20200215
COMPROMISING
OUR FAITH AND VALUES
15 February,
2020, Saturday, 5th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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1 Kings 12:26-32,13:33-34 ©
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The prophecy of the separation of Israel
Jeroboam thought
to himself, ‘As things are, the kingdom will revert to the House of David. If
this people continues to go up to the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem to offer
sacrifices, the people’s heart will turn back again to their lord, Rehoboam
king of Judah, and they will put me to death.’ So the king thought this over
and then made two golden calves; he said to the people, ‘You have been going up
to Jerusalem long enough. Here are your gods, Israel; these brought you up out
of the land of Egypt!’ He set up one in Bethel and the people went in
procession all the way to Dan in front of the other. He set up the temple of
the high places and appointed priests from ordinary families, who were not of
the sons of Levi. Jeroboam also instituted a feast in the eighth month, on the
fifteenth of the month, like the feast that was kept in Judah, and he went up
to the altar. That was how he behaved in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he
had made; and at Bethel he put the priests of the high places he had established.
Jeroboam
did not give up his wicked ways but went on appointing priests for the high
places from the common people. He consecrated as priests of the high places any
who wished to be. Such conduct made the House of Jeroboam a sinful House, and
caused its ruin and extinction from the face of the earth.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm 105(106):6-7,19-22 ©
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O
Lord, remember me out of the love you have for your people.
Our
sin is the sin of our fathers;
we
have done wrong, our deeds have been evil.
Our
fathers when they were in Egypt
paid
no heed to your wonderful deeds.
O
Lord, remember me out of the love you have for your people.
They
fashioned a calf at Horeb
and
worshipped an image of metal,
exchanging
the God who was their glory
for
the image of a bull that eats grass.
O
Lord, remember me out of the love you have for your people.
They
forgot the God who was their saviour,
who
had done such great things in Egypt,
such
portents in the land of Ham,
such
marvels at the Red Sea.
O
Lord, remember me out of the love you have for your people.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Mt4:4
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Alleluia,
alleluia!
Man
does not live on bread alone,
but
on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 8:1-10 ©
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The feeding of the four thousand
A great crowd had
gathered, and they had nothing to eat. So Jesus called his disciples to him and
said to them, ‘I feel sorry for all these people; they have been with me for
three days now and have nothing to eat. If I send them off home hungry they will
collapse on the way; some have come a great distance.’ His disciples replied,
‘Where could anyone get bread to feed these people in a deserted place like
this?’ He asked them, ‘How many loaves have you?’ ‘Seven’ they said. Then he
instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground, and he took the seven loaves,
and after giving thanks he broke them and handed them to his disciples to
distribute; and they distributed them among the crowd. They had a few small
fish as well, and over these he said a blessing and ordered them to be
distributed also. They ate as much as they wanted, and they collected seven
basketfuls of the scraps left over. Now there had been about four thousand
people. He sent them away and immediately, getting into the boat with his
disciples, went to the region of Dalmanutha.
COMPROMISING OUR
FAITH AND VALUES
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 Kgs 12:26-32; 13:33-34; Ps 106:6-7, 19-22; Mk 8:1-10 ]
In the face of insecurity
and the desire for convenience, many of us are willing to compromise our faith
and values in life.
Instead of standing firm in our convictions, we dilute our beliefs and values
so that they could fit into our lives. The truth is that once we start compromising
our principles, we are on a slippery path courting untold disasters both for
ourselves and society. This we read in the first reading when Jeroboam
compromised the true worship of God for idolatrous worship. The footnote of the
author says, “Jeroboam did not give up his wicked ways after this incident, but
went on appointing priests of the high places any who wished to be. Such
conduct made the House of Jeroboam a sinful House, and caused its ruin and
extinction from the face of the earth.” Unfortunately, this is the case today
when politics and religions seek to compromise with the popular desires of the
people we lead.
Indeed, insecurity is
the primary reason for making compromises, especially if we are leaders in
politics, religion or in the corporate world. Instead of putting God, truth and right
values for the greater good of our people first, we give priority to our
insecurities. Political leaders are interested in maintaining power
rather than serving the people. Religious leaders are concerned about
increasing their membership, collections and popularity rather than leading
their people to encounter God and walk the way of truth and charity.
Corporate leaders seek loyalty of workers and the public so that their products
can sell.
This was the case of
Jeroboam. He was not so much concerned about the true worship of God or
the needs of the people.
He was motivated by political ambition and also fear of retaliation by
Rehoboam, King of Judah. He was one of the officials who staged a rebellion
against Rehoboam which resulted in the 10 tribes of Israel belonging to the
Northern Kingdom breaking away from Judah. Indeed, he said to himself, “As
things are, the kingdom will revert to the House of David. If this people
continues to go up to the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem to offer sacrifices,
the people’s heart will turn back again to their Lord, Rehoboam king of Judah,
and they will put me to death.”
To prevent the people
from going to Jerusalem to worship at the Temple, he constructed two shrines
and simulated the shrines, even the religious festivals that Israel
celebrated. By
so doing, he could replace the God of Moses and the Patriarchs with his own
version of gods in the form of two calves, temple liturgy, priests and
religious festivals. He “made two golden calves; he said to the people,
‘You have been going up to Jerusalem long enough. Here are your gods,
Israel; these brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ He set up one in
Bethel and the people went in procession all the way to Dan in front of the
other. He set up the temple of the high places and appointed priests from
ordinary families, who were not of the sons of Levi. Jeroboam also instituted a
feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth of the month, like the feast that
was kept in Judah, and he went up to the altar.” Indeed, he sought to
substitute the true faith of Israel for the idols which he created for his
people.
Such political
manipulation of religions still prevails in the world today. Political leaders often make use of
religion to support their cause. They would champion a particular
religion in order to win votes. In some countries, religion is controlled
by the government. There is no freedom of worship or of beliefs.
The government dictates even the beliefs of the religion, what they can teach
and what they cannot teach even though what they teach is based on truth and
justice and for the greater good of all. Unfortunately, religions also
submit to the political manipulation because they desire acceptance,
sponsorship, power and money. They use religion to support political
powers so that they have a share of their benefits.
But it is not political
manipulation alone; believers are also to be blamed. They want
convenience. King Jeroboam did
not reveal his real intention of setting up two shrines, one at Bethel and the
other in Dan. Instead, he presented himself to be working for the good of
his people. He said to the people, “You have been going up to Jerusalem
long enough. Here are your gods, Israel; these brought you up out of the
land of Egypt!” He was repeating the sin of Aaron when he made one golden
calf to symbolize the Israelites’ God as Moses was away on the top of the
Mountain. They were feeling insecure because of the long absence of
Moses. Hence, to please the people, to calm them and assure them of God’s
presence, Aaron molded a golden calf for them to worship like their pagan
neighbors. Rehoboam similarly wanted to give the people both the security
of God’s protection and the convenience of not having to go up to Jerusalem to
offer worship and sacrifices at the Temple.
Today, in the face of
secularism, relativism and materialism, religious leaders are also giving in to
popular demands to satisfy their convenience, their wishes, lest they lose
their members. Some
religious leaders seek to find acceptance among their people by compromising
the truths as taught in the scriptures and by Tradition. They give in to
same-sex union even though it is clearly forbidden in the
scriptures. We allow divorce even though Jesus prohibited it.
The unity of marriage is no longer held as sacred. The bible clearly says
we cannot kill, but because many are going for abortions, IVF and an increasing
number of people asking for euthanasia, some religious leaders are advocating
them as well and are oblivious to the culture of death being promoted by the
world. Indeed, not only do we compromise on divine laws but even when
natural laws are so obvious, especially when it comes to the identity of the
human person, his gender and his calling, we compromise our positions.
Religious leaders are succumbing simply because they are afraid that their
religion will become redundant and they will face declining membership.
However, there is a real
difference between speaking and living the truth in charity and compromising
our beliefs and values. We
should be tolerant and compassionate with those who cannot live up to the
truths as taught in the scriptures. But the truth is the truth. Just
because we fail to reach it does not mean that we can normalize what is false
and wrong to be what is right and true. When the Church asks us to show
compassion and empathy, it does not mean that we are to approve same-sex union,
divorce, abortion and euthanasia or social injustices. But it means
that we must not exclude them, marginalize or condemn them. Rather, we
must journey with them in charity. We must accept them as our brothers
and sisters, giving them support and love. But it does not mean that we
have to compromise our faith, beliefs and values.
Jesus is our leader when
it comes to integrity. In the gospel, Jesus placed God before human
needs. We
read that He preached to them for three days. He wanted the people to put
God and His word first before themselves and their needs. Because He placed God
before everything else, He did not forget the hunger of the people as
well. We are reminded of what the Lord said, “One does not live by bread
alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Mt 4:4) Unless, our soul is fed, no
amount of food and luxury can satisfy the human heart. This explains why
even in the deserted place, the people were attentive to His Word.
Again, unlike the
disciples who wanted to go for convenience by sending the hungry people away,
Jesus did not.
He made it clear that it was their responsibility to feed them. He said
to them, “‘If I send them home hungry they will collapse on the way; some have
come a great distance.’ His disciples replied, ‘Where could anyone get
bread to feed these people in a deserted place like this?'” Jesus put His
faith in God who provides. We read that He took the loaves and the fish
and gave thanks to God and then had them distributed. “They ate as much as they
wanted, and they collected seven basketfuls of the scraps left over. Now
there had been about four thousand people.” Like Jesus, let us feed the
world with the right food, the Word of God, right doctrine and values, and in
charity reach out to our neighbours.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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