20250225 CONFRONTING THE MOTIVES OF OUR VOCATION
25 February 2025, Tuesday, 7th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading |
Ecclesiasticus 2:1-11 |
The chosen are tested like gold in the fire
My son, if you aspire to serve the Lord,
prepare yourself for an ordeal.
Be sincere of heart, be steadfast,
and do not be alarmed when disaster comes.
Cling to him and do not leave him,
so that you may be honoured at the end of your days.
Whatever happens to you, accept it,
and in the uncertainties of your humble state, be patient,
since gold is tested in the fire,
and chosen men in the furnace of humiliation.
Trust him and he will uphold you,
follow a straight path and hope in him.
You who fear the Lord, wait for his mercy;
do not turn aside in case you fall.
You who fear the Lord, trust him,
and you will not be baulked of your reward.
You who fear the Lord hope for good things,
for everlasting happiness and mercy.
Look at the generations of old and see:
who ever trusted in the Lord and was put to shame?
Or who ever feared him steadfastly and was left forsaken?
Or who ever called out to him, and was ignored?
For the Lord is compassionate and merciful,
he forgives sins, and saves in days of distress.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 36(37):3-4,18-19,27-28,39-40 |
Commit your life to the Lord, trust him and he will act.
If you trust in the Lord and do good,
then you will live in the land and be secure.
If you find your delight in the Lord,
he will grant your heart’s desire.
Commit your life to the Lord, trust him and he will act.
He protects the lives of the upright,
their heritage will last for ever.
They shall not be put to shame in evil days,
in time of famine their food shall not fail.
Commit your life to the Lord, trust him and he will act.
Then turn away from evil and do good
and you shall have a home for ever;
for the Lord loves justice
and will never forsake his friends.
Commit your life to the Lord, trust him and he will act.
The salvation of the just comes from the Lord,
their stronghold in time of distress.
The Lord helps them and delivers them
and saves them: for their refuge is in him.
Commit your life to the Lord, trust him and he will act.
Gospel Acclamation | Jn14:23 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him.
Alleluia!
Or: | Ga6:14 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The only thing I can boast about is the cross of our Lord,
through whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Mark 9:30-37 |
Anyone who welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me
Jesus and his disciples made their way through Galilee; and he did not want anyone to know, because he was instructing his disciples; he was telling them, ‘The Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men; they will put him to death; and three days after he has been put to death he will rise again.’ But they did not understand what he said and were afraid to ask him.
They came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house he asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the road?’ They said nothing because they had been arguing which of them was the greatest. So he sat down, called the Twelve to him and said, ‘If anyone wants to be first, he must make himself last of all and servant of all.’ He then took a little child, set him in front of them, put his arms round him, and said to them, ‘Anyone who welcomes one of these little children in my name, welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’
CONFRONTING THE MOTIVES OF OUR VOCATION
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Ecclesiasticus 2:1-11; Mk 9:30-37 ]
Two attitudes with regard to service of God are presented in today’s scripture readings. The first attitude is that of Jesus. For Jesus, His whole life was a total commitment to God, even unto death. This is very well enunciated in the gospel reading, which is further elaborated in Sirach’s advice in the first reading and given assent in our responsorial psalm. It seems that at some point of His life, probably after His Transfiguration experience or the Profession of Peter at Caesarea Philippi, this idea of commitment unto death became clearer and clearer to Him. Perhaps the reason for the repeated passion prophecies of Jesus is simply due to Jesus’ ongoing reflection of the demands of the apostolate. In other words, we have Jesus who was not afraid to confront Himself and the necessary trials of the apostolate.
However, this does not seem to be so in the case of the Apostles. They were not ready to confront their motives of following Jesus and thereby God’s call. Twice in today’s gospel, we see how the apostles tried to evade this issue. Firstly, when Jesus spoke of His eminent passion, the disciples were not very keen to hear what was ahead of Jesus or for them. It was something that was better not to talked about. Such a reaction is similar to many people who do not wish to talk about death. Secondly, when Jesus asked them what they were arguing along the way home, they fell silent. It was too difficult for them to admit that they had very shallow motives of following Jesus. They were still very much hankering for power and honour.
What, then, is the challenge of today’s scripture message if not to consider honestly why we want to follow Jesus in our lives? Is our vocation prompted by love and service? Perhaps, we all like to think that we are in this vocation because we love and therefore we want to serve. But are these really our motives? Let us bare our hearts and ask if there could be some more fundamental motives that we are not ready to face yet. Underlying our motive of service, perhaps, is the desire to be great or rather to be the greatest. So even in service, we try to compete to see who is the most eloquent preacher, the greatest singer, the brightest student, the most dynamic pastor etc. In a word, we want to be more important than others, like the apostles. This means that we are only serving ourselves.
We can know, according to Jesus, whether our vocation is prompted by love and service in the way we serve. If it is really done for the sake of love and service, then the idea of reward, of feeling great and important will not matter to us. That question will not even arise in the first place. That is why, for those who love, welcoming a little child is as important as welcoming the pope, for there is no self-seeking involved.
This is what the first reading is implicitly telling us: to accept and trust the Lord in everything. In other words, we are called to serve generously in whichever position we are in. Therefore, if love and service means to study now, let us study well. If love and service means to teach now, let us teach with our whole being. When we play games we should not play to win but we should play our best with the intention to help each other to enjoy the game. To do otherwise could be simply to serve ourselves and our unfulfilled egoistic needs. Of course, this would demand personal sacrifices and personal detachment from our own needs. It is difficult but at least we can take consolation that very few of us need yet to be delivered to death like Jesus.
When that is done, in the final analysis there is no such thing as who is more important or greater. For if one is fully absorbed in the needs of others and has given himself to others, there is no need to feel great or important. This question will disappear by itself. We become therefore one with God in love and one in His ways like Jesus with His Father.
Someone once said, “It is nice to feel important but it is more important to be nice.”
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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