20240120 LOVING AND RESPECTING THE ANOINTED OF THE LORD
20 January 2024, Saturday, 2nd Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
2 Samuel 1:1-4,11-12,17,19,23-27 © |
David's lament over Saul and Jonathan
David returned from his rout of the Amalekites and spent two days in Ziklag. On the third day a man came from the camp where Saul had been, his garments torn and earth on his head. When he came to David, he fell to the ground and did homage. ‘Where do you come from?’ David asked him. ‘I have escaped from the Israelite camp’ he said. David said to him, ‘What happened? Tell me.’ He replied, ‘The people have fled from the battlefield and many of them have fallen. Saul and his son Jonathan are dead too.’
Then David took hold of his garments and tore them, and all the men with him did the same. They mourned and wept and fasted until the evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, for the people of the Lord and for the House of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.
Then David made this lament over Saul and his son Jonathan.
Alas, the glory of Israel has been slain on your heights!
How did the heroes fall?
Saul and Jonathan, loved and lovely,
neither in life, nor in death, were divided.
Swifter than eagles were they,
stronger were they than lions.
O daughters of Israel, weep for Saul
who clothed you in scarlet and fine linen,
who set brooches of gold
on your garments.
How did the heroes fall
in the thick of the battle?
O Jonathan, in your death I am stricken,
I am desolate for you, Jonathan my brother.
Very dear to me you were,
your love to me more wonderful
than the love of a woman.
How did the heroes fall
and the battle armour fail?
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 79(80):2-3,5-7 © |
Let your face shine on us, O Lord, and we shall be saved.
O shepherd of Israel, hear us,
you who lead Joseph’s flock,
shine forth from your cherubim throne
upon Ephraim, Benjamin, Manasseh.
O Lord, rouse up your might,
O Lord, come to our help.
Let your face shine on us, O Lord, and we shall be saved.
Lord God of hosts, how long
will you frown on your people’s plea?
You have fed them with tears for their bread,
an abundance of tears for their drink.
You have made us the taunt of our neighbours,
our enemies laugh us to scorn.
Let your face shine on us, O Lord, and we shall be saved.
Gospel Acclamation | 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!
Or: | cf.Ac16:14 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O Lord,
to accept the words of your Son.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 3:20-21 © |
Jesus' relatives were convinced he was out of his mind
Jesus went home, and once more such a crowd collected that they could not even have a meal. When his relatives heard of this, they set out to take charge of him, convinced he was out of his mind.
LOVING AND RESPECTING THE ANOINTED OF THE LORD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [2 SM 1:1-4, 11-12, 17, 19, 23-27; Ps 80:2-3, 5-7; Mk 3:20-21]
The scripture readings which we have been reading so far from the book of Samuel underscore the need to be loyal and supportive of the Anointed of the Lord. Who are the Anointed of the Lord? For us who are Catholic and faith-believers, we believe that our Holy Father and his successors, the bishops, are the Anointed leaders of the Lord, which is what the symbol of the skull cap (zucchetto) is all about. Of course, by extension, in various degrees, all of us, by virtue of our baptism are also the Anointed ones of God. So, those who hold leadership in different categories would share in the anointing of the Lord, for example, religious superiors, priests, even civil and political leaders.
It is easy to love our Anointed leaders if they are compassionate, kind, understanding, selfless and humble in service, exercising mature, wise, and firm leadership. But how do we love and respect leaders who fail to be exemplary in leadership, especially those who abuse their powers, are unreasonable, discriminating, impartial, dictatorial, and self-serving? Or those we cannot agree with, even in fundamental principles? How do we deal with them? Do we take things into our own hands? Do we eliminate them?
In the gospel today, we read of the rejection of Jesus as a leader. On one hand, there was the growing popularity of Jesus. The crowd was impressed by His teachings and excited about His miraculous powers to heal and to exorcise. So many from all over came to hear and see Jesus, so much so, as the gospel says, “such a crowd collected that they could not even have a meal.” On the other hand, Jesus also faced the growing opposition among the Jewish leaders who felt threatened by the ministry of Jesus. They would have instigated the people to go against Him. Indeed, they even falsely accused Him of being possessed by the devil. “The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem were saying: ‘Beelzebul is in him’ and, ‘It is through the prince of devils that he casts devils out.'” (Mk 3:22) Even some of His relatives were not supportive of Jesus’ ministry. They did not understand His identity and His mission. In fact, they thought He was going crazy. St Mark noted, “When his relatives heard of this, they set out to take charge of him, convinced he was out of his mind.”
In the first reading, we read of the tragic death of Saul and Jonathan. In spite of the fact that Saul was jealous of him because of his achievements and success in the military expeditions, and attempted to kill him many times, David remained firm in his love, support, and loyalty to King Saul. Not once, did David retaliate, or sought to revenge himself against the injustices he suffered from King Saul. Indeed, if anyone who had a right to kill Saul, it would be David because he suffered much under him in spite of the many things he did for him and the country. Instead of being repaid with gratitude and appreciation, David had to flee the country. For many years, he was playing hide and seek in the desert, away from Saul, and he lived like a hunted man. This explains why he was staying in Ziklag, a Philistine city, which was in the enemy’s territory, as he needed to take refuge. He even had to submit himself and pretend to be friendly and loyal to Achish, a Philistine ruler. (cf 1 Sm 27)
As we read in the first reading yesterday, on one occasion, he had a great opportunity to kill Saul and claim the crown, but he did not. In fact, he only cut off the border of Saul’s cloak in order to prove his sincerity that he had no malice or desire to kill Saul, or even to be king. Even cutting off a corner of Saul’s royal cloak made him feel guilty because he was conscious that Saul was the Lord’s anointed. He was filled with remorse that he did such a thing of disrespect to King Saul.
“Afterwards David reproached himself for having cut off the border of Saul’s cloak. He said to his men, ‘The Lord preserves 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.” (2 Sm 24:6f) Instead, he sought to reason out with Saul that he meant him no harm. He had no secret aspirations to be king and was not a threat to his kingship. He tried to make him see the truth. He said, “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, “‘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.”
So, too, the disciples did not leave Jesus. They continued to stand by Him in good and bad times. They were there for Jesus, except when it came to the passion, out of fear for their lives, they abandoned Him. Otherwise, they believed in Jesus even if His own relatives and the Jewish leaders did not. They recognized Him as the Lord’s Anointed, literally meaning, the Christ. What about us? Where do we stand with respect to our leaders? What was the basis of David’s firm support for Saul, regardless how bad the King was towards him?
The first thing to remember is that David looked at King Saul through the eyes of faith. As far as David was concerned, Saul was the Lord’s Anointed. He was chosen by God. He did not want to take authority into his own hands. Since God chose him, only God could remove him. So he refused to take things into his own hands, unlike many do today, through assassination or manipulation in order to overthrow the legitimate leaders. David left the task of dealing with King Saul to God as He saw fit. We might not like our spiritual, civil and corporate leaders, but we must recognize the authority of those who appointed them.
Only those who appointed them can have the authority to remove them. If it is the elected government, then it is the people. If he is a priest, then the bishop has the authority. If he is the bishop, then it is the Pope. If he is the Pope, then God must do it. In a nutshell, we do not undermine rightful authority or usurp their powers. It does no one any good, but only creates more chaos, division, suffering and even destruction of lives. St Paul reminds us thus, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.” (Rom 13:1f)
Secondly, David focused on the goodness of Saul. He did not focus on his weaknesses. Indeed, he was sincerely grieving when Saul was killed in the battle. “David took hold of his garments and tore them, and all the men did the same.” His love and respect for Saul could be seen in the poem he wrote, “Alas, the glory of Israel has been slain on your heights! How did the heroes fall? Saul and Jonathan, loved and lovely, neither in life, nor in death, were divided. Swifter than eagles were they, stronger were they than lions. O daughters of Israel, weep for Saul who clothed you in scarlet and fine linen, who set brooches of gold on your garments. How did the heroes fall in the thick of the battle?” David recognized the achievements and the strength of Saul as a king and soldier.
Thirdly, David did not focus on himself. He was thinking of Saul, Jonathan, and the people of Israel. He felt with them because Saul tried to be a good king. His personal differences with King Saul were another matter. He had no personal agenda against Saul. He knew how to separate personal feelings from the larger reality. “They mourned and wept and fasted until the evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, for the people of the Lord and for the House of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.” David had every reason to hate Saul, to take revenge or to hurt him. But he put aside his personal grievances and pains and focused on the goodness of Saul instead. Such was the magnanimity of David.
Most of all, David had deep faith in God. He entrusted his entire life to the Lord. Although he was anointed by Samuel to be King of Israel much earlier on, he did not rush to assume his kingship. He was patient and ready to wait for the right time. He knew that God would take care of everything. He did not have to kill Saul. Instead, he was killed by his enemies in the battle. He did not wish Saul evil, but God knew when Saul should be replaced. We must therefore have a deep faith in God’s divine providence. God knows how and when bad leaders should be removed. There is no need to plan and use deceitful tactics to get things done. This was so in the case of the Amalekite who tried to gain favour and reward from David, thinking that he was bringing good news to Him, saying that he was killed by the enemies, when in truth Saul was injured and took his own life. (Cf 1 Sm 31) We must be honest and faithful to God and His Anointed. God knows what to do and when to do if the leader does not repent and change.
Finally, one last word for those of us who are leaders: we must realize the grave responsibility we have in exercising our leadership well. If we are not good stewards, what befell Saul will also befall us. God and nature have their ways to deal with inept, selfish, inward-looking, and dictatorial, egoistic, worldly and self-centred leaders. God will be our judge. If we are not responsible, the consequences can be unimaginable. If we conduct ourselves like Saul did, protective of our position, self-serving, and discriminating; we will receive our just dessert in due time.
Leaders must be like our Lord; passionate for His Father, for His people and deeply in love with God and His people. Unless, like Jesus, we truly love God and His people more than ourselves, we are not fit to govern or to rule. We must love God above all things and when we do, we will love His people above ourselves. Without a passionate love for God, just as David had for God and for his good friend Jonathan, or Jesus’ love for us, we cannot live enlightened lives for the service of God and His people. Let leaders fall in love with the Lord before they can fall in love with their people, and so govern them with compassion and wisdom.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment