20210113 THAT IS WHY I CAME
13 January, 2021, Wednesday, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: Green.
First reading | Hebrews 2:14-18 © |
He took to himself descent from Abraham
Since all the children share the same blood and flesh, Christ too shared equally in it, so that by his death he could take away all the power of the devil, who had power over death, and set free all those who had been held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death. For it was not the angels that he took to himself; he took to himself descent from Abraham. It was essential that he should in this way become completely like his brothers so that he could be a compassionate and trustworthy high priest of God’s religion, able to atone for human sins. That is, because he has himself been through temptation he is able to help others who are tempted.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 104(105):1-4,6-9 © |
The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or
Alleluia!
Give thanks to the Lord, tell his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples.
O sing to him, sing his praise;
tell all his wonderful works!
The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or
Alleluia!
Be proud of his holy name,
let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice.
Consider the Lord and his strength;
constantly seek his face.
The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or
Alleluia!
O children of Abraham, his servant,
O sons of the Jacob he chose.
He, the Lord, is our God:
his judgements prevail in all the earth.
The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or
Alleluia!
He remembers his covenant for ever,
his promise for a thousand generations,
the covenant he made with Abraham,
the oath he swore to Isaac.
The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Col3:16a,17 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Let the message of Christ, in all its richness,
find a home with you;
through him give thanks to God the Father.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn10:27 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice,
says the Lord,
I know them and they follow me.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 1:29-39 © |
He cast out devils and cured many who were suffering from disease
On leaving the synagogue, Jesus went with James and John straight to the house of Simon and Andrew. Now Simon’s mother-in-law had gone to bed with fever, and they told him about her straightaway. He went to her, took her by the hand and helped her up. And the fever left her and she began to wait on them.
That evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were sick and those who were possessed by devils. The whole town came crowding round the door, and he cured many who were suffering from diseases of one kind or another; he also cast out many devils, but he would not allow them to speak, because they knew who he was.
In the morning, long before dawn, he got up and left the house, and went off to a lonely place and prayed there. Simon and his companions set out in search of him, and when they found him they said, ‘Everybody is looking for you.’ He answered, ‘Let us go elsewhere, to the neighbouring country towns, so that I can preach there too, because that is why I came.’ And he went all through Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out devils.
THAT IS WHY I CAME
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ HEB 2:14-18; PS 105:1-4,6-9; MK 1:29-39]
In the gospel, we read of the demands on Jesus in His ministry. His day was packed with activities. He was preaching at the synagogue earlier on. Then upon, leaving the synagogue, Jesus went straight to the house of Simon and Andrew. This was because “Simon’s mother-in-law had gone to bed with fever, and they told him about her straight away. He went to her, took her by the hand and helped her up. And the fever left her and she began to wait on them.” But that was not the end of the day. We read that He continued to minister in the evening to the many people who came to Him for healing and deliverance.
Our lives too are filled with activities and fulfilling the demands placed upon us. From morning to night, we are attending to one thing or another. We have our work commitments. We have timelines for projects to be completed. There are so many meetings to attend. Over and above our work, we need to look after the needs of our children and family. Our children want our attention. Some of us have household chores to do. Some also have elderly to look after. Beyond work and family commitments, we also feel the need to do our part for the community. Some of us are involved in serving the church or in charitable organizations. Finally, we also have our social commitments as well, attending functions, weddings, birthdays, visiting the sick in hospital, attending funeral wakes, etc.
As a consequence, many of us become very high strung. We become edgy and irritable because we are stressed up. We become impatient with those who are slow or when they make mistakes. We get angry, shout and scream. We lose our temper and throw tantrums. Marriage and family, instead of being a joy, becomes a burden and a sacrifice. Social, church, community and charitable works, instead of empowering us in love and service, become an obligation. It is true for us priests too. Instead of enriching the lives of others in humble service, we become edgy, intolerant, insensitive, dictatorial and lacking compassion in dealing with the demands on us. We lose the joy of ministry.
What is the reason for the loss of our ideals? The answer is simple. It is because we are distracted and have lost sight of the original ideals that drove us to do something or to take on an office or a life-long commitment. We are just doing things without a clear sense of direction, priority or strategy. We allow everything and everyone to run our lives instead of managing it. Jesus was no less busy than anyone of us. The difference between Jesus and us is that we cannot say with Jesus, “that is why I came.” Jesus was clear of His focus, what was driving Him and where He wanted to go, what He should be doing and how it should be done. He was not frantically running around attending to every problem that was presented to Him. He was not driven but He was driving Himself.
What about us? Are we driving ourselves or are we being driven? What is it that drives us? Some of us are driven by popularity. This is a constant temptation especially for those with low self-esteem. Many of us are so desperate to be known that we make ourselves heard and seen everywhere. We are on every social media platform. We want the world to acknowledge our contributions. We are always paying attention to how many “likes or dislikes” we receive for our social media postings.
Then we could be driven by the need to feel needed. It is true that we all need to feel useful. But we are not merely for “use” but also for relationship. We are not an “it” but also a “thou”, capable of relationship. But some of us replace relationship, with making ourselves feel needed by others. We are all over the place serving this and that organization. We like to feel that we are indispensable and important. This is to compensate for our lack of authentic self-love. We always need others to be around us. We are afraid of silence, solitude and loneliness. We are afraid to share our knowledge and skills, otherwise we might be displaced.
Others are driven by attachment and rewards. We are attached to our friends and loved ones. Because of them, we are afraid to venture out to do great things and fulfill our passion. We are attached to our wealth and status in life. We are attached to our office and positions in life. We are afraid that we might no longer be important and recognized in the world. We are attached to the comforts we have in this life. We are attached to fine dining, drinking and a luxurious lifestyle. We are afraid of having less. Indeed, we are slaves to all forms of attachment. We are not free to live our life.
Sometimes, we are driven by activities and programs. We think that so long as we keep our organization active by holding lots of events and activities, it means that we are vibrant and alive. These events are just occupying time and do not help us to arrive at our goals or help our people to really grow. We give the impression that there is life. Indeed, many of us are inventing new programs and initiatives just to show that we are working. But are these programs helping us to realize our vision and mission?
Again, some are driven by fear that comes from anxiety. Many of us fear for our future, whether our children will do well in life, whether we have enough for our old age and most of all, whether we will die gracefully. It is this fear of the future that drives us to work hard, make more money, accumulate wealth and property, keep ourselves fit and healthy through exercise to the extent of vanity and obsession. The truth is that there is no real security in this world. The only thing we are certain of is death. But for Christians, death has been overcome and we are certain of life. This is what the first reading tells us. “Since all the children share the same blood and flesh, Jesus too shared equally in it, so that by his death he could take away all the power of the devil, who had power over death, and set free all those who had been held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death.”
In the gospel, we see that Jesus was a free man. He was in perfect control of Himself. He was not driven by popularity, attachment, egoism or anxiety. The devil sought to have Jesus’ name be made known so that people would have a superficial knowledge of Him instead of getting to know Him personally and discover for themselves who He was. This explains why Jesus silenced the devil from revealing His identity because He wanted the people to know Him personally, not through someone else’s word. Jesus was not motivated by popularity or the need to be needed. We read that “Simon and his companions set out in search of him, and when they found him they said, ‘Everybody is looking for you.’ He answered, ‘Let us go elsewhere, to the neighbouring country towns, so that I can preach there too, because that is why I came.'”
Jesus was driven by His love for His Father, sharing in His compassion for us. Jesus knows our struggles as human beings, our temptations to the superficialities of life. He became man so that He could share our fears and anxieties. But instead of being overcome by temptations, He overcame them and so showed us the way to conquer our fears and anxieties, especially suffering and death.
In other words, Jesus kept His focus. He was clear in what He was called to do. He was to preach the Good News of God’s kingdom to all. The devil tempted Him through the people to stay back in the town and not go beyond to proclaim the Good News. It was a tempting offer because He would be loved, admired, appreciated and well taken care of. But Jesus preferred to suffer with His fellowmen so that He could reach out to as many as possible. He did not allow events, activities and the demands of people to restrain Him from fulfilling the bigger picture of proclaiming the Kingdom. He saw His work in perspective. He was not just called to be a healer or an exorcist! He was called to establish the Kingdom of God through His preaching and miracles. All that He did were directed to the establishment of the Kingdom of God. His activities, preaching, miracles, healing and good works were not ends in themselves but the means to fulfill His mission of bringing about the kingdom of God.
We too must keep our focus. All that we do each day must help us to achieve our vocation and calling in life. It is therefore important to us to be rightly driven and not just be driven by our fears and insecurities. We must be driven by the love of God and compassion for our loved ones. But this is still not enough. We must think through how we can best optimize the limited time we have in serving our people effectively. We cannot do everything or please everyone. This is why we need to be like Jesus who “in the morning, long before dawn, he got up and left the house, he went off to a lonely place and prayed there.” Unless we withdraw from the hurly-burly of the world, we will lose our focus. We need time in solitude to be with God and with ourselves, to pray, to gather ourselves and all that we do and be replenished with the love of God so that we are empowered to reach out to others, not driven by external factors but our very being, which is the love and compassion of God in us.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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