Not only did Jesus Christ send the Twelve to evangelize (Matthew 12, Mark 6:7-13, Luke 9:1-6), but He also sent 72 disciples, giving them opportunities to preach, the graces and authority needed and experiences they would gain!
Although evangelization is the raison d'être for the Church, don’t ever think that with this mandate from God, we can take things for granted and it should be a piece of cake ahead of us. Under atheist totalitarian governments, “normal” evangelization would find no place to rest its head. Of course, no power on earth can stop God from accomplishing His will (Luke 1:37). Even in adverse environments, there is still room for evangelization. Moreover, the gospel would become more precious, a treasure worthy of selling all to acquire (Matthew 13:44-16).
Preparation is essential for any project. Thus, we must be well equipped before we go evangelizing. Otherwise, we would be timid and inefficient. Whether the Twelve or the seven-two, Jesus Christ gave them the authority over all demons and to cure diseases (Luke 9:1, 10:19). In fact, missionaries of later ages also partake in this evangelization graces. The first beneficiaries of these healing and exorcism graces are the physicians and exorcists themselves. Therefore, as evangelists, we enjoy the priority of being healed and exorcized first. One of the complexes missionaries need to overcome is the sense of rejection. This feeling of being rejected is a signal telling us that we have not evangelized with a peaceful heart. Jesus says, “If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you.” (10:6, Matthew 10:13). What sort of good news is the gospel? The good news is that God takes the initiative “reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19). And what is a peaceful person? He is someone who is worthy of receiving the gospel and those who are willing to repent. Indeed, many a man whose heart is so hardened that he rejects God’s good will. Otherwise, God would not have spoken through the prophet of the need to transplant hearts (Ezekiel 11:19, 36:26). Seeing our inability to repay our trespasses, God has compassion on us and writes off our debts. Moreover, He sends us as reconciliation ambassadors on behalf of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20) to proclaim this good news of debt annulment to the world.
Brethren! If people are reluctant or unworthy to accept the good news, we should keep our peace. If we’re frustrated and want to give up, we should know that “The hour is coming and is now here.” (John 5:25) It is high time we implored God to send missionaries to evangelize us.
St. Luke the Evangelist, pray for us. Amen.
Twenty Ninth Ordinary Sunday, Year B
Theme: A Synodal Church: The Role of the Holy Spirit
Under the leadership of His Holiness Pope Francis, the Catholic Church is courageous enough in finding new paths to better survive and serve. Put it in another way, the Church is trying to rediscover the Lord’s way which is forever the Way to salvation. For centuries, the Church worked in a top down manner. Why not? After all, God is supreme and is way above us. As God’s appointed shepherds, it’s tempting for the clergy to work in a top down manner. For centuries, the Church saw herself as the “societas perfecta”. That is to say, she is self-sufficient and possesses all the necessary resources and conditions to achieve her goal of the universal salvation of mankind. By acknowledging the state as the perfect society in the secular realm, the Church tries to fend off governments’ encroachment. Like her counterparts, the Catholic Church is a hierarchical structure as well. One of the titles of the Pope is the Vicar of Christ on earth. Therefore, when he teaches, it is not the Pope but Christ who teaches. No Catholic would challenge that. When the Pope convokes synods for the bishops to put their heads together to deal with current issues, he has the final say in all decisions, hasn’t he? Therefore, for the majority of the laity and perhaps some priests, synods are bishops' business, not their business! I’m afraid this would be the typical reaction of the laity when they are told about this Synod.
Today, Pope Francis takes a slightly different approach. He wants the Church to work together and to walk forwards together. He coins this manner of operation “synodality”, a journeying together. It is more than gathering opinions from the ground up. He emphasizes “the sense of faith” among the faithful. He’s optimistic that the Holy Spirit not only guides him personally, but also all who were baptized. Thus, the laity are the eyes and ears, hands and hearts of Church officials who are not unable to get in touch with the people of the world. To be honest, the Church is regrettably too bulky to meet the needs of ordinary people and to share their joys and frustrations efficiently enough. Therefore, this upcoming Synod is not just a gathering of bishops for one or two months, but a journeying together of the whole Church, listening to each other about the agenda of their mission to evangelize. We firmly believe that there is unity in diversity and the Holy Spirit speaks through each one of us. Each one of us must have something to offer to the People of God for the service of the least of the little and disadvantaged ones in the world.
The choice of gospel passage for today (Luke 4:16-22) is superb though the Diocese of Hong Kong does not follow the Vatican recommendations. In the gospel passage chosen, Lord Jesus Christ read the prophet’s message as His inaugural speech. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” (Luke 4:18-19, Isaiah 61:1-2) Frankly, this is a pretty ambitious project. Without the support of the Holy Spirit, this project would never have taken off and carried through. So, it is natural for us to follow Jesus from behind and thus to follow the shepherds He appoints from behind. Aren’t we not obeying Jesus’ instruction to carry our cross and come after Him, which appears more than 5 times in the gospels, (e.g. Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34, Luke 9:23)? Of course, Jesus is our Master. We should follow Him. But aren’t all the shepherds He appoints our brothers? “As for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’. You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers.” (Matthew 23:8) Since when have we forgotten this and have become lazy, relenting all our responsibilities to the clergy? It takes two to tangle. There are responsibility conscious clergy and there are many lazy members among the laity. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons for the perpetuation of the present situation.
Let’s pause a little while and contemplate about it. Most of the laity have already received the Sacrament of Confirmation. The Holy Spirit is already dwelling in them. No matter how intelligent a theologian is, no theologian is able to surpass the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. Have you not read “Who has directed the spirit of the Lord, or instructed Him as His counsellor? Whom did He consult to gain knowledge? Who taught Him the path of judgment, or showed Him the way of understanding?” (Isaiah 40:13-14) Then, how can the clergy ignore the opinions of the laity? I’m sure the Holy Spirit is happy to speak through them because they are more in touch with the needy. The laity is a channel to convey God’s consolation and mercy to the frustrated and exhausted! One spirituality school emphasizes finding God in everything. Thanks be to God. Today, most of the laity are able to find God in their parish priests or among the clergy. They even idolize them and follow their shepherds wherever they are assigned. However, reciprocity is in short supply here. Extremely few clergy are able to find God among the laity, not to mention listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit among them. This is truly unfortunate.
On the other hand, many members of the laity would feel that they have nothing valuable to offer. They are typically anonymous people to be taken care of rather than taking care of other people’s business, such as the Church’s. But how can we say that we have nothing to offer when the poor widow was able to offer two mites to the Temple treasury and consequently praised by Jesus Christ (Mark 12:41-44)? Therefore, do not underestimate the Holy Spirit who works in us. The Holy Spirit is an inexhaustible source of blessings and graces. He is able to renew the face of the whole world (Psalms 104:30). Would it be impossible for Him to renew the timid spirit in us and to rekindle our hearts in zeal?
We invoke the Holy Spirit because without whose supports, it is impossible to live up the teachings of Jesus Christ, in particular the Sermon on the Mount. How would a sensible man living in this competitive commercial world choose to live in poverty? What glad tidings could we reasonably offer to the poor in the Hong Kong society today? It’s even suicidal not to work with/for the powerful and not to toe the party-line here ...
Let’s review what we have learnt from our catechists. The Holy Spirit gives us wisdom which moves our hearts and enlightens our intellect thus enabling us to choose wisely and to choose God. He further gives us understanding of the scriptures, prayers and sacraments and how God provides and loves us. The Holy Spirit gives us counsel to discern and to make the right judgment on what righteous actions to take. With fortitude, we are able to withstand persecutions as a result of doing God’s will which in most situations are unpopular and go against the current. These four gifts are relevant and essential for our Christian practices in the modern world. That is why we need to invoke the Holy Spirit for this Synod, beg Him to infuse in us all these gifts so that we’ll be able to bear witness for Jesus Christ, to evangelize in this modern world.
We are not machines. We’ll soon burn out if our actions, however righteous, are not nourished by spirituality. What do we seek in spirituality? Knowledge in the biblical sense of God. From knowledge we make progress to piety/reverence and lastly awe/wonder of God. In other words, the fear of the Lord from which wisdom derives. We have come a full circle!
Brethren! Let’s journey together and listen to each other. Don’t forget the community dimension of the Church. Jesus pledges, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:20) We have Jesus Christ walking along with us as well. So, the whole Church, laity as well as clergy, is in synod. We are a Synodal Church. May the Holy Spirit enrich our life in Christ and in His spouse, the Church, and through us, renew the face of this sin-torn world.
God bless!
Twenty Eighth Ordinary Sunday, Year B
Theme: What’s Wrong With Wealth?
The Beatitudes, the Magna Carta of the Kingdom of Heaven, teach against wealth, “Blessed are the poor (in spirit)” (Matthew 5:3, Luke 6:20) People naturally ask Christians what is wrong with wealth? Isn’t development good for humanity? In poverty, how are people able to grow and develop? Therefore, if wealth were evil, it would only be a necessary evil! These are genuine questions we need to answer.
Jesus Christ advocates poverty throughout his public ministry. His living style is simple (9:58). He embraces and helps the needy and the marginalized (17:17). He does not seek luxury, power and fame for Himself. He welcomes all, not rejecting the hospitality of the rich (19:5). In short, He practises what he preaches. As followers of Christ, we should follow the Lord’s example to opt for the poor and at the same time, we should not reject the rich.
First of all, like many other human creations, wealth is neutral. It is neither good nor evil. People may continue to question whether nuclear power generation is evil or stem cells researches immoral. At the end of the day, it all depends on how people put them into use and what control measures are deployed to ensure that the products would not fall into the wrong hands and the power would not be abused. The Lord teaches, “Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.” (12:48). If you’re unfamiliar with the Bible, at least you should have heard of “with great power comes great responsibility” popularized by the Spiderman comics.
Moreover, we should not confine our understanding of development to economic aspects only. Some economies in the present world achieve their prosperity at the expenses of the freedom of their people. Let’s imagine a country in which the GNP is extremely high but the wealth is not evenly shared. National income is pocketed by a small number of aristocrats. What would you say about the rulers of such a country? Furthermore, if the rulers promise to raise the income level of the commoners but refuse to concede any political reforms, would the living standard of the people improve? When foreigners challenge them for abusing human rights, the rulers counter with bland slogans, saying “The human right of my subjects is to fill up the belly”. People wonder how the commoners of this country different from cattles? Without freedom, would the commoners have the opportunity to develop intellectually, mentally and spiritually?
So, what’s wrong with wealth? There’s nothing wrong with wealth so long as it is handled in a responsible manner. In other words, when wealth is gathered and dispensed according to moral principles, it is good. Otherwise, it is evil. Obviously, when wealth is gained through criminal activities, it is legally bad. It is easy to understand that getting rich by selling drugs, bribing law enforcement officers and shooting down all competitors is bad to the society as a whole. But it is also evil spiritually because it breaches the Ten Commandments.
Now that we come to the Ten Commandments, let’s talk about our relationship with God. Isn’t it a blessing from God for me to enjoy what I have earned with my hard work? The Psalter says, “What your hands provide you will enjoy; you will be blessed and prosper.” (Psalms 128:2) So, am I not entitled to spend my wealth, which I earn morally, in whatever manner that pleases my heart? This is the human right to private property.
I’m sorry! You’re quoting the Bible out of context. You have omitted the first verse which reads, “Blessed are all who fear the Lord, and who walk in his ways.” (128:1) As long as the manner you spend your wealth shows that you fear the Lord and you follow His ways, you are exercising your human right. It is morally and spiritually good. Don’t forget that we belong to the human family and enjoy the resources of this planet which is shared by all. In short, we have responsibilities not only to ourselves but also to our neighbour. In other words, we have the responsibility at least to relieve the plights of our neighbour. That’s the moral of the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) and the parable of Sheep and Goats (Matthew 25:40). Thus on top of the principle of dignity of personhood from which we derive human rights, the Catholic social teachings since 1891 have included the principles of common good and the principle of solidarity to guide the social actions of the Church members in the modern world. Preferential option for the poor is even enshrined in the documents of the Vatican II. (Gaudium et Spes #90)
This rich man in the gospel passage today has observed all Commandments from his youth (Mark 10:19-20). He is already morally good by all standards and is even just according to the Old Covenant. Jesus loves him (10:21) and therefore God approves of this rich man too. But would it be too demanding and harsh for God to demand this rich man to give all his wealth to the poor in order to inherit eternal life? (10:17-21) In other words, is poverty essential to eternal life?
Well, wealth, like power, is an attractor similar to a black hole in the universe. People accumulate wealth, in the form of material possession and even knowledge for the unknown future. Do you remember Francis Bacon’s famous aphorism “Scientia potentia est”? In other words, going beyond the basic needs of survival, people accumulate wealth & knowlege to meet the need of security. People feel safer when they have control of more resources at hand. But what does the good Lord teach us? “Give us today our daily bread.” (Matthew 6:11) “Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient or a day is its own evil.” (6:34) How much do we trust in the Lord? Worse still, people do not stop when they have accumulated more than they need. A sense of achievement creeps in. People feel satisfied with their financial and intellectual achievements and gradually they would be proud of their achievements. Then they begin to garner political powers in order to protect their wealth and to guarantee its continual inflation. They would make laws to secure their political powers and wealth. Imperceptibly, their hearts would become so hardened that they don’t feel any need of God. Sooner of later, they start playing God with their power and might! Yes, it is a slippery slope. Had it not been, Jesus would not have warned us not to serve God and mammon at the same time (Matthew 6:24) and the good Lord would not have lamented in the gospel passage today that it would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God (Mark 10:25). This teaching of forsaking wealth is in line with what Jesus teaches earlier to become maimed or blinded in order to avoid sin (9:42-48).
What is so good about poverty?
First of all, the damages we would cause others are proportional to the wealth and power we are able to command. Therefore, in poverty, we do less harm to other people than in wealth! Poverty also teaches us to be humble because you have nothing to be proud of. Poverty teaches us to rely on God. When we have nothing, we’ll naturally turn to the loving Father who is always there to meet our needs. If we have something, we want to get rid of God. Funny isn’t it? Wealth is more than a stumbling block. It is actually a dangerously attractive thing we should avoid at all costs.
Brethren! It is regrettable that the modern world measures the value of a person by the wealth he possesses or he is able to generate. It is a distortion of human dignity. Wealth is dangerous because cuts us off from our neighbour and empowers us to do harm to the human family. Moreover, it drags us away from our loving Father in heaven. May the fear of the Lord inspire us to avoid wealth and power at all costs. May we follow the ways of the Lord to scatter our wealth among the poor and may we enjoy the intimacy with God in purity without any burden of mammon. Amen.
God bless!
Christianity does not negate Judaism. In the words of Jesus, “Do not think I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfil.” (Matthew 5:17) Thus, Jesus did not come to abolish the laws of Moses. So what does Jesus mean when he says, “I have come to fulfil the law and the prophets”? When we survey the salvation history as recorded in the Old Testament, we see that God loves us and has created a universe suitable for us to thrive. Out of jealousy, Satan came and our First Parents fell and lost the Original Grace. Since then, the world has unceasingly been infested with sins. In the first attempt to cleanse the world of its sins, God made use of the Deluge which symbolizes the sacrament of Baptism in the future. Then God built up a people, the Jews from which a Saviour would be born.
The salvation project is elaborate. Firstly, God made friend with Abraham and went into covenant with him, promising him land and offspring. Starting from the 3rd generation, the children of Abraham, the Israelite, about 70 members, migrated to Egypt and multiplied for more than 400 years. Then, God called and made Moses a liberator to deliver some 600,000 Israelite (Exodus 12:37) and led them to the land promised to Abraham. The story of Exodus is pregnant with symbols pointing towards the Sacraments of the Catholic Church in the future. For example, crossing the Red Sea, the rock which gave water, manna and the serpent on the wood etc. And the most important of all, the Israelite who were the Chosen People of God! Among them, there were righteous ones who were able to enter the Promised Land in the end. There were also wrecked ones who died in the wilderness. Of course, there was also the mysterious Moses whose entry into the Promised Land was denied by God! When the Catholic Church re-examined her role during Vatican II, she came to the renewed understanding of herself as the People of God on earthly pilgrimage.
The 12 tribes of Israel would never become a people were there no Sinai Covenant and the 10 Commandments. Let’s go through the 10 Commandments one by one. First of all, worshipping one true God, the 12 tribes were united as one people who have the dignity of their Creator whose name should be honoured. Observing Sabbath, this Chosen People of God are free from slavery. They are holy (Exodus 19:3, Leviticus 11:44-45; 1 Peter 1:16) because they respect family, life, marriage/body, private property and truth. All these qualities were cast in the 2 stone tablets of the Commandments. No wonder, the 10 Commandments have become a universal blueprint of nearly all legal systems in subsequent ages all over the world.
Obviously, the 10 Commandments would have been sufficient to guide our daily life had the world not been contaminated by sins. Men were created in the image of God and had inherited intelligence from Him. However, motivated by concupiscence, men would look for loopholes in the letters of the law to evade responsibility. Soon, the 10 Commandments have expanded into 613 laws and getting more and more elaborate as time goes by! Thus, however detailed a law might have been written, it would be outwitted by wrecked people. It is futile to engage in a legislation race with them. So instead of sending another Deluge, God decided to change their stony hearts into hearts of flesh. (Ezekiel 11:19, 36:26) That’s why Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came not to abolish the law and prophets but to fulfil them by honouring God’s pledge to change our stony hearts into hearts of flesh.
When the Pharisees who were supposed to be teachers of Israel, the Chosen People (John 3:10), came to trap Jesus with the question of divorce, “Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?” (Mark 10:2) they did not know to what they were coming up against! The first response of Jesus was simple and to the point, “What did Moses command you?” (10:3). When they talked about the law, Jesus engaged them on the legal level. Their laws came from God who might be too aloft, too intimidating and inaccessible for most people. Therefore, Jesus asked them a better known person, Moses instead. For most of the Jews, their laws came from Moses, not from God because like most peoples, they would be satisfied as long as there are concrete tangible things in hand to hold on to. So, they believe that they could obtain security and prosperity as long as they have laws set up in the land they reside. They don’t bother seeking the spirit, the original intention of the Author of the law! In short, they have forgotten God! So, the Pharisees replied, “Moses permitted him to write a bill of divorce and dismiss her.” (10:4)
From this point on, it would be a waste of energy and time to debate over the letters of the law with these legal experts simply because their intention was not to enhance the life of the people but to set traps to secure their standing among the commoners. It would be irresponsible for Jesus the one Master (Matthew 23:10) not to point out the spirit, the original intention of the Author of the law, but to compromise God’s position for the sake of stability and prosperity! Thus, Jesus went to the beginning, not only to the first chapter of Genesis which is a cosmological narrative as well as a hymn to praise God, but also to the second chapter which narrates the creation story from a socio-psychological perspective. Therefore, Jesus engaged the legal experts in a revision of the process of self-awareness of men in a community as well as the evolution of the visible universe from which human beings emerged on the cosmic stage.
Jesus’ choice of passages from Genesis is worth meditating. Instead of saying, “The Lord God said: It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suited to him.”(Genesis 2:18), or “built the rib that he had taken from the man into a woman”(2:22) Jesus quoted “God made them male and female” (1:27, Mark 10:6)! Jesus’ intention is obvious. He did not come to the first century to abolish the patriarchal system but to fulfil it by advocating sexual equality! Jesus did not invent sexual equality. It has always been there but for political motives, the teachers seldom mention it!
It was not necessary for Jesus to quote the original intention of the Author, viz. “It is not good for the man to be alone” because it is well known and well understood. Why did God take the trouble to establish the institution of marriage in the first place if marriage were no good for man or if marriage should end up in divorce? Marriage is definitely good for the individuals as well as for the good of the society. We have to accept that in real life every couple is happy or unhappy in different ways. Some are successful and some are less successful. But no matter how much men want to deny it, the root of the problem is the “hardness of your hearts” (10:5). That is to say, they refuse to give anybody a chance, including God and even themselves! Thus, between adultery and murder, Moses decreed a lesser evil and provided a safety valve! No! A safety valve is not the real thing. It is unable to make people’s lives fulfilled because safety valves can only ensure people’s survival, but not enjoyment and fulfilment!
Brethren! What Moses commands is already sufficient. On the other hand, no matter how detailed legislation may go, wrecked men would always be able to unearth or even create loopholes. Therefore, the only reasonable approach is to rebuild people’s faith in God and in the marriage He decrees.
God bless!
2018 Homily
Video Credit: "Rowan Atkinson: Toby the Devil - We Are Most Amused and Amazed" on youtube.com
May the good Lord be praised, forever and ever. Amen.
My heart was in turmoil when I was informed in the first week of August of my new assignment here in Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Wan Chai where I began my life’s journey six decades plus ago. Change is the only one certainty which I know remains unchanged. Wan Chai has changed a lot and I too have grown old. Looking back, the good Lord has been moulding me and polishing me with various encounters so that I could be a handier instrument of His. Whenever I felt settled and retired, He would uproot me with new challenges, ridding me of my inadequacies. In the course of moving around and ahead, I’ve weaved a web of relationships and picked up many treasure stones. Life on earth is genuinely an adventure, a journey to find the way home to our Creator. But in reality, He is always around with us.
At first, I felt nervous about this new assignment because Fr. Thomas Law, our parish priest, taught me Liturgical & Sacramental Theology in the Holy Spirit Seminary College. Every mass in which I assist would feel like a graduation examination! Such an anxiety proves to be groundless and very soon it evaporates. Now I’m able to immerse myself in the masses he celebrates and am animated by his homilies. I discover charity in his prophetic criticisms of the present situation of Hong Kong. Here is a big heart for the people of Hong Kong, in particular the disadvantaged, as well as for the officials who run the show. Fr. Thomas Law continues to be my mentor, opening up in me a new perspective to see God’s relationships with the world.
As a deacon, I’m supposed to be a symbol, a witness of the servant role of the Church in the world. The good Lord set an exemplar of this diaconate role when He washed the feet of His disciples in the Last Supper and told His disciples and therefore the Church to do the same (John 13:13-17). In my previous assignment, I visited together with the parishioners outsourced janitors as well as home alone elderly in the neighbourhood, and prison inmates in Tai Lam. However, I didn’t feel fulfilled. Something was missing. Thanks to my spiritual director, Fr. Francis Tam. He reminded me of the necessity to discern whether there was any improvement in my relationship with the Lord. Am I doing the Lord’s work or my own work? To be candid, I have to admit that there was vainglory in those visits, those “achievements”. I’m supposed to be serving the Lord in them (Matthew 25:40) but I find no progress in my intimacy with the Lord. Here in Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, I was overwhelmed by your services to the disadvantaged on Fridays. I see very many deacons and deaconesses in this parish. You have done even before His Holiness Pope Francis and His Eminence, Cardinal John Tong appeal you to do in “Pastoral Conversion of the Parish Community in the service of the Evangelizing mission of the Church”. I’m humbled and I praise the good Lord. Alleluia!
The Blessed Virgin Mary is yet another beautiful exemplar. Just as Most Reverend Bishop Joseph Ha, OFM said on our Feast Day celebration, “The Mother of Jesus is Here!” (John 2:1, Acts 1:14) We are blessed to have Our Lady of Mount Carmel as our Patroness and thus our model. She is a caring, trusting and most important of all, guiding exemplar! Dear Brethren. October is the month of the Rosary. Let’s meditate the twenty mysteries of the Rosary diligently and benefit from her intercession. In her, we’re connected as siblings of Jesus. Through her, we gain easy access to our good Lord Jesus.
Twenty Sixth Ordinary Sunday, Year B
Theme: Meditating Gehenna
Let’s begin with some clarification of our articles of faith.
On one hand, we recite the Creed on Sundays, saying “I look forward to the resurrection of the dead”. What do we mean? We mean to believe that because of the Original Sin, men become mortal. But as Christians, we firmly believe that at the end of the world, whatever remains of our dead bodies shall come back to life. Our souls will join the resurrected bodies and we shall become immortal and incorruptible (1 Corinthians 15:53). On the other hand, according to the gospel reading today, most likely all of us would have died maimed, crippled or even blinded (Mark 9:43-47). Does it mean heaven will be a “Paradise for the handicapped”? Is there any hidden contradiction between the two? No.
First of all, death is a great equalizer. Whether we were handsome or disfigured, strong or crippled, intelligent or mentally deficient, wealthy or poor in life, in death, our bodies would all be reduced to dust. When the souls come back to pick up the dust, we shall be a totally new creation! Probably, death purifies our DNA so that only beautiful, intelligent and supreme genes remain! Even for those who are still alive at the end, the Son of God who is the author of life, shall heal their infirmities once and for all. Therefore, there is no contradiction. On the contrary, those previous infirmities would make the resurrected bodies all the more miraculous!
In paintings of saints we usually find them meditating over a human skull. They were meditating on the mystery of death. Such spiritual exercises were definitely helpful in building up a morally good people. Just as what was mentioned above, death is a great equalizer. Whatever you have done shall pass away and nobody shall remember you, your words or deeds! Therefore, seeking wealth, power and even intelligence is only vainglory because wealth, power and intelligence do not last. The purpose of our life would become clearer without them. Our actions would be morally good. Therefore, meditating on the “Four Last Things” is good for ourselves, and thus good for the society at large. Nowadays, it is no longer legal to possess a human skull in private for whatever purposes, at least not on this island. But that should not discourage us from meditating on death, judgment, heaven and Gehenna!
Before I proceed, I would like to make a minor qualification on the statement that “nobody shall remember …” It is human nature to find fault with others. Therefore, people remember evils more easily. It’s regrettable that human psychology is asymmetric as such. If you want more people to remember you longer, do evil! But I’m sure most of you don’t want people to remember you as a bad guy! Therefore, being morally good is still a reasonable option. Thus meditating on the “Four Last Things” is still good.
Nowadays, all sorts of discrimination are rampant all over the world. To fight against such a trend, the Catholic Church talks more about mercy and tolerance towards each other for the last few decades. She speaks more on the merciful side of God than His righteousness so much so that some even fancy that at the end of the world, the hell would be empty. They argue that in His ineffable mercy, God wants to save all (1 Timothy 2:4) and there is nothing to stop Him from doing so because for Him nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37) etc. Such an argument is, I think, over optimistic and ignore the many more passages of God’s righteous punishment in the Scriptures, no less in the New Testament. Referring to the denial of entry into heaven, “Gnashing of teeth” appears 7 times in the Synoptic gospels! The gospel reading today warns potential sinners beforehand the horror of punishment. “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire.” (Mark 9:43) It would be better to maim oneself in earthly life to avoid sinning than to suffer punishment in Gehenna which would be comparable to the torture of the brazen bull! Remember, with an immortal resurrected body, the torture lasts forever, not a brief earthly moment!
There is wisdom in a Chinese aphorism which reads, “It is impossible to talk about ice with a summer insect.” An insect in summer has no experience of ice because it’s unable to live and see winter. Furthermore, its ancestors have no way to pass on such an experience to them because they have no civilization. But we cannot rule out the possibility that such an experience has hardwired in their DNA. Scientists have yet to disprove such an hypothesis. We human beings are different. Though our earthly life is brief and comparable to those of insects, eternity is not something beyond our understanding. First of all, there is an urge within us to transcend our present situation. Moreover, we are able to transmit our experience through our civilizations. Therefore, it is meaningful to pursue more lasting things than health, wealth, power and intelligence. It is purposeful to meditate on eternal life as well as eternal damnation. In the words of the Scriptures, “God created men in His own image” (Genesis 1:27) and God is eternal! Therefore, it is not illogical to sing praises to God, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from all eternity and forever. Amen. Amen.” (Psalms 41:14)
Therefore, it is wise to take Jesus’ warnings seriously because eternity is a certainty. But it is not easy nowadays, “thanks” to the advances in science and technology, our life has become more comfortable and convenient so much so that fears, illnesses, pains, sufferings and hell are vanishing from the horizon. Painkillers are easily available to the extent that many people have become addicts. Yes, many people have become enslaved. They have found and founded their own comfort zones and stay comfortably within. Such comfort does them more harm than good. Mencius says, “Thrive in calamity and perish in comfort.” It is a piece of universal wisdom! What can liberate addicts? Truth! Jesus says, “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32) Truth is knowable. It is not beyond our reach. When we are liberated, we shall be able to scale greater heights. In short, we’ll be able to transcend our limitations and to restore the glory of the image of God!
This Sunday is also the Education Sunday whose theme this year is: “Consecrate Us in the Truth” (17:17) which is also the gospel acclamation of the mass today! Truly, not only does the truth set us free, but it also makes us acceptable and presentable to God, no less because our tarnished images of God are restored! One of the meanings of consecration is to set aside for the service of God who claims exclusive right over the person/thing consecrated. Since God created us in His own image. He is the proper owner and would have claimed exclusive rights over us, had our First Parents not committed the Original Sin. Thus, the Son of God came to reclaim His rightful inheritance by consecrating us in the truth!
What has this consecration to do with education. Education does not simply impart information and knowledge. The most important of all, it is to help learners build up independent and critical thinking; help students build up positive and compassionate attitudes towards others. Education helps learners think independently, see more options and cultivate virtues the greatest of which is charity. Not only is education an investment in human resources, but it is also a path breaker to find our Creator. Paradoxically, the majority is always wrong because conformity is bad. Herd mentality is laziness and sloth is a vice! In short, the minority voices should not be further silenced. They deserve to be heard.
Brethren! God created us in His own image. He calls us to sanctification. Let’s spend more quality time to meditate on Gehenna as well as eternity. May our virtues of faith, hope and charity grow day by day. Amen.
God bless.
Twenty Fifth Ordinary Sunday, Year B
Theme: Putting Patriots to The Test
內容敏感，惟有祇寫英文。望為見諒。
Without exception, all human beings want to play God whenever opportunity arises. It’s all too natural because after all “God created them in his own image … and commanded them to … subdue the earth and have dominion over … every living thing that move upon the earth.” (Genesis 1:27-28) Therefore, it is understandable that whenever occasion arises, in particular when technologies and sciences are becoming more and more powerful and intrusive, human beings cross the line easily and attempt to have dominion over every living thing on earch and even over God, the ultimate author of life! That’s also the reason why it was possible for Satan to seduce Jesus to throw himself down from the parapet of the Temple (Matthew 4:5-6, Luke 4:9-11). Then the Son of God passed a judgment that such an act was actually putting God to the test (Matthew 4:7, Luke 4:12)! Satan might be the first creature to tempt the Son of God but it is surely not the last one to tempt Jesus. The Jewish authorities also challenged the Messianic identity of Jesus, demanding him to show them a sign from heaven (Matthew 16:1, Mark 8:11, Luke 11:16). They ignored all the miracles which Jesus had previously performed. They demanded specific tests, “a sign from heaven”, a failure to deliver which would demonstrate that Jesus was not the Messiah they had been waiting for! To a certain extent, these Jewish authorities were “control freaks”. They even wanted to have God under their control! Perhaps being a “control freak” is a pre-requisite to be a powerful person. Otherwise, he would fall somewhere along the path to absolute authority.
Nowadays, we see many “control freaks” in governments all over the world, especially totalitarian ones. Standing in the shadow of the north, the government of this island on the southern border has very few options in hand. The north demanded “rule by patriots”, which is absolutely reasonable and I totally agree because I cannot think of any acceptable objections to oppose this demand. But regrettably, the polling on Sunday reveals that there are only 4380 patriots on this island with a population of 7.5 million. How lamentable! How is it possible for a cosmopolitan city to have only 0.06% of her population patriotic? What a shame to the mandarins!
Probably all people in power are over cautious to the point of becoming paranoid to some degree. Perhaps they perceive that out there, many people are waiting in line to take over their positions or even to concoct overthrowing them. Thus they prefer harsh practices safeguarding their own security, the security of the island and even the security in the north. In enforcing justice, they ignore the basic legal principle of the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, arresting people even students, freezing their assets, disqualifying councillors, disbanding organizations and setting quotas on the number of qualified voters etc. I think the root of such practices goes to the ambiguity of the meaning of “patriots”! The concept is elusive and it is next to impossible to pin it down.
First of all, it is an axiom that being patriotic cannot be digital, i.e. either 0 or 1. There must be different degrees of patriotism. On one hand, there must be people who are eager to betray their own country for their own interests and on the other, people who are willing to die defending their own country. Needless to say, there must be people in-between who love and even sacrifice for their own country in ways appropriate and possible for them.
Then, is being patriotic psychological or physical? It must be both. In order to prove a crime, the court of law needs to prove both a guilty act and a guilty mind of the suspect. Since it is both psychological and physical, are there any standardized patriotic tests like I.Q. tests and physical fitness tests to measure how patriotic a person is? Perhaps there are in the west, but to the best of my knowledge, such tests have not yet been designed for Chinese! Then how do mandarins pass judgment on who is patriotic and who is not? Could it only be subjective or political? If it could only be subjective, how convincing could their judgment be? If it could only be political, the mandarins are creating more and more enemies. Why? It is because with harsh practices, the mandarins are denying 99.94% of the population the opportunity to prove their patriotism. For the mandarins, like their Jewish counterparts in the gospels, there are only a few ways acceptable to them to prove one’s patriotism: one has never voiced any opposition on the social media to government policies, has no connections whatsoever with foreign countries and is not an agent for foreign organizations etc. I wonder how it would be possible for international NGOs and the Catholic Church to continue serving the needy on this island in the near future. As mentioned before, patriotism is a spectrum of attitudes and actions. When people are denied the patriotism appropriate for their stations, they could become disappointed, indifferent, uncooperative or even furious. Aren’t the mandarins pitching themselves against the commoners, creating enemies and not making friends?
In contrast, our Lord Jesus Christ reminds us to serve the needy. Take for example what he teaches in the gospel today. After making Peter the Prince of the Apostles, the Rock on which He would build the Church, the apostles were discussing who was the greatest μείζων (Mark 9:34). Then Jesus patiently teaches, “If anyone wishes to be first πρῶτος, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all” (9:35). Obviously, the apostles’ focus is wrong. They discuss greatness and probably in their minds they were fantasizing the honour and glory that go hand in hand with greatness. Jesus corrects them and steers their attention to being the first, being in the forefront to serve and consequently proving themselves deserve honour and glory. Whom should we serve? In order to achieve honour and glory, the shortcut to which is to serve the great ones, the people in power. No, Jesus illustrates further. We should serve the little ones, the needy and the poor because in doing so, we are serving the greatest of all --- God Himself. Jesus made a vivid illustration. He placed a child “in their midst, and putting his arms around it and he said to them, ‘Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me’” (9:36-37). This teaching agrees with what Jesus teaches in the Parable of Last Judgment “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40) and “What you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me” (25:45). Therefore, the Church has always opts for the poor in whom she learns to see the Lord. In other words, God sends the poor to preach the gospel to us! Woe to you mandarins if you despise and reject the poor and make them your enemies!
Will the Church stand up to speak for the poor? She has to because it is her mission to evangelize, in particular to the powerful. The Church cannot deny the powerful of salvation. She cannot withhold God’s mercy from them. If the powerful rejects, will the Church overthrow the powerful? No! As I have said before, God reserves vengeance for Himself (Isaiah 63:4, Romans 12:19). The Church should not play God! Jesus teaches us to tolerate the evil in the Sermon on the Mount instead of fighting back (Matthew 5:38-44) which is God’s job, not the Church’s.
At the moment, the mandarins open and play the patriotic game in a lousy manner. They have not reached the middle game yet. There are two more elections to do and the end game is nowhere in sight. Let’s be patient. Don’t lose faith. Continue to serve the Lord among the poor who is our hope. Pray for the mandarins so that they are able to focus on being the first instead of being the greatest, to serve the people instead of the powerful minority in the north. If “they do not keep God before them” (Psalm 54:5) God’s will be done. The Lord sustains my life (54:6).
God bless!
Picture credit: The Logical Indian, chess.com 2015 Homily
