20220212 NATIONAL RELIGION
12 February, 2022, Saturday, Week 5 in Ordinary Time
First reading |
1 Kings 12:26-32,13:33-34 © |
The prophecy of the separation of Israel
Jeroboam thought to himself, ‘As things are, the kingdom will revert to the House of David. If this people continues to go up to the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem to offer sacrifices, the people’s heart will turn back again to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will put me to death.’ So the king thought this over and then made two golden calves; he said to the people, ‘You have been going up to Jerusalem long enough. Here are your gods, Israel; these brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ He set up one in Bethel and the people went in procession all the way to Dan in front of the other. He set up the temple of the high places and appointed priests from ordinary families, who were not of the sons of Levi. Jeroboam also instituted a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth of the month, like the feast that was kept in Judah, and he went up to the altar. That was how he behaved in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made; and at Bethel he put the priests of the high places he had established.
Jeroboam did not give up his wicked ways but went on appointing priests for the high places from the common people. He consecrated as priests of the high places any who wished to be. Such conduct made the House of Jeroboam a sinful House, and caused its ruin and extinction from the face of the earth.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 105(106):6-7,19-22 © |
O Lord, remember me out of the love you have for your people.
Our sin is the sin of our fathers;
we have done wrong, our deeds have been evil.
Our fathers when they were in Egypt
paid no heed to your wonderful deeds.
O Lord, remember me out of the love you have for your people.
They fashioned a calf at Horeb
and worshipped an image of metal,
exchanging the God who was their glory
for the image of a bull that eats grass.
O Lord, remember me out of the love you have for your people.
They forgot the God who was their saviour,
who had done such great things in Egypt,
such portents in the land of Ham,
such marvels at the Red Sea.
O Lord, remember me out of the love you have for your people.
Gospel Acclamation | Mt4:4 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 8:1-10 © |
The feeding of the four thousand
A great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat. So Jesus called his disciples to him and said to them, ‘I feel sorry for all these people; they have been with me for three days now and have nothing to eat. If I send them off home hungry they will collapse on the way; some have come a great distance.’ His disciples replied, ‘Where could anyone get bread to feed these people in a deserted place like this?’ He asked them, ‘How many loaves have you?’ ‘Seven’ they said. Then he instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground, and he took the seven loaves, and after giving thanks he broke them and handed them to his disciples to distribute; and they distributed them among the crowd. They had a few small fish as well, and over these he said a blessing and ordered them to be distributed also. They ate as much as they wanted, and they collected seven basketfuls of the scraps left over. Now there had been about four thousand people. He sent them away and immediately, getting into the boat with his disciples, went to the region of Dalmanutha.
NATIONAL RELIGION
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 Kgs 12:26-32,13:33-34; Ps 106:6-7,19-22; Mk 8:1-10]
While it might be much easier for a government or a country to unite their citizens if they followed the same religion and if they belonged to the same race sharing the same culture, yet there is the danger of politicizing religion. In other words, religion simply becomes a tool for politics and for the government to control the people. But on the downside, religion can also use politics as a tool to gain power and dominance, not just over the people but even political leaders. The failure to distinguish religion from politics will result in abuses. On the other hand, religion and politics, whilst distinct, must cooperate, each in their own sphere of influence and authority to guide the people in righteous living, living in peace and harmony with each other; and contributing to the growth of the nation.
This attempt to politicize religion is an ongoing temptation among political powers. This is not new for we read how Jeroboam sought to protect his power and his authority by building two sanctuaries for his people in the Northern Kingdom to worship for fear that if the “people continue to go up to the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem to offer sacrifices, the people’s heart will turn back again to their Lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will put me to death.’ Behind this political stratagem, there was also a religious dimension to it. In those days, Israel, like the rest of its neighbours, practiced henotheism rather than monotheism. This means they worshipped only one God in their country but they recognized that other nations have their own gods and deities to protect them. This explains why Naaman the Syrian who was healed by Elisha asked to bring back some soil to stand on when worshipping the God of Israel whom he came to recognize as the One God. “If not, please let two mule-loads of earth be given to your servant; for your servant will no longer offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god except the Lord.” (2 Kg 5:17) The presumption therefore was that the God one worshipped was attached to a particular land. Consequently, it would be difficult to maintain the Northern Kingdom’s sovereignty if the citizens were to travel to Jerusalem.
The political schism between the Northern and Southern Kingdoms necessarily led to religious schism as well. Jeroboam had to resort to building his own sanctuaries with the golden calves to give assurance to the people that they had their own gods to protect their crops. The King “made two golden calves; he said to the people, ‘You have been going up to Jerusalem long enough. Here are your gods, Israel; these brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ He set up one in Bethel and the people went in procession all the way to Dan in front of the other.” He even dedicated the sanctuaries on the Festival of Tabernacles. And to have complete control over the religion, King Jeroboam did not use the Levitical priests as they might oppose the new worship. Instead, he took from whoever wanted to offer worship.
It was against the introduction of idolatry to Northern Israel that God sent prophets to call the Kings to repentance. There was a company of prophets in Bethel faithful to Yahweh. (2 Kg 2:3) We also read how “when Jezebel was killing off the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets, hid them fifty to a cave, and provided them with bread and water.” (1 Kg 18:4) Then of course, we have Elijah, and succeeding him, Elisha, who were prophets calling the King Ahab and the people to repentance. We also have the prophet Amos who came from the Southern Kingdom to prophesy to the North. Hosea too sought to stamp out idolatry. In the light of how the faith was gravely compromised by the Kings of Israel, the Israelites from the house of Judah in the South despised those from the Northern Kingdom. They were no longer practicing the authentic faith that Moses had commanded in the Torah.
And this became irreversible when the Northern Kingdom eventually fell to the Assyrians. The people were exiled and foreigners came to live in Israel. Many of the remaining Israelites intermarried with foreigners, making them a mixed race. They were no longer considered real Jews and therefore were avoided by the Jews in the Southern Kingdom for fear of contamination by the Samaritans from the Northern Kingdom. It is within this context that the gospel text regarding the multiplication of loaves had to be understood.
What was the real issue that Mark sought to present in narrating the multiplication of loaves for the four thousand? Earlier on, Jesus multiplied bread for the five thousand and after the meal, they collected leftovers of twelve basketfuls. (Mk 6:30-44) Mark did not record any reaction on the part of the people or the religious leaders when this miracle was performed. But for the feeding of the four thousand with leftovers of seven basketfuls, it caused some confusion and interrogation. After the miracle, immediately, we have the Pharisees who demanded a sign from heaven from our Lord. But the Lord ignored them. And then it was followed by the episode of Jesus’ warning the disciples about the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod. But they could not see the link, clearly thinking that it was because they did not bring any bread. And the Lord reprimanded them for being so dull in their perception. (cf Mk 8:14-21) And this was immediately followed by the cure of the blind man at Bethsaida. (cf Mk 8:22-26)
The reason why the multiplication of loaves for the four thousand raised questions from the Pharisees and caused confusion among the disciples was simply because Jesus performed this miracle for the Gentiles. Unlike the multiplication of loaves for the five thousand, where Jesus was addressing the Jews, in this incident, Jesus was on Gentile territory where the inhabitants were mostly non-Jews or foreigners. The fact that there were seven baskets of leftover is a number symbolic of the Gentiles, just as the seven deacons chosen in the primitive Church were Greek-speaking. To feed the Gentiles there was shocking even to the disciples. This explained why they were hesitant to find food for them or to think that there would be food in the villages to sell to them. As far as they were concerned, the Gentiles were not the chosen people of God. They do not deserve the privilege of the attention of our Lord. The Jews considered themselves as the chosen people, and God was their privileged possession, not available to others.
In this miracle, therefore, our Lord was teaching them that the gospel is offered to the Gentiles as well. The God we worship is not the sole possession of a race or a nation. To the Samaritan woman, the Lord said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (Jn 4:21-24) Indeed, Israel was chosen to be the light to the nations. That was her role. But she was not to keep the faith in Yahweh to themselves. Their task was to bring people to the Lord so that all can worship the same Lord and God.
Consequently, we must not politicize religion. The Christian Faith does not belong to any particular race; certainly not the Western people, but Christ belongs to all. Religion goes beyond politics, race and culture. God is the Father of us all. Jesus is the Saviour of the world, the one mediator between man and God. (1 Tim 2:5) He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. (Jn 14:6) This is why, at the end of the gospel, Jesus commanded His disciples to announce the gospel to all the nations. (Mt 28:19) Hence, the Christian Faith can be expressed in different cultures but the faith is the same. Christian Faith is to influence society to adopt the gospel values and ultimately to accept Christ as their Saviour and Lord. It is ironical that countries that are or were predominantly Christian are fighting and killing among themselves. How can we who worship the same Lord and Father kill our own brothers and sisters? This is true for other religions as well. Religions must unite us all, not divide.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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