20240113 BEING INCLUSIVE AND WELCOMING
13 January 2024, Saturday, 1st Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
1 Samuel 9:1-4,17-19,10:1 © |
The Lord chooses Saul as king; Samuel anoints him
Among the men of Benjamin there was a man named Kish son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah; a Benjaminite and a man of rank. He had a son named Saul, a handsome man in the prime of life. Of all the Israelites there was no one more handsome than he; he stood head and shoulders taller than the rest of the people. Now some of the she-donkeys of Saul’s father Kish had strayed, so Kish said to Saul, ‘My son, take one of the servants with you and be off; go and look for the she-donkeys.’ They passed through the highlands of Ephraim and passed through the land of Shalishah, but did not find them; they passed through the land of Shaalim, they were not there; they passed through the land of Benjamin, but did not find them.
When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, ‘That is the man of whom I told you; he shall rule my people.’ Saul accosted Samuel in the gateway and said, ‘Tell me, please, where the seer’s house is?’ Samuel replied to Saul, ‘I am the seer. Go up ahead of me to the high place. You are to eat with me today. In the morning I shall take leave of you and tell you all that is in your heart.’
Samuel took a phial of oil and poured it on Saul’s head; then he kissed him, saying, ‘Has not the Lord anointed you prince over his people Israel? You are the man who must rule the Lord’s people, and who must save them from the power of the enemies surrounding them.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 20(21):2-7 © |
O Lord, your strength gives joy to the king.
O Lord, your strength gives joy to the king;
how your saving help makes him glad!
You have granted him his heart’s desire;
you have not refused the prayer of his lips.
O Lord, your strength gives joy to the king.
You came to meet him with the blessings of success,
you have set on his head a crown of pure gold.
He asked you for life and this you have given,
days that will last from age to age.
O Lord, your strength gives joy to the king.
Your saving help has given him glory.
You have laid upon him majesty and splendour,
you have granted your blessings to him forever.
You have made him rejoice with the joy of your presence.
O Lord, your strength gives joy to the king.
Gospel Acclamation | Ps118:36,29 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Bend my heart to your will, O Lord,
and teach me your law.
Alleluia!
Or: | Lk4:17 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord has sent me to bring the good news to the poor,
to proclaim liberty to captives.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 2:13-17 © |
Your light must shine in the sight of men
Jesus went out to the shore of the lake; and all the people came to him, and he taught them. As he was walking on he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus, sitting by the customs house, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.
When Jesus was at dinner in his house, a number of tax collectors and sinners were also sitting at the table with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many of them among his followers. When the scribes of the Pharisee party saw him eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ When Jesus heard this he said to them, ‘It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners.’
BEING INCLUSIVE AND WELCOMING
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 SM 9:1-4,17-19,10:1; PS 21:2-7; Mk 2:13-17]
In today’s gospel, Jesus deliberately reached out to those unclean people that the good, holy and righteous Jews and the religious leaders disdained. By recruiting Matthew, the tax-collector, to be one of His disciples, Jesus took the side of those who symbolized everything that nationalistic Jews were against. The tax-collectors were regarded as traitors of the Jewish Kingdom. For how could they work for their Roman enemy against their own people! Above all, they also made an exorbitant profit from the taxes collected.
From this perspective, they were labelled as sinners. But we must not think that they were sinners through and through. Some of them may be very dishonest. But they were classified as sinners only because most of them did not keep the requirements of the Covenant. They did not frequent the temple or synagogue. They might have taken the Lord’s name in vain. They did not observe the rituals and the religious hygiene laws. They were associating with the Gentiles and those who could never keep the Mosaic laws and the customs meticulously. But some of them, in spite of their lack of consistency in life, were people with a good heart. They also sought peace and love in their lives. Many of them secretly longed for God and for His forgiveness, like Zacchaeus and Matthew. They must have heard Jesus speaking and wished that the Lord would come to their house and welcome them as His friends. We can be sure that whenever they listened to Jesus, their hearts ached, just like many who do not go to church. When they hear hymns or sermons, their hearts yearn to go back to God, but they lack courage and strength to do so. They are waiting for someone to encourage them and assure them that they would be accepted, forgiven and loved unconditionally.
Consequently, when Jesus welcomed them and even accepted their invitation to dine at their houses, it outraged the righteous people and religious leaders. It was bad enough that He chose one of the tax-collectors to be among His companions, but He actually seemed to enjoy their company. How could He claim to be a rabbi and allow Himself to be tainted with the company of such people? To them, it was incomprehensible and reprehensible for Jesus to sit in their midst.
Today we are called to have a preferential option for those who are most vulnerable, marginalized and excluded from society. Like Jesus, we must always be on the look out for opportunities to welcome such people. Indeed, we read that as He walked along the lakeside, He called Matthew. Jesus, the fisher of man, was always looking out for the “big” fish to catch, not just the “small” ones. He was looking for those who were considered incorrigible sinners and outcasts. Indeed, just as the Lord said that His Father is always working, so was He. We, too, in the work of claiming souls for Christ, have no day off. Whenever and wherever the opportunities are available, we are called to reach out to them and bring them to the Lord. We believe that when they find Him, like St Matthew and Zacchaeus, their lives would be changed.
Indeed, Matthew was transformed. Among all the disciples, perhaps, Matthew gave up the most – a lucrative trade and his wealth. The others were fishermen and some were revolutionaries. Even then, the fishermen could always go back to their old trade, as we saw how the disciples went back to fishing after the death of our Lord. But for Matthew, he burnt his bridge completely to his old way of life. Having left his tax-collector’s job, he could never get it back. It was a gamble for him. But he took the big decision to follow Jesus, all because he believed in Jesus and knew that Jesus would be able to give him a life that this world cannot give. There was no turning back for him. So, too, when we bring the love of Jesus to the marginalized and the outcasts, when they are touched by the Lord, they will change their lives as well, and order their lives not according to how we think it should be lived but how God wants them to live.
Today’s gospel touches on a very sensitive area on how Christians should conduct themselves in a secular world. Unconsciously, we have a sub-culture in the Church. In our attempts to uphold high moral standards for our members so that they would not discredit the Church, we also set boundaries on who can be admitted to our fellowship and company. Those who do not meet the standards are frowned upon and excluded from the community. We are also afraid that mixing with such sinners, we might even be contaminated and influenced for the worst. So to defend ourselves, we cut them off from our lives. We try to insulate ourselves from them. We draw a clear line between believers and sinners. To be friends of non-believers would be to betray the high standards of Christian life.
But we forget that Jesus has shown us just the contrary. He is our model in reaching out to the vulnerable and the poor in society. He was not frightened to reach out to sinners, to be in their company. He was not afraid to touch the lepers. He did not stay away from those who suffered from oppression and bondages. He did not give up on the sinners, tax-collectors and prostitutes. He protected Himself by being in union with His Father in prayer. He is not calling us to be reckless in risking our lives for others. Even in surrendering Himself to His enemies, He prayed and consulted His Father and He chose the right time. We cannot be so afraid of reaching out and touching their wounds just to protect ourselves. There is a need to keep the tension between giving ourselves and protecting ourselves.
So, if we are looking for partners in the work of charity, let us not be impressed by externals. It does not mean that those who are intelligent, rich and powerful can help most. Much depends on where their heart lies. We must learn from Israel’s history. Saul was chosen because he was a man of standing, as his family was rich and influential for they owned many slaves and flocks. He himself was an impressive young man, above all his peers. He had good physical appearance and was “a head taller than any of the others.” He had all the characteristics of a great leader. But the scripture mentioned all these so-called attributes as a subtle indictment of Israel’s first king. He was a bad shepherd. He was inept even in handing a few animals of his father’s flock that had wandered away. He could not even recognize the prophet Samuel when he met him on his search for the animals. He was proud and arrogant, refusing to turn to the prophet for help. Indeed, he was spiritually unfit to serve as Israel’s first king. He was concerned about his self-interests, not of the people.
We must therefore look for partners in our mission of charity where people have a heart and love for the vulnerable, especially the poorest of the poor. We do not need people who are judgmental or think that they are better than others. We need humble leaders and servants to reach out to such people. This is why we need to ensure that only those who are spiritually well grounded are leaders in our social services and organizations. We cannot be simply looking for talented people. But we need people of compassion, humility and inclusivity. In this way, they will be like Jesus who would be able to go beyond their narrow confines and judgment to journey with the poor, the suffering, the marginalized. We are called to be with them, to understand their struggles, to accompany them and see how we could offer them our help without being imposing. Truly, only when we are welcoming and inclusive, can they experience the unconditional love and mercy of Christ and be transformed in Him.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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