20200203
NON-RETALIATION
DISTINGUISHES CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP FROM SECULAR LEADERSHIP
03 February,
2020, Monday, 4th Week of Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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2 Samuel 15:13-14,30,16:5-13 ©
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David flees Absalom and is cursed by Shimei
A messenger came
to tell David, ‘The hearts of the men of Israel are now with Absalom.’ So David
said to all his officers who were with him in Jerusalem, ‘Let us be off, let us
fly, or we shall never escape from Absalom. Leave as quickly as you can in case
he mounts a surprise attack and worsts us and puts the city to the sword.’
David
then made his way up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, his head covered
and his feet bare. And all the people with him had their heads covered and made
their way up, weeping as they went.
As
David was reaching Bahurim, out came a man of the same clan as Saul’s family.
His name was Shimei son of Gera, and as he came he uttered curse after curse
and threw stones at David and at all King David’s officers, though the whole
army and all the champions flanked the king right and left. The words of his
curse were these, ‘Be off, be off, man of blood, scoundrel! the Lord has
brought on you all the blood of the House of Saul whose sovereignty you have
usurped; and the Lord has transferred that same sovereignty to Absalom your
son. Now your doom has overtaken you, man of blood that you are.’ Abishai son
of Zeruiah said to the king, ‘Is this dead dog to curse my lord the king? Let
me go over and cut his head off.’ But the king replied, ‘What business is it of
mine and yours, sons of Zeruiah? Let him curse. If the Lord said to him, “Curse
David,” what right has anyone to say, “Why have you done this?”’ David said to
Abishai and all his officers, ‘Why, my own son, sprung from my body, is now
seeking my life; so now how much the more this Benjaminite? Let him curse on if
the Lord has told him to. Perhaps the Lord will look on my misery and repay me
with good for his curse today.’ So David and his men went on their way.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm 3:2-8 ©
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Arise,
Lord; save me, my God.
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.’
Arise,
Lord; save me, my God.
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.
Arise,
Lord; save me, my God.
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.
Arise,
Lord; save me, my God.
Arise,
Lord; save me, my God.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Jn17:17
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Alleluia,
alleluia!
Your
word is truth, O Lord:
consecrate
us in the truth.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Lk7:16
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Alleluia,
alleluia!
A
great prophet has appeared among us;
God
has visited his people.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 5:1-20 ©
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The Gadarene swine
Jesus and his
disciples reached the country of the Gerasenes on the other side of the lake,
and no sooner had Jesus left the boat than a man with an unclean spirit came
out from the tombs towards him. The man lived in the tombs and no one could
secure him any more, even with a chain; because he had often been secured with
fetters and chains but had snapped the chains and broken the fetters, and no
one had the strength to control him. All night and all day, among the tombs and
in the mountains, he would howl and gash himself with stones. Catching sight of
Jesus from a distance, he ran up and fell at his feet and shouted at the top of
his voice, ‘What do you want with me, Jesus, son of the Most High God? Swear by
God you will not torture me!’ – for Jesus had been saying to him, ‘Come
out of the man, unclean spirit.’ ‘What is your name?’ Jesus asked. ‘My name is
legion,’ he answered ‘for there are many of us.’ And he begged him earnestly
not to send them out of the district.
Now
there was there on the mountainside a great herd of pigs feeding, and the
unclean spirits begged him, ‘Send us to the pigs, let us go into them.’ So he
gave them leave. With that, the unclean spirits came out and went into the
pigs, and the herd of about two thousand pigs charged down the cliff into the
lake, and there they were drowned. The swineherds ran off and told their story
in the town and in the country round about; and the people came to see what had
really happened. They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed
and in his full senses – the very man who had had the legion in him
before – and they were afraid. And those who had witnessed it reported
what had happened to the demoniac and what had become of the pigs. Then they began
to implore Jesus to leave the neighbourhood. As he was getting into the boat,
the man who had been possessed begged to be allowed to stay with him. Jesus
would not let him but said to him, ‘Go home to your people and tell them all
that the Lord in his mercy has done for you.’ So the man went off and proceeded
to spread throughout the Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him. And
everyone was amazed.
NON-RETALIATION
DISTINGUISHES CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP FROM SECULAR LEADERSHIP
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [2 SM 15:13-14. 30; 16:5-13; Ps 3:2-8; Mk 5:1-20 ]
In the political and
corporate world, leadership means to win at all times and often at the expense
of others. And
when our opponents slander us or attack us, not only will they be met with
resistance but counter-attacked with equal or more powerful vigour. We
seek to kill, destroy and eliminate our enemies at all costs, even when
innocent lives are lost. We just want to protect our ego and vested
interests, often against the common good. Today, in the scripture
readings, both David and our Lord teach us how to deal with our enemies in a
more positive rather than reactive way.
Indeed, one of the most
painful experiences of leadership is the betrayal of trusted friends,
lieutenants and co-leaders. As leaders, we cannot do the work alone. We need
to have capable and trusted people to help us manage and grow the
organization. For David, it was not only his men who betrayed him.
His own son, Absalom, the egotistic, power crazy and self-centered man staged a
revolt against his father to claim the throne. He was manipulating the
men and the inhabitants, winning them to his side. A messenger sounded
out to David, “The hearts of the men of Israel are now with Absalom.” We
can imagine the sadness and disappointment that David carried in his
heart. Any parent will feel that way when their children are ungrateful,
much less betray them. How often have we heard of children grabbing their
parents’ wealth, properties and businesses, and then, after acquiring them,
treat their parents shabbily, leaving them without any dignity. Some are
even driven out of their children’s houses.
But King David did not
retaliate. He did not take revenge. He knew if he fought with
Absalom, it would cause many lives to be lost because there will be two camps fighting
against each other. For the sake of protecting innocent lives, he decided
to leave Jerusalem with some of his men. They fled Jerusalem to avoid
bloodshed. This is so unlike many leaders in the world. They will
use their men to die for their glory and self-interest in the battlefield.
Indeed, after 18 years of fighting in the Afghan War, 43,000 Afghan civilians,
65,000 Afghan soldiers and policemen, and 2,300 US troops died. Do
political and military leaders take this into consideration when they declare
wars? They are safely at home, in their offices making decisions that
affect not just the lives of people but their loved ones who are affected by
their death. So, instead of seeking to protect his throne, David said to
his men, “Let us be off, let us fly, or we shall never escape from Absalom.
Leave as quickly as you can in case he mounts a surprise attack and worsts us
and puts the city to the sword.”
On the way, David was
accosted by a man of the same clan as Saul’s family. Shimei “uttered
curse after curse and threw stones at David and at all King David’s officers … Be off, be off, man of blood,
scoundrel! The Lord has brought on you all the blood of the House of Saul
whose sovereignty you have usurped; and the Lord has transferred that same
sovereignty to Absalom your son. Now your doom has overtaken you, man of
blood that you are.” For insulting the King, that man deserved death.
Hence, his man wanted to cut off his head but David replied, “What business is
it of mine and yours, son of Zeruiah? Let him curse. If the Lord
said to him, ‘Curse David,’ what right has anyone to say, ‘Why have you done
this?’ David said to Abishai and all his officers, ‘Why, my own son,
sprung from my body, is now seeking my life; son now how much the more this
Benjaminite?” Indeed, although the man accused him wrongly for causing
the death of Saul and his family, David did not take action on the curse of this
man. After all, his son had done even worse things against him, seeking
his life and throne, and he had not taken action against Absalom either.
Instead of getting angry
at his betrayers and those who cursed him, he used that as an occasion for
self-purification.
Indeed, it was as if David and his men were on a penitential pilgrimage,
walking along and recounting their own sins and evil they had done, rather than
what their enemies were doing to them. “David then made his way up the
Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, his head covered and his feet bare.
And all the people with him had their heads covered and made their way up,
weeping as they went.” We, too, when our enemies slander us or act
unjustly towards us, we must use that occasion to reflect for ourselves in
humility to see whether what our enemies said of us is true, rather than reject
their criticisms or just react. But it requires great humility on the
part of the leader like King David to use such rejections and false accusations
as instruments for him to reflect on his other sins. Although he did not
kill Saul, he did murder one of his trusted and loyal officers when he
committed adultery with Bathsheba.
Most of all, King David
deferred judgment to God rather than took things into his own hands. He said, “Perhaps the Lord will
look on my misery and repay me with good for his curse today.” Like the
psalmist he would have prayed, “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.’ 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.”
David trusted in the justice of God. “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. Arise, Lord; save me, my
God.” Most people trust in their own understanding of justice, which is
simply revenge. Indeed, David did not seek to kill Saul in spite of the
many opportunities he had to rid himself of his enemy. Even for
Absalom, he gave clear instructions to his men to spare Absalom in spite of
this crime of treason.
This was the way Jesus
dealt with the man who had an unclean spirit. He was under tremendous oppression by the
evil one. This was because he was possessed by not just one unclean spirit but
a legion of them. “No one could secure him anymore, even with a
chain, because he had often been secured with fetters and chains but had
snapped the chains and broken the fetters, and no one had the strength to
control him. All night and all day, among the tombs and in the mountains,
he would howl and gash himself with stones.” When Jesus commanded the
unclean spirits to come out of the man, they begged the Lord, “Send us to the
pigs, let us go into them. So he gave them leave. With that, the
unclean spirits came out and went into the pigs, and the herd of about two
thousand pigs charged down the cliff into the lake, and there they were
drowned.” The Lord did not seek to destroy the unclean spirits but only
intended that they leave the man. Even in dealing with unclean spirits,
the Lord was merciful towards them. He left it to God to do with them as
He willed.
Jesus’ non-reactive
stance was again displayed when the people saw the power displayed by him, and
were afraid not just of him but of their livelihood. And so “they began to implore Jesus to
leave the neighbourhood.” He was not resentful simply because the people
rejected Him in spite of His having performed great signs of wonder before
their very eyes. He humbly left the place as requested. Jesus as a
leader did not feel compelled to force people to accept Him. On the other
hand, when the man who was delivered from the unclean spirit wanted to follow
Jesus, the Lord said to him, “Go home to your people and tell them all that the
Lord in his mercy has done for you.” Jesus did not allow him to follow
Him because He needed him to stay back where he was to witness to the
Lord. He would be a great apostle not by following Him like the rest but
by staying in his own place to testify to the Lord. “So the man went off
and proceeded to spread throughout the Decapolis all that Jesus had done for
him. And everyone was amazed.”
Truly, we have much to
learn from David and our Lord when it comes to leadership. We must not allow our insecurity
and self-interests to take control of us and so cloud our judgement.
Rather, we must exercise restraint, compassion, patience and forgiveness,
leaving judgment to the Lord. God is on the side of the just and the
good. Let us trust Him.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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