledge that we are Catholic.
We compromise our faith and practices because we do not want to out of place
with others. We seek to be “one of them” so that people will not think we
are weird or different from them. This was how the friends of Eleazar
felt. “His escorts, so recently well disposed towards him, turned against
him after this declaration, which they regarded as sheer madness.” When
we seek to be just one of them, doing what the world is doing, as the friends
of Eleazar did, then we are also condoning evil and a lifestyle that is
contrary to the gospel. We set bad examples and confuse our young people
as to how they should conduct themselves.
In the final analysis,
only faith in God and in His grace can give us the courage to live a life of
fidelity and integrity. It
was Eleazar’s total faith in God that gave him the courage to live out his life
in total obedience to God’s commandments. He said, “Even though for the
moment I avoid execution by man, I can never, living or dead, elude the grasp
of the Almighty.” And when he was dying, he said, “‘The Lord whose
knowledge is holy sees clearly that, though I might have escaped death,
whatever agonies of body I now endure under this bludgeoning, in my soul I am
glad to suffer, because of the awe which he inspires in me.” We, too,
must ask for this faith and this grace to suffer in His name, for His greater
glory, for our salvation and others. With the psalmist, we say, “the Lord
upholds me. I will not fear even thousands of people who are ranged on every side
against me.”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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