Pots Calling Kettles Black 五十步笑百步

Twenty-Fifth Ordinary Sunday, Year A
Theme: Pots Calling Kettles Black 五十步笑百步

The Church is a community of the redeemed. Some members are recently converted while others are jaded Catholics. Some practise their faith regularly. For example, they never skip any Sunday mass, go to confessions, receive Holy Communion, study the Bible, say the Rosary, novenas and attend spirituality courses, retreats and go pilgrimages. They even spend their spare time helping different ministries in the parish, such as extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist, lectors, choiristors, social service group and Legion of Mary etc. It is good of them.

However, some are less "fervent". They go to mass on Sundays to fulfil their obligation and leave almost immediately after mass. We like to nickname them "Sunday Catholics". It is hard to blame them because in a commercial society such as Hong Kong, working on Sundays is a norm. How do we help them stay longer to enrich their spiritual life becomes the concern of the clergy. Though the Lord teaches us not to judge the others (Matthew 7:1), we tend to tease those who don't attend church regularly as CEO which stands for "Christmas and Easter Only". Moreover, some parents baptize their children in order to enrol them in prestigious Catholic schools. Once they get the baptismal certificates they need, they vanish. According to diocesan figures, only 10% of the newly baptized continue to attend Church one year after baptism. How do we reach out to those who don't go to Church after baptism?

As a deacon, I do pre-nuptial enquiries for weddings and convalidations. Since Catholics occupy less than 10% of the total population, it is common in Hong Kong for a Catholic to marry a non-Catholic outside the Church, usually in a civil manner. Those couples need to do a convalidation to solemnize and to make their marriages valid according to the Canon Law. When the bride and the groom are both Catholics, they are supposed to celebrate their matrimony before a priest in a nuptial mass because their marriage symbolizes the loving bond between Christ and His Bride, the Church. The other day, I was taken aback when a Catholic couple came to do convalidation because they followed the fashion to get married before a lawyer in a hotel to entertain their friends! How much Catholics know their faith worries me! I care about their souls, not because I am a deacon. Are they not my neighbour? Are we not supposed to love our neighbour as ourselves (Leviticus 19:18)? I suppose every Christian should care about the well-being of the souls of the people they know, shouldn't he? Are we not "keepers of our brothers" (Genesis 4:9)? We should help each other to keep and grow our faith in this secularism-infested world.

We have been living in this commercial society for too long and tend to buy their utilitarian values without knowing it. For most people, fairness means equality in exchanges. You give me X amount of A. I give you back Y amount of B such that X*A = Y*B. That's fairness and easy to understand. In the parable we read today, the first batch of workers speak the mind of many, "These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us," (Matthew 20:12a). The landowner was unfair because 12 man-hours (first batch of workers) must be bigger than 1 man-hour (last batch of workers). Paying all workers the same amount of wage was obviously unfair, regardless of whatever previous agreements they had reached (20:2, 4)!

Here, I beg to disagree. First of all, it is clear that there are many things in the world which we cannot quantify. For example, the satisfaction two persons obtain from drinking the same bottle of red wine is different and we cannot quantify the satisfaction with some artificial index. Therefore, by simply counting the number of hours without considering the level of satisfaction or frustration, which is difficult to quantify, is an oversimplification and evasion of the real issue of job satisfaction and right wage.

Secondly, why should we take psychological factors into consideration? It is because human being is not simply a physical being. They have reasons and emotions. By counting the "bearing the day's burden and the heat" (20:12b) alone and ignoring the anxieties/frustrations is obviously incomplete and therefore unfair. Let's paraphrase the parable in modern terms. All people are uniquely gifted. Some have muscular talents while others have musical, numerical, spacial, verbal and visual talents etc. In ancient times, some talents were in great demand such as musical and verbal but not numerical. Composers and poets worked for courts and churches to glorify the patrons while tax-collectors were despised. In other words, during any era, not all talents are similarly marketable.

Now let's return to the parable. The first batch of workers represent those people whose talents are in great demand. They are the early birds who enjoy a secure and stable life very quickly. How would those people whose talents are less marketable feel? Of course they would be frustrated because their talents are not recognized and valued! Furthermore, their anxiety mounts as the day approaches the close! The time for them to contribute is running out! Therefore, the landowner was fair because he had taken both the physical and the psychological factors into consideration while the first batch of workers were not because they had not considered more comprehensively enough. They focus on what they are good at and disregard the situation of their neighbour! "But the hour is coming, and is now here" (John 4:23a), when poets go broke and programmers get rich. Those who are able to control number crunchers will also control the world!

Now, can we conclude that God does not count the amount of works? Does the landowner in this parable encourage laziness? Does God not count? Both yes and no! Yes the Bible tells us in different places that God holds us accountable for our iniquities and punishes us accordingly. Even if He is patient at the moment to allow us time to repent, He will definitely judge us on the Judgment Day. Therefore God counts. But things are not as simple as black and white.

From my observation, many people tend to oversimplify things by thinking along a dichotomized manner: male and female, white and black, good and evil, grace and sin etc. The parable today teaches us to think in a different manner. If we think of the first batch of workers as "the righteous" and the last batch of workers "the wicked", then there must be shades of righteousness represented by the workers employed at 9 am, noon and 3 pm. Just as we can talk about darkness as an absence of light, we can also talk about sin as an absence of grace. Therefore, we can spread people along a spectrum of righteousness. Like the parable we read last week, some people may owe 10,000 talents (Matthew 18:24), in other words less righteous, while others may owe 100 pences only (18:28), that is to say more righteous! Sarcastically, the more evil ones tend to persecute the more righteous ones probably to cover up their own evil! Reading in this light, probably the "first batch of workers" in today's parable are "righteous" in the sense of "self-righteousness". Therefore, when the fervent Catholics tease those CEO's, perhaps they are envious of God's generosity like the first batch of workers in the parable today (Matthew 20:15)! Shouldn't they approach their friends, relatives and colleagues and care about their situation instead of labelling them CEO's?

The first reading today sheds light on the issue. The prophet says, "Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways, and sinners their thoughts; let them turn to the Lord to find mercy; to our God who is generous in forgiving" (Isaiah 55:6-7). Therefore, it is good to be an early bird because you enjoy the grace of mercy earlier and longer. God is generous in forgiving and does not count our iniquities. God also does not count our works because whether they are 12 man-hours or 1 man-hour, they are both insignificant and negligible.

Beloved brethren! Let's be humble and put aside our arrogance. When we look down on low-achievers, we are pots calling kettles black. Let us follow Paul's exemplar. As long as we remain in flesh, instead of congratulating ourselves of our own successes, let us work for the benefits of our brothers (Philippians 1:24). Amen.

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2020 Reflecton
Picture Credit: joshweidmann.com

On The Strength To Forgive 論寬恕之力

Twenty-Fourth Ordinary Sunday, Year A
Theme: On The Strength To Forgive 論寬恕之力

Let’s start today’s meditation with the fact that no man is an island, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suited to him” (Genesis 2:18). In ancient times, perhaps some people were still able to be self-sufficient. Nowadays, it is impossible for us to be self-sufficient any more in highly industrialized societies. As individuals, we need each other to meet our different sorts of needs. Even countries on this planet form alliances to sustain and develop their economies in order to feed their subjects. We trade resources and services to develop and prosper. The question of fairness arises when we exchange and trade. Somehow we have built up some engagement practices and regulations so that we may continue interacting smoothly and satisfactorily.

The question of fairness is further complicated by the fact that even on an individual level, human beings have different layers of needs. To quote Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, there are physiological, security, belongingness, esteem and self-actualization needs. Perhaps money can be a good medium of exchange for the gratification of physiological and security needs, such as buying a hamburger or purchasing an apartment. However, money becomes less effective in meeting the needs higher up. All of us know that money cannot buy true love, cannot buy sincere respect, not to mention fulfilling self-actualization. We need a different set of rules of engagement to handle those interactions.

However, all men are mortal, “My spirit shall not remain in human beings forever, because they are only flesh. Their days shall comprise one hundred and twenty years” (6:3). In other words, all of us are limited in some ways in time and space, such as our life span, our strength, the resources we may control and our status in a certain institution etc. Together with some factors beyond our control, sometimes in our interactions and tradings, we are unable to pay the other side their due. We owe them something and they become our creditors. In order to maintain interactions in the future, either we pledge to repay later or the creditors write off the debts partially (Luke 16:6) or completely (Matthew 18:27). In the latter two cases, they are acts of forgiveness. This preliminary reflection shows some aspects of the nature of forgiveness.

Firstly, all mortals need forgiveness. From the reflection above, we come to know that within the shortness of our life span, we owe different kinds of debts which money alone cannot repay. Had money been able to exchange anything effectively, not all of us would have become debtors. I’m sure all of you have in your experiences occasions where you owe somebody an apology which money could not repay, an explanation or a respect and later regret that you find it too late to repay! There are even situations in which we may never be able to fully repay what we have received. For example, the life our parents gave us, a life-saving organ for transplants, the knowledge our teachers pass on to us, or a national identity when we are travelling etc. Even worse, sometimes, out of prejudice, we deny some people their opportunities of self-actualization. Sometimes, we debase the other side and turn them into an instrument to get what we want. We don’t treat them properly as human beings. We owe them the dignity due a human person. We make them our creditors …

As creditors, they have more room to manoeuvre. Indeed, they must have more resources to spare so that they could lend you the things you needed in the first place. And they also expect that you might not be able to repay within a certain period of time. So they are in no hurry to demand repayment because to start with they could afford to spare. Secondly, a repayment is good only when creditors are in need and in the danger of turning into debtors. When they can spare, they can do away with the repayment altogether and continue their status as creditors. What they earn in lending to you is their right to claim repayment from you when it dues. It is a subtle way to get an upper hand over the debtor! In other words, the less resources one has, the less he is able to forgive. Similarly, the more you are willing to forgive indicates that you have control over more resources. Simply put, creditors are more powerful than debtors are.

That explains why the almighty God is the greatest Creditor of all because He has infinite resources at His disposal to spare. Jesus’ parable today illustrates well. “When he [the king] began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount” (Matthew 18:24). Actually, in the original Greek text, the “huge amount” is “ten thousand talents”. Ten thousand talents is roughly 375 tons of silver. At a price of US$24.10 per troy ounce and 29,166 troy ounces per ton, ten thousand talents give US$ 264,572,077.5 which is an astronomical sum for a single person! Moreover all humanity throughout history, including the BVM, need His salvation, “All have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). This illustrates how much God is able to spare! Fortunately, we are not doomed and instead we are blessed indeed because the almighty God is also merciful. He took the initiative to reconcile us to Him, “And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18). He liberates us so that we may fully actualize the talents which He gave us when He created us. We may actualize the talents through the ministry of reconciliation.

In contrast, many governments are doing a bad job in the governance of their peoples. They fail to adequately discharge their roles as Creditor in providing services to their subjects. Consequently, dissatisfactions are mounting everywhere and instances of social unrest break out. In order to divert those dangerous dissatisfactions elsewhere, governments start their propaganda machines to persuade people to hate some target groups to achieve their political agenda. People are happy to vent their frustrations on any target suggested by governments because they don’t have to go through the painful process of independent and critical thinking to discern the reality. Of course, government would turn a blind eye on hate speeches and lynchings which gradually engender a culture of death. Instead of understanding and forgiving our brothers, which enhance life, people enjoy complaints and vandalism which destroy life. Life on earth is not easy anymore and is no longer material alone because we are fighting a spiritual warfare against Satan’s agents! Since it is not something material, we need a different kind of strength to engage in this fighting.

As followers of Christ, we say the Lord’s Prayer three times a day. Church Fathers taught us that there are seven petitions in the Lord’s Prayer. We should not be long-winded in our prayers and we humbly ask for seven essential things in this Prayer. I opine that we are actually asking for not seven but eight things. One of the seven petitions is actually two. We pray, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12). Not only do we ask God to forgive our sins but we also ask God to give us the strength to forgive because we know that as debtors ourselves, we don’t have extra resources/strength to spare to forgive.

Indeed, God has given us this strength to forgive already. What we need to do is to develop and sustain this strength. Like athletes, we need coaching and training. Like athletes, we ourselves are our rivals while competitors from the other teams are not. A Chinese aphorism describes it well. Laozi says, “He who overcomes others is strong; he who overcomes himself is mighty. 勝人者有力，自勝者強” (Dao Te Jing, #33). A truly mighty person is the one who is able to overcome/overtake himself. Now how shall we train ourselves to build up the strength of forgiveness? Here is Jesus’ recommendation, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times” (Matthew 18:22). The more we forgive, the more opportunities we have in knowing the situations of the debtors. Hopefully we can become more empathetic and mature. Furthermore, with more practices, we may discover what is blocking us from doing the right thing, from discharging our ambassador ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:19-20)!

Beloved brethren! We are called to be merciful like the Father (Luke 6:36). So let us forgive more to actualize our strength. Amen.

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2020 Reflection
Picture Credit: gvm.com.tw

How To Live Together In Eternity 永恆生活的藝術

Twenty-Third Ordinary Sunday, Year A
Theme: How To Live Together In Eternity 永恆生活的藝術

Chinese are known to be pragmatic. They are diligent because they need to hoard resources for the future. Their morality is based on the rights and duties which a relationship entitles. Emperors should be merciful 仁and mandarins loyal忠. Fathers should be beneficient慈 and children filially pious孝. Elder brothers should be friendly友 and younger ones respectful恭 etc. Therefore some moralists would find the Confucian version of uprightness直 a bit mind-boggling. Consider the following quote, “The Duke of She told Confucius, ‘Among us here are upright people. If their father has stolen a sheep, they will bear witness to the fact.’ Confucius said, ‘The upright among us, are different from this. The father conceals the misconduct of the son, and the son conceals the misconduct of the father. Uprightness is to be found in this.’ 葉公語孔子曰：「吾黨有直躬者，其父攘羊，而子證之。」孔子曰：「吾黨之直者異於是。父為子隱，子為父隱，直在其中矣。」” (Zi Lu, The Analects 論語．子路) In the father-son relation, beneficence and piety are the norms. Righteousness has to take beneficence and piety into consideration. Otherwise, righteousness will be flawed. Harmonizing righteousness and mercy is truly a challenge!

Confuciansim is just one among the many facets of Chinese worldviews. The Taoists beg to be different. As one of their aphorisms goes, “You cannot talk to a frog in a well about the sea because it is confined to the limits of his hole. You cannot talk to an insect of the summer about ice because it knows nothing beyond its own season. Similarly, you cannot talk to a scholar with limited views about the Dao because he is bound by the teachings which he has received井蛙不可以語於海者，拘於虛也；夏蟲不可以語於冰者，篤於時也；曲士不可以語於道者，束於教也。” (The Floods of Autumn, Zhuangzi莊子．秋水). They acknowledge the limitations of humanity and do not advocate pressing against Nature. Follow the Dao to lead a natural life because it is futile to be over ambitious. Dao is much higher than beneficence仁, righteousness義, treading appropriateness禮, prudence智 and faithfulness信 together. Here is how Laozi describes Dao, “The Dao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging Dao. The Name that can be named is not the enduring and unchanging name. Non-Being is the Originator of heaven and earth; Being is the Mother of all things. Always without desire to fathom its mystery and always with desires to see its fringes. These two aspects originate from the same source but acquire different names through development. Together we call them the Mystery. Where the Mystery is the deepest is the gate of all that is subtle and wonderful道可道，非常道。名可名，非常名。無名天地之始；有名萬物之母。故常無欲，以觀其妙；常有欲，以觀其徼。此兩者，同出而異名，同謂之玄。玄之又玄，衆妙之門。” (#1, Dao De Jing道德經). Laozi refuses to pinpoint and to analyze. He prefers to be poetic!

The life span of humanity is short like a summer insect. So, how did the Son of God manage to convey the message of eternal life to us? God is timeless and extremely patient. His target is for all to exist together in peace. He does it step by step. The reality is such that human beings were created in God’s image. Since God is righteous, humanity also possess a sense of righteousness which is regrettably flawed, however. They enjoy playing God and want to see the wicked punished and the good rewarded. Thus, they were given, “But if injury ensues, you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe” (Exodus 21:23-25) as moral guideline to restrain their fury. God also declares, “Vengeance is mine and recompense” (Deuteronomy 32:35a) but many a man happily ignores it. Alas! Men are too eager to take into their hands to see justice prevail. They enjoy labelling other people whom they don’t like to be “wicked” and punish them with all sorts of imaginable tortures! But this is not God’s righteousness because God does not want to see the wicked perish, “Do I find pleasure in the death of the wicked – oracle of the Lord God? Do I not rejoice when they turn from their evil way and live?” (Ezekiel 18:23) God does not want to see the good turn into evil when they “punish” the wicked in God’s name because God cares for both the good and the wicked. Now, this is the righteousness of God. The question is how to change the mind of the good?

God took the first step to make the lives of their neighbour their concern. So, we have the first reading of today. Through the same Ezekiel, God says, “When I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked, you must die,’ and you do not speak up to warn the wicked about their ways, they shall die in their sins, but I will hold you responsible for their blood. If however, you warn the wicked to turn from their ways, but they do not, then they shall die in their sins, but you shall save your life” (33:8-9). That’s truly one small step for man, one giant leap for mainkind. From then on, the fate of all humanity is linked and united. “He lives, you live; he dies, you die” unless you have shown your care and have warned the wicked before he dies in his sins! You can no longer watch in indifference or secret delights how the wicked are being punished for their sins because if you have not done your duty of warning the wicked, you die with them!

This is already a giant leap forward but not good enough. It is because the relationship remains one of neighbour. They are not too different from unrelated aliens living in the same neighbourhood, very much like people coming from all over the globe, living and doing business in a cosmopolitan city. In short, they are not brothers because they don’t have the same parents! So, the Father took the next step, sent the Son to incarnate and live among us as our brother so that those who accept Him as the Messiah may have the same Father! As brothers, it is still inevitable for some of us to sin against the others. Then, what are the rules of engagement in such situations so that the fraternal relationship may sustain? The situation cuts deeper than that dealt with by Ezekiel because it is between brothers. In the case of Ezekiel, there was nothing personal whereas the same acts, say watching online pornography or money laundering, are taken seriously personal by Christians. It becomes personal because I am my brother’s keeper (Genesis 4:19)!

Firstly, in order to protect the dignity and conscience of your brother, settle the issue between just the two of you. If he repents, you have saved one soul (Matthew 18:15). If he does not listen, probably the issue might be a matter of personal preferences. Then consult with a few more brothers to ensure that it is not a difference in personal styles but an objective moral issue. Bring together two brothers to persuade him (18:16). If he still does not listen, it would become a scandal for the whole Church. Tell the Church and pray that the brother would listen … (18:17a). Regrettably, the Catholic Church is scandal-ridden nowadays. Probably she has not heeded the Lord’s instructions enough. Instead of helping perverted clergy repent and reform, bishops sent them to other parishes to cover up instead!

Now how should we understand the Lord’s command of treating him “as you would a Gentile or a tax collector” (18:17). Don’t forget! Matthew himself had been a tax collector before the Lord called him. For Matthew, this vocation was an act of unconditional mercy from the Lord. Therefore, instead of rejecting the perverted members in the Church, we should show them more the mercy of the Lord. On the other hand, Matthew’s gospel is known to be written for the Jewish Christian community. Does it mean we should reject such a perverted member in the Church? Of course not. This Jewish Christian community was not exclusive. They cherished their Jewish identity and as a new Chosen People, they saw it their mission to “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing … teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (28:19-20a).

Beloved brethren! As short-lived keepers of our brothers that are perverted or what not, we know our own shortcomings, limitations and needs of God’s mercy. Thus, we are empathetically duty-bound to ensure our brothers’ salvation. Amen.
God bless!

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2020 Reflection
Picture Credit: vaticannews.va

We Believe In the Resurrection of the Dead 我信死人的復活

Twenty-Second Ordinary Sunday, Year A
Theme: We Believe In the Resurrection of the Dead 我信死人的復活

It is impossible for any sensible person to base on experiences alone and accept that there is life after death. Here we take a broader sense of “experiences” to include not just our personal sensations but also the perception of other people’s experiences. All of us learn from other people’s successes and failures. We don’t need to go through their experiences ourselves in person but still we can “learn” from them. So far, we have never seen anybody come back to life after death.

On yet another level beyond sensations and perceptions, we may draw conclusions from logical deductions and inductions. For example, after seeing the sun rising every morning, we may induce with great confidence that the sun will continue to rise tomorrow. No sensations and perceptions are involved. So far, we have not seen anybody come back to life after death and that we see most dead bodies decay, except for some so-called “incorruptibles”. So how can we blame anyone who refuses to believe in resurrection (Matthew 16:23)? It is because from experiences or from logic, the only reasonable conclusion we may draw with great confidence is that there is no life after death! It is with something different from experiences and logic that Christians believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This something they call “Faith”, which is a “theological virtue”. It is a virtue and thus is able to grow and develop through practices. It is theological because it comes from God and is directed to God. If this faith does not come from experiences or logic, then is Christianity a superstition, an opium for the commoners?

However, the first reading today requires us to broaden our definition of experiences more. Let’s call Jeremiah’s experience an instance of “mystical experience” because he tried to narrate his encounter with a transcendental Being which he calls “the Lord”. In context, Jeremiah had just prophesized the Babylonian Captivity, “For thus says the Lord: Indeed, I will hand you [Pashhur, priest, chief officer in the Temple] over to terror, you and all your friends. Your own eyes shall see them fall by the sword of their enemies. All Judah I will hand over to the power of the king of Babylon, who shall take them captive to Babylon or strike them down with the sword” (Jeremiah 20:4). This had to be the most unpopular message to proclaim to the inhabitants of Judah at that time. The Babylonian Empire had just defeated Egypt and was heading towards Syria and Judah. All inhabitants in Judah knew that the storm was looming and coming but they were willing to put up a fight. Nobody wanted to hear defeat before even trying to resist. Everyone who heard the message would definitely hate Jeremiah and would accuse him of treason, inciting people to surrender to the invading enemy. Let’s listen to his internal struggle.

“You seduced me, Lord, and I let myself be seduced; you were too strong for me and you prevailed …” (20:7a). Jeremiah felt that he was engaged in an encounter with an “Other Being” too huge and powerful for him to handle. Jeremiah uses the word “seduce” to describe the first moment of encounter that must have been irresistibly sweet. Here is how he described the first encounter, “The word of the Lord came to me: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you” (1:4-5). Notice that it was before conception, before the formation of fetus and its nervous system. Had sensations been aversive and repulsive, the organs would not continue to develop. Therefore, the first moment of encounter must have been irresistibly good and sweet so that it would continue.

Jeremiah’s experience was not particularly special or unique. Consider how a human relationship would start and continue. I’m sure there must be some sorts of attraction to start with. There might be subsequent frustrations and failures. Yet for a relation to continue, both parties must be able to find satisfactions. At the moment, Jeremiah was going through a roller coaster ride with his Lord! He even cursed his own conception, “Cursed be the day on which I was born … Cursed be the one who brought the news to my father … Then my mother would have been my grave, her womb confining me forever. Why did I come forth from the womb, to see sorrow and pain, to end my days in shame?” (20:14-18) What made Jeremiah’s experience special and unique was the Lord, a mystical and transcendental Being whose existence we are not able to disapprove conclusively! Jeremiah has highlighted a common experience among believers. Our relationship with God is a sweet and sour one!

We are not able to dismiss religions lightly as a human invention and an opium for the people. It is because there have been sensible and reasonable believers who are willing to lay down their lives to bear witness to their experiences and beliefs. To use Jeremiah’s wording, what can “seduce” a person to obtain in exchange for his life? None! Without life, how can a person enjoy what he has gained? It is illogical! Jesus puts it clearly today, “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life?” (Matthew 16:26) Therefore, the only logical explanation for martyrdom is that THERE MUST BE LIFE AFTER DEATH! The martyrs are willing to lay down their lives to bear witness to their conviction that there is life after death, however anti-intuitive such a belief appears to be. Human intelligence has grown throughout ages. Yet, not only was Christian martyrdom an ancient phenomenon but it is also happening nowadays where they form a minority population. Christianity is known to be rational. Her theology is highly systematic, consistent and logical and Christians are not frenetic, committing atrocities in order to enter heaven. They do not hate and mortify lives but at the same time, they are ready to lay down their own lives for a higher and nobler cause.

How is it possible to believe in life after death? It is from the witnesses of the Apostles and those chosen few who had seen the risen Lord that we come to believe in life after death. There must be some form of existence after death. Otherwise Jesus Christ would not come back to appear before His followers. The story of the Transfiguration is another supportive piece of evidence. Jesus would have shown His true glory alone. Yet, there appeared Moses and Elijah too. Which means they continue to exist after their deaths. St. Paul says well, “If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all” (1 Corinthians 15:19).

Beloved Brethren! Most Christians are sensible and rational. There must be something attractive beyond this life beckoning them that they believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the truth of life everlasting. This is our faith that we have no qualm bearing witnesses with our own lives. We are truly blessed to be among the few chosen ones. Let us bear witness to this truth, this unreserved love of the Lord. Amen.
God bless!

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2020 Reflection
Picture Credit: commons.wikimedia.org

No Need For A Perfect Rock 無須完美的磐石

Twenty-First Ordinary Sunday, Year A
Theme: No Need For A Perfect Rock 無須完美的磐石

Human beings are fragile. If they are able to successfully accomplish any sizeable project, either they follow a “good” leader or Yahweh intervenes to help them finish. Alas! “Good” leaders are also human. They are mostly good initially and deteriorate in time. One of the many paths of deterioration is lust. Many good leaders were charismatic and attracted many followers of both genders. Very few leaders are able to resist convenient sex! Another is authority. In order to do greater things, leaders demand more power and privileges from the followers. When their power expands, their egoes expands as well. Sooner or later, the inflated egoes of the leaders would turn around to corrupt and destroy them.

The Bible is relatively honest. It does not paint idealized portraits of leaders. For example, Yahweh commissioned Gideon to be a Judge to deliver the Israelites from the attacks of Midians, Amalekites and Kedemites. He succeeded and the Israelites wanted to make him king. Gideon appeared to be prudent and refused “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you. The Lord must rule over you” (Judges 8:24). Instead he demanded gold rings from the spoils. “The gold rings he had requested weighed seventeen hundred gold shekels … Gideon made an ephod out of the gold … All Israel prostitued themselves there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household” (8:26-27). What was an ephod that would become a snare to Gideon? Ephod אֵפוֹד means two different things, a sleeveless vestment worn by a priest and a statue. From the context, we can be sure that Gideon had made a golden idol! Why a “Jerubbaal” who dismantled Baal’s altar (6:31-32) would later build an ephod shows how unfaithful humanity could be!
“Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, for he had many wives. His concubine who lived in Shechem also bore him a son, whom he called Abimelech” (8:30-31). Abimelech אֲבִימֶלֶךְ means “My father is king”! So Gideon was not truthful. He claimed that the Lord should be the King of the Israelites but he could not cover up his desire to be a king by naming his son Abimelech! Moreover, seventy sons were proof enough for a lustful leader!

After Gideon had died, this Abimelech killed all his brothers except Jotham who managed to escape. The lords of Shechem and Beth-millo came together and made Abimelech king (9:5-6), negating Gideon’s word! Abimelech was truly a brutal strategist. When his relation with the lords of Shechem turned sour, Abimelech took the initiative to attack them, captured and burnt down many cities. In Thebez, the lords and all the people shut themselves in a strong tower. Abimelech came to set the tower on fire. A certain woman cast a millstone down and fractured his skull. Abimelech ordered his armour-bearer to kill him so that people would not say, “A woman killed him” (9:50-54). As a king, Abimelech would not endure the humiliation of death in the hand of a woman! Later, King Saul did a similar act in order not to endure a humiliating death in the hands of Philistines. (1 Samuel 31:4). Histories throughout ages and civilizations are littered with such brutal fratricides to ascend the throne. King Solomon of Israel and Emperor Simon Li of China are merely more well-known cases! It seems that human beings have never learnt! Yahweh had already spoken through Samuel the last Judge the demerits of feeding a human king out of vainglory (1 Samuel 8:10-22) and yet the Israelites insisted! We’re not surprised. Probably it is a curse on the political institutions of empires in general and hereditary monarchy in particular! When will humanity ever learn?

On the surface, the Bible is outdated to advocate theocracy. Emperors were endorsed by God to govern their subjects and sooner or later, they would claim absolute authority. But theocracy is a double-edge sword which cuts both ways. While emperors might make use of God to demand absolute obedience from the commoners, people would also make use of God to disown tyrants! In ancient times, God was the only available person who could counter-balance tyrants. Nowadays when people abandon God, they need to look for other means to protect themselves against tyrants.

In the first reading today, we learn that not just kings but all levels of government officials are held accountable to God. Isaiah announced an oracle against two mandarins in the court of King Hezekiah of Judah. At the time of oracle, Shebna was the master of the palace (Isaiah 22:15). God would strip him of his office because Shebna had hewn for himself a tomb on high in the rock (22:16) and gloried in chariots (22:18). The office would be given to Eliakim, son of Hilkiah the High Priest (22:20). God would give Eliakim great authority, “I will place the key of the House of David on his shoulder; what he opens, no one will shut, what he shuts, no one will open” (22:22). But Eliakim would also fall in the future (22:25). Probably Shebna should have hewn his tomb on a lower level which was more appropriate for his position. From the story of Solomon, we know that chariots meant lucrative business. So perhaps Shebna was haughty and was fattening his own pocket in the capacity of the master of the palace! That might explain why the Lord wanted to replace him with Eliakim.

Later, Sennacherib, king of Assyria invaded Judah. He sent a commander with a great army to Jerusalem. Eliakim had by then been the master of the palace, Shebna became the scribe and Joah the chancellor. The fall of northern kingdom Israel prompted Judah to establish alliance with Egypt to resist Assyria instead of repentance and turning to God (2 Kings 18:18-21). Most likely, those three people advised king Hezekiah so. Now, they came to meet the commander who threatened them to surrender. Eliakim and Shebna and Joah requested the commander to speak in Aramaic and not in the language of Judah lest the people would know the situation (Isaiah 36:11)! Was this the proper action of “a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah” (22:21b)? With this measly piece of information, we can only speculate that those mandarins were putting their own benefits above those of the people! How regrettable! No wonder Isaiah also foretold the downfall of Eliakim!

Today in the gospel, we read of the Confession of Simon Peter and how Jesus quoted out of context Isaiah’s prophecy about the rise of Eliakim and applied it to Peter. In the region of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked His disciples to take a stance, “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15). In other words, would you continue to follow me and commit yourselves to me? With this question, Jesus was going to identify the future leader of the Church which would continue His unfinished salvation project. Peter confessed, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (16:16). Now that Jesus had identified the future leader, He announced, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (16:18-19).

God delegates authority to those stewards/civil servants to serve the people. It is up to them to obey God and to do God’s will; or to abuse the authority for their own benefits. Many leaders have fallen and succumbed to absolute authority, lust and vainglory because they believe themselves to be great! To a certain extent, God is wise to choose the weak and the fragile to lead. It is because the previous failures of those weaklings make them immune to the Achilles heel of the good and the great. Simon Peter was a typical illustration. He knew how bad and fragile he was, for example his three denials. Then he understood that merits should go to Yahweh. Had the Church been successful in discharging her duty, it would never have been her efforts and merits. Credit should go to the Lord! Therefore, it is NOT necessary for God to pick a perfectly solid ROCK to lead the Church. It is because, God and not the Church will be doing most of the work through those weaklings! I believe you know well how God picked 300 soldiers out of 32,000 (Judges 7:3, 7) to defeat 135,000 Midians (8:10) “lest Israel vaunt itself against Me and say, ‘My own power saved me.’” (7:2b) No. God is not trying to show off. It is an Occam’s Razor. God eliminates all factors except one so that there is only one possible conclusion without confusion, viz. God is our Saviour.

Beloved brethren! The Catholic Church is not merely a human institution based on a piece of fragile pebble. It is undeniable that she is scandal-infested. Let’s put our faith not in humanity nor in any political institutions, but in the love of the merciful Lord who is forever faithful. The Church is His Spouse through whom the Lord shall actualize our potentials and sanctify us all. Amen.
2020 Reflection
Picture Credit: accentsinart.com

Where have all the youngsters gone?

Where have all the youngsters gone?

by Deacon Alex

“Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing …” I am a Baby-Boomer. I did not suffer the atrocities of World War II nor the Chinese Liberation/Cultural Revolution. My parents did. Life in Hong Kong was still hard but full of opportunities. “What your hands provide you will enjoy; you will be blessed and prosper” (Psalms 128:2). How true the Psalter was. In those days when you’re willing to work, you would be able to climb up the social ladder and your family would lead a decent life. The only war waging near us was the Vietnam War and we’re fed with anti-war songs like “Where have all the flowers gone (1955)”, “Blowing in the Wind (1963)”, “Bring ’em Home (1966)”, “Give Peace a Chance (1969)” and “Imagine (1971)” etc. This excerpt from my autobiography would pretty much portray the cultural outlook of the author.

Today, the melody rings a different tune in the ears of many Church leaders. “Where have all the youngsters gone, long time passing?” Without exception, young people are departing from all Christian denominations in droves. The trend is worrying indeed. Sooner of later, the remaining ones would be completely wiped out from Church attendances together with all the elders and seniors! No denomination is exempted. What is happening? The Church has been evangelizing through alms-giving, schooling, taking care of the sick and the elderly etc. In fact, she has been very proactive in evangelizing through the mass media too: books, magazines, newspapers, radios, televisions and movies … except the Internet. Indeed, the Church has caught on the bandwagon of Information Technology rather slowly!

On the other hand, young people have at long last found a turf where they’re able to have greater control. In previous ages, young people were mere appendages of the masters of the house. In Greek and Latin, a son and a servant is the same word! Not only were they dispensable, but their opinions were also rarely heard. Thanks to the advances in technology, young people nowadays are able to gain access to and flex their muscles in huge computing power and the Internet. The youngsters’ mind is like a sponge which is able to pick up and absorb all the skills and intricacies of computers and mobile phones in tremendous speed. In the adults’ eyes, young people are addicted to computer games and social media. They don’t care about getting a decent and stable job, nor getting married. They shut themselves inside their rooms, meeting their peers in virtual reality! “A great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or from your side to ours” (Luke 16:26) aptly describes the generation gap between adults and youngsters today! But remember too, “Nothing will be impossible for God” (1:37). So, what have the Church and the young people NOT done?

Remove prejudices and walk together. Listen to each other and understand. It takes time to mature and don’t expect successes overnight. Therefore accept the “unrealistic” ideas of young people. Haven’t we all been exceedingly idealistic before? Let go and allow us to make mistakes together. Remember that our failures might not be our faults but that of the established institutions, meaning the faults of our fathers/leaders! If by chance my readers are young, I pray that you understand that ageing is take toll on us. Forgive and be patient with us for we are slower, less flexible and more adversive to losing controls … However, the author is still full of hope because he saw more than 1.5 million young people gather together in Portugal to celebrate mass in open air …

Beloved brethren! Let’s pray with the Pope in August to the Lord to help young people and us live and bear witness to the conciliatory spirit of the Gospel in our lives. Amen.

Jesus Christ, A Homeless Dog 耶穌基督，喪家之狗

Twentieth Ordinary Sunday, Year A
Theme: Jesus Christ, A Homeless Dog 耶穌基督，喪家之狗

Let’s begin our meditation today with dogs. Dogs are wolves domesticated to different degrees. Some breeds are more ferocious than the others are. Similarly, some civilizations would treat dogs better than the others would. They would call dogs “man’s best friends” for their loyalty and companionship. It is well illustrated by parishioners who request celebrating memorial masses for their deceased pet dogs. On the other hand, other civilizations have no qualm cooking or eating dogs! For example, a Chinese idiom even goes, 「仗義每多屠狗輩 People who practise justice are mostly dog-butchers!」No matter what, calling a person a “dog/bitch” would never be giving that person a dignity due him no matter how evil that person is in the eyes of most people. Uttering such demeaning words from the lips of our merciful Lord is the last thing we would expect to hear on earth. It’s rather mind-boggling how Jesus would say such harsh words to a Canaanite woman who begged Him respectfully for help, “But the woman came and did him homage, say, ‘Lord, help me.’ He said in reply, ‘It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs’” (Matthew 15:25-26).

Of course, we might defend Jesus by saying that He did not intend to humiliate the Canaanite woman. He was only speaking objectively about what should not be done in general. If you take it personal, it is not His fault. Moreover, didn’t Jesus also call Jewish sinners “lost sheep of the house of Israel” (15:25), thus comparing them to animals? Therefore, Jesus had been fair and His words were not discriminatory. Secondly, Jesus was testing the faith of the Canaanite woman ... You should find this second reason unreasonable. Jesus is the Son of God and the Evangelists are eager to show Jesus to be a mind reader whenever the occasions arose (9:4; Mark 2:8; Luke 6:8; John 2:25). Moreover, if God really wants to put somebody to the test, the Bible would say so (Genesis 22:1). As for Jesus’ intention, it is regrettable to say the context of the dialogue strongly suggests that Jesus was discriminating against this Canaanite woman in this encounter. Why didn’t Jesus apply the same “lost sheep” label? But discrimination and mercy are contradictory. How do we harmonize them in this encounter of Jesus’ ?

Suppose I ask you what you prefer to be called by the Jesus in Matthew, a “sheep” or a “dog”. What’s your choice?
First of all Matthew mentions “dog” three times only and twice in this Canaanite woman incident. It appears once earlier in the Sermon on the Mount discourse and reads, “Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces” (Matthew 7:7). In this case, dogs and boars refers to people who not only reject the gospel but also attack the witnesses of the gospel, such as the Jewish religious authority. They were enemies of Matthew’s community of Jewish Christians. At least, “dogs” carried negative connotations in Matthew’s mind. Moreover, in other gospels, Jesus calls Himself the Good Shepherd and He gives his life for the sheep (John 10:11). He would leave 99 sheep behind to search for one lost sheep (Luke 15:4). Therefore, it would be good to choose being “a sheep” and even better “a lost sheep”! I agree. I think most of my readers would choose “sheep” because from these favourable texts, it is prudent of you to choose being a sheep. However, the Lord is merciful and how could He forsake the “dogs”?

I read the encounter between Jesus and the Canaanite woman as a beautiful tango! Jesus proposes her “dogs”. The woman chose wisely and transformed them into a pet which “eats the scraps that fall from the table of their masters” (Matthew 15:27). Sheep are in sheepfolds outside the house whereas dogs enjoy closer proximity to the master who could also be the Good Shepherd. The Canaanite woman chose wisely thus Jesus praised her, “O woman, great is your faith!” (5:28) As Gentiles, we are thankful to this Canaanite woman who has won for us a place in the Kingdom of Heaven!

But why among all animals did Jesus “proposed” dogs? What was in Jesus’ mind? We need to go back to the context. Previously, the Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem came to accuse Jesus of allowing His disciples to break the tradition of the elders (15:1-2). Showing His mercy, Jesus taught them the true meaning of cleanliness and yet antagonized them. Giving them some space to learn the lesson, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon (15:21) leading to this encounter with the Canaanite woman. This reminds me of what happened to Confucius when he left his native state, toured around different states with disciples to sell his political ideals. The mandarins feared that the dukes would buy Confucianism thus shaking up their shares of power. With obstacles put up by those intermediaries, Confucius was rarely successful in advocating his political ideals.

One day while on their way to Zheng鄭, Confucius was separated from his disciples. He stood alone at the east gate of the city’s outer wall. A Zheng native told Zigong子貢, one of the disciples, that he saw a man at the east gate … exhausted and out of luck like a homeless dog. When Zigong reported to Confucius what the Zheng native had said, Confucius joyously agreed!「孔子適鄭，與弟子相失，孔子獨立郭東門。鄭人或謂子貢曰：『東門有人…纍纍若喪家之狗。』子貢以實告孔子。孔子欣然笑曰：『…然哉！然哉！』」(House of Confucius, Shiji 史記‧孔子世家#25). Both Christ and Confucius suffered similar treatments when they tried to proclaim a brave new world to their contemporaries. Probably this is the fate of all messengers of the truth. Of course, Confucius was not Christ. Confucius was a salesman travelling around while Christ was a master rejected by the “lost sheep” of His own house! John says it well, “He came to what was His own, but His own people did not accept Him” (John 1:11)! I speculate that Christ, who embraces all humanity, was musing over Confucius’ acceptance of the experience as a homeless dog when the Canaanite woman sought His help. Previously a scribe expressed his wish to follow Christ. Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head” (Matthew 8:20). Jesus knows that a far worse fate than a homeless dog was waiting for Him!

The woman was a Canaanite. Why did she address Jesus as “Son of David” (Matthew 15:22), a Jewish Messianic title? She should be worshipping pagan idols and not Yahweh! Perhaps she had heard of Jesus’ healing miracles but how likely had she met Jesus before? Very unlikely! This encounter in Tyre and Sidon was very likely the first. How would she recognize Jesus? I suppose even biblical scholars might not even have any clues but Jesus surely knew how and why! When this woman persistently begged Him for the third time, I’m sure Jesus was able to experience the woman’s motherly love towards her suffering daughter. Thus perhaps out of irony or handiness, the Master & Jewish Messiah who was rejected by the lost sheep of the house of Israel, Jesus put forth the image of dogs before the woman and let her, like the scribe mentioned above, choose whether she would accept His salvation!

When we read this Matthew narrative of the incident, we must bear in mind his Jewish mentality. For example in the first reading today, Isaiah’s language was very Jewish. Yahweh has expressed His desire through Isaiah to embrace all humanity, both the Chosen People and the Gentiles, “For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples” (Isaiah 56:7c). What is expected of the Gentiles? “And foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to Him, to love the name of the Lord, to become his servants --- All who keep the sabbath without profaning it and hold fast to my covenant, them I will bring to my holy mountain” (56:6-7a). Confucius for one and Chinese in his period of time knew not the Lord. How could they join themselves to and minister to the Lord? They knew no Sabbath and the Old Covenant. How would they be able to meet the requirements listed above?

I would say that since the Jews were and we Christians are the Chosen People, they and we have entered into the Covenant as representatives of all humanity. Since as Gentiles or before our baptism, we did not know the letters of the Law such as keeping the Sabbath holy, nor do we love the name of a Person, we Gentiles should be blameless as long as we follow the spirit of the Law! Moreover, we can also become His servants in ways appropriate to our cultures and civilizations and minister to Him! Now that we have entered the house of the Lord, let us not become “lost sheep of the house of God” through establishing our own traditions, putting all our energies in maintaining them and consequently kicking the master of the house out, making the merciful Lord of heavens and earth a homeless doG! Amen!
God bless!

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2020 Reflection
Picture Credit: wiktionary.org