20210630 GRAVE RESPONSIBILITY OF PARENTS AND LEADERS
30 June, 2021, Wednesday, 13th Week, Ordinary Time
First reading |
Genesis 21:5,8-20 © |
Hagar and Ishmael, expelled for Sarah's sake, saved by the Lord
Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham gave a great banquet on the day Isaac was weaned. Now Sarah watched the son that Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac. ‘Drive away that slave-girl and her son,’ she said to Abraham; ‘this slave-girl’s son is not to share the inheritance with my son Isaac.’ This greatly distressed Abraham because of his son, but God said to him, ‘Do not distress yourself on account of the boy and your slave-girl. Grant Sarah all she asks of you, for it is through Isaac that your name will be carried on. But the slave-girl’s son I will also make into a nation, for he is your child too.’ Rising early next morning Abraham took some bread and a skin of water and, giving them to Hagar, he put the child on her shoulder and sent her away.
She wandered off into the wilderness of Beersheba. When the skin of water was finished she abandoned the child under a bush. Then she went and sat down at a distance, about a bowshot away, saying to herself, ‘I cannot see the child die.’ So she sat at a distance; and the child wailed and wept.
But God heard the boy wailing, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven. ‘What is wrong, Hagar?’ he asked. ‘Do not be afraid, for God has heard the boy’s cry where he lies. Come, pick up the boy and hold him safe, for I will make him into a great nation.’ Then God opened Hagar’s eyes and she saw a well, so she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
God was with the boy. He grew up and made his home in the wilderness, and he became a bowman.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 33(34):7-8,10-13 © |
This poor man called; the Lord heard him.
This poor man called, the Lord heard him
and rescued him from all his distress.
The angel of the Lord is encamped
around those who revere him, to rescue them.
This poor man called; the Lord heard him.
Revere the Lord, you his saints.
They lack nothing, those who revere him.
Strong lions suffer want and go hungry
but those who seek the Lord lack no blessing.
This poor man called; the Lord heard him.
Come, children, and hear me
that I may teach you the fear of the Lord.
Who is he who longs for life
and many days, to enjoy his prosperity?
This poor man called; the Lord heard him.
Gospel Acclamation | Jn14:6 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, says the Lord;
No one can come to the Father except through me.
Alleluia!
Or: | James1:18 |
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!
Gospel | Matthew 8:28-34 © |
The Gadarene swine
When Jesus reached the country of the Gadarenes on the other side of the lake, two demoniacs came towards him out of the tombs – creatures so fierce that no one could pass that way. They stood there shouting, ‘What do you want with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before the time?’ Now some distance away there was a large herd of pigs feeding, and the devils pleaded with Jesus, ‘If you cast us out, send us into the herd of pigs.’ And he said to them, ‘Go then’, and they came out and made for the pigs; and at that the whole herd charged down the cliff into the lake and perished in the water. The swineherds ran off and made for the town, where they told the whole story, including what had happened to the demoniacs. At this the whole town set out to meet Jesus; and as soon as they saw him they implored him to leave the neighbourhood.
GRAVE RESPONSIBILITY OF PARENTS AND LEADERS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Gn 21:5.8-20; Ps 34:7-8,10-13; Mt 8:28-34 ]
How often have we created more problems for ourselves and our loved ones because of our lack of foresight and faith in God. Indeed, many of our sufferings are due to ignorance and sin because of selfishness and fear. We cause suffering not just to ourselves but to our loved ones as well, and those who have been good to us. This was the case of Abraham, who was supposed to be the Patriarch of the family. He was supposed to protect the family and lead them in the way of truth and love but he fared badly initially. If the world is so fragmented and society so dysfunctional, it is because parents do not know how to raise their children or unite their family. There is so much family division and family squabbles; there is no peace or unity at home between couples and among children. This is the result of poor leadership.
Both Abram and Sarai were growing in years, and due to their lack of faith and patience in waiting for God to unfold His plan, Abram gave in to Sarai’s simplistic solution to have their Egyptian slave-maid bear a child for Abram. (Gn 16:1-4) For taking the short cut to faith in God, and trusting in their own ingenuity, Abram brought a host of problems to himself, to Sarai and also to Hagar and their children. This is what we read in today’s first reading.
Trouble started when Hagar conceived a child for Abram, and she became arrogant towards Sarai. Sarai complained to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my slave-girl to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt.” (Gn 16:15) Notice how she blamed Abram for the mistake she made; after all, she was the one who proposed that Abram takes her slave-girl in the first place. Anger, jealousy and resentment had built up in her. This is why it is difficult to unite the family in a polygamous household, as there will be rivalry between the wives and their children. We have seen this again and again in history. Marriage is exclusive and love demands everything from the other person. This is why the Church advocates monogamy, so that the stability of the family is protected, and peace and unity prevail. It is in man’s nature to feel insecure. And what is even truer is that all women desire the absolute love for her husband. They are easily envious and insecure when their men show interest in other women.
But of course, the mistake was not only Abram’s and Sarai’s, it was also Hagar’s. As I mentioned earlier, women are envious of each other when they have the same husband. Hagar who was all her life a slave, began to assert herself, her power and authority because she was with the child of Abram whilst Sarai was childless. When given some power and authority, a person can become vicious and arrogant, like Hagar. If she had humbly submitted to Sarai and remained humble, perhaps she would not have been driven out in the end. But she never learnt her lesson. The first time, she had to run away because Sarai was given permission by Abram to treat her as she liked, and this meant harshly. This became worse when Isaac was born.
She did not teach Ishmael to behave himself, instead he learnt arrogance and ingratitude from his mother, Hagar. “Sarah watched the son that Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac. ‘Drive away that slave-girl and her son,’ she said to Abraham; ‘this slave-girl’s son is not to share the inheritance with my son Isaac.'” Ishmael was taunting Isaac and making fun of him, which made Sarah furious. Understandably, with the focus of the festivity on Isaac, Ishmael who was all the while the centre of attention, became insecure and jealous.
Consequently, the inevitable outcome was a split. This is so true in marriage life today. That is why divorce is so common because when both parties are so wounded, with many bad memories of past conflicts, it becomes very difficult to reconcile the couple, and even if they do, they end up living their own lives, as love has turned cold, and trust is gone. Indeed, when both parties cannot be reconciled, the Church, whilst not recognizing divorce, permits a separation for the good of both parties and their children. It is not the ideal of course, but the best we can do to help the couple and their children to move on instead of fighting with each other day after day.
Yet in all these mistakes of ours, God is truly kind and merciful. He tries to salvage the situation and render justice to all parties. God is gracious and seeks to help us to adjust to life and use our mistakes as graces. So, the Lord said to Abraham, “Do not distress yourself on account of the boy and your slave-girl. Grant Sarah all she asks of you, for it is through Isaac that your name will be carried on. But the slave-girl’s son I will also make into a nation, for he is your child too.” Indeed, God’s hands were on Ishmael too, even though he was not the chosen one. God heard the boy wailing, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven. “‘Do not be afraid, for God has heard the boy’s cry where he lies. Come, pick up the boy and hold him safe, for I will make him into a great nation.’ God was with the boy. He grew up and made his home in the wilderness, and he became a bowman.”
Abraham must have learnt the biggest lesson of his life in not trusting God to unfold His plans. It must have been very difficult for Abraham to let Hagar and Ishmael go. He was distressed. But then, to allow them to stay meant there would be no peace. How true it is when someone commits adultery as well. Many do not know the price of adultery until they fall into this sin. All hell breaks loose when such a thing happens. Our relationship with our spouse would be extremely difficult. There will be constant quarrels, accusations, suspicions and shouting. The family would be under tremendous strain. Our innocent children will suffer the most. Their studies would be affected. They would not want to stay at home. They might fall into wrong company. They might start taking drugs and do wild things. Their careers might be compromised.
But God is always faithful to His promises. We must trust Him. When the time came, “The Lord dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised. Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to his son whom Sarah bore him.” (Gn 21:1-3) The conception of Isaac and his birth was certainly a miracle of grace. With the birth of Isaac, Abraham knew for certain that God would be faithful to every word of His. From that day onwards, Abraham believed in God totally. This would be seen in the next chapter when Abraham believed that God would somehow provide even when he had to sacrifice his only son. He no longer doubted the omnipotence and faithfulness of God.
The power of God and His mercy is once again manifested in the gospel when the Lord liberated the two demoniacs. Jesus felt pity for the two possessed men. In spite of their power, they submitted to the Lord. It is significant that though the evil spirits recognized Jesus as the Son of God, they did not believe in Him. Consequently, Jesus had to pass judgment on them by sending them to the pigs. On the surface it might be seen as an act of mercy by the Lord, but in truth, it was God’s judgment on them because together with the herd of pigs, they were all drowned. Pigs in those days were seen as unclean animals by the Jews. But the swineherds were incredulous as well, although they saw the power of our Lord. Unlike Abraham who submitted in faith to our Lord, the whole town “implored him to leave the neighbourhood.” Faith, in the final analysis, is an act of the will and not of the mind. One can see the miracles and power of God and yet not believe. One can know God and yet not believe. Hence, Hebrews tells us, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Heb 11:1)
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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