Pray For A Synodal Church

Pray For A Synodal Church

by Deacon Alex

The Catholic Church is huge. As of 2022, her membership (1.39 billion) amounts roughly to one sixth of the world population (7.951 billion)¹ . Some six decades ago, she went ahead with a long overdue modernization as decreed in the Vatican Council II which was attended by more than two thousand Catholic bishops from all over the world as well as no less than 500 theologians as advisers, together with many observers from other denominations and governments. This Council lasted for three years. The attendants experienced something unexpected: The Church Fathers (i.e. bishops) refused to ratify documents the Roman Curia had prepared before the Council. They collaborated with the expert theologians to redraft the documents in a different way²! After the Council, they realized that they had rediscovered the original way the bishops governed the early Church: as a college of overseers, not as a monarch! Since 1965, Synods of bishops, attended by a smaller number of bishop representatives, would be convoked instead in the future, as an advisory body. Later, the term “Synodality” was coined.

Synodality is not a decision-making process with an opening prayer (Acts 1:24-26) nor a democratic institution within the Church, nor reaching a consensus through compromises! Rather, it is a process of listening carefully to the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking through the participants. It is not enough to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit spoken to the elites and experts like what was achieved in Vatican II. The Church cannot afford to leave out the voices from the major portion of the People of God, the laity whose status within the Church was recognized and given appropriate position since Vatican Council II. All the baptized should actively participate in the life of the Church as members of the People of God, clergy as well as laity alike. The “sensus fidei” of the faithful must be heard! Of course, the quality of listening is of fundamental importance. Indeed, both bishops, experts as well as the participants from the laity need training in listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit so as to achieved an enlightened conscience. Otherwise, synods cannot be fruitful.

Since 1965, Synods were held for wide-ranging themes such as “Year of the Eucharist” in 2005, “The Word of God” in 2010, “The Church in Africa in service to Reconciliation” in 2011, “New Evangelization” in 2012, “The Vocation and Mission of the Family” in 2015, “Young People” in 2018 and “Pan-Amazon Region” in 2019 etc. This on-going Synod is already the sixteenth which began in 2021! The theme is “Synodality”, a reflection on the Catholic Church as a synodal Church³. One of the testing items on the agenda would be the restoration of the order of deaconess, an ecclesial order which has vanished from the Catholic Church longer than permanent deacons. Paul wrote, “I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is also a servant [deaconess in Greek] of the church at Cenchreae” (Romans 16:1). Attendants of this Synod must empty themselves of any pre-conceived solutions and listen humbly to the voice of the Holy Spirit to discern “what God wants the Church to become in order to proclaim the good news better to the world” instead of “what God wants the Church to do better”. Don’t forget, we Catholics bear a responsibility towards the remaining five sixths of the world population as well.

In October, let us pray in one voice with Pope Francis that the Church continue to sustain a synodal lifestyle in every way, as a sign of co-responsibility, promoting the participation, communion and mission shared by priests, religious and laity. Amen.

---

¹Vatican News
²La Croix News
³About the Synod on Synodality

---

Picture Credit: synod.va

The Ten Commandments Are Not What You Think 十誡不是你心所想一樣

Twenty-Eighth Ordinary Sunday
Theme: The Ten Commandments Are Not What You Think 十誡不是你心所想一樣

I suppose all Christians, whether Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant, know how to enumerate the Ten Commandments, though not necessarily according to their order. Catholics and Protestants differ in their numbering but after all, there are still ten Commandments in all (Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 4:13, 10:4), not nine nor twelve. For more learned believers, they are able to locate the Ten Commandments in the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy (Exodus 20:1-17, Deuteronomy 5:5-21). There is no numbering, making it convenient for denominations to number them according to their political agenda. Indeed, it is futile to debate what the right numbering is. But have you ever wondered why, after Jesus had entered Jerusalem triumphantly and one of the scribes came forth to challenge Him, asking what the first of all the commandments was, Jesus did not give one from the Ten Commandments (Mark 12:28-30) but quoted out of the 613 mitzvot, the Shema from Deuteronomy 6:4-5 instead! Never mind if you do not notice this. Today, we come face to face with the Commandments again.

In the Gospel passage today, a rich man asked Jesus how to inherit eternal life (Mark 10:17). Unlike other disciples whom Jesus called, this rich man was extraordinary in taking the initiative to explore the process of attaining/inheriting eternal life which turned out to be a novel concept for Jews. In the Hebrew Scriptures, God alone lives forever and God is called the [ever]living God (Deuteronomy 5:26, Joshua 3:10 etc.). No mortal man dared to usurp God’s position. In fact, no more than two Hebrew verses can be found to mention “ancient path/everlasting life” (Psalms 139:24, Daniel 12:2) for mortal men because God has decreed that men do not live longer than 120 years (Genesis 6:3)! The concept of eternal life probably emerged during the time of persecution under the Greek Empire and was incorporated into the Septuagint (2 Maccabees 7:36, Wisdom 3:4 etc.). The rich man was probably young, idealistic and receptive to novel ideas. He must have found traditional Judaism unfulfilling and thus attempted to pursue higher satisfaction. Offering holocausts, tithes, fasting, daily prayers and observing Sabbaths failed to soothe his desire for an ideal life … He came to Jesus.

Step by step, Jesus helped the rich man discern his vocation. Jesus started from the basics: namely the Commandments: “You know the commandments: ‘You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; honour your father and your mother” (Mark 10:19, Matthew 19:18-19, Luke 18:20) with variations, namely Mark adds an extra “you shall not defraud” before the honouring your parents; Matthew adds “you shall love your neighbour as yourself” after the honouring of parents whereas Luke does not add any extra Commandment but adultery goes before murder! Now, if you were the rich man, what would your reaction be? Was that all, so simple? “Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth” (Mark 10:20). Obviously, he expected more challenging and heroic endeavours! He would not be disappointed for long because Jesus was going to demand something he was not ready to offer. But more obviously, the rich man did not pay enough attention. Why didn’t Jesus mention offering sacrifices and tithes?

In plaint sight, we see that the Commandments related to our obligations towards God namely, depending on your denomination, the first 3 or 4 Commandments which regulate our relationship with God, were missing. In hindsight, it is understandable because it is essential for us to build ourselves from the ground up. John writes, “Whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20b). But why did Jesus put honouring parents last? Jesus was not alone. Elsewhere in the New Testament, we find Paul enumerates the Commandments too, “The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not covet,’ and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this saying, namely ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’” (Romans 13:9). Paul even left out honouring parents for his Roman audience! Luke was a disciple of St. Paul and we now see why Luke, following the teaching of Paul, exchanged the order of murder and adultery! So, Jesus, Peter (Mark), John, Matthew, Paul (Luke) are wise and encourage us to build our spirituality, namely our intimate relationship with God from the ground up, namely to love our neighbour as ourselves (Leviticus 19:18) first! But still, why puts honouring parents last? Definitely they would grow old, fragile and would become needy … Not honouring them by putting the commandment last is definitely offensive to the Chinese ears! In order not to disrupt the train of thoughts in our meditation, I would quote again from the Holy Book and leave the topic for a more thorough meditation later. The Torah teaches that, “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body” (Genesis 2:24). Perhaps it is helpful that a Chinese rendition of the New Testament should arrange the order of the Commandments in a way more palatable for people living in regions under the influence of the Chinese civilization.

The spiritual explanation above is NOT yet satisfactory because Jesus did not continue to mention anything about the first few Commandments. Were those Commandments not essential for the salvation of our souls, it is impossible that they would occupy the first few positions in the Commandment list. Mark continues, “Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, ‘You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me’” (Mark 10:21). At most, giving all you possess to the poor amounts to loving your neighbour. It cannot be an observance of the first few Commandments, can it? But I tell you, it can, if you still remember what we read three weeks ago! Jesus says, “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” (9:35, 25th Sunday). When we serve the poor, the disadvantaged and the socially marginalized, we serve Jesus, the Son of God. Similarly, when we care and love our needy brothers whom we are able to see, we are actually loving God. Jesus made Himself a Mediator between the Father and sinners, making God more accessible to men. In one stroke, Jesus makes loving a needy neighbour equivalent to loving the almighty God!

Then why did God give ten Commandments and not seven/six Commandments if doing our obligations towards fellow men would be equivalent to offering sacrifices to God, to respecting God’s name and resting on Sabbath? I speculate that the purpose of giving the Israelites the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai was more political than spiritual, namely to organize the 600,000 Hebrew slaves into one people, one nation within a short time. But it will take another elaborate meditation to explore. No, not for today. If we meditate along this line, we will miss the most crucial feature of the narrative today. I would say never mind about what Jesus demanded the rich man. Focus on His reaction towards this rich man. To repeat, Mark continues, “Jesus, looking at him, loved him and …” (10:21a). Had Jesus shown such love towards the Twelve when He called them? What in this rich man did Jesus see that made Jesus love him?

Read the Greek and you will understand better. In Greek, there are three different words for love and the one here is ἀγαπάω, which is equivalent to “to show charity”, to act for the good of the other party and not for oneself. It is the same word used in the Greek version of Leviticus 19:18. Don’t forget, Jesus was able to read mind (Mark 2:8) and knew that the rich man desired more heroic endeavours. But Jesus also knew that probably the rich man would be reluctant to abandon his possessions. Jesus had charity on this pitiful rich man who was caught between the ideal of eternal life and the wisdom to forsake wealth. Indeed, the rich man was not ready to give to the poor. He did not give himself the opportunity to inherit eternal life and he denied Jesus the opportunity to multiply his possession a hundred-fold (10:30)!

Beloved brethren! Have faith in the Lord. Allow Him to multiply our meagre offerings. Amen.
God bless!

---

Picture Credit: creator.nightcafe.studio

Is It Possible To Become A Child Again? 重拾「童真」可能嗎？

Twenty-Seventh Ordinary Sunday, Year B
Theme: Is It Possible To Become A Child Again? 重拾「童真」可能嗎？

When Nicodemus, a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews (John 3:1), visited Jesus at night, it speaks volume of the tension between the Pharisees/Jewish leaders and Jesus. Together with Joseph of Arimathæa, both of them could only associate with Jesus in secret for fear of fellow Jews (19:18). Their faith was commendable because their association with Jesus would cost them dearly. In fact, who would win a place in the Kingdom of God without paying a heavy price?

In the gospel passage today, Jesus teaches us the secret to enter the Kingdom of God. He says, “Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it” (Mark 10:15). In common language, we have to accept heaven like a child in order to enter heaven. When we read this together with Nicodemus’ story, you will appreciate the prudence of Nicodemus. When he visited Jesus, the merciful Lord commended his efforts and sincerity. So, Jesus taught him about the way to enter the Kingdom of God, “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above” (John 3:3). In fact, the “Kingdom of God/Heaven” was the key message Jesus proclaimed to this sinful world. All the things Jesus did: such as proclaiming the good news, calling disciples, working miracles, crucifixion and resurrection were to invite people to gain entry into this Messianic kingdom. In the case of Nicodemus, Jesus catered His wording for his intellectual level. Jesus did not use parables like when He spoke to the crowd. He made use of more abstract mental skills such as “see the kingdom of God” and “born from above” which in Greek ἄνωθεν was a wordplay on “above/again”. Nicodemus complained, “How can a person once grown old be born again? Surely he cannot reenter his mother’s womb and be born again, can he?” (3:4) Nicodemus was able to pick up the “again” nuance while Jesus wanted to elevate his thought above and beyond his intellectual level!

Nicodemus’ complaint was totally legitimate because it is next to impossible for an adult to un-know what he has known, to unlearn what he has learnt, to un-see what he has seen and to undo what he has done! Most of the time, an adult could only regret the mistakes he made when he was younger. A man does not possess freedom in the time dimension. He would only wish that he could travel back in time not to do what he subsequently regretted. In fact, all perceptions and experiences, whether they be visual, audio, memories and feelings etc., will leave their impressions on our nervous system and stay there for life. We are not able to erase them, but only to repress them, meaning to force ourselves NOT to remember them. Nevertheless, they remain. So Nicodemus was right in saying that it was impossible for a person to be born again like a blank slate, a tabula rasa. As “the teacher of Israel” (3:10), Nicodemus proved his point by drawing up a hypothetical and impossible case: that a man re-enters his mother’s womb to be born again (3:4)! To make His point more understandable, Jesus teaches the mystery of Sacraments, namely visible signs that give invisible grace. Jesus says, “No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit” (3:5). Jesus leaves behind the seven Sacraments for the Church to administer to the faithful. Through the Sacrament of Baptism [water] and Sacrament of Confirmation [Spirit], a person is born again and becomes a new creation in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).

One may wonder how water and Spirit are able to help a person become a child again.
First of all, we need to debunk a common misconception shown by Nicodemus, namely that a child was born as a tabula rasa, a blank slate without any prejudices nor any preconceived ideas. The child gains more knowledge through exposure and immersion and become sophisticated. However, earlier Jesus taught us that in order to enter the kingdom of God, a person must deny himself, take up his cross and follow Jesus (Mark 8:34). If a person is sophisticated and is calculating, he would not have sufficient incentive to follow Jesus and enter the Kingdom of God. Children do not calculate costs and benefits. They are more responsive to people who love them. Thus, they would be more receptive to God’s love and therefore possess the advantage to enter the Kingdom of God etc.

The tabula rasa image of a child is simple enough to understand and seems to be able to explain Jesus’ teaching well. However, it fails to explain how, many of the Catholic saints, no doubt sophisticated and wealthy adults whose cost-benefit-analysis would never yield sufficient incentive for them to give up all possessions and even their lives to follow Jesus who only promises them eternal life and perpetual bliss in heaven which are too remote and intangible to worth giving up all earthly things to follow in poverty, are able to unlearn what they have learnt, to erase their former experiences and memories, so as to deny themselves, carry their crosses and follow Jesus. The tabula rasa image assumes that simplicity and innocence are sufficient to gain entry into the kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit has no role to play. This is the fatal flaw of this misconception. Does Jesus demand innocence and simplicity to enter the Kingdom of God? If so, I am afraid the immaculately conceived Blessed Virgin Mary would be the only soul to enter the Kingdom of God. Perhaps we may add John the Baptist too!

I would say Jesus demands something else, namely the acknowledgement of our incompetence and thus total reliance on God. Unlike adults who are independent physically, intellectually, emotionally and financially, children depend on adults to survive. They are vulnerable and fragile both physically and emotionally. They have no choice but to be obedient and are prone to falling victims to abuses. On the other hand, adults are strong in all areas so much so that they trust in themselves more than in God. They build their sense of security on power and wealth rather than on God. With advancements in science and technology, they are bold enough to play God. It would be difficult, if not impossible, for them to give up their security, to expose their vulnerabilities like children in order to enter the Kingdom of God. Therefore, let us consider another possibility.

The God we believe in is not a void Being. Therefore, all of us who were created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26) cannot be a tabula rasa, but a seed pregnant with a lot of potentials/talentum waiting to germinate and grow. Regrettably, the field in which the seed is growing and developing is infested and contaminated with sins which poison God’s gifts/charisma to them. Many of the potentials such as altruism, charity, hope, faithfulness, humility, perseverance and righteousness etc. fail to actualize while other “lucrative ones”, such as athletic, numeric, musical, performance artistic, verbal and vocal etc. flower and bloom. Then, how is it possible for those “children” to accept the Kingdom of God? This is where the Holy Spirit comes in. The Holy Spirit would descend on those children who hear and believe in the words of Jesus Christ, revitalize the smothered potentials in them, in particular, faith, hope and charity. The Holy Spirit would infuse them with the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 11:2-3) to help those heavenly potentials flower and bloom and bear the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). The saints do not have to unlearn what they have learnt. Rather, with the graces of the Holy Spirit, their previous experiences would be transformed into future “ammunitions” of those saints in their spiritual battles against the Devil and the world.

Beloved brethren! Now, I see a new light in ageing. When the health and metabolism of the ageing people decline, they are losing control over themselves, their relationships with others as well as their surroundings. They have to rely on God more. This is their second childhood and is an appropriate opportunity for them to accept and enter the Kingdom of God to find their repose in God. I can pray confidently that more and more people are able to give up their reliance on worldly security to enter the Kingdom of God. Amen.
God bless!

---

Picture Credit: creator.nightcafe.studio

Do You Belong To Christ 你屬於基督嗎？

Twenty-Sixth Ordinary Sunday, Year B
Theme: Do You Belong To Christ 你屬於基督嗎？

In historical legends, whether Chinese or Biblical, we hear of heroes who fell in the end because they took everything on their shoulders and failed to delegate. As the liberator of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, Moses made the same mistake before they reached Mount Sinai. Moses’ father-in-law, the Midian priest Jethro, came to congratulate him for his success in liberating the Hebrew slaves from Egypt but saw something wrong with the administrative skills of his son-in-law. “The next day Moses sat in judgment for the people, while they stood around him from morning until evening” (Numbers 18:13). Jethro asked him what was going on and Moses replied, “The people come to me to consult God. Whenever they have a disagreement, they come to me to have me settle the matter between them and make known to them God’s statues and instructions” (18:15b-16). Moses’ action was both commendable and legitimate. But Jethro was quick to point out his flaw. “What you are doing is not wise. You will surely wear yourself out, both you and these people with you. The task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone” (18:17-18). Moses was dealing with six hundred thousand people single-handedly! He was not any five-star General of the Army, nor the six hundred thousand Israelites he was leading disciplined soldiers. The Hebrew slaves had been grumbling and complaining all along that the journey was too hazardous, there was no water, no food and that they preferred returning and dying in Egypt etc. Jethro was perfectly correct in his assessment of the situation. It was unwise for Moses to shoulder everything on his shoulders alone because of his zeal for teaching the Israelites God’s statues and instructions. No matter how commendable his zeal was, it didn’t do anybody good! “You will surely wear yourself out, both you and these people with you” is a motto which every leader, even political leaders, should remember!

Luckily Moses accepted Jethro’s proposal. Otherwise, the Exodus to the Promised Land would have collapsed even before it began. The Israelites had not yet established the Sinai Covenant and received the Ten Commandments, not to mention heading towards the Promised Land. Jethro was truly a seasoned priest. He was able to retain what Moses had all along been doing, probably wishing to save Moses of his face. “Act as the people’s representative before God, and bring their disputes to God. Enlighten them in regard to the statutes and instructions, showing them how they are to conduct themselves and what they are to do” (18:20). His trick was to shift Moses’ focus a little bit in order to obtain the most optimal results. “But you should also look among all the people for able and God-fearing men, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain, and set them over the people as commanders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens. Let these render decisions for the people in all routine cases. Every important case they should refer to you, but every lesser case they can settle themselves. Lighten your burden by letting them bear it with you” (18:21-22). His prudence was truly admirable. Notice that Jethro even did have not to outline which cases were routine and lesser and which cases were important! The commanders would know! Simply put. Cases that commanders of tens failed to pacify the people must be “important” enough to pass up to commanders of fifties and so on! After four levels of commanders all failed to pacify the people, such cases must be seriously important. Such a filtering system must have been capable of removing many trivial cases. Prove me wrong! Leaders! You are no God. Delegate or you will be deleted!

With this background knowledge, we may understand better what Moses meant in the first reading today. Once more, definitely in a latter occasion, the commanders mentioned above were unable to share Moses’ burden adequately enough. This time, God intervened. He instructed Moses to choose 70 elders to help governing the people. Then God gave them the Holy Spirit to discharge their duties. For some unknown reasons, two of the chosen elders, Eldad and Kedad, did not show up in the tent but God still gave them the Holy Spirit. The two elders were able to prophesize like the other 68 (Numbers 11:26). Joshua was loyal to Moses and requested Moses to stop them. But Moses says, “Are you jealous for my sake? If only all the people of the LORD were prophets! If only the LORD would bestow His spirit on them!” (11:29) If all the people of the LORD had been prophets, Moses would have been relieved from the burden of deciding hundreds of thousands of disputes each day and the people would not have been waiting in a long queue from morning till evening to have their cases heard.

Take a step back and smell. Something must have been wrong in the commander filtering system described above so that God had to intervene and replaced it with the elder system. What could have gone wrong? I speculate that no institutional structure is able to control human weaknesses such as favouritism. Didn’t Isaac prefer Esau because he was fond of game but Rebekah preferred Jacob (Genesis 25:28)? Didn’t King David favoured one of his sons, Absalom who killed Amnon his brother in revenge for raping Tamar, Absalom’s sister (2 Samuel 13:39)? How can justice prevail whenever there is favouritism? Obviously, being capable, God-fearing, trustworthy and hating dishonest gains would not be able to prevent people from loving and thus showing favour to their loved ones! The elder system was better because the LORD took some of the spirit that was on Moses to bestow it on the seventy elders (Numbers 11:25). It was better because the LORD participated more in governing the people.

The gospel reading shows a similar jealousy on the part of the apostles against people outside their circle. Like Joshua, John requested Jesus to stop a person who did not follow them from driving out demons in Jesus’ name (Mark 9:39). Of course, both of them were loyal to their masters respectively. However, one’s loyalty does not necessarily breed jealousy unless his loyalty is under threat! In tonight’s homily, Fr. Albert Liu, OP brought to our attention that previously, a man complained against the apostles’ failure to exorcize a deaf and dumb evil spirit from his son (9:17-18). John’s request made him guilty of trying to monopolize salvation. Didn’t the pre-Vatican II Catholic Church popularly believe that “Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus”? Even today, there are recently voices accusing Pope Francis of saying that “Jesus was unimportant” during his papal visits to four Asian countries in which Catholics are a minority! Such accusation against Pope Francis is unnecessary because who does not belong to Christ? To quote St. Paul, “As a plan for the fullness of times, to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth” (Ephesians 1:10); “The blessing of Abraham might be extended to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Galatians 3:14). Thus, the Church is Catholic, meaning she is inclusive and rejects nobody!

Beloved brethren! What is the most memorable verse for you in the gospel reading today? I choose, “Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward” (Mark 9:41). As Catholics, surely we belong to Christ. Therefore, we are Christ’s “reward-carriers”. Wherever we go, we are providing opportunities for the people we encounter to receive Christ’s reward. Pray that we are peacemakers to help people receive Christ’s reward of peace. Amen.
God bless!

---

Picture Credit: creator.nightcafe.studio

The Secret to Be the Greatest 做最大的秘訣

The Twenty-Fifth Ordinary Sunday, Year B
Theme: The Secret to Be the Greatest 做最大的秘訣

Due to time constrains, it is regrettable that we only hear excerpts of the Bible on Sunday celebrations. Without knowing a fuller context, the congregation would wonder why such and such things would happen. Take the first reading of today as an example. We appreciate the efforts of compilers in the Liturgical Commission for making the readings more assessable to the congregation. However, their choice of wording in this case is questionable. It starts like this, “The wicked say: Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us …” (Wisdom 2:12a). The compilers added “The wicked say” to summarize the previous eleven verses! I wonder what those people have done to deserve a “wicked” label? I looked up the text and found that they were rich and powerful people who did not find any meaningful purposes in life. They lamented that death was the only certainty. There was no remedy for their dying. Their births were by chance and their deaths left nothing behind. In between, their lives passed away like the traces of a cloud. Therefore, they chose to enjoy good things such as costly wine and perfumes. How can you criticize people for holding such kind of worldview and leading such kind of affluent life style, which they can afford? All of us are free to choose and to act when we do not harm other people, aren’t we?

The more morally offending thing comes next. In modern jargon, not only was their life style unsustainable but they were also abusing the environment, “Let no meadow be free from our wantonness; everywhere let us leave tokens of our merriment, for this is our portion, and this is our lot” (2:9). I am not sure whether ancient people would be offended because it was very unlikely that they knew of any sorts of pollution with which modern people are familiar. Perhaps what in our eyes are pollutions, such as cattle dung left in the open, were actually chemical free fertilizers. It was part of their environmental protection wisdom! Nowadays, we know that it is definitely unethical to be so irresponsible in damaging the environment, a home common to all humanity now and in the future. But we don’t label those people “wicked”, do we? In fact, the author of Wisdom only describes them as “not thinking rightly” (2:1). People do not think rightly for many reasons. For example, ignorance, lack of education, too busy to make the ends meet etc. As long as the damages done do not harm other people’s lives, labelling those people “wicked” is polemic. Of course, the wicked do not think rightly when they benefit themselves at the expenses of other people. Sometimes, circumstances force people to choose a lesser evil. Therefore, even the righteous may choose a relatively wicked path in order to prevent an even greater evil from happening. Life is truly complex.

When we read further, ethics dictates that those people deserved to be labelled wicked, “Let us oppress the righteous poor; let us neither spare the widow nor revere the aged for hair grown white with time. But let our strength be our norm of righteousness; for weakness proves itself useless” (2:10-11). Indeed, “might makes right” is a wicked principle because we are doing harm to those who are unable to defend themselves. People who approach life and organize it in accordance to this principle are wicked because the law of the jungle reduces us into beasts. As Christians, we do not see the world as a battle field of zero-sum games. “Either you die or I live” is a law only tyrants would lay down. No! God is not a tyrant. His law is instead “Either you live or I die” and He actually dies so that we may live! As Christians, we look for opportunities to create win-win situations. Thus we defend the rights of the voiceless, advocate for the needs of the socially marginalized and opt for the poor etc. Though we inevitably become enemies of the “wicked”, we choose not to label them “wicked” in order to leave dialogues open in the future. If we are true disciples of Jesus, we should also follow the Master’s instructions not to pass judgment on the others (Matthew 7:1). This is what the Master means when after the first Prediction of His Passion, He told the crowd, His disciples and therefore us, to deny ourselves, carry our crosses and follow Him (Mark 8:34).

Jesus knew that His disciples needed more intensive coaching. So, after Jesus had shown the glory of resurrection to the three core disciples on a high mountain, He taught the Twelve again about the imminent Passion a second time. Obviously the disciples had not learnt the lesson yet because on the way, they were arguing about who was the greatest (9:34). Old habits die hard. The Twelve were adults and adult students are known to be hard to teach because modifying mind-sets demands Herculean efforts on the part of adult learners. Jesus is a teacher exemplar on a par with Confucius. His communication skills are superb and His teachings are deep, to say the least. Jesus does not condemn their ambition to be great because such an ambition is a powerful motivator to help people do good in face of difficulties and obstacles. Instead, He passes on to them the secret recipe to become great! “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all” (9:35b). Alas! Many people make use of authority in the wrong way. They abuse authority to herd wealth and benefits for themselves instead of exercising authority to do good for the people who gave them authority in the first place. Stewards, instead of properly discharging their role as servants, have become masters. The awareness of being a servant prevents state officials from lording over the commoners. Such an awareness would urge them to go into ghettoes to experience and to survey the real situations. Then those officials would not draw up impracticable policies inside air-conditioned offices.

Jesus knew that this teaching, like that of the Bread of Life, had been too deep for the Twelve and to the rest of all to receive (John 6:66), He further reinforced our learning by placing a child in their midst and putting His arms around it (Mark 9:6), saying “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” (9:37). Wasn’t Jesus trying to teach us how to be great? One wonders what a child has to do with greatness. Be careful! Jesus was not teaching us to receive the Kingdom of Heaven with simplicity like a child. No. That would take another occasion (10:15). See how fondly Jesus embraced the child, revealing the modus operandi of God: God loves to do big things through underdogs such as Jael who drove a peg through the temple of Sisera (Judges 4:21) and David who embedded a pebble in the forehead of Goliath (1 Samuel 17:49)! Jesus is telling us to learn from Him. Don’t weary ourselves with pomp and ceremony and cracking a nut with a sledgehammer! Those big shows only serve human vanity and contribute little to the success of a mission. Instead it is a waste of resources. God’s way is the best because it is the most efficient and effective to get things done! The most essential thing is to do God’s will, namely to love God and therefore love the needy. This is the proper way to exercise authority bestowed on us, and thus to become great. Otherwise, people would lament how the mighty have fallen (2 Samuel 1:25, 27)!

Beloved brethren! Let us follow the successful example of St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta to do small things with great love. We are surely on the right path! Amen.
God bless!

---

Picture Credit: francisxaviersamsen.wordpress.com, creator.nightcafe.studio

Not Thinking As God Does 不體會天主的事

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

Picture Credit: creator.nightcafe.studio

Become Jesus’ Finger 成為耶穌的手指

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

Picture Credit: ncregister.com, creator.nightcafe.studio