20240117 TRUE IDEALISM IS CREATIVE AND REALISTIC
17 January 2024, Wednesday, 2nd Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
1 Samuel 17:32-33,37,40-51 © |
David and Goliath
David said to Saul, ‘Let no-one lose heart on his account; your servant will go and fight the Philistine.’ But Saul answered David, ‘You cannot go and fight the Philistine; you are only a boy and he has been a warrior from his youth.’
‘The Lord who rescued me from the claws of lion and bear’ David said ‘will rescue me from the power of this Philistine.’ Then Saul said to David, ‘Go, and the Lord be with you!’
He took his staff in his hand, picked five smooth stones from the river bed, put them in his shepherd’s bag, in his pouch, and with his sling in his hand he went to meet the Philistine. The Philistine, his shield-bearer in front of him, came nearer and nearer to David; and the Philistine looked at David, and what he saw filled him with scorn, because David was only a youth, a boy of fresh complexion and pleasant bearing. The Philistine said to him, ‘Am I a dog for you to come against me with sticks?’ And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, ‘Come over here and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.’ But David answered the Philistine, ‘You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel that you have dared to insult. Today the Lord will deliver you into my hand and I shall kill you; I will cut off your head, and this very day I will give your dead body and the bodies of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that it is not by sword or by spear that the Lord gives the victory, for the Lord is lord of the battle and he will deliver you into our power.’
No sooner had the Philistine started forward to confront David than David left the line of battle and ran to meet the Philistine. Putting his hand in his bag, he took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead; the stone penetrated his forehead and he fell on his face to the ground. Thus David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone and struck the Philistine down and killed him. David had no sword in his hand. Then David ran and, standing over the Philistine, seized his sword and drew it from the scabbard, and with this he killed him, cutting off his head. The Philistines saw that their champion was dead, and took to flight.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 143(144):1-2,9-10 © |
Blessed be the Lord, my rock.
Blessed be the Lord, my rock,
who trains my arms for battle,
who prepares my hands for war.
Blessed be the Lord, my rock.
He is my love, my fortress;
he is my stronghold, my saviour
my shield, my place of refuge.
He brings peoples under my rule.
Blessed be the Lord, my rock.
To you, O God, will I sing a new song;
I will play on the ten-stringed lute
to you who give kings their victory,
who set David your servant free.
Blessed be the Lord, my rock.
Gospel Acclamation | Heb4:12 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The word of God is something alive and active:
it can judge secret emotions and thoughts.
Alleluia!
Or: | cf.Mt4:23 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Jesus proclaimed the Good News of the kingdom
and cured all kinds of sickness among the people.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 3:1-6 © |
Is it against the law on the sabbath day to save life?
Jesus went into a synagogue, and there was a man there who had a withered hand. And they were watching him to see if he would cure him on the sabbath day, hoping for something to use against him. He said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Stand up out in the middle!’ Then he said to them, ‘Is it against the law on the sabbath day to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to kill?’ But they said nothing. Then, grieved to find them so obstinate, he looked angrily round at them, and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out and his hand was better. The Pharisees went out and at once began to plot with the Herodians against him, discussing how to destroy him.
TRUE IDEALISM IS CREATIVE AND REALISTIC
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 SM 17:32-33, 37, 40-51; Ps 144:1-2,9-10; Mk 3:1-6]
In the gospel today, the Pharisees were watching Jesus to see whether He would break the Sabbath Law to heal a man with a withered hand. We can appreciate the idealism of the Pharisees with respect to their faith and obedience to the Law of Moses. They are called “Pharisees”, meaning “separated” from the Gentiles – those who are non-Jews – so that they would not be ritually contaminated. The Pharisees sought to live a righteous life in accordance with the Law of Moses. They would allow no deviation from the sacrosanct Mosaic Laws. As the Law of Moses gave fundamental principles on how the laws were to be kept, scribes were necessary to help apply these fundamental principles to every concrete area of life.
In the case of the Sabbath Law, no work was permitted on this day as it was a day consecrated to the Lord. The Decalogue stipulates, “Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work.” (Ex 20:8-10) In principle, the law is clear that one should dedicate the day to the Lord and one should rest on the Sabbath. But what does it mean to “rest”, or “not to do any work.” How does one define “work”? So it was left to the interpretation of religious leaders and, in the case of Jesus, the scribes who would clarify what “work” entailed. They would define the regulations.
The question at hand was whether healing was also considered work. To this query, it was taught that medical attention could only be given when a life was in danger. But what situation would be considered as in danger? One of the guiding principles was that so long as a sickness won’t get worse, it must not be made better. To understand how the Sabbath Law was taken very narrowly and strictly, it is good to remember that a strict orthodox Jew would not defend his life even if he were attacked on the Sabbath. Indeed, this was the case during the Maccabean wars with the Syrians. For this reason, too, the Romans exempted the Jews from compulsory military service because they would not fight on the Sabbath. Indeed, no compromise was possible in any way. This was the idealism of the rigid and unbending orthodox Jews with respect to observance of the Mosaic Law, especially with regard to the Sabbath.
Jesus certainly was aware of such customary interpretation of the Sabbath Law. But Jesus’ idealism was not rigid or narrow-minded. It was based on realism. He was creative in His approach to the Sabbath Law. Jesus deepened our understanding of the Sabbath Law by asking His listeners to go beyond the mere observance of the letter of the Law, and to respect the Spirit of the Sabbath Law. The purpose of the Sabbath Law was to help the people to live well. First, by remembering who the author of life and the creator is, namely, God Himself. It is important, therefore, that we should celebrate the Sabbath in such a way that we honour God as the source of life. Secondly, on the practical level, resting on the Sabbath was important to ensure that human beings, especially the slaves and servants of the household and on the farms, had sufficient rest so that they could be healthy and recharged for the rest of the week. The objective of the Sabbath was therefore clear: to give life.
Hence, our Lord, in the light of this principle saw a man who had a withered hand and instinctively, He felt the suffering of the man. For Jesus, when it comes to giving life, charity demands that we do not wait unnecessarily. Whenever the opportunity presents itself and we are able to help, we must do so without delay. But knowing that the Pharisees, who were opposed to the idealism of Jesus in living out the Sabbath Law to the fullest by applying the Spirit of the Law, Jesus challenged them, arguing that anything that is done for the good of our fellowmen or an action that saves life is against the Law.
Firstly, to sensitize and appeal to the compassion of His listeners, Jesus brought the man with the withered hand out in the middle. It is easy to theorize on situations sitting in an arm-chair. This is the real problem of people in authority or in management today. They are not in contact with the ground and the grassroots. They make policies and decisions based on books or articles that they read, or some scientific surveys that they have put their faith in, not recognizing that all surveys are constrained by the objective and the outreach they seek. They are not always accurate and have to be read within context. Whereas Jesus was not a rabbi who sat the Temple or buried Himself with books and intellectual pursuits. Jesus was always on the ground, walking with His people, knowing their struggles, feeling with them in their pains, empathizing with them, giving them consolation, healing them when needed, exhorting them to turn to God and live a life of humble service.
Secondly, if we can see the suffering of a person, then we will not just be acting or thinking logically, but we will bring our heart and compassion into play. When we are dealing with a person who is suffering, the person is not a thing or an object without feelings. We too are human beings with feelings and we can identify with those who are in pain. The Lord said to them, “Is it against the law on the Sabbath day to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to kill?” Obviously, anyone who sees someone suffering cannot but be moved, more so if that person is his loved one. No one wants to see his loved one or any human being suffer more than is necessary. If we feel this way for those in need, how much more is the compassion of God.
Indeed, the idealism of the Pharisees is inward-looking and legalistic. This kind of idealism is unrealistic. Their only idealism was to keep the law. Hence, their minds ruled their hearts. The evangelist noted, “But they said nothing.” In spite of seeing the man with the withered hand, their hearts remained unmoved. They were totally detached and unable to feel with the man. The evangelist said, Jesus found them “obstinate.” In other words, their hearts were closed. Jesus was heartbroken not only for the man with the withered hand but He was deeply shocked by their indifference. Hence, “he looked angrily round at them, and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out and his hand was better.” By looking at them angrily, Jesus was still trying to touch their hardened hearts so that they would repent.
Alas, so hardened were their hearts, so rigid their idealism, they could not even judge the matter objectively. We read, “The Pharisees went out and at once began to plot with the Herodians against him, discussing how to destroy him.” Not allowing the man to be healed was bad enough, but to plot with the Herodians to destroy Jesus revealed how evil their hearts were. In the first place, the true Pharisees had nothing to do with the Herodians, who were political leaders working hand in glove with the Romans. The Pharisees were nationalists, and collaborating with the Romans would make them unfaithful to the Kingdom of David. Secondly, to kill Jesus would go against the Decalogue when the Law forbade killing.
Today, we are asked to live up to our idealism. How certain we are that our idealism is in the right place depends on whether that idealism seeks to promote life and protect the common good of the people. This was the case of David as well when he gave himself to the service of King Saul to fight against the Philistine when none of his military officers dared to challenge the Philistine. But like Jesus, when we do something out of love, we are always creative, and whilst being idealistic we are also realistic. True idealism in other words, must have the attributes of creativity, realism and yet idealistic, ready to dream and to seek the best.
David was certainly creative in dealing with the Philistine. He was not being naïve in facing Goliath, who was a giant and accomplished military warrior compared to him. But David was resourceful and creative and found a simple way to overcome him not by might or strength but by the wisdom and power of God using just a stone and a sling to hit the forehead of the Philistine who was killed immediately. We too must strive to be like our Lord, keeping our ideals high, yet in touch with the ground, and creative in reaching our dreams.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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