Twentieth First Ordinary Sunday, Year C
Theme: Can’t Afford to Be Complacent 不能安於逸樂
Even though some Chinese reject Christianity, saying that it is an alien religion, actually a lot of Jesus’ teachings sound very much like traditional Confucian teachings. Of course, if you want to, you are able to find a lot of differences. After all, the two cultures speak different languages and employ different images to convey similar messages. Today, Jesus uses the metaphor of a ”narrow door” to tell the followers that they need to be strong enough in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven which is liken to a walled city with only one opening, a narrow door (Luke 13:24). This is a very vivid image which his audience knew well. It is true even in China that ”A man’s home is his castle”. In China, the houses of the rich and powerful were a miniature of a walled city. There was a huge middle door in the front to receive government officials and dignitaries and a narrower side door for daily uses. Some even have a small narrow opening for dogs which carries a famous ambassador story 晏子使楚which goes like this. A king wanted to insult an ambassador from a rival kingdom who was short in stature but was very quick-witted. The welcoming party attempted to insult him and showed the visiting ambassador to a narrow opening to enter the capital. The witty ambassador says, ”People enter a country of dogs through a door for dogs. Am I visiting a country of dogs?” The story continues to show off the wits of the ambassador to accomplish his mission in dignity. So, Chinese audience might not find resonance in this ”narrow door” metaphor because it will conjure up a different image in the Chinese mind. Don’t worry. The Chinese have the same teaching expressed in other ways.
Mencius 孟子 belonged to the third generation of Confucius’ disciples. He was responsible for extending Confucianism to new contexts. In one of his treatises, he began by quoting the lives of historically outstanding individuals. He analysed, drew lessons from their lives and came to a paradoxical aphorism that ”People prosper in tribulations and perish in comforts.生於憂患，死於安樂” Of course, we will not be able to find any teaching on the Kingdom of Heaven in Mencius’ writings. However, Confucianism also teaches her version of an ideal society in which every individual is able to fully utilize his talents and every piece of land can fully yield its resources etc. Isn’t this ideal society similar to our concept of the Kingdom of Heaven in which justice and peace prevail?
The Jews were proud of their ancestor Abraham because he was a good friend of Yahweh. Yahweh was faithful and pledged to make Abraham’s descendants a Chosen People. God made them wealthy and powerful and the United Kingdom of Israel reached her zenith in the dynasty of King Solomon, the son of King David. They felt secure and became complacent. Inevitably, when their prosperity went up, their morality went downhill and consequently, they were conquered by the Assyrians and again by the Babylonians. Before Jesus’ public ministry, John the Baptist scolded the Jews that ”Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones” (Luke 3:8) because they had ignored Isaiah’s prophecy in the first reading we hear today. It is an excerpt from the last chapter of the book of Isaiah. It is a prophecy about the future Kingdom of Heaven which is catholic, universal and all-inclusive. We read of names of foreign places which had never known God. Therefore, God scattered the Jews all over the world in order to spread the knowledge of God to foreign peoples. God also intended to make the Jews let go of their mistaken concept of being an exclusive Chosen People of God. Isaiah says, ”They shall bring all your kin from all the nations as an offering to the Lord” (Isaiah 66:20). The wordings in the last chapter of Isaiah were ambiguous. The meaning of ”your kin from all the nations” can be interpreted narrowly as the Jews scattered all over the nations. But it can also be interpreted as the converts from all the nations. Those converts had become the brothers and sisters of the Jews.
Despite the ambiguity of wordings, one thing is certain. All those who enter the Kingdom of Heaven must be the best ones because they are worthy like ”an offering to the Lord”. In Genesis, God did not look with favour on Cain’s offering because Cain did not act rightly (Genesis 4:7). We assume that Cain did not offer the best to God. He reserved the best produce for himself and offered to God the spare and disposables. Interpreted in this manner, the best people would enter the Kingdom of Heaven. To further clarify the point, Isaiah continues, ”Some of these I will make priests and Levites, says the Lord.” (Isaiah 66:21) It was unimaginable for the Jews to have priests and Levites consecrated from Gentiles. Similarly, it is unimaginable to have woman priests in the Catholic Church while it is perfectly legitimate for Protestants to have woman pastors! Nowadays, we know that the narrow interpretation is wrong. The Kingdom of Heaven is catholic, universal and is not exclusively Jewish. It requires an open-mind, not a complacent attitude in order to enter.
Brethren! Jesus has taught us to be poor, mournful and meek (Matthew 5:3-5)? How can we be poor, meek and mournful but at the same time strong enough to enter the Kingdom of Heaven through the narrow door (Luke 13:24)? Obviously, Jesus is not talking about physical strength and a physical door but spiritual strength and spiritual gate. Now, the second reading today becomes even more meaningful. God allows us to suffer not only to discipline us, but also to strengthen us so that we may be strong enough to enter through the narrow door. We become spiritually poor when we are comfortable to let go of our wealth. When we spend our riches to help the needy and disadvantaged in the society, we become less burdened by worldly worries. We become lighter and slimmer spiritually and will easily go through the narrow door of heaven. Look at it from another perspective, good habits become virtues through constant practices. Charity becomes a theological virtue when we establish good habits to serve the needy. In another Last Judgment story in Matthew, Jesus lay down six corporal works or mercy: to feed the hungry, to drink the thirsty, to cloth the naked, to give shelter to the homeless, to care for the sick and visit the imprisoned (Matthew 25:35-36). These works are not exclusively Christian. Any people of goodwill, whether they know Jesus or not, are able to do. Once more, the catholicity of the first reading is confirmed.
Brethren! Be strong by doing more corporal works of mercy so that we may enter through the narrow gate.
God bless!
2019 Reflection
Picture Credit: tfscc.org
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