What did the Thessalonians worry about?

Unlike Christians in ancient time, modern Christians do not have to struggle with too many theological issues. Most of these issues have been settled in the last twenty centuries. We receive systematic instructions. Most of the questions we raise in the catechumen class were raised before in the early history of Christianity and satisfactory answers had been found. Therefore it is instructive to go back in time to study how ancient Christians dealt with their theological questions, the answers to which we have already known.

The first generation Christians expected Jesus to return soon to declare his sovereignty. Therefore, they had no qualm about departing with their property and money because money would be of no more use (Acts 2:44-45). Of course, the brotherly love among Christians was also one of their motives to share their money in common. Together, they were eagerly anticipating the day of the Second Coming of the Lord.

Problems arose when there was no sign of Jesus' returning and Christians began to die. Some died a natural death while others died heroically a martyr. Had Jesus returned earlier, there would not have been an immortality problem. Christians did not have to live long, to wait for long in order to receive the Second Coming of Jesus. Now that Christians did not see the end of their perpetual waiting and believing in Jesus did not guarantee immortality, did not improve their daily life, the Church had a hard problem to crack.

Christians believed that Jesus was the Son of God. His resurrection and ascension did not pose any problem. But what about his believers. They were not God, or the Son of God. Would they also be able to come back to life? Had Jesus returned soon, this general resurrection would never have become a problem. The delay of Parousia forced the first generation Christians to develop a theology of general resurrection of the faithful. Here is a version of a theology of the End of the World propagated by St. Paul.
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first;
then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
In this early epistle of St. Paul, we do not find any hint of the Last Judgment. Everybody just rises up to the mid-air to meet the Lord. If we take a conservative approach, we can interpret the last phrase of verse 16 in such as way that only the believers would come back to life. St. Paul was not concerned with those unbelievers. Probably, at the time of writing, St. Paul thought that the unbelievers had received their judgment in the form of being dead forever. Resurrection belongs to believers only and resurrection already implies a judgment.
Of course, nowadays, the Church has developed a comprehensive theology of the Last Things. We believe in the resurrection of the physical body and soul. We believe that Jesus' Second Coming is for the judgment of the living and the dead. All of us would receive awards according to what we have done on earth. Still, the Second Coming of Jesus remains elusive.

Dear Lord, let resurrection be our hope, especially in times of tribulation. May the resurrection of our Lord grant us confidence and perseverance to walk through this life of a pilgrim. Amen.

Twenty Second Ordinary Sunday (Year B)

Fr. Patrick Sun celebrated the 11 a.m. mass and in his homily, he unlocked the major mystery of religion. It is all a matter of the heart. Do we put our heart at the core or the peripheral of our life? The Pharisees in the gospel reading set the wrong priority. They put the hearts in the wrong place. That explains why Jesus always had conflicts with these people.
We Chinese had a similar philosophy. 物有本末，事有終始，知所先後，則近道矣。【大學】Therefore, it is important to set the priority right.

The Pharisees made the mistake of being legalistic. They had set the priority in a wrong way. They focused on the letters of the law instead of the spirit of the law. Jesus tried to correct their mistaken thoughts. Times and again, Jesus breached the observance of the Sabbath deliberately. For the Pharisees and the majority of the Jews, the observance of the Sabbath identified them as the Chosen People of God. What made them Jews was the observance of the Sabbath. Yet in many occasions, Jesus breached this law of Sabbath. He even taught a revolutionary, yet a truthful attitude.
The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath (Mark 2:27).
If you are able to get to the core, the peripheral is no longer important. If you have not breached any major principle, minor details can be ignored.
子夏曰：大德不踰閑，小德出入可也。 【論語‧子張】
In this light, we are able to explain why Jesus and his disciples did not clean their hands according to the traditional customs (Mark 7:2), and yet still kept their high moral ground. It is the heart that determines everything. If we are hypocritical, our hearts have rotten and are not there to keep the law.
意誠而后心正，心正而后身修。【大學】
Attaining a sincere will brings a right heart. Setting our heart right helps us lead a life of integrity (Major Studies).
God gave us Ten Commandments to set our hearts right. However, the Pharisees were greedy and overwrote God's commandments with man-made rules, just as it was foretold by Isaiah.
in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men (Mark 7:7, Isaiah 29:13).

Recently, there have been a lot of controversies over drug screening of secondary school students. Drug abuse among secondary school students is no news. But after the coverage of a spate of cases in Tuen Mun, the government intends to use such a scheme to deter students from taking drugs. The Education Department has invited secondary schools in Tai Po to participate in a pilot scheme. Funny, right? Why is it Tai Po and not Tuen Mun? Conspiracy theorists suggest that schools in Tai Po are facing close down because of the decrease in student population. They will be more cooperative with the government. Tuen Mun is less urgent and schools there are under less pressure to toe the party line.
The scheme is supposed to be voluntary. That is, students who have been randomly chosen to test their urine have the freedom to refuse being tested. That defeats the whole purpose, doesn't it? If it is implemented as such, it is set up to fail from the start. There is also the controversy over who are entitled to know the test results. Police? Principal? Parent? or class teachers?
The Catholic Church in Hong Kong supports putting more resources in educating the teenagers the damages of drug abuse. Educating their hearts should be the top priority. That explains why the Church does not support deterring students with drug screening. It is too negative and the priority is wrong.

Dear Lord, I pray for the government officials. May they set the education priorities properly. I also pray for students who are frustrated in life. May they find peace in joining meaningful activities. Amen.

The humility of John the Baptist

Today, the Catholic Church celebrates the martyrdom of John the Baptist.
The Baptist preached and baptized to prepare the Jews for the coming of the Messiah. He also baptized Jesus. Then he was arrested by Herod Antipas because he openly criticized him for marrying his brother's wife while his brother was still alive. Antipas had set up a very bad model for his people. Antipas knew that John the Baptist was a prophet. He respected him and wanted to protect him from the evil woman he had illegally married. Antipas made one mistake in order to cover up an earlier mistake. In the end, the mistakes he had made forced him to behead the Baptist.

While the Synoptic gospels tell us how Herod beheaded John the Baptist, the gospel of John paints us the mind and heart of the Baptist.
You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.
He who has the bride is the bridegroom; the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice; therefore this joy of mine is now full (John 3:28-29).
The Baptist knew his position well. He was the friend of the bridegroom, the precursor of Christ. He knew that he was not Christ, not the bridegroom because he did not have the bride.
Who was this bride?
I think the bride is the Church, the community of the redeemed. We belong to Christ because it is Christ who has redeemed us with his passion and resurrection. Christians do not belong to the Baptist. When Christ arrived, the Baptist's mission was accomplished. That is why he rejoiced greatly at the bridegroom's voice.
He must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30).

When you have done your job, you should withdraw. Otherwise, you are pouring fire on your own head and bring yourself self-destruction. This is typical Chinese wisdom but the context is totally different.
There is a Chinese idiom which says 「功成身退」 roughly translated as "Mission accomplished. Retire." If we are reluctant to let go our accomplishment, we tend to be boastful of our contribution.
Analect tells us the story of a Lu 魯 general called 孟之反 who covered his retreating soldiers so that they could safely returned to the fortress. Entering the fortress himself, he said that it was not he who dared to stay behind to cover them. It was his horse which refused to enter the city.
子曰：「孟之反不伐，奔而殿，將入門，策其馬，曰：非敢後也，馬不進也。」 【論語‧雍也】In explaining one of the 64 oracles of I-Ching, Confucius has the following commentary on the oracle of humility.
勞謙，君子有終，吉。子曰：勞而不伐，有功而不德，厚之至也。語以其功，下人者也。德言盛，禮言恭，謙也者，致恭以存其位者也。【繫辭上】
Humility is the secret weapon which helps you stay long in your position. This is Chinese wisdom.
Lao-Tze, one of the founder of Taoism, also offers a similar advice in his classic.
是以聖人處無為之事，行不言之教，萬物作焉而不辭，生而不有，為而不恃，功成而不居。夫唯不居，是以不去。【道德經‧第二章】
Lao-Tze explains that since we do not cling to our accomplish, we are able to stay. Again, this is Chinese wisdom. Both philosophers focused on staying in position.
The Baptist is a beautiful illustration of the virtue of humility. But he did not intend to cling to his role as the forerunner of Christ. When Christ appeared, he retired. Yet, he continued his role as a prophet of God. For this role, he paid a price with his own life. He was not afraid because God was with him.
And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its princes, its priests, and the people of the land.
They will fight against you; but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, says the LORD, to deliver you (Jeremiah 1:18-19)
The Baptist dared to stand up against Herod Antipas to fulfil his role as God's prophet. No doubt, God was with the Baptist. Yet, God did not save his life. God's plan is truly beyond our intellectual capacity.

Dear Lord, I am sure You would not let the Baptist die in vain. The Baptist had done a beautiful witness job. Allow me to bear witness to Your truth bravely like the Baptist. Amen.

Feast of St. Augustine (Year B)

The Catholic Church celebrates the feast day of St. Augustine today. Yesterday, we celebrated the feast day of his mother St. Monica who had prayed for his conversion for 17 years. The bond between mother and son is very strong. The story of St. Augustine demonstrated it well. It took 17 years for this Prodigal Son to return home. It wasn't too late. St. Monica was able to spend about half a year of quality life together with this converted son.

Saturnia is a good girl. She visited grandmother and spent a night in Chai Wan. My younger brother invited her to try out living in Chai Wan so that it would be easier for her to travel to Hong Kong University to study. We did not expect any miracle. Grandmother did not stop her drinking for just one evening. What a pity! She deprives herself of an opportunity to live one sober day, to build a warm relationship with her granddaughter she is so proud of. Poor mum, she has been doing a lot of things which turn out to alienate herself with her family members and close relatives. Of course, it is a deep issue and we cannot fantasize converting an alcoholic in just one day.
Saturnia is also a sensitive girl. She could feel the emotional pressure my father and young brother suffer. She knows that she is too young to handle this. Therefore, she decided not to live in Chai Wan in her university years. My wife and me told her that she was a brave girl. She had already done a terrific job, trying to build up a meaningful relationship with an alcoholic grandmother.
I have been teaching the topic of addiction in CEE RS for about ten years. Theoretically, an addiction victim (drug, gambling, alcohol etc.) brings havoc to his family and his friends. Yet, I can feel it only when my own fingers get burnt.
Dear Lord, how long will my parents and younger brother continue to suffer before my mother is able to quit? Have mercy on us Lord.

After praising the good performance of the Thessalonians and encouraging them to endure afflictions, St. Paul turned to their problems. He told them to abstain from unchastity (1 Thessalonians 4:3), to take a wife in holiness and honour (1 Thessalonians 4:4). Nobody should wrong his brother in this matter (1 Thessalonians 4:6). I suppose St. Paul was talking about adultery. Interesting enough, in this early epistle, St. Paul had already hinted at a very mature view on marriage. Though St. Paul did not write it out explicitly, he expected husbands and wives to sanctify themselves in marriage.
For God has not called us for uncleanness, but in holiness.
Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you (1 Thessalonians 4:7-8).
Therefore, it is a bit surprising to read some very negative views on marriage in the first Epistle to the Corinthians.

We are called to lead a life in holiness but it is difficult to see the transcendental dimension in our daily life. It seems to be very abstract. So, how are we able to see what it means to be "called in holiness"?
Last evening, I was trying to get to St. Joseph's Church in Kowloon Bay to attend the requiem mass for Stephen Wong at 8. I checked the bus company webpage and found a 268C whose terminus is in Long Ping West Rail Station. I could have taken any Yuen Long LRT to Shui Bin Station to take the bus. I missed a train. The next Yuen Long train would arrive 7 minutes later. Yet, a 751 LRT came which could take me to the Tin Shui Wai West Rail Station from which I could go to Long Ping. I am a rather impatient man. I prefer moving to waiting. So I jumped onto the 751. In hindsight, I found it a bad decision.
When I left the Long Ping Station and was standing in the mini-bus terminus which I was familiar, I discovered my mistake. I did not know where the bus terminus was! I attempted searching it for some time and asked a shopkeeper who directed me to the wrong bus terminus. I was running out of time. So I gave up searching and walked to the 268C bus stop in Yuen Long. That was not my usual practice, not my modus operandi. Thank God, by the time I reached the bus stop, a 268C just arrived. Had I insisted on searching the terminus, I would have missed this coach which took me to St. Joseph's just in time.
In this incident, I could see God frustrating me so that I was able to catch the coach just in time. Have I seen the transcendental dimension in daily reality?

Dear Lord, teach us so that we are able to relate the daily reality to You and Your will. Amen.

Feast of St. Monica (Year B)

St. Monica (333-387), the mother of St. Augustine, is a patron saint for wives and abused victims. Monica suffered a similar fate. Yet she patiently endured all and persistently prayed for all. Her example had already been a moral support for her contemporaries. From her case, we can conclude that when God wants to help a particular category of victims, first of all, He makes one such victim, coaches him/her and gives him/her the grace to persevere. That is the modus operandi of God. When God wants to save mankind, He sends the Son of God to become a man to redeem them. When God wants to help abused wives, He made a St. Monica for them.
At the moment, I have a lot of friends suffering from different kinds of affliction: physical disabilities, mental illnesses, depression, unemployment etc. I pray for them and I am sure they can be God's instruments to bless the world in a way beyond our understanding. God is mysterious.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9).

When St. Paul preached to the Thessalonians, he encouraged them in face of afflictions.
and we sent Timothy, our brother and God's servant in the gospel of Christ, to establish you in your faith and to exhort you,
that no one be moved by these afflictions. You yourselves know that this is to be our lot.
For when we were with you, we told you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction; just as it has come to pass, and as you know (1 Thessalonians 3:2-4).
If people wish to lead a peaceful comfortable life, they would be alarmed by this passage and would not choose Christianity. If they have already been baptized, they would work hard to withdraw membership. It is only natural for man to seek pleasure and avoid suffering. Christianity does not provide believers with an escape route, with a life free of troubles. Rather, Christians can only expect a life of hardship.
Given that it is natural for man to seek pleasure and avoid suffering, why would people choose to suffer? Why were martyrs willing to die? The only reasonable explanation is that Christianity promises a happy life after death. Suffering for a short while in order to gain eternal happiness is an excellent investment option indeed. Hasn't Paul taught such a logic?
and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all men, as we do to you,
so that he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints (1 Thessalonians 3:12-13). 
Probably when Karl Marx claimed that religion was "the opium of the people", he had this passage in mind. Religion provides an illusionary happiness for the exploited. It promises them heaven and the honour of sainthood at the end of the world (at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints). The government encourages such kind of mentality among the subjects so that they would not complain or rise up in protest about the exploitation they are suffering.

We should not blame St. Paul for writing it. People like to believe in what they want to believe. Biblical verses are notorious for being open to interpretations. You can pick up a passage and interpret it according to your needs. The same passage may be employed by rivals who champion opposite causes.
On the other hand, some people do live on this promise. They rely on this promise to endure through the afflictions and difficulties in life. In other words, Christianity gives suffering a meaning. Suffering is meaningful. Suffering is redemptive. Martyrs are martyrs, witnesses to the meaning of their faith. We respect them.

Dear Lord, we struggle to make sense of sufferings. Grant us the wisdom to see the world as You see it. We offer up our sufferings to You so that they may become redemptive. Amen.

Things a teacher can be proud of

Approaching the end of August, there are only a few more days to go before the new school year commences. Many teachers have already started attending meetings, preparing lessons and planning activities for the upcoming year. Teachers in Hong Kong always shy away from telling their counterparts in mainland China or overseas how much they are paid a month. It is because Hong Kong teachers are probably the highest paid teachers in the world. True, we have to take care of a much larger class of students, to cover a more intensive curriculum and to handle more clerical work ourselves. People in the society expect us to deliver results because most of us are paid by the government. The Hong Kong SAR government has adopted the mentality of an entrepreneur. The government officials, especially those education officials, always talk about money for value and about being accountable to tax-payers etc. In short, they are the most discouraging superiors rather than the most supportive stakeholders for the frontline teachers.

If teaching is such a frustrating job, why don't you quit?
Well, I have to admit that there is a huge inertia inside the teaching profession. You get used to its routines very quickly. You enjoy nearly absolute, unchallenged authority probably with the exception of teachers teaching in lower banding schools. You don't want to change unless you are experiencing unspeakable frustrations. Let's take another perspective. The job-satisfaction must be huge. Otherwise, you cannot stay long. So, what is this job-satisfaction?
I don't know what other teachers might think about job-satisfaction. As for me, mixing with young people prevents me from ageing. But the greatest satisfaction is to see that your students take you seriously, that they benefit from your sharing. Of course, if they become professionals contributing to the society, it is a bonus.

In all these, I share the same view with St. Paul. For him, the believers were his crown of glory.
For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?
For you are our glory and joy (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20).
For me, the performance of my students is my glory and my joy. Science teachers do not share my luck. If students behave politely or conduct their life according to justice, nobody can scientifically trace the connection with Physics or Additional Mathematics. What about public examination results? Well, if students score many A's, people naturally think that it is the contribution of tutorial centres rather than the science teachers. As an RS teacher, I am in a better position. If students score distinctions in public examination, it is because of their diligence because no tutorial centre offers RS courses. If my students follow the precepts of the Bible in their life, can I not be proud when Lord Jesus comes again? My students are not my "product". We share the joy of life. I thank God for giving me the blessing to teach RS throughout my whole teaching career.

St. Paul thanked God because the Thessalonians took his gospel seriously.
And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers (1 Thessalonians 2:13).
In the same way, I should also thank God when my students take my teaching seriously. I should also thank God if my students benefit from my teaching.
As an RS teacher, I also share an evangelization mission. In this area, I have to admit that I have not been successful.
for you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you
to lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory (1 Thessalonians 2:11-12).
Telling my students that there is a glorious Kingdom of God waiting for them is not attractive anymore nowadays. Then, where comes the motivation to lead a life worthy of God? I suppose setting an example can influence them. If you are keen on Chinese Literature, you will love it and enjoy it. Your students will be able to detect the joy that animates you. You must love God first before you can influence people to lead a life worthy of God.
Similarly, St. Paul has this to say.
You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our behavior to you believers (1 Thessalonians 2:10).
At first glance, Paul was too arrogant and boastful. Shouldn't an evangelist be humble? I agree that the writing has been too green. This is a signature style early in his writing career. Gradually, Paul wrote in a more subtle manner. For the time being, he was direct to be blunt. Yet, he was telling the truth.
In his preaching, he earned his own living, not willing to put burden on the community (1 Thessalonians 2:9). He set up an exemplary, blameless, righteous and holy life for the believers to copy. The believers could follow him to lead a life worthy of God. On Judgment Day, these believers will become the crown of glory for Paul.
I too have to demonstrate my passion for God and for the Bible. Hopefully, some of my students may follow and lead a life worthy of God. On Judgment Day, I can be proud of my students.

Dear Lord, You teach us to judge a tree with its fruits (Matthew 12:33). I pray for my students so that they can be fruits good for the society. Amen.

Pleasing God, not pleasing men

We will spend the whole week reading the first Epistle to the Thessalonians, which is believed to be the first epistle written by St. Paul in around 51 A.D. By that time, he was preaching in Corinth. He heard of the problems encountered by the church in Thessalonia but he could not leave Corinth to handle their problems. Therefore, St. Paul wrote a letter to the Church of Thessalonia to advise and encourage them. Most of the Thessalonian Christians were Gentiles. They did not have any Jewish burden. Therefore, they were more receptive to the gospel preached by St. Paul. Since this letter was among his first epistles, the theology is easier to follow.

Every community has to struggle with internal and external problems. The Thessalonian Church was no exception. The envious Jews posed them an external problem. The believers had to face theological challenges, personal attacks and physical persecutions from without. Among the believers, some abused the freedom gained through the gospel and relapsed to an earlier licentious life. Others gave up their jobs and waited idly for the second coming of Christ. Yet others lamented for those who had died before Christ returned. St. Paul had a bunch of difficult nuts to crack.
Early in his writing career, St. Paul had displayed a certain style. As a teacher, there are a lot of things I should learn from this great Apostle. Instead of scolding them for their poor performance, St. Paul was able to pick up their strength and praised them instead.
We give thanks to God always for you all, constantly mentioning you in our prayers,
remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3).
In one breath, St. Paul spelt out the three theological virtues: faith, hope and charity. He gave thanks to God for the Thessalonian Christians had shown these virtues well. Though these remarks of St. Paul were subjective, he must have found something in the believers worth praising.
Teachers have been entrusted young children who have even greater opportunities to change for the better. Therefore, we teachers should not be a miser in giving out encouragements and praises.

The atmosphere of the society is changing all the time. In earlier generations, teachers and truth were to be respected. Teachers were keepers of truth and knowledge and therefore should be respected. Most parents did not have the chance to attend school. They gave their children the best they could afford. Parents told their children at home that they should pay attention in class to what the teachers taught. Nowadays, these well-educated children have become parents themselves. Some are even more learned than school teachers. They put their children into schools more or less for babysitting purposes. Teachers are told that parents are stakeholders. Therefore, parents are not to be offended. Many head teachers would bow to the demands of parents and instruct their subordinates to do likewise. The whole school runs to please the parents! I think St. Paul would not agree with such an attitude.
but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please men, but to please God who tests our hearts (1 Thessalonians 2:4).
If we claim to be offering Christian education, we should practise what St. Paul preached. We serve not to please men, but to please God.
Will it please God to punish students when they make mistakes, when they fail to hand in homework in time? Will it please God to give students a free hand to do whatever pleases their appetite? Will it please God to implement mandatory drug screening for students? Will it please God to renovate the D&T Room into a distance-learning centre for students? Will it please God to deny drug rehabilitators a better learning environment in Mui Wo? Are we seeking our own pleasure and glory in doing all these?
nor did we seek glory from men, whether from you or from others, though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ (1 Thessalonians 2:6).
In short, do we love God enough? Do we love our students enough?
But we were gentle among you, like a nurse taking care of her children.
So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us (1 Thessalonians 2:7-8).
I did not mean to abase ourselves to call ourselves "babysitters" because this was what St. Paul taught us in his early letters. We should be gentle like a nurse, love and take care of our students and share our life with them. The teaching profession is a sharing of our own selves.

Dear Lord, make us generous babysitters to share our life with our students. Amen.

Feast of St. Bartholomew (Year B)

The Church celebrates the Feast of Bartholomew the Apostle today. Very little is known about the life of this apostle. The canonical gospels focus on only a handful of apostles. Even Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, received only a few verses. What can we expect to find about the life of the apostle whose name came sixth or seventh in the name lists? His name does not appear in the gospel of John but many scholars believe that the Nathanael mentioned in the gospel of John was Bartholomew.

The gospel of John gives us a different sequence in which Jesus called his disciples. First of all, two disciples of John the Baptist followed Jesus after the Baptist bore witness that Jesus was the Lamb of God which took away the sins of the world (John 1:37). One of them was Andrew who was very excited because they had found the Messiah. Andrew told his brother Simon and brought him to Jesus. Now Jesus had three disciples, Andrew, Simon and an anonymous disciple who was most probably John.
Jesus turned to Galilee and found Philip. He called Philip to follow him. Notice that according to the gospel of John, the first three came to Jesus on their own initiative but Philip was the first to be called, to be summoned by Jesus. John's account is different from that found in the Synoptic gospels because gospels were products of particular communities of believers. They arose from different communities with different traditions.
The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. And he found Philip and said to him, "Follow me." (John 1:43)
Philip responded positively the call of Jesus. He followed Jesus and later, Philip called his friend Nathanael and told him that they (Philip and the disciples whom Jesus had called earlier) had found the Messiah.
Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."(John 1:45)
Andrew did it. So did Philip. They had found something good. They shared this good thing with their friends and relatives.
The community from which the gospel of Mark arose probably stressed the promptness of renunciation of worldly possessions. The community of John probably stressed the importance of sharing and spreading the good news of salvation. That explains why they offer different accounts of the call of the apostles.

Galilee was a northern province close to the Gentiles. People in the south did not speak highly of the Galileans. The Galilean way of life was probably too much "contaminated" by Greek influences. Therefore, it was only nature for Nathanael not to expect the Messiah to come from Nazareth of Galilee.
Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." (John 1:47)
Philip did not argue with him because actions speak louder than words. Philip's answer was pragmatic: see for yourself.
Our mistake is that we care too much about our performance, about the outcome. We know we need to let go, let Mother Nature take her course and let God handle the situation. But we feel uncomfortable if we have not put in "enough" efforts. We are nervous if not enough people take part in the evangelization activities we organize, too few students join the functions organized by the Catholic Society. Rather, we should learn from Philip. Invite your friends to come and see for themselves. God will take care of the rest.
Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!"
Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."
Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" (John 1:47-49)
We will never know what Nathanael was doing under the fig tree. Whatever he did, Jesus saw it. Jesus is truly God. Christians, shouldn't you be more careful with what you do in your solitude? Advice from Confucius 「是故君子戒慎乎其所不睹，恐懼乎其所不聞。莫見乎隱，莫顯乎微，故君子慎其獨也」【中庸‧第一章】
Therefore, a Gentleman is cautious of what he does not see, fearful of what he does not hear. There is nothing more conspicuous than the hidden, more obvious than the microscopic. Thus, a Gentleman is very careful in solitude (The Middle Way, chapter one).
Does not the Synoptic gospels say similar things?
Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.
Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed upon the housetops(Luke 12:2-3)

Dear Lord, teach us to behave properly even in our solitude. You are all-knowing. You know the secrets which have been repressed so deeply in our hearts that even we do not know their existence ourselves. My Lord, help me clean up my secret chambers. Amen.

Twenty First Ordinary Sunday (Year B)

In the beginning, we thought we chose to believe in God. It was a conscious and voluntary decision. Therefore, people object to the practice of infantile baptism. They think that it is better to wait until the baby has grown old enough to make the decision itself.
Later, when we became spiritually more mature, we believe that we did not choose God. Rather, it was God who, out of His kindness, chose us to share His eternal life. With such logic, the practice of infantile baptism is very sensible and beneficial to the babies.
Today, we come a full circle and affirm once more that we choose God.

Fr. Martin Ip celebrated the 11 a.m. mass with us. He stressed the point that we should gather up our courage to choose. He argued that though we know which the right thing to do is, we still need the courage to choose to do the right thing. Many people have the intelligence to know, to discern what the right thing is. However, they may not have enough courage to carry through the right thing.

In the first reading today, the last chapter of the book of Joshua, we read of how Joshua encouraged the people to choose the right thing to do.
Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.
And if you be unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:14-15)
Joshua was addressing the second generation of Israelites who came out from Egypt. The first geneartion had been purged within the forty years in the wilderness. This generation of Israelites was not "contaminated" by Egyptian idolatry and therefore less inclined to return to the more secure life in Egypt. Joshua encouraged them to serve Yahweh. He set himself up as an example before them. He chose to serve Yahweh. The Israelites were free to choose Yahweh or otherwise.
Then the people answered, "Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods;
for it is the LORD our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed;
and the LORD drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land; therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God." (Joshua 24:16-18)
The Israelites were deceptively loyal. I do not mean they were insincere. Rather, in the wilderness, they did not know any other gods. With Yahweh fighting for them in the wilderness against other tribes, it was natural for them to draw the conclusion that the other gods were impotent. However, once they had settled down in Canaan, they began to assimilate the local fertility cults and worship other deities in order to guarantee good harvests.

The gospels give us the impression that the miracle of feeding 5000 seems to be the zenith of Jesus' career. Had Jesus been an ambitious man like Hitler, he would have driven out the Romans very easily. He was able to feed his soldiers with 5 loaves of bread. His curse would also dry up an army of Roman soldiers like he did to a fig tree. Yet, this was not God's plan of salvation. The gospel of John gives us a different picture after the feeding of the 5000. Jesus' teaching was too difficult to accept, too unpalatable.
Many of his disciples, when they heard it, said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?"
But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at it, said to them, "Do you take offense at this?
Then what if you were to see the Son of man ascending where he was before?
It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life (John 6:59-63).
Jesus' words, Jesus' teachings are spirit and life. But his teachings are too hard to accept. No, his teachings are not hard to understand but hard to accept. They go against our common sense, our established ideologies. Therefore, many people chose not to follow Jesus anymore.
After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him.
Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also wish to go away?"
Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life;
and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God." (John 6:66-69)
Jesus had collapsed from the peak to the trough of his career. Many people deserted him. He had become unpopular because his teachings went against our common sense. They were too unpalatable. Yet, the apostles chose to stay with Jesus. They were courageous because despite Jesus' unpopularity, they were able to hang on to their belief in Jesus and acknowledged him the Messiah, the Holy One of God. The apostles risked becoming unpopular themselves.

Do we really choose God?
I think God chooses us first and invites us to accept His redemption. Some people choose to ignore Him. We choose to respond to His call. Indeed, we choose each other.

Dear Lord, whether we admit it or not, we care about other people's opinions. Grant us the courage to choose the right thing to do even if it is unpopular to do so. Amen.

Queenship of Mary (Year B)

I got up early in the morning because today I had to attend a written test administrated by Fr. George Zee, S.J. together with 4 other permanent deacon aspirants. In the years I attended the Biblical Institute, it took me about 45 minutes to get to Kowloon Wah Yan from my school in Hung Shui Kiu. My timing was not as good today because I began my journey not from school but from home. My usual practice is to have my breakfast and morning prayer at the McDonald's before I take the LRT. This morning, I listened to the tiny voice, bought a bun instead of eating breakfast at the McDonald's. I took the West Rail directly, reciting my morning prayer on the train. By the time I reached the vicinity of Wah Yan, I still had thirteen minutes. So, I could enjoy a noodle breakfast in the fast food shop I frequently patronized in the three years I attended the Biblical Institute. The shop owner still recognized me. How warm! When I arrived, I was five minutes late. The other four candidates had just started. Anyway, the tiny voice proves to be right most of the time. It is my fault not to follow its advice frequently enough.

I was caught unprepared because the written test turned out to be a personality test. Well, had I been told explicitly beforehand, I would have prepared and the result would not have been accurate, right?
The test consists of several components. First of all, I had to fill in a questionnaire, specifically designed for young aspirants. It focuses more on the childhood experience and the relations with the parents and siblings. Of course, drawing pictures seems to be a routine. The last part proved to be the most difficult for me. I had to write down eight different feelings which came up frequently within this month. For each such feeling, I also had to write down the occasions in which such a feeling arose and gave an explanation why such a feeling came up.
This is summer holiday and I stayed at home reading most of the time. There were not many events and my feelings were rather steady and calm. I managed to write down two positive feelings which were then followed by four negative feelings and for each one of them, I was able to write down two to three events. It took me quite a long time before I was able to write down the seventh one. I had tried very hard to listen to the tiny voice. I could not. Probably some kind of repression had been working to block the feeling from surfacing to my consciousness. I gave up, let go to relax a bit. Then, it dawned to me that for the last seven years, my working relations with the two principals were not good and I had the feeling that my efforts had not been appreciated. I was not able to write down the eighth feeling. But I am sure Fr. George Zee is very experienced. I think I have supplied him with enough materials to analyze my personality to see whether I am a suitable candidate.
At last, each one of us had an interview with Fr. Zee. I came last because I was the last to arrive and the last to finish my assignments. Fr. Zee was very warm, supportive and non-judgmental. He suffered from throat cancer and had undergone operation. Indeed, he had difficulty speaking aloud to us. A year before, Margaret had invited me to pray for his health. I am glad to see that Fr. Zee seems to be recovering. May the motherly Queen of Heaven continue to intercede for the health of this servant who has devoted his whole life to seek the greater glory of the Lord.

The La Salle '79 graduates were celebrating their thirtieth anniversary. I was invited to join them. It was a pity that this event crashed with the birthday of Symphorian. I would not stay behind to join them for cocktail reception and dinner. I could only join their photo session at five. I am glad to meet many old colleagues: Messrs Gaggino, Chiu (Taipan), Shum Mou Kei, John Au, Albert Loong, Cheung Ting Por, Peter Lee, Lau Kon Ting, Y.Y. Kan, Peter Cheung, Leung Ngan Kwan etc. They are healthy and lively. Mr. John Au even came to La Salle to coach the students soccer, I believe. Brother Patrick came down from the quarters to join us.
I am also thrilled to see so many old students come together. They had to come to me to introduce themselves because though I could still recognize their faces, the physiques of many of them had changed a lot. It was impossible to associate their names with their faces even if I could remember all their names. There is no question about the organization skills of these wonderful boys. Their dedication as well as the sense of belonging is an envy of many other schools. Boys, I am proud of you. La Salle was and still is truly something more.

Dear Lord, You made the Blessed Virgin to be our Mother and our Queen. You have demonstrated the destiny of her children. May we look up to our Queen and Mother in Heaven, to follow her footsteps so that Your will be done on us. Amen.

Feast of Pius X (Year B)

Today, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of Pope Pius X (1835-1914). He passed through all stages of pastoral life, from being a parish priest, a seminary professor, vicar-general, bishop etc. to becoming the Pope. He knew the weak spots in the church hierarchy. Therefore when Pius X was elected Pope in 1903, he began the reform in the Roman Curia, the recodification of the Canon Law, the rearrangement of the Divine Office so that the priests should recite the whole book of Psalms and the restoration of the Vulgate. (Philip Hughes 1974, A Short History of the Catholic Church, 8th ed., Burns & Oates, pp. 238-241) Pius X was a model priest, a model Pope. During his reign, the Catholic Church had to fight against Modernism as well as the thorny issues of state influences over church matters, especially in the French Church. Nowadays, the Chinese Church is facing this same grave problem.
Dear Lord, we praise You for Your giving us a holy Pope in times of troubles. May Your Church weather through all these difficulties unharmed. Amen.

Today, we read a bit of the book of Ruth which has only four chapters. Ruth is one of the four women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus as recorded inMatthew (Matthew 1:5). It is interesting to note that all these women were Gentiles. Ruth was a Moabite. The story began somewhere in the period of the judges.
In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons (Ruth 1:1).
If Bethlehem rings a bell in your head, congratulations. It is the home town of King David. So, this story is related to the ancestors of David. Famine forced the man and his family to move into Moab. The mother was called Naomi. After the death of the father, the two sons married Moabite girls. Ruth was the daughter-in-law of Naomi. After 10 years, the two sons died. All three women became widows. Naomi intended to return to Bethlehem. She sent the two daughters-in-law away so that they might remarry because they were still young to bear children. The two daughters-in-law refused to leave. Naomi gave the following reason to persuade them.
But Naomi said, "Turn back, my daughters, why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands?
Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons,
would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the LORD has gone forth against me." (Ruth 1:11-13)
Naomi was talking about the impossibility of applying the law of Levirate marriage (Deuteronomy 25:5-6) which stipulated that if a man died childless, his brother had the obligation to marry the widow to bear a male offspring for the deceased man. This spirit of this law was charity. In ancient times, widows were usually discriminated and thought to be cursed by God. With this law, widows still in their child-bearing age were taken care of. Naomi was not qualified because she had passed her child-bearing age. Even if she had had a husband and been able to bear a child, it would have taken too long for the son to grow up and marry Ruth. But Ruth refused to leave her.
But Ruth said, "Entreat me not to leave you or to return from following you; for where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God;
where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me and more also if even death parts me from you." (Ruth 1:16-17)
If you remember the famous Titanic quote "you jump I jump", by now, you should know that it owes Ruth the inspiration.
"You go I go and you live I live. Your people are my people and your God my God. You die I die and there will I be buried." Ruth, you are lovely and adorable.
Boaz, the Mr. Right appeared on the stage. Remarkably, his mother was Rahab (Matthew 1:5), probably the harlot of Jericho. Somehow, he was also a kinsman of the deceased men (Ruth 2:3). The story of Ruth continues to develop into a love story between Boaz and the young widow. Boaz knew how faithful Ruth had been to Naomi. So, he treated Ruth very well.
But Boaz answered her, "All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before.
The LORD recompense you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!" (Ruth 2:11-12)
When Ruth reported to Naomi how well Boaz treated her, Naomi immediately saw the solution to their difficult situation.
And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, "Blessed be he by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!" Na'omi also said to her, "The man is a relative of ours, one of our nearest kin." (Ruth 2:20)
In the end, Boaz gained the right to redeem the piece of land left behind by Naomi's husband. He also married Ruth and gave birth to a child. This was the institution of Goel (kinsman-redeemer) stipulated in Leviticus 25. God's kindness is the basis of this redeemer program.
Ruth gave birth to Obed who was the father of Jesse, the grandfather of David (Ruth 4:17). Ruth became the great-grandmother of King David because of her faithfulness to her mother-in-law. God recompenses the good you have done.

Dear Lord, we praise You for Your kindness. You turn our sorrow into joy, our difficulty into blessing. Amen.

Feast of St. Bernard of Clairvaux

Today, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast day of St. Bernard (1090-1153). In 1830, Pope Pius VIII declared him a Doctor of the Church. At present, there are 33 such Doctors who are important writers of great learning and have led a saintly life. St. Bernard helped built many monasteries in the West and preached the Second Crusade.

We continue to read the sad story of Jephthah the Gileadite. At that time, the Israelites were oppressed by Ammonites.
Then the Ammonites were called to arms, and they encamped in Gilead; and the people of Israel came together, and they encamped at Mizpah.
And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said one to another, "Who is the man that will begin to fight against the Ammonites? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead." (Judges 10:17-18)
Jephthah came from a discriminated background, a bit similar to Abimelech. But he was able to tread a different path.
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a harlot. Gilead was the father of Jephthah.
And Gilead's wife also bore him sons; and when his wife's sons grew up, they thrust Jephthah out, and said to him, "You shall not inherit in our father's house; for you are the son of another woman."
Then Jephthah fled from his brothers, and dwelt in the land of Tob; and worthless fellows collected round Jephthah, and went raiding with him (Judges 11:1-3).

Gilead was not Gideon and Jephthah was not Abimelech. Gideon was a tribal hero that delivered the Israelites from the Midianites. Jephthah was no more than a bandit because the Gileadites despised his background and rejected him. Now that the Ammonites came to oppress them, they turned to Jephthah and sought his help. History seems to repeat itself perpetually. The Israelites always turned against and rejected their saviours. Joseph was sold by his brothers. Moses fled in fear of being exposed by his fellow Hebrew countrymen. Here was Jephthah despised and rejected because his mother was a harlot. In the future, Jesus of Nazareth would be betrayed by his own disciple and the Jewish Council.
But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "Did you not hate me, and drive me out of my father's house? Why have you come to me now when you are in trouble?" (Judges 11:7)
Jephthah took up the mission to drive away the Ammonites. He was not a warmonger. His first option was diplomacy which would prevent the huge mortality of non-combatants. Messengers were sent to persuade the king of Ammonites to withdraw. The history of struggle between the Israelites and Ammonites was reviewed. In short, if Jephthah had to go to war, his action was fully justified (Judges 11:12-28).
I therefore have not sinned against you, and you do me wrong by making war on me; the LORD, the Judge, decide this day between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon (Judges 11:27).
Therefore, if the Ammonites refused to retreat, Jephthah was prepared to go to war with them, with Yahweh presiding over their case, passing judgment on who was right.
A strange event happened. The Spirit of God came upon Jephthah and before he started the battle with the Ammonites, he made a tragic vow.
Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites.
And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD, and said, "If thou wilt give the Ammonites into my hand,
then whoever comes forth from the doors of my house to meet me, when I return victorious from the Ammonites, shall be the LORD's, and I will offer him up for a burnt offering." (Judges 11:29-31)
This vow was totally unnecessary. The promised burnt offering would not be instrumental for the delivery of the Israelites because Yahweh is not a God whom man can bribe. Why did Jephthah make such a stupid vow? Did the Spirit of the Lord induce Jephathah to make this vow?
Jephthah won the battle but
Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah; and behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances; she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.
And when he saw her, he rent his clothes, and said, "Alas, my daughter! you have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me; for I have opened my mouth to the LORD, and I cannot take back my vow."
And she said to him, "My father, if you have opened your mouth to the LORD, do to me according to what has gone forth from your mouth, now that the LORD has avenged you on your enemies, on the Ammonites."
And she said to her father, "Let this thing be done for me; let me alone two months, that I may go and wander on the mountains, and bewail my virginity, I and my companions." (Judges 11:37).
Jephthah blamed his anonymous daughter for causing him great trouble but in great contrast, his daughter submitted herself, like the BVM, to the will of her father and to God. This story finishes very much like an etymology story. Therefore, we cannot take the historicity of this part of the story too literally.
And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had made. She had never known a man. And it became a custom in Israel
that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year (Judges 11:39-40).

When we come to this part of the book of Judges, we find that the story was full of tensions in reading. The whole book of Judges illustrates the gradual degrading of the tribal heroes in Israel before the rise of kingship. Throughout the book, the judges were able to unite less and less tribes and people. Jephthah would only called up the support of Manasseh (Judges 11:29). Later, he even punished Ephraim for they refused to offer support (Judges 12:1-6). Instead of delivering the Israelites, a judge even turned against them! The last judge Samson did everything himself. Such a development demonstrates the deterioration of spiritual life among the Israelites.
The fate of women also demonstrates such a deterioration. In the beginning, Achsah, the daughter of Caleb, was able to secure from her father, land and springs of water for her husband and herself. Later Deborah the prophetess was a tribal heroine and Jael killed the enemy commander. When it came to Japhthah, his daughter was nameless and she met a tragic end.
God's involvement also demonstrated a downward spiral. In the case of Japhthah, even if we do not blame the Spirit of God for inducing Japhthah to make such a stupid vow, we would blame God for not saving the innocent virgin, like He had stopped Abraham from sacrificing Isaac. Of course, God took the initiative to test Abraham, while Japhthah took the vow on his own and God had to respect his free will. We cannot blame God for not saving us from our own stupidity. (Dennis Olson, The Book of Judges, New Interpreter's Bible Commentary, pp. 829-836)

Dear Lord, You did not swear any stupid vow. Yet You sacrificed Your only Son to deliver us. We have made many stupid mistakes. Lord, deliver us from evil. Amen.

Abimelech, my father is a king

Gideon refused to rule over Israel as a king (Judges 8:23). Actually, he desired very much to be their king and yet, he could not admit it. Besides seventy sons born from many wives, he also fathered a son from a Shechem woman, who was his concubine, not his wife. Gideon called this son, Abimelech, literally meaning my father is a king. This son revealed the secret ambition of Gideon. Abimelech himself embodied such an ambition.

After the death of Gideon, the Israelites did not remember how God had fought for them. They worshipped Baalberith instead (Judges 8:33). They also did not show kindness to the family of Gideon (Judges 8:35). Abimelech immediately seized the opportunity. He persuaded his kinsmen in Shechem to support him. They in turn called on the people of Shechem to rally behind Abimelech. The people took 70 pieces of silver out of the temple of Baalberith to hire a gang of mobsters to follow him. Abimelech went to his father's city Ophrah. There he killed his seventy brothers upon a stone. Only one managed to flee. He was Jotham, the youngest son of Gideon (Judges 9:5). Afterwards, the people of Shechem made Abimelech king by the oak of the pillar at Shechem (Judges 9:6).

When Jotham knew that Abimelech was made king, he went up to the top of Mount Gerizim to curse Abimelech and the people of Shechem. His curse came in the form of a fable of trees (Judges 9:8-15). The trees, meaning the people of Shechem, invited several candidates, olive, fig and vine to be their king but they declined. At last the trees asked the bramble, meaning Abimelech, who heartily accepted.
And the bramble said to the trees, 'If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.' (Judges 9:15)
Bramble cannot offer any shade but easily catches fire. Therefore, it was suicidal for the people of Shechem to make Abimelech their king. Jotham continued to explain his fable.
Now therefore, if you acted in good faith and honor when you made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done to him as his deeds deserved --
for my father fought for you, and risked his life, and rescued you from the hand of Midian;
and you have risen up against my father's house this day, and have slain his sons, seventy men on one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the citizens of Shechem, because he is your kinsman --
if you then have acted in good faith and honor with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you;
but if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the citizens of Shechem, and Bethmillo; and let fire come out from the citizens of Shechem, and from Bethmillo, and devour Abimelech (Judges 9:16-20).
After cursing them, Jotham fled to Beer.

The people of Shechem did not act in good faith and honour. They had been ungrateful to the good Gideon had done them. They supported Abimelech to butcher the seventy sons of Gideon because he was their 'brother'. Worst of all, they made such a cruel brother-killer king over them, his brothers! Their fate was sealed.
As the events unfolded, Abimelech gradually lost the support of the people of Shechem (Judges 9:23). In suppressing a band of rebels, Abimelech began to kill the civilians of Shechem randomly. Later, he razed Shechem to the ground and scattered salt all over it (Judges 9:45). People fled and hid in the Tower of Shechem. Abimelech chased after them and burned down the Tower, killing a thousand men and women (Judges 9:49).
Abimelech seemed to have lost control over his urge to slaughter. He came to the city of Thebez. People again fled to a strong tower inside the city. Again Abimelech came to burn down the tower. This time, he was less successful. A woman dropped a millstone and mortally wounded his skull (Judges 9:53). Abimelech could not stand the shame to die in the hand of a woman. He committed suicide. Abimelech ruled only three years (Judges 9:22). The curse of Jotham came true.
Thus God requited the crime of Abimelech, which he committed against his father in killing his seventy brothers;
and God also made all the wickedness of the men of Shechem fall back upon their heads, and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal (Judges 9:26-27).

Abimelech was a son of Gideon. He must have inherited most of the bad genes from Gideon. He demonstrated to us what it means to be a bad king. Richard Dawkins should be happy to make use of Abimelech as a prime example for his book, the Selfish Gene (1976).
In previous generations, Israel faced external threats. Now, troubles could arise from within. Instead of a good judge elected by God to deliver them from external enemies, the Israelites were able to choose a tyrant to sit upon their heads to butcher them.

Dear Lord, let us be grateful to Your kindness, hopeful in Your promise and honest to our ambitions. May we not be ruthless and opportunistic. Otherwise, we will be doing a lot of harm to ourselves and others. Amen.

Tribal heroes

When Israel worshipped idols, serving the Baals and the Asheroth, God was angry and allowed the Mesopotamians to oppress the Israelites. Cushanrishathaim was the king of Mesopotamia (Judges 3:8). After eight years, God raised the first judge to deliver them. He was Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother (Judges 3:9). That is, he came from the tribe of Judah. Othniel went to war with Cushanrishathaim and defeated him. Othniel judged over Israel for forty years.

After the death of Othniel, the Israelites turned bad again and this time, the Moabites oppressed them. The Israelites had to serve Eglon, the king of Moab for eighteen years. Then, God raised Ehud, a Benjaminite, a left-handed man (Judges 3:15). He girded a 2-edged sword of one cubit in length on his right thigh under his clothes and used it to stab Eglon who was a very fat man. The whole sword simply went into his body (Judges 3:22). After the death of king Eglon, Israel enjoyed peace for eighty years (Judges 3:30). During that time, Shamgar the son of Anath killed 600 Philistines with an oxgoad (Judges 3:31).

Then the Canaanites oppressed the Israelites for twenty years because they had chariots of iron. The Canaan commander was called Sisera (Judges 4:2). God raised Deborah, a prophetess to deliver Israel. Probably she came from the tribe of Ephraim (Judges 4:5). She summoned Barak, the son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali to gather ten thousand men to fight against the Canaanites. They came down from Mount Tabot.
And the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army before Barak at the edge of the sword; and Sisera alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot (Judges 4:15).
It was not clear whether Sisera was simply outnumbered by Barak or whether he was defeated by God. Anyway, God would make it clear next time that it was He who fought the battle for the Israelites. In the end, Sisera was exhausted and Jael the wife of Heber gave him milk to put him to sleep. When Sisera was fast asleep, Jael drove a tent peg through his temple till it went into the ground (Judges 4:21). Gruesome, wasn't it? After defeating Sisera, the Israelites had a peaceful period of forty years (Judges 5:31b).

This time, it was the Midianites and Amalekites. They oppressed the Israelites for seven years. Then God raised Gideon, son of Joash the Abiezrite. They belonged to the tribe of Manasseh (Judges 6:15). The story of Gideon is more elaborate than the previous ones. There are also a few unrelated fragments surviving from folklore handed down throughout the generations.
Gideon was physically strong. However, he did not seem to be a confident enough man. The first assignment God gave him was to destroy the altar of Baal and Asherah. He dared not to do it openly and did it secretly at night. The people in town were furious and demanded his father to hand him over. Obviously, Gideon had fled into hiding. His father was more sensible.
But Joash said to all who were arrayed against him, "Will you contend for Baal? Or will you defend his cause? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been pulled down."
Therefore on that day he (Gideon) was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, "Let Baal contend against him," because he pulled down his altar (Judges 6:31-32).

וַיִּקְרָא-לוֹ בַיּוֹם-הַהוּא, יְרֻבַּעַל לֵאמֹר: יָרֶב בּוֹ הַבַּעַל, כִּי נָתַץ אֶת-מִזְבְּחוֹ

Therefore, we have an etymology story included in the whole Gideon plot. Since this is an etymology story, it does not prove that Gideon was lack of confidence. However, after gathering thirty-two thousand men to fight against the Midianites, Gideon demanded a sign from God twice! He asked God to leave dews on a fleece of wool while the threshing floor should remain dry. After the sign, he asked God to do it again, but the opposite. The floor should be covered with dew while the fleece remained dry. Gideon was really a bad boy. He should not put the Lord to the test (Deuteronomy 6:16). Later, God had to boost up his confidence again by two Midianites who talked about dreaming the collapse of their camps (Judges 7:13-14). Gideon was an anti-hero!
In order to show the Israelites that it was God who fought the battle, God told Gideon to send the men away, leaving only 300 who lapped water like dogs!
And the LORD said to Gideon, "With the three hundred men that lapped I will deliver you, and give the Midianites into your hand; and let all the others go every man to his home." (Judges 7:7)
When the Midianites were defeated, Gideon and his three hundred men chased them. He also sent messengers to tell the people of Ephraim to ambush the fleeing Midianites. The people of Midianites managed to kill two Midian princes.
And they took the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the wine press of Zeeb, as they pursued Midian; and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan (Judges 7:25).
Doesn't it sound like another etymology story?
When the people of Ephraim upbraided him violently for not bringing them along into battle to fight against the Midianites, Gideon showed his diplomatic skills and was able to pacify them (Judges 8:1-4). Gideon wanted to continue his pursuit of the two Midian kings. He did not want to make enemies to pull his own hind legs.
In his pursuit, he and his men were tired. They passed through Succoth and Penuel and asked for supply and were refused (Judges 8:5-9). After capturing the two Midian kings, Gideon returned and took revenge on these two cities (Judges 8:14-17).
When the people of Israel wanted Gideon to rule over them, he refused.
Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, "Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also; for you have delivered us out of the hand of Midian."
Gideon said to them, "I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the LORD will rule over you." (Judges 8:22-23)
Doesn't Gideon look good this time? I am afraid not.
He asked all men of Israelites to give him their golden earrings. All together, he collected one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold!
And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, in Ophrah; and all Israel played the harlot after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family (Judges 8:27).
The ephod was a divination instrument, part of the official vestment of the High Priest. With this ephod, Gideon made a substantiation of God. Gideon virtually ruled over Israel in God's name through the manipulation of this ephod. Gideon was no long the timid young man when God first appeared to him. He became cruel, cunning and ambitious. He had many wives and seventy sons (Judges 8:30)! Gideon was a king without the king's title. In his years, Israel had forty years of peace (Judges 8:28).

Dear Lord, we don't have to be perfect to serve You. If we were already perfect, we would have done some very evil things. Lord, I only pray that I may be Your handy instrument. Amen.

What is "the house of Joseph"?

We do not know the geographical distribution of the 12 tribes of Israel while they were slaves in Egypt. Somehow, Moses managed to call together 600,000 Israelites to leave Egypt. I am sure that was the first time these twelve tribes came together, travelled together and fought together. After growing up together in the wilderness for forty years, they began to show signs of becoming a people. They worshipped the same God. They observed the same set of laws.
After entering the Promised Land, under the leadership of Joshua, they fought battles to occupy the towns and cities. But I suppose the process might be two-pronged. For some, the process sounds like ethnic cleansing. The Israelites killed everyone. Babies and old men were not spared. For others, the process sounds like cultural assimilation. The Israelites settled down, mixing with the local people.

We begin reading the book of Judges today. The first chapter of Judges paints the social background from which the judges arose.
After the death of Joshua, the people asked God who should fight with the Canaanites.
After the death of Joshua the people of Israel inquired of the LORD,of "Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?"
The LORD said, "Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand." (Judges 1:1-2)
It sounds strange. Had not Joshua finished the invasion? Was not Joshua who divided up the land among the 12 tribes? Why did the twelve tribes still need to fight the Canaanites in order to occupy the land?
The rest of the chapter talked about the performance of different tribes. Of the 12 tribes, only 9 were mentioned. The tribes of Reuben, Issachar and Gad were not mentioned. In fact, the people of Reuben and Gad occupied the land on the east of the River Jordan. So, probably, these two tribes did not cross the River to take part in the invasion of Canaan. The case of Issachar was a puzzle.
For the remaining tribes, only three drove the local people away or eliminated them. Judah and Simeon worked together to occupy the southern part, including Jerusalem. Remember, Caleb came from Judah (Judges 1:3-21). The house of Joseph occupied Bethel (Judges 1:23-25). The remaining tribes, Benjamin (Judges 1:21), Manasseh (Judges 1:27), Ephraim (Judges 1:29), Zebulun (Judges 1:30), Asher (Judges 1:31-32), Naphitali (Judges 1:33) did not drive out the local people but lived among them. The tribe of Dan was even worse. The Amorites drove them back into the hilly country (Judges 1:34).

Judges 1 poses two problems to the readers.
Problem#1: The tribe of Judah conquered a lot of land, took Jerusalem and set it on fire (Judges 1:8). Later, the Benjaminites lived with the people in Jerusalem. What had happened?
But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who dwelt in Jerusalem; so the Jebusites have dwelt with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day (Judges 1:21).
The only explanation I can offer is that the tribe of Judah, probably under the leadership of Caleb, worked like a bulldozer. This seems to be the meaning of Judges 1:1-2. They invaded the land and handed the rule of the land over to the other tribes. Therefore, after capturing Jerusalem, the people of Judah gave it to the Benjaminites to manage it. However, the Benjaminites did not do a good enough job. The Jebusites were able to stay in Jerusalem.
Problem#2: It is more difficult to handle. What does "the house of Joseph" mean (Judges 1:22-23, 35)? Forty years ago, when Moses sent out 12 spies to explore the land, the tribe of Joseph was equivalent to the tribe of Manasseh.
from the tribe of Joseph (that is from the tribe of Manasseh), Gaddi the son of Susi (Numbers 13:11).
Forty years later, we had a house of Joseph independent of Manasseh. It occupied Bethel which belonged to Ephraim (Joshua 16) and put pressure on the Amorites.
the Amorites persisted in dwelling in Harheres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, but the hand of the house of Joseph rested heavily upon them, and they became subject to forced labor (Judges 1:35)
Aijalon and Shaalbim were within the inheritance of the Benjaminites. North of the Benjaminites was the land of Ephraim and Manasseh was north of Ephraim (Joshua 16-17). So, what was this "house of Joseph" independent of Manasseh and Ephraim?

Judges 2 is a summary of all the plots of the stories of tribal heroes in the rest of the book of Judges.
And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals;
and they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; they went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were round about them, and bowed down to them; and they provoked the LORD to anger.
They forsook the LORD, and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth.
So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them; and he sold them into the power of their enemies round about, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies.
Whenever they marched out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had warned, and as the LORD had sworn to them; and they were in sore straits.
Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the power of those who plundered them.
And yet they did not listen to their judges; for they played the harlot after other gods and bowed down to them; they soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the LORD, and they did not do so (Judges 2:11-17).
The cycle would repeat itself many times. Israelites worshipped idols. God forsook them and handed them over to the aliens. When Israelites cried for help, God would raise powerful judges to deliver them from oppression. After a short period of peaceful time, the Israelites would worship idols again and the whole cycle began anew. The situation would not change until a united Kingdom under the leadership of a king arose. A king would centralize the worship of God and lead the whole nation to worship God. However, many kings were bad and would lead the whole nation to worship idols. This was not the only problem with a king as a leader. Sooner or later, a king would make the nation his family business. He would pass the kingdom to his son and grandsons. Unlike judges, a king would not hand his crown over to a capable king who was not his own son. But we have jumped to the next book in the Bible.

Dear Lord, let us learn from the mistakes of the Israelites. Let us not stay away from You. It does us no good because You are our life. Amen.

Cannibalism in Jesus' teaching

Cannibalism has been practised by men for various reasons.
Sometimes, men eat men out of insanity. Some psychotic killers are reported to have cut up the corpses of their victims, put them in the freezer and eat them when they feel like to. This is disgusting.
Under extreme conditions such as famines, plane crashes, siege etc., men are known to have eaten the corpses of other fellow men in order to survive. During the Chun Qiu 春秋 period, the army of Chu 楚 laid siege to Song 宋 such that people exchanged their children to eat 「易子而食」. This is tragic but understandable.
Sometimes, men eat the flesh of the enemies they have defeated to vent their anger or patriotism. For example, In North Song Dynasty, General Yue Fei 岳飛 wrote the following verse. 「壯志饑餐胡虜肉，笑談渴飲匈奴血。」We do not know whether he had actually eaten his enemies. To be sure, the Sung army wanted very much to drive out those invaders from the west. Such noble patriotism was unfortunately expressed in cannibalistic sentiment. But we do not condemn patriotism, do we?
Sometimes, men eat men for magical/mythical reasons. The flesh of the Tang monk, Xuanzang 玄奘 in the classical novel Journey to the West 【西遊記】 is believed to have mythical power so that whoever eats his flesh would become immortal. Of course, in the novel, no demon succeeded in eating his flesh. In real life, belief in sympathetic magic might have led primitive peoples to eat up the corpses of their enemies in order to assimilate their power. More organized primitive religions practised human sacrifices. Eating up the sacrifice might not be the exclusive privilege of the priests. The whole tribe might share the eating as a sign of communion, a sort of mutual bonding. There were also myths surrounding the human sacrifice in which the human victims were instantiations of their god. Therefore, eating the human victims was eating their god and becoming god. The last two points bear some similarity with Christianity and they will be dealt with more thoroughly later.
Lastly, cannibalism can be a political libel, a smear campaign. People discriminated by the majority are usually accused of gruesome practices such as cannibalism. Slave traders could rationalize slavery with a smear campaign. African natives had been captured and sold as slaves in the New World so as to redeem them from cannibalism practised way back in the Dark Continent. 
Such are the many faces of cannibalism. But does Jesus encourage cannibalism in John?

I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh (John 6:51)
So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you;
he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him (John 6:53-54).
Quite a number of atheist web sites attack Christianity because it practises cannibalism and vampirism. Bread and wine are simply socially acceptable ways of cannibalism and vampirism. Christians have long been indoctrinated to eat the flesh and drink the blood of Jesus, making cannibalism subconsciously acceptable to them. That is why we find so many pervert psychotic cannibalistic killers in Christian countries!

The problem with these atheists again is to read the Scripture out of context and refuse to interpret it figuratively. In the gospel of John, Jesus has claimed himself to be the bread of life (John 6), the light of the world (John 8), the door (John 10), the good shepherd (John 10), the resurrection and life (John 11), the way, the truth and the life (John 14) and the true vine (John 15).
Was Jesus a shepherd rather than a carpenter? Can you make a door into a piece of bread or change a piece of bread into a beam of light? If Jesus were a door, which part of his body would we open? Therefore, it is stupid to insist on reading the words of Jesus literally.

Then, why does Jesus want us to eat his flesh? I remember a historical incident which may explain why.
Again during Chun Qiu period, a rebellion broke out in Jin 晉. The crown prince Chong Er 重耳 ran into exile with 9 followers. When Chong Er was starving, he worried about his subjects in Jin. Overhearing this, one of his followers Jie Zhi Tui 介之推 respected him and believed that this crown prince had the potential to be a good king. So, Jie cut out a piece of meat from his thigh, cooked it to feed the starving prince After nineteen years, Chong Er returned and became the famous Jin Wen Gong 晉文公, one of the five warlords in the Chun Qiu period.
If Jie could do it, Jesus could do it better. Jesus also sees the potential in each and everyone of us to be good citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. In order to help us actualize this potential, Jesus feeds us with his own flesh. I think it is beneficial for those atheists who smear Christianity to study a little Chinese history to broaden their mind.

To wrap up cannibalism, let me give a little warning to the interpretations of religious cannibalism by Western anthropologists. We have to be wary of their interpretations because their theory may be contaminated by their Christian background. These anthropologists might read into the religious cannibalism they have observed in the field a Christian meaning which the indigenous people do not have. It is universally true that eating together indicates the membership of a group, a community. It is a sign of communion. But it may not follow that eating the sacrificial flesh together would make one become god. The indigenous people might not think along such a line. The wish of finding the root of Christianity in primitive religions may prove to be circular. Anthropologists find the root of Christianity in primitive religions because they have put the root there.

Dear Lord, I praise You for You are a king maker. I thank You for feeding us with Your precious flesh and blood so that we may partake Your eternal life. May we be worthy to receive You. Amen.