20220318 WHAT BECOMES OF OUR DREAMS?
18 March, 2022, Friday, 2nd Week of Lent
First reading |
Genesis 37:3-4,12-13,17-28 © |
Let us kill him: then we shall see what becomes of his dreams
Israel loved Joseph more than all his other sons, for he was the son of his old age, and he had a coat with long sleeves made for him. But his brothers, seeing how his father loved him more than all his other sons, came to hate him so much that they could not say a civil word to him.
His brothers went to pasture their father’s flock at Shechem. Then Israel said to Joseph, ‘Are not your brothers with the flock at Shechem? Come, I am going to send you to them.’ So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
They saw him in the distance, and before he reached them they made a plot among themselves to put him to death. ‘Here comes the man of dreams’ they said to one another. ‘Come on, let us kill him and throw him into some well; we can say that a wild beast devoured him. Then we shall see what becomes of his dreams.’
But Reuben heard, and he saved him from their violence. ‘We must not take his life’ he said. ‘Shed no blood,’ said Reuben to them ‘throw him into this well in the wilderness, but do not lay violent hands on him’ – intending to save him from them and to restore him to his father. So, when Joseph reached his brothers, they pulled off his coat, the coat with long sleeves that he was wearing, and catching hold of him they threw him into the well, an empty well with no water in it. They then sat down to eat.
Looking up they saw a group of Ishmaelites who were coming from Gilead, their camels laden with gum, tragacanth, balsam and resin, which they were taking down into Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, ‘What do we gain by killing our brother and covering up his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let us not do any harm to him. After all, he is our brother, and our own flesh.’ His brothers agreed.
Now some Midianite merchants were passing, and they drew Joseph up out of the well. They sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty silver pieces, and these men took Joseph to Egypt.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 104(105):16-21 © |
Remember the wonders the Lord has done.
The Lord called down a famine on the land;
he broke the staff that supported them.
He had sent a man before them,
Joseph, sold as a slave.
Remember the wonders the Lord has done.
His feet were put in chains,
his neck was bound with iron,
until what he said came to pass
and the word of the Lord proved him true.
Remember the wonders the Lord has done.
Then the king sent and released him
the ruler of the people set him free,
making him master of his house
and ruler of all he possessed.
Remember the wonders the Lord has done.
Gospel Acclamation | Jn3:16 |
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son:
everyone who believes in him has eternal life.
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
Gospel |
Matthew 21:33-43,45-46 © |
This is the landlord's heir: come, let us kill him
Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people, ‘Listen to another parable. There was a man, a landowner, who planted a vineyard; he fenced it round, dug a winepress in it and built a tower; then he leased it to tenants and went abroad. When vintage time drew near he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his servants, thrashed one, killed another and stoned a third. Next he sent some more servants, this time a larger number, and they dealt with them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them. “They will respect my son” he said. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, “This is the heir. Come on, let us kill him and take over his inheritance.” So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?’ They answered, ‘He will bring those wretches to a wretched end and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will deliver the produce to him when the season arrives.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the scriptures:
It was the stone rejected by the builders
that became the keystone.
This was the Lord’s doing
and it is wonderful to see?
‘I tell you, then, that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.’
When they heard his parables, the chief priests and the scribes realised he was speaking about them, but though they would have liked to arrest him they were afraid of the crowds, who looked on him as a prophet.
WHAT BECOMES OF OUR DREAMS?
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [GEN 37:3-4, 12-13, 17-28; PS 105:16-21; MT 21:33-43, 45-46]
We all have our dreams. Life consists of dreams because they give us hope of finding fulfilment. They push us to go beyond ourselves. They make us creative and resourceful. They give us something to work towards. Most of all, when our dreams are realized, we feel great about ourselves because we feel that we have achieved something in life. We find fulfilment, a sense of pride and confidence. So it is important that we dream dreams. No great things can be achieved, no great inventions could have happened, if we are without dreams.
But then what kind of dreams do we have? Some of our dreams, realized or unrealized, can turn into nightmares. This happens when our dreams become illusions. There are many who dream to be rich, to excel in academic studies, to get to the top of the corporate ladder, to start their own business and earn millions of dollars. Some want to be celebrities in sports, in fashion and in the entertainment world. They want fame, glamour and glory. Those who tried hard to attain their dreams are often tempted to use dishonest and unscrupulous means, some through bribery with money or sex. Others through manipulation and intimidation. And so their dreams end up in nightmares when they are caught for offences, or when relationships are broken and lives ruined.
The worst is when they arrive at their dreams through legal and honest means, working hard all their life, only to discover that life is empty, even with all the success and money gained. They find that wealth, power and pleasures cannot give them the fulfilment they were seeking. Possessions are illusions because we do not make use of them and we cannot use all the wealth that we have. Pleasures, after some time, become boredom as we get used to the good food and nice places. Fame becomes a burden as we lose our privacy and freedom to be and to go where we like. Hence, rich and powerful and famous people seek a quiet life, a simple life without too much complications and politics and squabbles over money and property.
This is why it is important that our dreams be in line with God’s dream. Otherwise, we will find that we have sought to realize dreams that come from our own insecurities and from the temptations of the Evil One. We must not forget how at the very beginning of Lent, we read the gospel text where the Devil sought to tempt Jesus to realize His dream of building God’s kingdom. The Devil wanted Jesus to establish the Kingdom of God through fame, money, power and might. But Jesus rejected the way of the world, which is the way of Satan.
In the first reading, we read of the dream of Joseph. He had many dreams. He had dreams of greatness. He also had the gift of interpreting dreams and visions. He dreamt how he and his brothers were binding sheaves in the field. Then he said, “Suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright; then your sheaves gathered around it, and bowed down to my sheaf.” His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Are you indeed to have dominion over us?” (Gn 37:6-8) Then he had another dream of the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowing down to him signifying that his father, mother and siblings would bow before him one day. (Gn 37:5-11) As a consequence, his brothers were jealous of him.
The dreams were indeed from God. But often in life, instead of allowing the dreams of God to be fulfilled in us, according to His plans, our human imperfections complicate the plan of God for us. Yet, the truth is that God works within our human imperfections and sinfulness. As St Paul said, “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:28) Indeed, when we look at the life of Joseph, we are amazed at how the divine plan of God worked inexorably towards fulfilment in spite of human intrigues, revenge and selfishness.
Yet, the biblical characters were not all that saintly for God to make use of them. Jacob himself was deceitful and cheated his younger brother, Esau of his birthright. Laban, his uncle in turn cheated him by using him as cheap labour to look after his flock. Jacob practiced favouritism by giving special privileges to Joseph. The latter himself was boastful and insensitive to the feelings of his brothers. The brothers of Joseph were manipulative, vindictive and heartless towards Joseph by wanting to kill him and eventually sold him as a slave to the Midianite merchants. After many twists and turns, Joseph was recognized as the second-in-command after the King because of his talents, foresight and strategy in building up the economy of Egypt. Not only was it able to withstand the seven years of famine but it became even more prosperous.
Joseph was chosen by God to prepare for the birth of a nation. He was to go to Egypt to prepare the ground for the sons of Israel to grow in number and in strength. During his tenure as the trusted lieutenant of the king, the Israelites were left to multiply, and they grew in wealth and strength in the country of Goshen. But this process took a long time. The Book of Exodus recorded that the children of Israel lived in Egypt for 430 years. (Ex 12:40) Then we read, “Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.” He felt threatened by the Israelites who were growing in number and strength. So “they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labour. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh.” (Ex 1: 8,11) It was because of their cries that God eventually sent Moses to deliver them and bring them out of Egypt into the desert before occupying the Promised Land under the command of Joshua.
All these were possible only because Joseph, Moses and Joshua dreamt their dreams with God. They were not living their own dreams. Notwithstanding their human frailties and limitations, they gave themselves fully to God’s dream. They gave their life to the people under their charge and carried out the commands of the Lord. Under their leadership, the motley and temperamental crowd were led into Egypt not without casualty along the way. And God’s plan for Israel was realized.
But the dream of God continued. The Promised Land was just a preparation for the establishment of the Kingdom of God under the reign of Christ, as the gospel indicates. The story of the ungrateful tenants of the vineyard was but a sore reminder of the history of Israel from the time they entered the Promised Land till the time of Jesus. They continued to wreak havoc on the plan of God because they refused to listen to His commands and walk the way of justice and compassion as the prophets exhorted them. They were punished and exiled before eventually returning from Babylon to rebuild Jerusalem. And that would be the people of Israel during the time of our Lord as well. The Lord said, “Have you never read in the scriptures: It was the stone rejected by the builders that became the keystone. This was the Lord’s doing and it is wonderful to see?”
This dream is also ours today. What the Lord said to the people of His time is also addressed to us. Are we cooperating with His plan for us? Are we allowing Him to reign in our lives? Is Jesus the cornerstone in our life? Are our plans aligned with God’s plan for our community and for the world? We must not forget that it takes all of us to use whatever talents, opportunities and resources we have to build the kingdom of God. They are not just meant for our selfish use, our pleasures and security without concern for the larger community in church, society and the world. Truly, we must share Christ’s concern in building the kingdom of God based on the values that He has shared with us. Otherwise, the Lord warns us, “I tell you, then, that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.” Indeed, we will be judged in our present and in the life to come, how we have cooperated with God’s vision and dream for humanity. We must not lose this great opportunity to build His Kingdom by recognizing Jesus as the cornerstone of our lives. We can build a truly just and compassionate society only if we are rooted in His gospel values.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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