20231127 INCULTURATION
27 November 2023, Monday, 34th Week in Ordinary time
First reading |
Daniel 1:1-6,8-20 © |
Daniel and his companions are trained to be the king's servants in Babylon
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched on Jerusalem and besieged it. The Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hands, with some of the furnishings of the Temple of God. He took them away to the land of Shinar, and stored the sacred vessels in the treasury of his own gods.
The king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to select from the Israelites a certain number of boys of either royal or noble descent; they had to be without any physical defect, of good appearance, trained in every kind of wisdom, well-informed, quick at learning, suitable for service in the palace of the king. Ashpenaz himself was to teach them the language and literature of the Chaldaeans. The king assigned them a daily allowance of food and wine from his own royal table. They were to receive an education lasting for three years, after which they were expected to be fit for the king’s society. Among them were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, who were Judaeans. Daniel, who was most anxious not to defile himself with the food and wine from the royal table, begged the chief eunuch to spare him this defilement; and by the grace of God Daniel met goodwill and sympathy on the part of the chief eunuch. But he warned Daniel, ‘I am afraid of my lord the king: he has assigned you food and drink, and if he sees you looking thinner in the face than the other boys of your age, my head will be in danger with the king because of you.’ At this Daniel turned to the guard whom the chief eunuch had assigned to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. He said, ‘Please allow your servants a ten days’ trial, during which we are given only vegetables to eat and water to drink. You can then compare our looks with those of the boys who eat the king’s food; go by what you see, and treat your servants accordingly.’ The man agreed to do what they asked and put them on ten days’ trial. When the ten days were over they looked and were in better health than any of the boys who had eaten their allowance from the royal table; so the guard withdrew their allowance of food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables. And God favoured these four boys with knowledge and intelligence in everything connected with literature, and in wisdom; while Daniel had the gift of interpreting every kind of vision and dream. When the period stipulated by the king for the boys’ training was over, the chief eunuch presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. The king conversed with them, and among all the boys found none to equal Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. So they became members of the king’s court, and on whatever point of wisdom or information he might question them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom.
Responsorial Psalm | Daniel 3:52-56 © |
To you glory and praise for evermore.
You are blest, Lord God of our fathers.
To you glory and praise for evermore.
Blest your glorious holy name.
To you glory and praise for evermore.
You are blest in the temple of your glory.
To you glory and praise for evermore.
You are blest on the throne of your kingdom.
To you glory and praise for evermore.
You are blest who gaze into the depths.
To you glory and praise for evermore.
You are blest in the firmament of heaven.
To you glory and praise for evermore.
Gospel Acclamation | Rv2:10 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Even if you have to die, says the Lord,
keep faithful, and I will give you
the crown of life.
Alleluia!
Or: | Mt24:42,44 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Stay awake and stand ready,
because you do not know the hour
when the Son of Man is coming.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 21:1-4 © |
The widow's mite
As Jesus looked up, he saw rich people putting their offerings into the treasury; then he happened to notice a poverty-stricken widow putting in two small coins, and he said, ‘I tell you truly, this poor widow has put in more than any of them; for these have all contributed money they had over, but she from the little she had has put in all she had to live on.’
INCULTURATION
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Dn 1:1-6,8-20; Dn 3:52-56; Lk 21:1-4]
How can a Christian retain his or her identity in a country that does not accept Christian culture? This is the question for our reflection today. Today, societies are becoming more and more cosmopolitan because of mass migration and globalization, especially in the cities. Although in many countries especially in Asia, Africa and Latin America, there is still a strong dominance of one culture over the rest, there is an increasing presence of people from other countries, races, languages and religions.
Understandably, one of the most important tasks of every government is to ensure that the people are united in love and work together for the good of everyone. Without harmony and unity, there will be no peace but division. When there is division, the whole country will be put at risk, as there is no security. No business will invest in a country where there is social disorder. In more cosmopolitan cities and countries, the way to unite people is to impose secularism on all peoples in public life. In other countries where there is a dominant religion or culture, they seek to impose its religion and culture on the minority groups. But this causes tension and resentment.
Unfortunately, the simplistic way of building unity has always been through the imposition of a common language, culture and religion for everyone. Unity is achieved through uniformity. This was what the kings in ancient times all tried to do. This was the case of the Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar. After conquering Jerusalem and making it into a vassal state, he carried all the treasures from the Temple back to Babylon. He also brought all the talented people from Jerusalem to work for him as well. He knew that the country could not progress unless he had wise, intelligent and knowledgeable men to help him. Among the many Jews that he brought back to Babylon were four outstanding young men, namely, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.
But it was not enough to have talented people to serve under him. He also sought to transform them into Babylonians as well. He did this by making them study “the language and literature of the Chaldaeans.” They were also assigned “a daily allowance of food and wine from his own royal table.” Besides, they were given an education which included history, mathematics and astronomy. He even gave them Babylonian names, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. In other words, it was hoped that by dressing them up like Babylonians, making them share the same history, literature, language and culture, they would be more accepted by the rest of the people.
All these means of inculturation can be accommodated. Indeed, when a migrant enters a new country, it is necessary for him to know the language of the people so that he could communicate with the rest of the people. Studying their history and literature is also a necessary part of inculturation so that he can feel with the people, understand their culture, their thinking and their values. This will help him to be more sensitive so that he would not say or doing anything that could offend the locals. For the sake of unity, new migrants cannot be living in their own enclaves, isolated from the larger community. It is necessary that new migrants adopt the language and the culture of the society they now belong. In this way, there will be greater assimilation although it might not be the best way to promote unity. But it has always been the tendency of those societies with a strong homogenous race or religion to impose their culture and religion on others.
A better approach is to promote unity in diversity. This is particularly so if the society is less homogenous and more cosmopolitan. In such a situation, uniformity will not work. In fact, it will cause resentment and hostility. When we apply the principle of unity in diversity, it necessarily requires all cultures to be open to each other. We adopt and accept what each culture can contribute to society, thereby enriching everyone. It is the way of integration rather than assimilation. In integration, all cultures retain their own unique identity but are integrated in such a way that the different communities are able to enjoy and even embrace each other’s culture.
The biggest mistake that most leaders fail in promoting unity is to confuse culture with religion. Culture is a way of life. It expresses implicitly the values of the people. Culture is expressed through signs such as dressing, gesture, actions and celebrations. Culture celebrates what is common among the peoples and the values that they have in common. Many of the cultural expressions are in the form of human values and aspirations.
Religion is connected to culture, but it is not identical with culture. Religion entails the worship of the Sacred. It is concerned with the worship of God or of a deity. The way we revere God and express our common faith is through the means that are available to us, the signs that all can understand. So, religion is also inculturated because the values of religion are expressed in the culture which the people are familiar with. So, in Asian countries, kneeling, bowing or clasping the palms of both hands together are symbols of reverence, respect and honour. These gestures and signs could be rendered to man or to God, depending on who is being honoured, the values that are being expressed.
Once we understand the connection between religion and culture and the distinction between the two, we would not be fighting over the gestures and signs used by people sharing the same religion but expressing it according to their cultures and customs. Only certain critical signs of a religion cannot be inculturaized e.g. the bread and wine for the use of the Eucharistic celebration. But the non-essential signs could be adapted accordingly. What one practises in his country may not be the same way it is expressed in another country, although the meaning and intention is the same.
But this is just how far we can go when we seek unity through uniformity. When it comes to religion, we must respect people of other faiths. Their beliefs are rooted in their God experience or in the way they were raised as God-fearing people. Religion is a matter of the heart, of faith and not always logical or rather, beyond reason. When we seek to impose our faith on others, then this is where the tension comes in.
This was the mistake that the Babylonian kings made, but they fortunately learnt their lesson. In the first instance, King Nebuchadnezzar had to put the three young men to death because his officials complained that they refused to worship the golden image. They were put into the fiery furnace, but the angel saved them from death. Hence, the king exclaimed, “Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins; for there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way.” (Dn 3:29)
Later, King Darius signed a decree that “whoever makes petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions.” (Dn 6:7) This resulted in Daniel being arrested and thrown into the lions’ den. When saved by God, King Darius made another decree, “that in all my royal dominion men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring for ever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end.” (Dn 6:26) It was because the king saw the power of God protecting Daniel from being eaten up by the lions. Faith requires a personal encounter with the living and mighty God. Once there is such an encounter, our perception of the faith would change accordingly.
In matters of faith, no compromise is possible. Hence, whilst Daniel and his friends were willing to assume the culture and the language of the Babylonians, they were adamant in remaining faithful to their religious values and beliefs. They were not ready to betray their conscience and their faith just to enjoy the benefits of power, glory and success. They were ready to give up everything for their faith. And this was what they did. They rejected the food from the king’s table because of the fear of being defiled, especially if the food was offered to idols or because they served pork. They refused to bow down to worship any image including the king. On such religious matters, they stood firm. God was with them and rescued them from their enemies.
Today, we are called to imitate Daniel and his three friends in being firm in our faith, even when we accept inculturation. We should indeed immerse ourselves in the cultures of the people we live with for better understanding and integration. Unity and harmony are values that the gospel promotes, and they are essential to the mission of the Church. We are called to work hard for the good of all in whichever community we belong to, regardless of race, language or religion. We must strive to serve the country, as Daniel and the three young men did, to the best of our ability. But let us be firm in our faith like the poor widow who gave everything to God without reservation. She did not reserve anything for herself. She did not put her convenience and life before God. We too must surrender our lives to God for the service of humanity and for His greater glory.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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