20231006 DEALING WITH REJECTION
06 October 2023, Friday, 26th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading | Baruch 1:15-22 © |
We have been disobedient to the Lord our God
Integrity belongs to the Lord our God; to us the look of shame we wear today, to us, the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem, to our kings and princes, our priests, our prophets, as to our ancestors, because we have sinned in the sight of the Lord, have disobeyed him, and have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God telling us to follow the commandments which the Lord had ordained for us. From the day when the Lord brought our ancestors out of the land of Egypt until today we have been disobedient to the Lord our God, we have been disloyal, refusing to listen to his voice. And so the disasters, and the curse which the Lord pronounced through his servant Moses the day he brought our fathers out of Egypt to give us a land where milk and honey flow, have seized on us, disasters we experience today. Despite all the words of those prophets whom he sent us, we have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God, but, each following the dictates of his evil heart, we have taken to serving alien gods, and doing what is displeasing to the Lord our God.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 78(79):1-5,8-9 © |
Rescue us, O Lord, for the glory of your name.
O God, the nations have invaded your land,
they have profaned your holy temple.
They have made Jerusalem a heap of ruins.
They have handed over the bodies of your servants
as food to feed the birds of heaven
and the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth.
Rescue us, O Lord, for the glory of your name.
They have poured out blood like water in Jerusalem;
no one is left to bury the dead.
We have become the taunt of our neighbours,
the mockery and scorn of those who surround us.
How long, O Lord? Will you be angry for ever;
how long will your anger burn like fire?
Rescue us, O Lord, for the glory of your name.
Do not hold the guilt of our fathers against us.
Let your compassion hasten to meet us;
we are left in the depths of distress.
Rescue us, O Lord, for the glory of your name.
O God our saviour, come to our help.
Come for the sake of the glory of your name.
O Lord our God, forgive us our sins;
rescue us for the sake of your name.
Rescue us, O Lord, for the glory of your name.
Gospel Acclamation | Ps144:13 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord is faithful in all his words
and loving in all his deeds.
Alleluia!
Or: | Ps94:8 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Harden not your hearts today,
but listen to the voice of the Lord.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 10:13-16 © |
Anyone who rejects me rejects the one who sent me
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. And still, it will not go as hard with Tyre and Sidon at the Judgement as with you. And as for you, Capernaum, did you want to be exalted high as heaven? You shall be thrown down to hell.
‘Anyone who listens to you listens to me; anyone who rejects you rejects me, and those who reject me reject the one who sent me.’
DEALING WITH REJECTION
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Baruch 1:15-22; Ps 79:1-5,8-9; Lk 10:13-16]
We just read about the mission of the 70 disciples whom Jesus dispatched to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God. “The Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to come.” (Lk 10:1) In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus also instructed the Twelve to do the same. But He also reminded them, “You received without pay, give without pay” (Mt 10:8b) Finally, they were pre-empted in their mission with an advice, “Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you; heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off against you; nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.'” (Lk 10:8-11)
Why did Jesus give these counsels before they set out on the mission? This is because while the Good News is good, not all will find it good. There will be some who reject the Good News that is offered to them freely. The disciples must be ready to face rejection and opposition for the good work that they do. To give without charge means that there should be no conditions attached to the proclamation of the gospel. There should not be a financial price tag attached to it. Not only must it be given freely but unconditionally. This would mean that even if the Good News is not accepted, we would not react negatively to those who reject the Good News.
However, for most of us, the normal reaction towards people who reject our gifts and assistance is one of anger. We get annoyed when people do not accept our advice or our offer. How often do priests feel that their homilies and good advice were not heeded? Fraternal correction among family members and friends are not taken seriously. Some feel rejected when they are not appointed to positions in the organization. They feel they are the best and the most competent to lead the organization. Indeed, there are some who promptly resign when they are not re-elected or appointed in their organizations. They feel angry and humiliated; their ego is wounded. They seek to have their agenda adopted at all costs. Most of all, if we have spent much time trying to help a person to put his or her life in order and the response seems slow and the results negligible, we get disheartened, feeling like we have been throwing pearls before swines. We become bitter with the whole situation. From bitterness, we become indifferent and soon it we become hostile. When we act in such a manner, whether we admit it or not, it is obvious our service comes with conditions. It is more about ourselves than about those whom we are reaching out to. This explains why we are hurt and disappointed. In rejecting our message, they reject us. We need to feel good about ourselves. So when we do not have a positive response, we react negatively.
Today, the gospel also recounts Jesus’ feelings of frustration in His ministry. He had been preaching to His people, supposedly the chosen people of God, but they failed to respond to His message of the Good News of the Father’s love. They were too proud or wilful in their sinful lifestyle to listen to Jesus. They failed to see that Jesus was the Word of God in person. But there is a marked difference in the way Jesus responded to those who rejected His message and even His person. He did not retaliate, become angry or take revenge. Instead, He responded with regret and compassion. Jesus was not angry with them but felt sorry for them because they would have to suffer the consequences of their sins. “Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida!” These are expressions of sadness, not condemnation. This is the tragedy of rejecting the Good News. Those who reject the message are the ones who will lose out, not the messenger of the Good News.
The consequences of rejecting the message are spelt out in the first reading. Firstly, they would have to suffer the shame of their sins. The prophet Baruch confessed and admitted to this “shame we wear today, to us, the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem, to our kings and princes, our priests, our prophets, as to our ancestors, because we have sinned in the sight of the Lord, have disobeyed him, and have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God telling us to follow the commandments which the Lord had ordained for us.”
Secondly, they would have to suffer the disaster because of their disobedience to the Lord. “From the day when the Lord brought our ancestors out of the land of Egypt until today we have been disobedient to the Lord our God, we have been disloyal, refusing to listen to his voice. And so the disasters, and the curse which the Lord pronounced through his servant Moses the day he brought our fathers out of Egypt to give us a land where milk and honey flow, have seized on us, disasters we experience today.” All sins bring about destruction in our lives and in the lives of our loved ones.
This, too, is the warning of our Lord about the destruction of those cities in which the Good News is proclaimed but rejected. “For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. And still, it would not go as hard with Tyre and Sidon, at the judgement as with you. And as for you, Capernaum, did you want to be exalted high as heaven? You shall be thrown down to hell.” Pride and selfishness prevent them from being converted to the Lord. But their punishments would be harsh. How many of us, by refusing to walk the ways of the Lord find ourselves getting hurt by our folly and sins? We land ourselves in a divorce because of infidelity, lose our family because of gambling and addictions, lose our job because of criminal breach of trust, get sick because we did not take care of our health.
So we should instead feel sorry for those who reject us rather than get angry. It is their loss, not ours. This is why the Lord asked us to wipe off the dust from out feet when we are rejected. In other words, we should not take such rejections personally. If at all, when they reject us, they are not rejecting us but Christ Himself. “Anyone who listens to you listens to me; anyone who rejects you rejects me, and those who reject me reject the one who sent me.” We are just the messengers of Christ.
Jesus showed His love and patience for His enemies. It was not out of vindictiveness that Jesus spoke those words of regret but out of compassion, out of pity for them. Jesus continued His mission and preaching, doing good in spite of the fact that He failed to get the full response from the people. It behoves us as the ambassadors of Christ, to be patient with others who are slow in responding. Like Jesus, we need to pray for our enemies and make excuses for them as Jesus did on the cross. Often, they cannot hear or see the truth because they are blinded by their sins, especially of pride, like the inhabitants at Capernaum. But more often than not, the inability to listen to the truth could be blocked by the wounds of their sins and the sins of their fellowmen. They are hurt so deeply that they are imprisoned by their pains and their past. They cannot let go of their fears and prejudices. They are afraid of being cheated again. They cannot forgive or let go. Over the years, they become conditioned to act out of self-defence. As a result, they cannot see the truth of what they are doing, and even if they do, they are helpless psychologically.
Of course, as messengers of the Good News we must also examine ourselves. Sometimes we can fall into self-righteousness, become arrogant and insensitive in the way we relate with sinners. We could have used the wrong approach or fallen into the sin of presumption, thinking that we know the whole situation when we do not. As a result, our judgement could have been skewed and even flawed. So let us learn humility in approaching people with the Good News and when rejected, to pray for them. In the final analysis, only God can set them free. With the psalmist we pray, “O God our saviour, come to our help. Come for the sake of the glory of your name. O Lord our God, forgive us our sins; rescue us for the sake of your name.”
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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