20220725 EARTHENWARE JARS BEARING THE MERCY OF GOD
25 July, 2022, Monday, St James, Apostle
First reading |
2 Corinthians 4:7-15 © |
Such an overwhelming power comes from God and not from us
We are only the earthenware jars that hold this treasure, to make it clear that such an overwhelming power comes from God and not from us. We are in difficulties on all sides, but never cornered; we see no answer to our problems, but never despair; we have been persecuted, but never deserted; knocked down, but never killed; always, wherever we may be, we carry with us in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus, too, may always be seen in our body. Indeed, while we are still alive, we are consigned to our death every day, for the sake of Jesus, so that in our mortal flesh the life of Jesus, too, may be openly shown. So death is at work in us, but life in you.
But as we have the same spirit of faith that is mentioned in scripture – I believed, and therefore I spoke – we too believe and therefore we too speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus to life will raise us with Jesus in our turn, and put us by his side and you with us. You see, all this is for your benefit, so that the more grace is multiplied among people, the more thanksgiving there will be, to the glory of God.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 125(126):1-6 © |
Those who are sowing in tears will sing when they reap.
When the Lord delivered Zion from bondage,
it seemed like a dream.
Then was our mouth filled with laughter,
on our lips there were songs.
Those who are sowing in tears will sing when they reap.
The heathens themselves said: ‘What marvels
the Lord worked for them!’
What marvels the Lord worked for us!
Indeed we were glad.
Those who are sowing in tears will sing when they reap.
Deliver us, O Lord, from our bondage
as streams in dry land.
Those who are sowing in tears
will sing when they reap.
Those who are sowing in tears will sing when they reap.
They go out, they go out, full of tears,
carrying seed for the sowing:
they come back, they come back, full of song,
carrying their sheaves.
Those who are sowing in tears will sing when they reap.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Jn15:16 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I chose you from the world
to go out and bear fruit,
fruit that will last,
says the Lord.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
Matthew 20:20-28 © |
'Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?'
The mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons to make a request of him, and bowed low; and he said to her, ‘What is it you want?’ She said to him, ‘Promise that these two sons of mine may sit one at your right hand and the other at your left in your kingdom.’ ‘You do not know what you are asking’ Jesus answered. ‘Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?’ They replied, ‘We can.’ ‘Very well,’ he said ‘you shall drink my cup, but as for seats at my right hand and my left, these are not mine to grant; they belong to those to whom they have been allotted by my Father.’
When the other ten heard this they were indignant with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You know that among the pagans the rulers lord it over them, and their great men make their authority felt. This is not to happen among you. No; anyone who wants to be great among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants to be first among you must be your slave, just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’
EARTHENWARE JARS BEARING THE MERCY OF GOD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [2 Cor 4:7-15; Ps 126:1-6; Mt 20:20-28]
Many of us are happy and excited to follow Jesus in the ministry. We too are inspired by the life of Jesus who “came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Like the apostles who followed Jesus in the gospel, we have goodwill and apparently good intentions. Indeed, in the Church, we have thousands of volunteers giving themselves generously in service, time and resources to the Christian community and society, especially the poor and the underprivileged.
But, often there is much infighting and competition among ministry members and even among priests and religious. There is jealousy when others do well, or when others are appointed to positions and offices of power. Because of envy there is competition, sometimes leading to slander and backbiting. This was the case of the apostles in today’s gospel. Not only were James and John and their mothers seeking glory and power, but so were the other apostles. “When the other ten heard this they were indignant with the two brothers.” So we should not be surprised that even within the Christian community, many are also fighting for recognition and power and benefits, even though many claim that they are serving God and the Church freely and without expectations of return.
The truth is that many of us lack self-awareness. Most of us are sincere in wanting to serve the Lord and His people. Very few in the ministry render their services with the intention of serving themselves. But most of us are unaware of our human imperfections and hidden motives. We lack the depth of self-realization. This was true with the apostles. Clearly, they were not following Christ for His sake and the Kingdom, but for their own personal agenda. They were seeking for power, security and recognition. They wanted to rule over others in Christ’s Kingdom. When we search deeply and honestly in our hearts, we, too, are no different from them. All of us want to be loved, to be known and to have security and freedom. That is why we seek recognition, power and status.
As Catholics, at times we do not really have a deep spiritual life or a good doctrinal understanding of our faith. Fresh from RCIA or from a Conversion Experience, we have this deep desire to serve God. We are enthusiastic, but we are quite naïve about who Jesus is to us, the realities of life; the truth about ourselves as sinners; and what it means to be a disciple of Christ. Doctrinally, many of us are weak in understanding our faith, the teachings of the Church and have only a superficial knowledge of the scriptures. The disciples were like that before the passion and the resurrection of Christ. They were still thinking of Jesus as the earthly and political Messiah. Hence, they held political ambitions.
What is this Kingdom that Jesus is offering to us if not the kingdom of lowliness in the service of truth and love? The Lord taught, “You know that among the pagans the rulers lord it over them, and their great men make their authority felt. This is not to happen among you. No; anyone who wants to be great among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants to be first among you must be your slave.” The kingdom that Jesus preached is not so much an earthly kingdom, but a kingdom of love, truth and justice expressed in compassion, lowly and humble service, and selflessness even unto death. It is to love and care for our brothers and sisters to the end, to the extent of suffering, often unjustly, being misunderstood, unappreciated, misjudged, slandered and rejected by the very people we love and give our lives to.
Many of us are too weak to love in this manner. In truth, our love is so imperfect. Our love for others is more like that of the pagans, loving those who love us, serving those who appreciate us. Even if we have no material motives in service, we seek affective recognition and appreciation. To love our enemies, to love strangers, to love those who do not love us or cannot repay us is much more difficult. Most of our so-called Christian love is confined to our loved ones, family members and friends. But this is not the only kind of love that Jesus is asking of us. He wants us to love beyond our circle of friends and community. We are called to reach out to the marginalized, the wounded, the broken, those without friends and those abandoned by society.
Yet, the Lord accepts the fact that we cannot love purely and unconditionally like Him. He knows we are weak. Just as He accepted Peter’s inadequate love for Him and his mixed motives in serving Him, He too accepts our limited love. He does not demand that we either love selflessly or not at all. He did not give up on the apostles simply because they were jostling for power and status. Instead, He continued with them on that journey. The Lord knows, as St Paul says, “We are only the earthenware jars that hold this treasure, to make it clear that such an overwhelming power comes from God and not from us.” The Lord wants to work not through perfect people but through our brokenness and fallen nature. St Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.” (1 Cor 2:4f) Indeed, rather than be scandalized at the sins of priests, religious leaders, lay or clerical, or ministry members and active Catholics, we should give praise to God that in spite of their sinfulness and imperfections, God could use them in some way to give glory to Him and to serve His people.
God has chosen us weaklings to be His messengers of Divine Mercy so that His glory can shine in and through us. Only in weakness will we depend on the power of God and recognize our nothingness before Him. This is what St Paul experienced when he wrote that this is “to make it clear that such an overwhelming power comes from God and not from us. We are in difficulties on all sides, but never cornered; we see no answer to our problems, but never despair; we have been persecuted, but never deserted; knocked down, but never killed.” Until we have tasted the power of God, we will never be able to trust Him or surrender our lives to Him. Even in ministry, we tend to rely on our powers, ingenuity and knowledge rather than on God. This explains why few in the ministry really pray, intercede or rely on God’s grace. It is all about planning, strategy, techniques, organization, except the importance and necessity of prayers!
Secondly, He chose us sinners to be His vessels of divine mercy because only in our sinfulness do we learn humility and compassion. In the letter of Hebrews, the author wrote, “Every high priest chosen from among mortals is put in charge of things pertaining to God on their behalf, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is subject to weakness; and because of this he must offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people.” If God has chosen sinners to be His priests and leaders, it is so that we can learn to be humbler and more compassionate towards others. Those who have gone through difficult times or faced tremendous challenges and misfortunes in life will become great evangelizers and proclaimers of God’s mercy when they get out of their difficulties. They will come to understand the power of God and the helplessness of man with regard to sin and temptation. Because they are aware of their own sins and weaknesses, they do not condemn others or judge them. Instead, they will reach out to them, healing them with the healing that they themselves had received. Conversely those who are self-righteous, arrogant and proud are those who never know the power of God or recognize their finiteness and sinfulness. They only know how to despise, condemn and judge.
We must never forget that although we are baptized, we are not yet saints. We are pilgrims along the way, growing in perfection. As St Paul says, each day, “we carry with us in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus, too, may always be seen in our body. Indeed, while we are still alive, we are consigned to our death every day, for the sake of Jesus, so that in our mortal flesh the life of Jesus, too, may be openly shown.” Every day is a call for us to die to self a little more, until eventually we, like St James and the other apostles, come to a stage when we are ready to die totally for the Lord, even in martyrdom. So the path to martyrdom is not an instant decision but a gradual confidence and trust in the Lord, and letting go and letting God take over our lives.
Let us therefore never be afraid of making mistakes in life. This is a necessary path to growth in virtues, in love and truth. The only way to learn is to make mistakes. Like the apostles, we learn as we go along with the Lord. So if we find ourselves inadequate and imperfect in serving the Lord because of our sins and weaknesses, we must not be too harsh on ourselves. We should be understanding and compassionate like Jesus towards His ignorant and self-centred apostles. The only thing that we must not forget is that we need to grow in grace each day. Whilst we should accept and learn from our mistakes, we must always be humble to fix our eyes on the Lord and seek His grace to grow in holiness, in truth and in love, so that at the end of our lives, we could also say with the psalmist, “When the Lord delivered Zion from bondage, it seemed like a dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, on our lips there were songs. The heathens themselves said: What marvels the Lord worked for them!” What marvels the Lord worked for us! Indeed, we were glad. They go out, they go out, full of tears, carrying seed for the sowing; they come back, they come back, full of song, carrying their sheaves.”
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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