20210704 THE MEASURE OF SUCCESS
04 July, 2021, Sunday, 14th Week, Ordinary Time
First reading | Ezekiel 2:2-5 © |
These rebels shall know that there is a prophet among them
The spirit came into me and made me stand up, and I heard the Lord speaking to me. He said, ‘Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to the rebels who have turned against me. Till now they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me. The sons are defiant and obstinate; I am sending you to them, to say, “The Lord says this.” Whether they listen or not, this set of rebels shall know there is a prophet among them.’
Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 122(123) © |
Our eyes are on the Lord till he shows us his mercy.
To you have I lifted up my eyes,
you who dwell in the heavens;
my eyes, like the eyes of slaves
on the hand of their lords.
Our eyes are on the Lord till he shows us his mercy.
Like the eyes of a servant
on the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes are on the Lord our God
till he show us his mercy.
Our eyes are on the Lord till he shows us his mercy.
Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.
We are filled with contempt.
Indeed all too full is our soul
with the scorn of the rich,
with the proud man’s disdain.
Our eyes are on the Lord till he shows us his mercy.
Second reading |
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 © |
The Lord's power is at its best in weakness
In view of the extraordinary nature of these revelations, to stop me from getting too proud I was given a thorn in the flesh, an angel of Satan to beat me and stop me from getting too proud! About this thing, I have pleaded with the Lord three times for it to leave me, but he has said, ‘My grace is enough for you: my power is at its best in weakness.’ So I shall be very happy to make my weaknesses my special boast so that the power of Christ may stay over me, and that is why I am quite content with my weaknesses, and with insults, hardships, persecutions, and the agonies I go through for Christ’s sake. For it is when I am weak that I am strong.
Gospel Acclamation | Jn1:14,12 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Word was made flesh and lived among us:
to all who did accept him
he gave power to become children of God.
Alleluia!
Or: | Lk4:18 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord has sent me to bring the good news to the poor,
to proclaim liberty to captives.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 6:1-6 © |
'A prophet is only despised in his own country'
Jesus went to his home town and his disciples accompanied him. With the coming of the sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue and most of them were astonished when they heard him. They said, ‘Where did the man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been granted him, and these miracles that are worked through him? This is the carpenter, surely, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joset and Jude and Simon? His sisters, too, are they not here with us?’ And they would not accept him. And Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is only despised in his own country, among his own relations and in his own house’; and he could work no miracle there, though he cured a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.
THE MEASURE OF SUCCESS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ Ezk 2:2-5; Ps 123:1-5; 2 Cor 12:7-10; Mk 6:1-6]
How do we measure success in our life? The world measures success by KPIs, that is, Key Performance Indicators. The measurement of success in the world today is basically external observable indicators, such as size of membership, funds generated, impact on humanity and the laurels given by the world. Public image, perception and impression is what moves the world today. Today, people unashamedly boast of their achievements, their talents, their academic degrees and their contacts with influential persons to gain credibility and confidence.
That was the context of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. Today’s reading is the conclusion of Paul’s letter in his defence against the criticisms of the “super-apostles” who challenged his authority as an apostle of Christ. The “super-apostles” denigrated Paul for lacking the qualifications to be an apostle because he did not measure up to the standards of the world. (2 Cor 11:18) They claimed that he lacked competency, training and he was not eloquent enough. (2 Cor 11:5f) Similarly, Jesus was also rejected in today’s gospel because he was perceived only to be the son of a carpenter. His townsfolk said, “Where did the man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been granted him, and these miracles that are worked through him? This is the carpenter, surely, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joset and Jude and Simon? His sisters, too, are they not here with us?’ And they would not accept him.” Although they admitted that he could preach well, was knowledgeable and able to perform miracles, yet they could not accept Him.
The Lord said, “A prophet is only despised in his own country, among his own relations and in his own house.” As a consequence, because of the people’s lack of reception to the gospel, “he could work no miracle there, though he cured a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.” This was equally true of the Prophet Ezekiel in today’s first reading. The Lord sent him on a mission and yet, at the same time, He held no secret from him on what the outcome would be, a failure! “Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to the rebels who have turned against me. Till now they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me. The sons are defiant and obstinate; I am sending you to them to say, “The Lord says this”. Whether they listen or not, this set of rebels shall know there is a prophet among them.'” It is not insignificant that Jesus identified Himself too as the Son of Man.
Does it mean, therefore, that Paul, Ezekiel and our Lord were failures in their mission? If we measure according to the standards of the world using KPIs, they would be deemed to be failures. The Christians in Corinth were not an easy community to rein in. They were rich, talented and endowed with the gifts of the Spirit. But they were divisive, competitive, judgmental, claiming superiority of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, taking law suits against each other, and compromising the values of the gospel with sexual immorality and idolatry. Ezekiel was sent to a rebellious people who rejected his call to conversion. They were disloyal to the Covenant. Their transgression lies in their rejection of God’s sovereignty over them. They did not like the message of Ezekiel and remained defiant, stubborn, refusing to listen. His message rebuking their lifestyle and prophecy of destruction were unwelcomed because it demanded change. So, too, was Jesus a failure. The rejection of Jesus at the beginning of His ministry only foreshadowed the eventual rejection by His own people at the end of His ministry. No matter what Jesus said and did, the authorities and the people were blind to His call to repentance and faith in Him. As St John poignantly wrote, He was in the world, “He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.” (Jn 1:11)
But isn’t this the way we also measure success in the ministry and in the work of evangelization as well? What are the KPIs we use to measure effectiveness in our ministry and mission? We use the same ones that the world uses. If that is the way we measure success, then we must say that our early missionaries were failures, like the prophets and Jesus. They only sowed the seed of faith. The Catholic Church has taken 2000 years to arrive at where we are today. Christianity began to grow only in 315 AD, after the conversion of Emperor Constantine. We are just like the Mustard Seed that Jesus spoke about in the gospel. (Mt 13:31f) The seed of faith we sow today will only bear fruits many years down the road. We will never know the outcome of the part we play today when sowing the seed of faith.
Ezekiel, St Paul and our Lord are our models of what in the eyes of the world were seen as failures. They challenged the notion of what success in ministry and mission really means. Success does not always mean just because the church is larger, the members are greater, the crowds are bigger, conversions are taking place. The argument for this form of accountability is that we measure success by the fruits or the harvest we have. Ezekiel was a failure as the people were unresponsive in his time. So too in many instances, St Paul’s outreach to the Jews was unsuccessful most of the time. Jesus ended His mission by being crucified on the cross. So what can we learn from them?
The intangible work of God is beyond human calculation. St Paul wrote, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” (1 Cor 3:6f) To measure success according to the standards of the world implies that success is basically due to our hard work, ingenuity, techniques and skills, as if we can change the hearts of people without the need for the Holy Spirit to open their minds and hearts. Indeed, even in preaching, the best preachers might draw crowds but it does not mean that there is conversion of hearts and souls. Sometimes, just a simple and sincere homily can touch the lives of people without the awareness of the preacher.
Success in God’s eyes, is our fidelity to Him. The primary goal of ministry is to give glory to the Father, just as Jesus did in His entire life. Success is the work of the Holy Spirit. Our task is to be faithful to our calling. Obedience to His call is how we define success. That does not mean to say that failure is always the desire of God in our ministry. We have to make sure that we are not the ones who put obstacles by the way we communicate our message or the way we live our lives. St Paul wrote, “We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute.” (2 Cor 6:3-8)
Indeed, as St Paul wrote today, God is not constrained by our weaknesses. He can, if He chooses, make use of us for His greater glory even when we are incompetent or lack creativity. We can only do our best and leave the results to God. Like Ezekiel, we are called to provide an alternative model for success, which is to live a life in obedience to the Word of God. Like Ezekiel and St Paul, we are given mystical visions so that we can be filled with the Holy Spirit to carry out His mission with a strong and personal conviction. Just as the Holy Spirit inspired and empowered Ezekiel and, Paul, we too must depend on Him alone for strength. Instead of boasting about our strength, we must boast about God. St Paul wrote, “I shall be very happy to make my weaknesses my special boast so that the power of Christ may stay over me, and that is why I am quite content with my weaknesses, and with insults, hardships, persecutions, and the agonies I go through for Christ’s sake. For it is when I am weak that I am strong.” No matter how busy we are, we must give more importance to the power and centrality of prayer and the Word of God over the importance of witnessing and mission.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment