Not Thinking As God Does 不體會天主的事

Twenty-Fourth Ordinary Sunday, Year B
Theme: Not Thinking As God Does 不體會天主的事

Today, we read of the story of Peter’s Confession about Jesus in the gospel of Mark and Jesus’ First Prediction of His Passion (Mark 8:27-35). However, Mark’s narrative of Peter’s Confession is incomplete because Peter was reticent about Jesus’ making him the Rock on which to build His Church (Matthew 16:18). Leaving it out diminishes the tension of the following prediction of Jesus’ upcoming Passion. First of all, we have come to the turning point of Mark’s gospel. It was high time Jesus turned towards Jerusalem to accomplish His mission. He and His disciples were heading towards the villages of Caesarea Philippi (Mark 8:27a). Jesus conducted an innocent enough mini-opinion poll among the disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” (8:27b) because He had been preaching the gospel of reconciliation since the death of John the Baptist. It seemed appropriate for Jesus to conduct some mid-term evaluation before He proceeded further. In general, the opinions were positive. People thought that Jesus was John the Baptist, Elijah and probably the Prophet mentioned by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15). Those opinions had one thing in common. In general, prophets had challenged people in power such as state officials and even kings. More specifically, Elijah and the Prophet mentioned by Moses would appear at the end of world. In short, people anticipated Jesus to be a political Messiah to liberate them from the colonial rule of the Roman Empire just as Moses had liberated the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt. Of course, Jesus’ first question was only an appetizer. The main course was yet to come.

Jesus seemed to know the answer already and He was looking for something else. So He asked the next question, “But who do you say that I am?” (8:29a) Indeed, others’ opinions, whether they be the Pope’s or our catechists’ or what not, are not crucial. It is our personal opinions and thus our personal relationship with Him that Jesus cares. Of course, relationships take time to grow and to mature. Thus our relationships with the Lord might be shallow and naïve at the beginning. When we go through tribulations in our life, we gain more experiences and our perspective would widen. We would invest more affection in the relationship and in turn it becomes more fulfilling and rewarding. Moreover, the growth might not be linear and unidirectional. The projectile might be spiral or zig-zag. Sometimes we might complain and might even want to give up because the relationship proves to be painful and too sour at times! Jesus cares and would carry us through rough times on His shoulder. This is reflected in the popularity of a Christian poem “Footprints in the Sand” which many people lay claim on its authorship last century!

Now, let’s return to Peter’s Confession. How was his confession, namely “You are the Messiah” (8:29b), different from the others’? The weight of Peter’s Confession was downplayed in Mark. Jesus’ remark in Matthew explained why He gave Simon the title “Peter” and on this “Peter” He would build His Church. Jesus says, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father” (Matthew 16:17). This implies that God the Father has chosen, among the Twelve, Simon Peter to be bed-rock of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Of course, Peter was a mere mortal and his personality was flawed. Yet, God has demonstrated throughout the Bible that He likes to choose the underdogs to accomplish His projects, “Lest Israel vaunt itself against me and say, ‘My own power saved me’” (Judges 7:2b). With this piece of extra information from Matthew, the tension of the subsequent prediction of Passion would be more heightened! Even God’s Chosen One would fall nearly immediately! Who on earth could inflate his own ego? So how should we understand Jesus’ calling Peter “Satan”?

Throughout the centuries, people have “demonized” Satan more and more in order to make more money. Originally, the word “שָׂטָן Satan” means adversary. For example, in the story of Balaam, “the angel of the LORD took up a position on the road as his adversary” (Numbers 22:22) and in the story of David, “But the Philistine commanders were angered and said to him [Achish]: ‘Send that man [David] back … during the battle he might become our enemy…” (1 Samuel 29:4). Therefore, when Jesus rebuked Peter, “Get behind me, Satan …” (Mark 8:33b), Jesus might not mean the superhuman arch-adversary, but an obstacle in His salvific mission! But can we understand it as an exorcism to liberate Peter? I opine that this speculation is unnecessary because Jesus explains Himself saying, “You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do” (8:33c). Jesus was talking to Peter and not to Satan. He was correcting Peter’s mistakes. But wasn’t Jesus too demanding and unfair in pitching God against human beings? After all, Simon Peter and all of us are mere mortals. Of course we think as human beings do!

Being human beings should not be an excuse from fulfilling our genuine destiny. Don’t forget that God created us in His own image (Genesis 1:26). It is written in our souls/DNA’s that we should be like God in every aspect to different degrees. Each and every one of us is gifted in different manners, meaning that we are efficient in different aspects, some verbal, others numerical and yet others musical etc. It is our mission to manifest fully all these God-given talents. God is creative. So we are. God is free. So we have freedom which even God respects. God knows good and evil. So we do, though to a limited extent because we do not possess an infinite intellect. God is love (1 John 4:8) so we are able to go out of ourselves to love. This is what St. James means when he says in the second reading today, “Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works” (James 2:18b). What does it mean to love? Simply put, it means to care for and to meet the needs of the poor, of those who are unable to speak for themselves and to fight for their own needs. Lastly, God is majestic. So we are dignified. “That you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15). Alas! Times and again, we are complacent and hide ourselves inside our comfort-zones. So, the Son of God incarnates and speaks a language which we are able to understand so that with His revelation and guidance, we may emerge from our comfort zones to lead a more authentic, caring and fulfilling life as the adopted children of God.

Beloved brethren! Watching the competitors in the Paralympic Games should inspire us that all of us are capable of going out of ourselves to overcome our limitations to scale greater heights and lead a more fulfilling life. Therefore, Jesus is not demanding the impossible but showing us the way home (John 14:6). His advice is the only effective antidote to help us sail safely through the stormy waters to return to the Father, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34b). Let us put in our efforts like Paralympic archers to find our true home. God will provide. Amen.
God bless!

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Picture Credit: creator.nightcafe.studio

Become Jesus’ Finger 成為耶穌的手指

Twenty-Third Ordinary Sunday, Year B
Theme: Become Jesus’ Finger 成為耶穌的手指

God’s creation is a marvellous mystery. He created us in His image so that we are able to communicate with Him and to discern the purpose of His actions. Nowadays we learn from neurologists that in the process of our death, hearing is the last to expire. In other words, even after our heart has stopped pumping blood to our cells and our lungs have stopped exchanging oxygen to refresh our tissues, hearing signals keep going to our brain. There must be a reason behind such an arrangement in our anatomy. We need to hear God’s voice and discern His will throughout our life and beyond! Thus, when a scribe challenged Jesus with the question of which the first of all the commandments was (Mark 12:28), Jesus simply quoted the Shema which all Jews recited twice daily, “Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is LORD alone! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul …” (12:29-30, Deuteronomy 6:4-5). The essence of Judaism and Christianity is crystal clear: to hear God’s voice and to love Him. But is it still relevant today?

Surveying the history of God’s Chosen People in the Bible, modern people would be very much consoled and encouraged. If such a stiff-necked small nation could be God’s Chosen People, who else could not be included? Even God lamented the performance of this stiff-necked people, “I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people!” (Exodus 32:9, Deuteronomy 9:13) “Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer” (10:16). “Now do not be stiff-necked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the LORD; and enter His sanctuary, which He has sanctified forever, and serve the LORD your God, that the fierceness of His wrath may turn away from you” (2 Chronicles 30:8). “But my people would not heed my voice, and Israel would have none of me. So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart. To walk in their own counsels” (Psalms 81:11-12) etc. Reading the Bible in this light, we cannot help but marvel at the patience of God. Alas! We pass judgment too quickly to evade our own responsibilities.

There are many reasons why people, including us, do not heed God’s voice. A naïve reason is herd mentality. Most of us are living in a secular society in which it is not fashionable to believe in the existence of a creator God: it is unscientific; it is superstitious and it is not progressive etc. People would tease you with questions like, “If God created the world, who created God?” For people with a more socio-political temperament: religions oppose science; religions cause wars; and religions are people’s opium and clergy are corrupt etc. People would challenge you like, “If your God were almighty and benevolent, why would He allow good people to suffer and save them not?” All these are only superficial. There are deeper issues which people in power do not want commoners to believe in God because religious sentiment of the commoners could disrupt their grip on power. God is the only weapon powerful enough to challenge their position. Within such a macro-cosmos, how do Christians proclaim the gospel? Fortunately for us, Archangel Gabriel says, “For with God nothing will be impossible” (Luke 1:37) and later Jesus reassures us, “Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom” (12:32). Thus, besides death, there is one more certainty: God’s kingdom comes (Matthew 6:10a)! We take the Bible as a record of God’s words and He says, “I am the LORD. I have spoken; I will do it” (Ezekiel 37:14b). This is exactly what people in power do not want because they know that God is genuinely greater.

From the first reading today, we may take a glimpse of God’s modus operandi, viz. He chooses to stand by the oppressed and the socially marginalized. “Strengthen hands that are feeble, make firm knees that are weak” (Isaiah 35:3). God would restore their strength so that they would be able to make their voices heard. God continues, “Say to the fearful of heart: Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God, He comes with vindication. With divine recompense, He comes to save you” (5:4). Who could inspire fear and with what? Tigers with their teeth and claws? No! Tyrants inspire more fear with tortures. But our God is greater and stronger than tyrants because they come and go while God lives forever! After all, tyrants are few in numbers but there is a greater group of people who turn from victims to perpetrators whose lynching could be more fearsome than tyrants’ tortures. Fear is an inborn emotion of huge magnitude and is irrational. To dispel fear, people may resort to the psychological defence mechanism of identification. For example, when people with nyctophobia need to walk through a dark alley to return home at night, they might keep chanting the mantra, “I am a ghost”! This defence mechanism of identification also helps explain why some inmates turn informers/torturers against their comrades in total institutions! Fear may also breed prejudice. This explains why lepers are segregated. Alas! Traitors and bigots are more damaging than tyrants are!

Now, God comes to save the needy and the poor. How does God save? Specifically, “Then the eyes of the blind shall see, and the ears of the deaf be opened; then the lame shall leap like a stag, and the mute tongue sing for joy” (35:5-6a). When people are able to see and to hear the truth, they will be set free, “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). When people are free from physical, psychological, economical and socio-political restrains etc., they will be able to leap like a stag and sing for joy! How desirable the Kingdom of Heaven is when all commoners are free from fear and all stewards are free from resorting to inspiring fear to consolidate their power grip. Let all of us pray for the coming of the Father’s kingdom!

In the gospel reading today, we see how the Father honours His pledges and does what He says, viz. the Son of God healed a deaf-mute in the region of Decapolis (Mark 7:31-32). There are several points of interest in meditating this healing miracle. Firstly, Decapolis is a Gentile region. Therefore, God’s promised salvation is not limited to the Chosen People only, or rather, God’s salvation should be catholic and all-inclusive! This healing narrative also raises another question. Usually, Jesus speaks and the healing is done, e.g. the leper, the man with a withered hand and even the exorcism of the daughter of the Syrophoenician woman. Why did Jesus use his finger and spittle to heal this deaf-mute? Was it because the faith of the deaf-mute was not strong enough? Wait! We are in no position to pass judgment on the faith of the others. Only God knows. Thus, we should look for other reasons. Many scholars follow a relational line of reasoning. They explain that God is eager to reconcile with sinners, to restore and renew our relationship with Him. In the case of this deaf-mute, probably he had lost all hope of recovery and had given up praying to his pagan gods. Therefore, the Son of God took the initiative to break into the life of the deaf-mute to raise him up with those outward signs. To a certain extent, the healing of this deaf-mute was a sacramental process. With those visible outward signs, the Son of God conferred invisible healing grace on the deaf-mute. Now, the restored man knew which God is authentic!

Beloved brethren! Of course, the Son of God could heal the deaf-mute without using those outward signs. Yet, for the good of future generations, the merciful LORD deploys those elaborate and visible steps so that we may follow His example to take the initiative to approach the needy, to befriend them and to restore their relationship with our Father. In short, Jesus has opened up opportunities for us, members of His Mystical Body, to become His fingers to touch the poor and thus convey God’s life to them. Are you willing to become Jesus’ finger?
God bless!

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An Authentic Self 真我

Twenty Second Ordinary Sunday, Year B
Theme: An Authentic Self 真我

Probably it is human nature that bad things leave deeper impressions on us than good ones. Thus, we remember Judas’ kiss more than the holy kiss of Paul (Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:20, 2 Corinthians 13:12, 1 Thessalonians 5:26); remember the hypocrisy of the Pharisees more than their teachings which Jesus commands us to do and observe (Matthew 23:3a). In order to understand properly Jesus’ criticism of the Pharisees in the gospel passage today, we need to check out the historical context. The Pharisees were legal experts at that time. Thus, we need to understand why Mosaic laws were important.

During the Babylonian Captivity, the Temple was destroyed and there was nowhere to offer sacrifices to worship God. In order to rectify their identity as the “Chosen People of God”, scribes and Pharisees arose to collect, scrutinize and finalize their Scriptures which consist of three collections: Torah (the Mosaic Law, the five books of Moses), Prophets (the major and minor prophets that commonly known to us, as well as some history books such as Joshua, Judges, Samuels and Kings etc.) and lastly Writings (the Wisdom Literature as well as Chronicles, Daniel, Esther and Ruth etc.) The Torah was supposed to be written by Moses and thus is also known as the Five Books of Moses, the Pentateuch. The five books contain laws and precepts to guide the daily life of the Israelites, interspersed with stories of Creation, Deluge, Exodus and Conquest etc. to give them a context. The famous Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17, Deuteronomy 5:6-21) are only a small but essential portion of the Torah because they are the sign of the Sinai Covenant which defines their identity as the Chosen People of God. The Israelites entered into a covenant with Yahweh who delivered them from the slavery in Egypt. “You have seen how I treated the Egyptians and how I bore you up on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me completely and keep my covenant, you will be my treasured possession among all peoples, though all the earth is mine. You will be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation” (Exodus 19:4-6a). The covenant gave the Israelites the identity of God’s Chosen People.

The Ten Commandments are broad while daily life is concrete. Therefore, the scribes and Pharisees helped draw out from the Torah 613 laws/guidelines for the Israelites to observe in their daily life. They did not dare to invent them because Moses says in the first reading today, “In your observance of the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I am commanding you, you shall not add to what I command you nor subtract from it” (Deuteronomy 4:2). Among those 613 laws, we find: to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28); not to eat the sciatic muscle that is on the hip socket (32:33); to know that God exists (Exodus 20:2); a leper shall shave all his hair (Leviticus 14:9); to love all human beings who are of the covenant as yourself (19:18); a Nazarite shall not eat fresh grapes (Numbers 6:3); to read the Shema in the morning and at night (Deuteronomy 6:7) and to recite grace after meals (8:10) etc.

Time passed and situations changed. Those guidelines would become vague and needed further interpretation. Different rabbis might give slightly different interpretations on the same rule. Different schools arose and established their traditions. A case in point, “When a man, after marrying a woman, is later displeased with her because he finds in her something indecent, and he writes out a bill of divorce and hands it to her, thus dismissing her from his house” (24:1). Different schools would count different things as “something indecent” a man could find in a wife. Some rabbis would restrict it to adultery only while others would include more broadly behaviour that brought husbands shame such as not honouring the parents-in-law. That was why the Pharisees raised this issue to stir up a controversy to test Jesus (Mark 10:2). These schools would continue after Jesus. Thus, on top of the Torah, the Mishnah, a collection of opinions of early rabbis of Jewish law were published in the second century. Mishnah was further explained by Gemara and together, they formed the Talmud which became the central text of Rabbinic Judaism in the generations to come. Together with the evolution of the society, this development has a life of its own and its growth is unstoppable.

“The Pharisees” has become a synonym of “hypocrisy” because they did not practise what they preached. That is why Jesus warned His disciples of the yeast of the Pharisees (8:15). He also told the crowd, “Do not follow their examples. For they preach but they do not practise” (Matthew 23:3b). The Law of Moses is supposed to help the Israelites come close to God. However, they made use of the Law to accuse Jesus. For example, in many instances, Jesus healed on Sabbath and they accused Jesus of not observing the Sabbath (Mark 3:2). The Pharisees had abused God’s laws! It is pitiful that those legal experts abused the law! A Chinese aphorism describes them well, “Physicians heals except themselves”! Let us not forget, the merciful Lord criticized them because they were “teachers of Israel” (John 3:10). Jesus found no pleasure in their death. He wanted them to turn back and live (Ezekiel 18:32).

When we take a look at the list of vices which Jesus enumerated, we can easily see that those vices were not Pharisees’ exclusively. All of us would commit those vices too. Jesus says, “From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile” (Mark 7:21-23). Who is not greedy nor arrogant? Who has never been jealous nor greedy? So, when Jesus criticised the Pharisees, He was warning the Pharisees within us! In order to come closer to God, it is not enough to make ourselves clean according to rituals the visible and physical limbs but the more essential but invisible parts, our hearts and our souls. How do we clean our hearts and purify our souls?

If the Pharisees had been trying to be concrete, St. James, the brother of the Lord, would be more concrete. Echoing the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock” (Matthew 7:24), we read, “Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves” (James 1:23) in the second reading today. Of course “the word” refers to the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Sermon on the Mount is the Constitution of the Kingdom of Heaven. James was very pragmatic and did not waste time deliberating the fine prints of the law. He continues, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world” (1:27). While the Pharisees cared more about purity and being undefiled before men, James hit the bull’s eye directly: charity for the poor makes one pure, undefiled and authentic before God. Period.

Beloved brethren! Had the Pharisees practised what they preached, they would have been authentic, undefiled and pure before both men and the ever-living God! Regrettably, they cut corner and had chosen the less essential part so that they were pure and undefiled before mortal men only! The truth is crystal clear. There is no shade of doubt. Love and care for the poor and needy. You will encounter the merciful Lord in them (Matthew 25:40). Amen!
God bless!

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