20200122
FINDING
THE RIGHT FOCUS
22 January,
2020, Wednesday, 2nd Week in Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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1 Samuel 17:32-33,37,40-51 ©
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David and Goliath
David said to
Saul, ‘Let no-one lose heart on his account; your servant will go and fight the
Philistine.’ But Saul answered David, ‘You cannot go and fight the Philistine;
you are only a boy and he has been a warrior from his youth.’
‘The
Lord who rescued me from the claws of lion and bear’ David said ‘will rescue me
from the power of this Philistine.’ Then Saul said to David, ‘Go, and the Lord
be with you!’
He
took his staff in his hand, picked five smooth stones from the river bed, put
them in his shepherd’s bag, in his pouch, and with his sling in his hand he
went to meet the Philistine. The Philistine, his shield-bearer in front of him,
came nearer and nearer to David; and the Philistine looked at David, and what
he saw filled him with scorn, because David was only a youth, a boy of fresh
complexion and pleasant bearing. The Philistine said to him, ‘Am I a dog for
you to come against me with sticks?’ And the Philistine cursed David by his
gods. The Philistine said to David, ‘Come over here and I will give your flesh
to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.’ But David answered the
Philistine, ‘You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come
against you in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel
that you have dared to insult. Today the Lord will deliver you into my hand and
I shall kill you; I will cut off your head, and this very day I will give your
dead body and the bodies of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the
wild beasts of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in
Israel, and that all this assembly may know that it is not by sword or by spear
that the Lord gives the victory, for the Lord is lord of the battle and he will
deliver you into our power.’
No
sooner had the Philistine started forward to confront David than David left the
line of battle and ran to meet the Philistine. Putting his hand in his bag, he
took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead; the
stone penetrated his forehead and he fell on his face to the ground. Thus David
triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone and struck the Philistine
down and killed him. David had no sword in his hand. Then David ran and,
standing over the Philistine, seized his sword and drew it from the scabbard,
and with this he killed him, cutting off his head. The Philistines saw that
their champion was dead, and took to flight.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm 143(144):1-2,9-10 ©
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Blessed
be the Lord, my rock.
Blessed
be the Lord, my rock,
who
trains my arms for battle,
who
prepares my hands for war.
Blessed
be the Lord, my rock.
He is
my love, my fortress;
he
is my stronghold, my saviour
my
shield, my place of refuge.
He
brings peoples under my rule.
Blessed
be the Lord, my rock.
To
you, O God, will I sing a new song;
I
will play on the ten-stringed lute
to
you who give kings their victory,
who
set David your servant free.
Blessed
be the Lord, my rock.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Heb4:12
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Alleluia,
alleluia!
The
word of God is something alive and active:
it
can judge secret emotions and thoughts.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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cf.Mt4:23
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Alleluia,
alleluia!
Jesus
proclaimed the Good News of the kingdom
and
cured all kinds of sickness among the people.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 3:1-6 ©
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Is it against the law on the sabbath day to save life?
Jesus went into a
synagogue, and there was a man there who had a withered hand. And they were
watching him to see if he would cure him on the sabbath day, hoping for
something to use against him. He said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Stand
up out in the middle!’ Then he said to them, ‘Is it against the law on the
sabbath day to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to kill?’ But they said
nothing. Then, grieved to find them so obstinate, he looked angrily round at
them, and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out and his
hand was better. The Pharisees went out and at once began to plot with the
Herodians against him, discussing how to destroy him.
FINDING THE
RIGHT FOCUS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 SM 17:32-33. 37. 40-51; PS 144:1-2, 9-10; MK 3:1-6 ]
Success in life is about
focusing. Many of us cannot
do well in our work and vocation in life because we are not focused.
Jesus said, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the
kingdom of God.” (Lk 9:62) We are
easily distracted by many other secondary things that we forget our primary
mission. We end up doing many things but in the process forget what our
goal in life is. Hence, it is important that we focus rightly.
In the first reading, we
have Saul who focused wrongly.
He focused on the strength of his enemies, especially the Philistines,
represented by Goliath, which made him doubt whether the youthful boy David
could handle Goliath. He could not imagine that David could overcome the
giant Goliath. He said to David, “You cannot go and fight the Philistine;
you are only a boy and he has been a warrior from his youth.” So,
too, Goliath. He focused on his size and strength. He thought that
with strength and weapons he could overcome his enemies. He was so
confident of himself. He thought might was strength. Hence, it was
his over confidence on his strength and size that made him lose the battle to
David. We read that “the Philistine, his shield-bearer in front of
him, came nearer and nearer to David; and the Philistine looked at David, and
what he saw filled him with scorn, because David was only a youth, a boy of
fresh complexion and pleasant bearing. The Philistine said to him, ‘Am I
a dog for you to come against me with sticks?’ And the Philistine cursed
David by his gods.”
As for David, he did not
focus on his weakness.
On the contrary, he thought out of the box and sought to kill the Philistine
not by might but by skill and strategy. He was not afraid nor was he
daunted by his size. Rather, David ingeniously used a slingshot to hit
directly at the temple of his forehead, delivering a fatal blow to
Goliath. Indeed, it is not enough to rely on one’s strength and might but
on one’s intelligence and strategy as well. It was David’s ability to
focus rightly, not on Goliath’s size and strength but his primary weakness.
He caught him off guard because he was thinking that by his brute strength, he
would surely win the duel.
But that was not
all. David was focused not on himself but ultimately on the
Lord. He
found confidence in the Lord that He would deliver him as before from the lion
and bear. In the responsorial psalm, the psalmist said, “Blessed be
the Lord, my rock, who trains my arms for battle, who prepares my hands for
war. He is my love, my fortress; he is my stronghold, my savior my
shield, my place of refuge. He brings peoples under my rule. To you,
O God, will I sing a new song; I will play on the ten-stringed lute to you who
give kings their victory, who set David your servant free.” This was how David
gained self-confidence. Instead of focusing on his fear, he put his trust
in the Lord. David knew that the battle would be won not by his
human strength but in the power of the Lord. David assured Saul, “The
Lord who rescued me from the claws of lion and bear…will rescue me from the
power of this Philistine.”
It was the same for
Jesus. He was focused on doing good. His intention was to save lives. “He
said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Stand up out in the middle!’
Then he said to them, ‘is it against the law on the Sabbath day to do good, or
to do evil; to save life, or to kill?’ But they said nothing.” In
challenging His opponents, Jesus went straight to the point. He was not
bothered by the hostility of His enemies. In the mind of Jesus, He was
clear. All He wanted to do was to save lives, to heal and to do
good. And Jesus knew that doing good is always good. There can be
no law against doing good. For this reason, they were all
silent. They knew the answer. But they kept quiet because it would
only expose their selfishness, narrow-mindedness and lack of charity towards
those who were suffering.
Indeed, Jesus was clear
of His intentions that instead of being angry with those who opposed Him, He
felt sorry for them.
We read that He was so “grieved to find them so obstinate, he looked angrily
round at them.” He was grieved just as God was grieved when He saw
the evil during the time of Noah. “The Lord saw that the
wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of
the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. And
the Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it
grieved him to his heart.” (Gn 6:5f) His anger against them was not
out of revenge or hatred but it was a holy anger. He wanted to make them
think about the severity of their sin of indifference to what was truly
good. He wanted to save them from their blindness.
In the mind of Jesus,
the law is made for man, not man for the law. The Sabbath law is to remind us not to
rely only on ourselves, as if our ultimate happiness in life is dependent on
our hard work alone. Creation is a gift from God and we are simply called
to cooperate with God in His divine plan for us. We are called to be
responsible stewards. But life is not all about work, making money,
building a better house, having luxuries; it is about relationship with God and
with our family and loved ones. The Sabbath is to force us to rest
from our usual routine and work so that we remember that the more important
things of life is about cultivating relationships. Otherwise, life
is meaningless. It is love that keeps us going and love that keeps us
working for the greater good of others. And if doing work is necessary to
protect and uplift the life of others even on the Sabbath, then the law could
be put aside since it is life-giving.
Alas, this was not how
the Pharisees understood the Sabbath law. The Pharisees were too focused
on the wrong things.
They were focused in protecting their selfish interests and ego to see the
truth of their jealousy and resentment. They were out to find fault with
Jesus so that they would have reason to condemn Him. “And they were
watching him to see if he would cure him on the Sabbath day, hoping for something
to use against him.” Their hearts were so hardened that they had no
feelings for the man who was suffering from the withered hand. This is
what happens to evil and selfish people in the world. They seek freedom
to fulfill their desires, and if we should go against their wishes even if what
they desire is wrong or immoral, they would not hesitate to attack us.
The Church is often under attack when we speak against the trends of the world
that are at odds with the culture of life and integrity in human
relationships. Indeed, today, the good are often silenced by those the
evil-doers because the latter will use the social media to attack those who
think differently or even threaten us with harm if we support such
positions. The irony of this world is that those who seek freedom
of speech and human rights have no qualms about denying the very same freedom
of speech and rights to others.
Indeed, when evil people
want to have things their way, they would do anything to achieve their ends. We read that “the Pharisees went
out and at once began to plot with the Herodians against him, discussing how to
destroy him.” They sought to kill Jesus because He was a threat to their
narrow-minded interpretation of the laws. They even went further to collude
with the Herodians who were politically aligned with the Roman
authorities. The Pharisees who considered those who were in cahoots with
the Romans as unclean would even stoop so low as to use them to destroy
Jesus. They had no principles and went against their professed claim to
be true to the letter of the laws. This was certainly not the case.
Clearly, they were hypocritical.
What about you?
What is your focus? Do you focus on God and on the good of others, or do
you focus on yourself, your weakness, your insecurity and your ego? Let us keep our eyes focused on the Lord
like David, on serving life as Jesus did. This is the right focus.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights
Reserved
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