20200220
JUDGING
FROM GOD’S PERSPECTIVE
20 February,
2020, Thursday, 6th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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James 2:1-9 ©
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God chose the poor but you do not respect them
My brothers, do
not try to combine faith in Jesus Christ, our glorified Lord, with the making
of distinctions between classes of people. Now suppose a man comes into your
synagogue, beautifully dressed and with a gold ring on, and at the same time a
poor man comes in, in shabby clothes, and you take notice of the well-dressed
man, and say, ‘Come this way to the best seats’; then you tell the poor man,
‘Stand over there’ or ‘You can sit on the floor by my foot-rest.’ Can’t you see
that you have used two different standards in your mind, and turned yourselves
into judges, and corrupt judges at that?
Listen,
my dear brothers: it was those who are poor according to the world that God
chose, to be rich in faith and to be the heirs to the kingdom which he promised
to those who love him. In spite of this, you have no respect for anybody who is
poor. Isn’t it always the rich who are against you? Isn’t it always their doing
when you are dragged before the court? Aren’t they the ones who insult the
honourable name to which you have been dedicated? Well, the right thing to do
is to keep the supreme law of scripture: you must love your neighbour as
yourself; but as soon as you make distinctions between classes of people, you
are committing sin, and under condemnation for breaking the Law.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm 33(34):2-7 ©
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This
poor man called; the Lord heard him.
I
will bless the Lord at all times,
his
praise always on my lips;
in
the Lord my soul shall make its boast.
The
humble shall hear and be glad.
This
poor man called; the Lord heard him.
Glorify
the Lord with me.
Together
let us praise his name.
I
sought the Lord and he answered me;
from
all my terrors he set me free.
This
poor man called; the Lord heard him.
Look
towards him and be radiant;
let
your faces not be abashed.
This
poor man called, the Lord heard him
and
rescued him from all his distress.
This
poor man called; the Lord heard him.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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James1:18
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Alleluia,
alleluia!
By
his own choice the Father made us his children
by
the message of the truth,
so
that we should be a sort of first-fruits
of
all that he created.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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cf.Jn6:63,68
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Alleluia,
alleluia!
Your
words are spirit, Lord, and they are life;
you
have the message of eternal life.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 8:27-33 ©
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The way you think is not God's way, but man's
Jesus and his
disciples left for the villages round Caesarea Philippi. On the way he put this
question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say I am?’ And they told him. ‘John
the Baptist,’ they said ‘others Elijah; others again, one of the prophets.’
‘But you,’ he asked ‘who do you say I am?’ Peter spoke up and said to him, ‘You
are the Christ.’ And he gave them strict orders not to tell anyone about him.
And
he began to teach them that the Son of Man was destined to suffer grievously,
to be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and to be
put to death, and after three days to rise again; and he said all this quite
openly. Then, taking him aside, Peter started to remonstrate with him. But,
turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said to him, ‘Get behind
me, Satan! Because the way you think is not God’s way but man’s.’
JUDGING FROM
GOD’S PERSPECTIVE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [JAMES 2:1-9; MK 8:27-33 ]
It is natural and human
for us to be discriminatory in the way we treat people, just as the early
Christians treated the poor and the rich differently. St James chastised them accordingly, “My
brothers, do not try to combine faith in Jesus Christ, our glorified Lord, with
the making of distinctions between classes of people.” Indeed, the
human tendency for us is to welcome those who can benefit us rather than those
whom we have to benefit. We are happy to mix with those people who are not
problematic, those who are intelligent and successful in life. This is
because they are of use to us, or at least do not cause us inconvenience and
problems.
Then again, those who
are active in church ministry, church leaders who serve in positions or those
who have given much to the church in time, talents and resources, expect to be
treated differently from others, be accorded special seats and invitations. The Church, too, feels obliged to treat
them differently for fear they would be slighted and stop serving the Church or
contributing to the needs of the Church. Underlying all that we do is
also the principle of mutual benefit. Pure and disinterested service to
and from the Church is rare. Perhaps the only obvious example is
rendering help to the poor, where the Church is truly giving without expecting
any returns. It is not that we cannot help the rich or show
appreciation to them. We should, but we must not make the poor feel that
they are second class members.
This is why Pope Francis
warns us of spiritual worldliness. Unfortunately, what the world is seeking
and how the world works is also how we work, even in a community of faith. What
is practiced in the world is now transferred to the spiritual realm. Like
the world, even spiritual people seek power, control, popularity, a good and
luxurious life, holidays, fine dining and nice houses. Did not
Jesus criticize such an attitude towards people? “For if you love those
who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the
same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are
you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?” (Mt 5:46f)
Indeed, St James struck
at the root of the gospel, which is a preferential treatment for the poor, the
undeserving.
Christianity is essential grace. The gospel is about
grace, the benevolence of God. Because everything is grace, we are called
to be gracious like God. Indeed, the scripture tells us that
the Lord loves the poor. In the responsorial psalm, we say, “The
humble shall hear and be glad. Glorify the Lord with me. Together let us
praise his name. I sought the Lord and he answered me; from all my terrors he
set me free. Look towards him and be radiant; let your faces not be
abashed. This poor man called, the Lord heard him and rescued him from all his
distress.” The Lord has compassion for the poor. He wants us
to extend the compassion and blessings we have towards those who are poorer
than us.
Our generosity and
kindness spring from having received the grace of God. If we are rich or influential or
talented, it is but the grace of God. When we are grateful and do not
feel that what we have is solely our efforts alone, we will be more generous
and understanding towards those who are more disadvantaged than us.
Hence, “the right thing to do is to keep the supreme law of scripture: you must
love your neighbour as yourself; but as you make distinctions between classes
of people, you are committing sin, and under condemnation for breaking the
Law.”
Jesus makes it clear
that the ways of God are different from the ways of men. The way man looks at life and
others is different from the way God looks at us. After the confession of
faith by St Peter, the Lord spoke of His imminent passion, “And he began to
teach them that the Son of Man was destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected
by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and to be put to death,
and after three days to rise again; and he said all this quite openly.”
Of course, the disciples were scandalized. They were shocked
because the Messiah they always had in mind was a triumphant Messiah. A
suffering Messiah and a slain one is unthinkable. “Then, taking him
aside, Peter started to remonstrate with him. But, turning and seeing his
disciples, he rebuked Peter and said to him, ‘Get behind me, Satan!
Because the way you think is not God’s way but man’s.”
This was the same
temptation of the Evil One at the beginning of His ministry when Satan tried to
seduce Him to take the easy road to victory. (cf Mt 4:1-11) Satan tried to
tempt Him to make use of His powers to satisfy His own needs by changing stones
into loaves of bread. Then, he tempted Jesus to show off His power by
jumping off the pinnacle of the Temple. Finally, he seduced Jesus with
riches and glory. These same temptations of the world are also found
within the spiritual realm as well. That is why we read of many scandals
among religious leaders who used spiritual powers to enrich themselves.
The way of God to
overcome sin and the Evil One is through His suffering, death and
resurrection. It is different from the way of the world.
It is the way of human
lowliness, humble service to the poor, the suffering and the oppressed. St
Paul wrote, “Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since,
in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided,
through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who
believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we
proclaim Christ crucified a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to
Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the
power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than
human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength. (1 Cor 1:20-25)
So the measure of God is
different from that of the world. What is critical is not whether a
person is rich or poor, talented or not, but whether he or she is capable of
love. We
can accept His way only if we believe He is the Christ. Hence, the
question that is directed to us is critical. “Who do you say I am?”
It has to be a personal conviction. If we believe that Jesus is the
Christ, then we must accept His way of judging the true value of things and
events. We must put on the mind of Christ so that we can truly see the
deeper value of things and people in life, rather than just on the superficial
level. Some might be poor but as St James said, they are rich in
faith. They understand their nothingness and when blessed, they become
grateful for what they have received. Those who are rich often have less
faith because they do not depend on God but on their wealth and
themselves. They tend to be less sensitive to the suffering of the poor
and often lack gratitude for what they have. That is why St James wrote,
“Listen, my dear brothers: it was those who are poor according to the world
that God chose, to be rich in faith and to be the heirs to the kingdom which he
promised to those who love him. In spite of this, you have no respect for
anybody who is poor. Isn’t it always the rich who are against you?
Aren’t they the ones who insult the honourable name to which you have been
dedicated?”
Of course, not all poor
are people with faith, or all rich who are selfish. On the contrary, some poor people
are not easy to please and they can be very abusive because they are wounded
and are reacting from their pains. They are greedy and always
grabbing. Some rich people are truly humble, generous and
respectful of the poor. It is immaterial, therefore, whether we are
poor or rich. St Paul said, “It is a question of a fair balance
between your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may
be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance. As it is
written, ‘The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had
little did not have too little.'” (2 Cor 8:13-15) Let us in all that we do,
remember that what we have are meant to be shared with others because all are
our brothers and sisters in the Lord.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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