Mission Sunday, Year A
Theme: Let Us Be Mobile Fountains of Blessing 讓我們成為流動的福泉
Out of love, the Lord God created the known universe for His images to flourish and develop. Furthermore, He delegated to us who were created in His image, the stewardship to manage the universe and all its inhabitants (Genesis 1:26-27, 2:15b) in His stead. The Creation was a masterpiece in His eyes until we abused the free will He gave us. In His foresight to contain the spread of damages, the Lord God set up a safety valve, namely death, when He gave the man the second instruction, namely not to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (2:16-17). Consequently, the Creation was contaminated and infested with sins. Our human nature was tarnished and seeing that we’re unable to cleanse up the mess, the Lord God took the initiative to send His only begotten Son and with Him the Holy Spirit to heal and to renew the Creation. Since our First Parents were the culprits, shouldn’t we take up at least a portion of the responsibility to assist the Lord God to cleanse up the mess?
First of all, we need to know His plan or in theological jargon, the will of God. To cater for our lack of wisdom and probably to hide His plan from the Devil as well, the Lord God reveals His salvation scheme gradually. To start with, He announced the proto-gospel in the form of an enigma. The Lord God told the Serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; They will strike at your head, while you strike at their heel” (3:15). Notice that a dialogue went on between God and our First Parents while He denied the Serpent the opportunity to defend itself! Thus, the Devil is in constant lookout for this offspring of the woman and tries to destroy him or her before it is too late. On the other hand, humanity has been complacent and indulged in idolatry. Many of them are not aware of the ongoing spiritual war! They hide themselves inside their comfort zones and reinforce them with a false sense of security with idolatry of various kinds, such as accumulation of wealth and power, enhancement of their health and social connections or simply waste away their lives in substance abuses, gambling, pornography or the virtual reality provided by information technology etc. We should thank the Lord God who sees and will provide (22:8a). He does not abandon us but works unceasingly to further enlighten us of His will.
The Lord God visited many civilizations to look for a suitable candidate to kick-start the salvation project and at last, He met and befriended an Abraham in the city of Ur in Babylon in around 1,800 BCE. When Abraham was 75, rich and secure, God told him to leave his comfort zone behind for another piece of land. Furthermore, God promised to make him a great nation and a source of blessings for all the peoples on earth (12:1-3). The Lord God renewed His vows with the offspring of Abraham, viz. Isaac and Jacob who was the father of twelve sons and one daughter born of four women. The family migrated to Egypt and stayed there for more than four centuries to grow and to learn. Then God made Moses the leader liberating the Israelites from Egypt and they spent forty years in the wilderness to travel to and settle down in the Promised Land, Canaan. I am sure they had once set foot on Gaza, the war-torn zone today where the Lord God had driven away the inhabitants to make room for them. Later, the Israelites became a kingdom and was conquered in succession by the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks and lastly the Romans under whose colonial rule, the Son of God took flesh and became man, known as Jesus of Nazareth. He travelled around and preached in the Holy Land for three years and was arrested and condemned to death for inciting rebellion against the Roman Empire. He was crucified but came back to life on the third day. The rest is history.
Most Catholics doubt their own capabilities to become missionaries. We magnify our frailties, personality flaws and incompetence! Perhaps we should look the other way at the Patriarchs and examine their lives carefully. When we do, we can easily find faults with them and discover our superiority over them. For example, both Abraham and Isaac told lies about their relationship with their wives in order to save their own skin (Genesis 12:12-13, 26:7). Jacob had cheated both his father Isaac (27:19) and his father-in-law Laban (30:31-43) to obtain his riches. His wife Rachel had stolen Laban’s household images before the family returned to Canaan (31:19)! His sons, Simeon and Levi, took revenge and massacred all the males in the city of Shechem (34:25). Then the other sons, except Benjamin who was not yet born, followed up the slaughter and sacked the city (34:27) etc. I’m sure we won’t do such morally appalling things and yet the Lord God elected them as fountains of blessings to all nations!
Like the Sadducees, we do not know the scriptures and the power of God well enough (Matthew 22:29). For one, God shows His power not just in working ground shaking miracles but also in turning bad things into good ones! For example, out of greed, Caesar Augustus ordered a census of the entire Empire (Luke 2:1) without which, the pregnant BVM would not go south with St. Joseph her spouse to Bethlehem to register. With this census, Caesar Augustus helped fulfil the prophecy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:6; Micah 5:1). Similarly, God’s power and in fact His mercy is shown in electing sinners instead of saints to carry out His plan. Sinners become God’s helpers and ambassadors of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20) to proclaim reconciliation. In so doing, God is transforming sinners into saints and making them fountains of blessings like Abraham and his offspring. It is none of their merits but God’s grace given to all who answer God’s call. St. Paul puts it well, “A worker’s wage is credited not as a gift, but as something due” (Romans 4:4). We have not done anything worth rewarding. God does not owe us anything. Instead, we have committed many sins. Therefore, God’s forgiveness is a gift and is not something we earn. It is only in proclaiming the gospel of reconciliation to others that we start earning our wages because “The labour deserves his keep” (Matthew 10:10b). But shouldn’t we be grateful to be given the opportunity to show our love and care for the wellbeing of the souls of our neighbour/brothers whom we are keepers (Genesis 4:9)?
Now, what wages do we expect to earn? It is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth and Love! The good Lord Jesus Christ tells us that the Father in heaven is eager to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him (Luke 11:13). On one hand, when we receive the Sacrament of Confirmation, we receive the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. To be candid, very few people understand these gifts, not to mention making good use of them. But when we are bold enough to proclaim the gospel, we will be making good use of these gifts. When we proclaim the gospel of reconciliation we don’t need to worry about our eloquence because it is the Holy Spirit who speaks, not us (Matthew 10:20). Actually, people will not be convinced by our eloquence because few of us possess the eloquence of St. John Chrysostom and our not so elegant eloquence will only invite challenges and arguments instead of conversion which only love is able to achieve. Who else has this power to convince and to convert if not the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of Love? When people hear Him speak, their hearts will burn within (Luke 24:32). The words of the Holy Spirit cut to their hearts (Acts 2:37). Meanwhile, we’ll be learning from the Holy Spirit as a fringe benefit when we proclaim the good news. The master of the vineyard is looking for just such produce in vintage time (Matthew 21:34, gospel reading last Sunday)!
Beloved brethren! Shouldn’t we be elated when we are able to help the Lord God cleanse up at least some mess left behind by our fallen First Parents? Shouldn’t we rejoice like the Lord God when the wicked turn from their evil way and live (Ezekiel 18:23)? Let’s boost up our courage to insist on reconciliation and making peace instead of resorting to violence. Amen.
God bless!
2020 Reflection
Picture Credit: drivethruhistoryadventures.com
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