20240201 EARTHEN VESSELS HOLDING GOD’S TREASURE
01 February 2024, Thursday, 4th Week of Ordinary Time
First reading |
1 Kings 2:1-4,10-12 © |
David's dying exhortation to Solomon
As David’s life drew to its close he laid this charge on his son Solomon, ‘I am going the way of all the earth. Be strong and show yourself a man. Observe the injunctions of the Lord your God, following his ways and keeping his laws, his commandments, his customs and his decrees, as it stands written in the Law of Moses, that so you may be successful in all you do and undertake, so that the Lord may fulfil the promise he made me, “If your sons are careful how they behave, and walk loyally before me with all their heart and soul, you shall never lack for a man on the throne of Israel.”’
So David slept with his ancestors and was buried in the Citadel of David. David’s reign over Israel lasted forty years: he reigned in Hebron for seven years, and in Jerusalem for thirty-three.
Solomon was seated upon the throne of David, and his sovereignty was securely established.
Responsorial Psalm |
1 Chronicles 29:10-12 © |
You, Lord, are the ruler of all.
May you be blessed, O Lord,
the God of Israel, our father,
for ever, for ages unending!
You, Lord, are the ruler of all.
Yours, Lord, are greatness and power,
and splendour, triumph, and glory.
All is yours, in heaven and on earth.
You, Lord, are the ruler of all.
Yours, Lord, is the kingdom;
you are supreme above all.
Both honour and riches come from you.
You, Lord, are the ruler of all.
You are the ruler of all,
from your hand come strength and power;
from your hand come greatness and might.
You, Lord, are the ruler of all.
Gospel Acclamation | Jn15:15 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I call you friends, says the Lord,
because I have made known to you
everything I have learnt from my Father.
Alleluia!
Or: | Mk1:15 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The kingdom of God is close at hand:
repent and believe the Good News.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 6:7-13 © |
'Take nothing with you'
Jesus made a tour round the villages, teaching. Then he summoned the Twelve and began to send them out in pairs giving them authority over the unclean spirits. And he instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a staff – no bread, no haversack, no coppers for their purses. They were to wear sandals but, he added, ‘Do not take a spare tunic.’ And he said to them, ‘If you enter a house anywhere, stay there until you leave the district. And if any place does not welcome you and people refuse to listen to you, as you walk away shake off the dust from under your feet as a sign to them.’ So they set off to preach repentance; and they cast out many devils, and anointed many sick people with oil and cured them.
EARTHEN VESSELS HOLDING GOD’S TREASURE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 Kgs 2:1-4, 10-12; 1 Chronicles 29:10-12; Mk 6:7-13]
We have come to the end of the story of King David and his reign over Israel in today’s first reading. We hear him giving his final instructions to his chosen son, Solomon, who would succeed him to the throne. How do we assess his reign as King of Israel and Judah? In the bible, he was regarded as the model king, the best that Israel had. Often, he was portrayed as a good king, obedient to God and faithful to Him. But was he really? From the perspective of faith and in comparison with the rest of his successors, he seems to be so. He was considered a great king.
Of course, this does not mean that he was a perfect king. There were moments when he was weak. He committed adultery with Bathsheba and even dispatched her husband, Uriah, a devoted army officer to be killed in the battle so that he could cover up his crime. Perhaps David never forgave his enemies, or was it done to protect the future king from having to deal with potential troublemakers? He instructed Solomon to eliminate his loyal commander, Joab for killing two commanders of the armies of Israel. He also asked him to kill Shimei, the man who cursed him when he was running away from Absalom who was plotting to kill him.
Furthermore, his choice of Solomon might have been the best possible, but surely, he was also not a great king. In spite of the instructions given to Solomon to “be strong and show yourself a man. Observe the injunctions of the Lord your God, following his ways and keeping his laws, his commandments, his customs and his decrees, as it stands written in the Law of Moses, that so you may be successful in all you do and undertake”, yet history showed Solomon to be a weak king. He did well initially, but later also because of lust, he took pagan wives from the surrounding nations, causing idolatry to creep into the nation. He was also not a wise ruler because he over-taxed the people to sustain his lavish lifestyle.
In the gospel, we also read how the Lord “summoned the Twelve and began to send them out in pairs giving them authority over the unclean spirits.” The choice of the Twelve as His messengers were dubious. It was a mixed group of apostles with different backgrounds, temperaments, and self-centred motives. They were certainly not perfect disciples of the Lord, squabbling over positions, desiring power and wealth. They were cowards when it came to standing up for Jesus and one of them even betrayed Him for a few pieces of silver. Yet, they were chosen to exercise the authority of Jesus. They were given a share in His authority over unclean spirits, which is a central aspect of Jesus’ mission to wipe out the kingdom of Satan. They were also given the power to heal.
Indeed, looking back at scriptures, we know that God did not choose saints to be His leaders and missionaries. The people that God chose were weaklings, sinners, imperfect in their motives, lacking virtues of the saints, and lacking courage to stand up for what is right and true. St Paul himself described the apostolate as earthen vessels carrying the treasure of God. (cf 2 Cor 4:7) It is true that Christian leaders are weak and imperfect in many ways. We are after all human beings, having both strengths and weaknesses, whether moral or human skills. We are not gods. We do not have all the perfections that people expect of us.
But very often, people expect leaders to have the highest morals and sometimes to be perfect in their life and conduct, and even in their professional work, whether teaching, administration, or leadership. They put religious leaders on a high pedestal, which we know we are not able to reach. As the letter to the Hebrews reminds us, “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.” (Heb 5:1-3) Indeed, both the Christian leader and also the people must be realistic that we are not perfect in every way. We must be ready to accept failures and imperfections. We must stand ready for correction and to ask for forgiveness when we sin. Otherwise, there is a danger that such unrealistic expectations of a Christian leader might cause him or her to live a hypocritical life or even a double life because he or she is not allowed to let his or her weakness be seen.
Nevertheless, it does not mean that to accept the reality of the humanity of Christian leaders is to leave the situation as it is. We must seek to live up to the great calling of our Lord using all our strength and soul. This demands that we cooperate with His grace. Hence, it is of vital importance that Christian leaders must seek to be grounded in the Word of God and strive to be obedient to His word. This was the promise that God made to King David which he relayed to his son, Solomon. “If your sons are careful how they behave, and walk loyally before me with all their heart and soul, you shall never lack for a man on the throne of Israel.” Solomon did not obey the laws. St Paul too wrote of our duty when he said, “Therefore, since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart. We have renounced the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God’s word; but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God.” (2 Cor 4:1-3)
Indeed, we will achieve perfection not by our own strength but by God’s grace. Because we are earthen vessels carrying the treasure of God, we can expect God to complete in us what is lacking. St Paul wrote, “We have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies.” (2 Cor 4:7-10)
So too in today’s gospel, the Lord knew that His apostles were weak. He did not think that they were ready to be His apostles. Yet all the same, the Lord sent them out to train them because we become better apostles when we are missionary disciples. To make sure that they depend on Him alone for the mission, “he instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a staff – no bread, no haversack, no coppers for their purses. They were to wear sandals” but not take a spare tunic. Indeed, the apostles and missionary disciples of our Lord must depend on Him alone for their mission. They should cooperate with Him using whatever resources are available to them. But they must never think that success comes from their efforts alone. They depend solely on the authority and power that the Lord has given to them.
Finally, dependence on the Lord also means that His appointed leaders must only proclaim the message that was given to them. Christian leaders and missionaries are not to proclaim their own message or ideas. As ambassadors of the Lord, they can only teach what they have been taught and transmitted to them through the scriptures and the apostolic Church. No one has a right to change the scriptures or to teach what is contrary to the gospel. The message that the apostles were asked to preach was a message of repentance. Only when we repent, can we receive the Good News of healing and deliverance from the oppression of the Evil One and the evils of society. Hence, what the world needs today is to hear that message instead of trying to rewrite the scriptures so that we can be deluded into believing that we are obeying the gospel when in truth we are living in falsehood and selfishness. Leaders must therefore seek to be true to their calling. We are not here to serve ourselves or proclaim ourselves as St Paul reminds us, “for we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake.” (2 Cor 4:5)
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment