不要做完美主義者 Don't Be A Perfectionist

Mission Sunday, Year B
Theme: Don't Be A Perfectionist

We have been suffering in this pandemic for nearly two years. Though many countries have vaccinated their citizens, the end of Covid-19 is not yet in sight. Most likely, we have to sleep with the virus for the rest of our days until the Lord returns. Therefore, the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong chooses “Emmanuel” to be the theme of Mission Sunday of this year, a reminder of Jesus’ pledge before He ascended into heaven to encourage us that the Lord “is with you always until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) Of course, the Lord’s pledge was preceded with a commission which was the raison d'être of His pledge, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” (28:19-20) No matter how difficult life is, evangelization is a necessity, not an option. No matter how difficult life is, the good Lord will accompany us to weather through.

The first verse of the gospel passage touches me. I need to meditate more on it, which reads, “Jesus appeared to the Eleven and speaks to them…” (Mark 16:14) What touches me is “the Eleven”! Hasn’t Jesus called the Twelve? Yes, He did, but Judas betrayed Him and committed suicide. Yes, we know. But would the good Lord’s pledge still apply to Judas? You might object for several valid reasons.
First of all, when the risen Lord made His pledge, He intended to apply it to the future generations only. Judas had already died. Therefore this pledge does not apply to Judas.
I dare not to read the Lord’s mind nor interpreting His intentions. Who could (Isaiah 40:13-14)? I would rather say that the Lord is eternal with the Father. To argue otherwise is an Arian heresy. He is timeless. What’s revealed in the gospel has long been in His mind before the beginning of time! Furthermore, even if we want to strictly follow the temporal line, I would counter that the title “Emmanuel” was revealed by a prophet (7:14) some 500 years B. C. Thus Judas should also be included.

Secondly, you might object because Judas himself was to blame. He was morally responsible for his own choices and actions, which was to cut himself away from the Lord.
I would counter that even if Judas cut himself away from God, where could Satan hide him? The Psalter says, “Where can I go from your spirit? From your presence, where can I flee? If I ascend to the heavens, you are there; if I lie down in Sheol, there you are.” (Psalms 139:7-8) God is omnipresent. If He so desires, what can prevent God from going to Hell? Through the mystery of Incarnation, the Son of God is even able to die. How wondrous the mystery is, an immortal God who dies! According to the Apostles’ Creed, we say that, “Jesus descended into Hell” Of course the good Lord was not receiving punishment in Hell. Church Fathers say that He spent three days in Hell to release the Patriarchs and the righteous of the Old Testaments who went before Him. Now, where would Judas be and where would the penitent thief (Luke 23:43) be? Perhaps there’s still room for Judas to repent like the penitent thief even when he committed suicide!
The second reading today states it without ambiguity, God our saviour “wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4) And “What is truth?” (John 18:38) Jesus is (14:6)! “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” (Colossians 1:15) John the beloved disciple of the Lord sees in the visible Lord that the invisible God is love (1 John 4:8). And who is able to attain eternal life? “Everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.” (John 3:15) Didn’t Judas believe in Jesus, even for just a brief period of time before the betrayal? Therefore, it is highly suggestive / speculative to think that Jesus would also release them from Hell etc. The case of Judas is always fascinating. Both sides are able to exchange volleys of counter arguments, though such speculations are not very fruitful for our salvation. After all, the fate of Judas is like that of the Schrödinger's cat which could only be known on the Judgment Day!

Nowadays many people have fallen into an unnecessary temptation of becoming perfectionists. They tend to be obsessive and to overkill. For example, organizers of sport events claim on one hand that sports are politically neutral. But on the other hand, they dare not to permit dissidents who don’t toe the party line to participate. In the name of security, no athletes are allowed to show any political gestures during the event! The mandarins show similar symptoms of obssession. They only allow patriots to run the show. They systematically lock up dissidents, freeze their assests and silence all oppositions etc. Why do all of them change their usual practices? They blame the “violent actions” of the younger generation for touching the nerves of the north, provoking the north to take action to crack down oppositions. Perhaps they would even quote Jesus who teaches us to calculate whether we can successfully oppose the north. If not, we had better send a delgation to ask for peace terms (Luke 14:31-32). In other words, surrender our autonomy to allow the north to dictate our life. Similarly, if we are not able to complete a project to our satisfaction, we shouldn’t start it at all. In other words, if we are not able to convert people to believe in Jesus Christ, it would be prudent not to start evangelization!

Today is Mission Sunday. The number “Eleven” gives me much relief! I would counter the perfectionists that even the good Lord Himself is not able to attain 100% passing rate. One of His disciples had failed miserably. Are we better than the Son of God? If not, we should never try to be a perfectionist, demanding that everyone we speak to would be converted, that only patriots are allowed to run the show and that runners should not wear garments with political statements! Let us not play God. Let God plays Himself and be the perfect one (Matthew 5:48), not in the sense of making unreasonable demands on us but let the good Lord show His mercy and finish the case of Judas! Each one of us is different. Some are more visibly patriotic than the others. Some are more talented, in other words given more gifts by God, than the others. At the end of the day, God expects more from those who are given more and punishes those who don’t make good use of the gifts (12:48). The north also expects the visibly more patriotic ones to run the show. However, the north is not God though it enjoys playing God. The parable of Talentum makes it clear that the lazy servant is punished only because he doesn’t make good use of the talents God has given him (Matthew 25:29-30)! Is the north able to do the same, punishing those who are patriotic not in the manners defined by the north? The north thinks it is God.

Brethren! What should the Church do? What should we, who make up the Church, do? I would say that we show follow the advice of the apostle to pray “for kings and for all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity.” (1 Timothy 2:2) We continue to obey the Lord’s instruction to “go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15) The message of the gospel is simply that, “God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them.” (2 Corinthians 5:19) So we continue to serve the needy, the disadvantaged and the marginalized through driving out demons and healing the sick with our hands (Mark 16:17-18). Leave vengeance to God. Let God play Himself. Amen.
Picture Credit:lawpracticetoday.org