20210925 DAZZLED BY GLORY, SUCCESS AND POWER
25 September, 2021, Saturday, 25th Week, Ordinary Time
irst reading |
Zechariah 2:5-9,14-15 © |
'I will be the glory of Jerusalem'
Raising my eyes, I saw a vision. It was this: there was a man with a measuring line in his hand. I asked him, ‘Where are you going?’ He said, ‘To measure Jerusalem, to find out her breadth and her length.’ And then, while the angel who was talking to me stood still, another angel came forward to meet him. He said to him, ‘Run, and tell that young man this, “Jerusalem is to remain unwalled, because of the great number of men and cattle there will be in her. But I – it is the Lord who speaks – I will be a wall of fire for her all round her, and I will be her glory in the midst of her.”’
Sing, rejoice,
daughter of Zion;
for I am coming
to dwell in the middle of you
– it is the Lord who speaks.
Many nations will join the Lord,
on that day;
they will become his people.
Responsorial Psalm |
Jeremiah 31:10-12,13 © |
The Lord will guard us, as a shepherd guards his flock.
O nations, hear the word of the Lord,
proclaim it to the far-off coasts.
Say: ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him,
and guard him as a shepherd guards his flock.’
The Lord will guard us, as a shepherd guards his flock.
For the Lord has ransomed Jacob,
has saved him from an overpowering hand.
They will come and shout for joy on Mount Zion,
they will stream to the blessings of the Lord.
The Lord will guard us, as a shepherd guards his flock.
Then the young girls will rejoice and will dance,
the men, young and old, will be glad.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
I will console them, give them gladness for grief.
The Lord will guard us, as a shepherd guards his flock.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Ac16:14 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O Lord,
to accept the words of your Son.
Alleluia!
Or: | cf.2Tim1:10 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Our Saviour Jesus Christ abolished death
and he has proclaimed life through the Good News.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 9:43-45 © |
They were afraid to ask him what he meant
At a time when everyone was full of admiration for all he did, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘For your part, you must have these words constantly in your mind: “The Son of Man is going to be handed over into the power of men.”’ But they did not understand him when he said this; it was hidden from them so that they should not see the meaning of it, and they were afraid to ask him about what he had just said.
DAZZLED BY GLORY, SUCCESS AND POWER
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ Zech 2:5-9. 14-15; Jeremiah 31:10-12,13; Lk 9:43-45 ]
In the gospel, Jesus had just manifested His glory and majesty to Peter, James and John at the mountain. They were overawed to see the transfigured Lord in His glory. And when He came down, Jesus healed a boy with a demon, suffering perhaps from epilepsy because of the seizures. “While he was coming, the demon dashed him to the ground in convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. And all were astounded at the greatness of God.” (Lk 9:42f)
Most of us too are attracted to glory and power. We want to see achievements, success and glory in what we do. We are impressed when we hear stories of healing, conversion and significant increases in attendance at our services and activities. We feel elated and like to boast of our success. Of course, it is not wrong to feel great and happy with our achievements but we must be realistic. We can fall into the sin of spiritual worldliness when we measure our success in terms of worldly success.
This is the greatest temptation of the Devil, especially for those who are supposedly active in the apostolate. Jesus, at the very outset of His ministry, faced the three fundamental temptations of the Evil One, namely, the offer of the glory of the world, easy victory through spectacular feats, such as jumping down from the pinnacle of the temple, and self-indulgence by changing stone into bread. Indeed, the world is tempted to see success, glory and power as the most important measures of happiness in life. That is why the three temptations of Jesus at the beginning of His ministry plagued Him until His death, just as we too will always be tempted to glory, power and self-indulgence.
Those who subscribe to the prosperity gospel will end up destroying themselves. They appear to be serving and glorifying God but the truth is it is about themselves. It is about getting rich in an easy way by worshipping God. It is about having more glory and wealth and success in life. When we become obsessed with money, power and glory, we have forgotten that such things are illusory. Wealth cannot make us happy. In fact, too much wealth makes us miserable, selfish and inward-looking. Wealth gives us false security, as if we can use up our wealth entirely for ourselves. We will have to leave behind most of what we have accumulated eventually. Power is also illusive because we cannot remain in power for long. There are others waiting to take power from us. There will be competition and there is no peace for those in power. Enemies are many and people manipulate those in power and make use of them to achieve their own interests. All the glory we achieve also do not last. Once we are old and out of sight, we will be out of mind, and definitely out of peoples’ minds as well. People will forget us easily – why is there a need for them to remember us when we are gone?
Jesus was very realistic about the illusions of success, power and glory. Immediately after the glory of the Transfiguration, in St Matthew’s gospel, Jesus told the disciples that the Son of Man would suffer like John the Baptist. (Mt 17:12f) In today’s gospel, this second prophecy of His imminent passion took place after the deliverance of the boy possessed by a demon. They were like the disciples at the mountain, filled with awe and admiration at the power of the Lord in healing the possessed boy. Yet, the gospel noted, “At a time when everyone was full of admiration for all he did, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘For your part, you must have these words constantly in your mind: The Son of Man is going to be handed over into the power of men.'” Jesus warned the disciples not to be overly taken up or be impressed by worldly success, recognition and power because these do not last. The very people who praise you would be the very ones who would also condemn you as they did to Jesus.
Indeed, the cross is the only reality of life in this world. Success, achievements and glory are all passing. Yes, they too are blessings from God to help us lighten our journey. But they are not meant for us to hold on to them, forgetting that we are pilgrims along the way. However, this is the way of the cross. There is no escape from the cross if we want to seek true and lasting glory. Earlier on, before His transfiguration, the Lord already told the disciples, “‘The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.’ Then he said to them all, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves?'” (Lk 9:21-25)
Unfortunately, they did not pay attention to what the Lord said, or did not want to face the truth of the way to find eternal glory. Luke noted, “they did not understand him when he said this; it was hidden from them so that they should not see the meaning of it, and they were afraid to ask him about what he had just said.” Did they not understand what the Lord was saying so clearly, or were they afraid to accept the truth of what He said? It is just like those who are suffering a breakdown because of too much pressure in their work and in their pursuit for success and money, but they would not admit and slow down. Then there are those who have a tumour in their body but refuse to go for medical check-up for fear of finding that they have a malignant growth. So we all live in denial of the truth of life, the reality of suffering because we are not ready to carry the cross.
Perhaps it is also true that many of us are ignorant of the truth about happiness in life. We are deceived by the constant barrage of publicity of people dressing well and living glamorous lives. We think this is where happiness lies. Indeed, the apostles apparently did not want to think or have the words of Jesus about His passion constantly in their minds. As if they had not heard what the Lord just said, because immediately following, they were discussing among themselves who was the greatest. They were obsessed about being great and powerful. (Lk 9:46-48) For in the next episode, John, who saw someone casting out a devil in the name of Jesus, tried to stop him, “because he does not follow with us.” (Lk 9:49) Then when a Samaritan village refused to receive Jesus, His apostles, James and John wanted to demonstrate their power and authority by commanding “fire to come down from heaven and consume them.” (Lk 9:54)
Obviously, they did not listen to Jesus about the need to be a little child if we want to welcome the Kingdom of God. It is not about greatness, position or power. It is about being a child of God, living a life of simplicity, docility in faith and trust. (Lk 9:48) This is what the prophet Zechariah wanted to remind the returning Israelites when they were rebuilding the Temple. He had a vision of the angel telling the man “with a measuring line in his hand” who was about to” measure Jerusalem, to find out her breadth and her length” that “Jerusalem is to remain unwalled, because of the great number of men and cattle there will be in her. But I -it is the Lord who speaks – I will be a wall of fire for her all round her, and I will be her glory in the midst of her.” It is not about external security that Jerusalem needed. The walls cannot keep them safe from their enemies.
What Jerusalem needed was the presence of God. “Sing, rejoice, daughter of Zion; for I am coming to dwell in the middle of you it is the Lord who speaks. Many nations will join the Lord, on that day; they will become his people.” This can come about when the people were renewed in their faith in God. It was not just the physical temple that needed restoration but the faith and zeal of the people for God. When God is present with them, they would draw others to Him and all would worship the one God. All would become the people of God and there would be no enemies to fear. So we too must be focused on what is truly essential, namely our love for God. Jesus in the gospel said, “Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Mt 6:33)
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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