20240119 LIVING UP TO OUR CALLING AS GOD’S ANOINTED
19 January 2024, Friday, 2nd Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
1 Samuel 24:3-21 © |
I will not raise my hand against the Lord's anointed
Saul took three thousand men chosen from the whole of Israel and went in search of David and his men east of the Rocks of the Wild Goats. He came to the sheepfolds along the route where there was a cave, and went in to cover his feet. Now David and his men were sitting in the recesses of the cave; David’s men said to him, ‘Today is the day of which the Lord said to you, “I will deliver your enemy into your power, do what you like with him.”’ David stood up and, unobserved, cut off the border of Saul’s cloak. Afterwards David reproached himself for having cut off the border of Saul’s cloak. He said to his men, ‘The Lord preserve me from doing such a thing to my lord and raising my hand against him, for he is the anointed of the Lord.’ David gave his men strict instructions, forbidding them to attack Saul.
Saul then left the cave and went on his way. After this, David too left the cave and called after Saul, ‘My lord king!’ Saul looked behind him and David bowed to the ground and did homage. Then David said to Saul, ‘Why do you listen to the men who say to you, “David means to harm you”? Why, your own eyes have seen today how the Lord put you in my power in the cave and how I refused to kill you, but spared you. “I will not raise my hand against my lord,” I said “for he is the anointed of the Lord.” O my father, see, look at the border of your cloak in my hand. Since I cut off the border of your cloak, yet did not kill you, you must acknowledge frankly that there is neither malice nor treason in my mind. I have not offended against you, yet you hunt me down to take my life. May the Lord be judge between me and you, and may the Lord avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be laid on you. (As the old proverb says: Wickedness goes out from the wicked, and my hand will not be laid on you.) On whose trail has the king of Israel set out? On whose trail are you in hot pursuit? On the trail of a dead dog! On the trail of a single flea! May the Lord be the judge and decide between me and you; may he take up my cause and defend it and give judgement for me, freeing me from your power.’
When David had finished saying these words to Saul, Saul said, ‘Is that your voice, my son David?’ And Saul wept aloud. ‘You are a more upright man than I,’ he said to David ‘for you have repaid me with good while I have repaid you with evil. Today you have crowned your goodness towards me since the Lord had put me in your power yet you did not kill me. When a man comes on his enemy, does he let him go unmolested? May the Lord reward you for the goodness you have shown me today. Now I know you will indeed reign and that the sovereignty in Israel will be secure in your hands.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 56(57):2-4,6,11 © |
Have mercy on me, God, have mercy.
Have mercy on me, God, have mercy
for in you my soul has taken refuge.
In the shadow of your wings I take refuge
till the storms of destruction pass by.
Have mercy on me, God, have mercy.
I call to God the Most High,
to God who has always been my help.
May he send from heaven and save me
and shame those who assail me.
Have mercy on me, God, have mercy.
O God, arise above the heavens;
may your glory shine on earth!
for your love reaches to the heavens
and your truth to the skies.
Have mercy on me, God, have mercy.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.2Th2:14 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Through the Good News God called us
to share the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Alleluia!
Or: | 2Co5:19 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself,
and he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 3:13-19 © |
He appointed twelve to be his companions
Jesus went up into the hills and summoned those he wanted. So they came to him and he appointed twelve; they were to be his companions and to be sent out to preach, with power to cast out devils. And so he appointed the Twelve: Simon to whom he gave the name Peter, James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom he gave the name Boanerges or ‘Sons of Thunder’; then Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, the man who was to betray him.
LIVING UP TO OUR CALLING AS GOD’S ANOINTED
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 SM 24:3-21; Ps 57:2-4,6,11; Mk 3:13-19]
Both scripture readings speak about the chosen leaders of God. Firstly, God’s choice of His servant is His sovereignty. Why God chooses one over the others is not within our authority to question. As it is often said, man proposes, God disposes. We are speaking about the free election of God, whether in choosing Israel to be the People of God, or in anointing leaders such as Saul and David. In the gospel too, we have Jesus who went up into the hills all night to pray and at daybreak, summoning those who would be the leaders of the New Twelve Tribes of Israel, the New People of God. The names of the Twelve are mentioned, although it is worth noting that there was a tinge of sadness and an acknowledgement that not all chosen by the Lord served Him worthily; and this was “Judas Iscariot, the man who was to betray him.”
The question that some of us might ask about God’s election is this: Does not God know that Saul would not be faithful to Him as King of Israel and that he would do his own thing? Instead of deputizing Yahweh, the only King of Israel, in caring for the people like a shepherd, he was self-willed and disobedient. He was materialistic and kept the booty he won from his enemies, “the best of the sheep and of the cattle and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was valuable, and would not utterly destroy them” (cf 1 Sm 15:9) God sent Samuel to reprimand him for his disobedience, reminding him that obedience is better than sacrifice because rebellion is no less a sin than divination, and stubbornness is like iniquity and idolatry. (1 Sm 15:22-23) As a consequence, because of his lack of obedience, Samuel pronounced judgment on King Saul, “The Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” (1 Sm 15:26)
The can be said of Judas as well in today’s gospel. Did not the Lord know that Judas would betray Him? Judas also wanted things his own way. He wanted Jesus to act against the Romans by taking up arms and leading a rebellion. When He did not act according to his plan, Judas abandoned Him and sold Him for 30 pieces of silver to the High priest who wanted to get rid of Him as He threatened the status quo of the Temple. He too, like Saul, was rebellious and self-willed. Of course, the other Eleven would also abandon Him eventually at His passion, although for lack of courage more so than self-will.
The truth is that God’s free election of His leaders also demands a response to His grace of being elected for office. When we are chosen for office and position in life, it is a grave responsibility entrusted to us, not because we are worthy or because we are the best person. There will always be others who are better than us in different and many ways, whether in knowledge, skills, or human relationships. We should never think that we are better than others but rather, in humility, recognize God’s choice of us to lead His people. We will be able to accomplish His mission only if we cooperate with His grace.
For this reason, in the gospel, when the Lord appointed the Twelve, He had this in mind, “They were to be his companions and to be sent out to preach, with power to cast out devils.” They were not asked to be strategists and administrators. They were first and foremost to be His companions. Leaders must spend time with Jesus and with His Father. They must seek intimacy with Him so that they can learn from Jesus, understand His desire, His dreams and His vision for humanity. They need to get in touch with the heart and mind of their master so that they too can share in realizing His dream for humanity. They need to feel the presence of their master in their lives so that they can really work for Him and be passionate like Him for the Kingdom of His Father. This is why the first task of a leader is to pray; not to plan, not to work, not to do things. Prayer and spending time with the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, in worship, in adoration, in reading the Word of God, in contemplation, in sharing the Word with others, and in intercession are the Keys to the fruition of his leadership.
Secondly, leaders must preach. In other words, leaders must teach and continuously inspire and lead those under their care to share in the vision and mission of the gospel or the organization. We must inspire, motivate, and always be the gatekeeper of the vision that we are called to transmit to those under our charge. This explains why the first duty of the Bishop is not even to minister or to shepherd, but to teach the gospel. The bishop’s primary duty is to be a teacher of the faith, to ensure that his flock is walking in truth and in love, in accordance with the teaching of scripture, and the apostolic faith handed down to the Church. We cannot neglect this responsibility of instruction in order to take care of administration or ministering. Whilst the roles of a bishop as an overseer and minister are also part of his responsibilities, teaching holds primacy. This is true for all leaders as well. It is not enough to be a good coordinator, a caring leader, but we need a leader to lead, otherwise the sheep will lead the shepherd, which is what is happening today. A leader who does not lead becomes simply a consensus-maker, having no real vision of his own but simply a broker to get all the powers to agree on what could be done. This is the downside of democracy, a decision by the majority, regardless whether it is the right or best thing to do.
Thirdly, Jesus appointed the Twelve and gave them the power to cast out devils. Again, the work of a leader is to restore truth, justice, and harmony so that everyone can live in peace, in security and in unity. Casting our devils is not just confined to exorcism, but to rid society of evils. As leaders, we are responsible for ensuring that truth and love prevail. We need to protect the vulnerable and the weak from being oppressed by the rich and the powerful. We need to champion the cause of those who are marginalized by society because of their age, race, language, religion and nationality. As leaders too, we need to determine the kind of values we want to form in our organization, in society and in our people. To allow the negative trends of society to rule us would be to our destruction. As leaders with knowledge and foresight, we must warn our people of the consequences of allowing the selfish, self-centred and materialistic pursuits of this modern world to infiltrate our families, marriages, society, nations and the planet. Leaders must not condone injustice, discrimination and unfair practices in society and in the world. We must be ready to speak up for the truth. Unfortunately today, many leaders are complicit in evil, in what is wrong simply because they want to retain their power and popularity. They endorse the evil and selfish pursuits of the world. They use politically correct language to avoid speaking the plain truth.
Yet, we must also accept that no leader is perfect as well. If we are looking for perfect leaders, there are none. Leaders do make mistakes. But they need to be humble to acknowledge them and seek to correct their mistakes. In the case of Saul, there was no real repentance from his evil intention to eliminate David because he wanted to protect His crown. He saw David as a rival to his throne. He should have seen David as an ally if he truly believed that God had chosen Him. David would have been a great help rather than an opponent in building the kingdom, protecting the people from their enemies and uniting them. But he failed to think through what he was doing. He was simply reacting to every situation negatively. Even in today’s case, when David had a chance to kill him but out of respect for the Lord’s anointed, he did not, Saul’s repentance was weak. The remorse for his persecution of David was short-lived. Unlike David, the apostles of our Lord knew they were not perfect but they repented of their infidelity to the Lord.
A great leader ultimately is one who is ready to forgive his enemies. This was the case of David. He respected God’s choice of Saul even though he suffered under his insecurity. David did not take things into his own hands. Rather, he allowed God to act in His own time and in His way. David deferred to God’s plan. He was equally deferential to King Saul whom he acknowledged as the Lord’s anointed even when the latter failed in his duties. As leaders too, we must always be strong enough to forgive those under our care, and our opponents. At the end of the day, what matters is not who wins but whether God’s purpose is served. We need not be the one. God knows who to choose. We must trust in God’s plan and commend everything into His hands. Indeed, as leaders we can only pray with the psalmist, “I call to God the Most High, to God who has always been my help.”
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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