A Listening Heart 一顆慧心

Seventeenth Ordinary Sunday, Year A
Theme: A Listening Heart 一顆慧心

There is always a tension between the old and the new, between the juniors and the seniors. People cherishing traditional and conservative views find new things disruptive while people harbouring liberal and progressive views opine that traditionalists are pulling their legs. It is difficult for traditionalists to accept innovations because the old ways are effective. Why bother changing them? Why rock the boat? The progressive thinkers set their eyes on the future as well as their neighbourhood and opine that they are being proactive. We can’t afford to wait lest we’ll be overtaken and be overrun! However, nobody is able to see the future and their assessments of the neighbourhood are different. The future as well as the neighbourhood mean different things to different people. Of course, we cannot stay stagnant forever because “Time and tides wait for no one”. In order to accommodate new ideas, we need to keep our minds open and always fresh. No wonder Jesus says, “People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved” (Matthew 9:17).

Some people opine that religion is an opium for the commoners. People in authority invented some deities for the commoners to worship, to relieve themselves of harsh realities in their daily lives and in the exploitations from social institutions. When you are ill-treated, exploited and cannot find justice on earth, endure to the end [aka in the next world] and you’ll find salvation in the gods you believe, “Whoever endures to the end will be saved” (10:22, 24:13).
In reality, nobody is able to understand all the articles of faith of any global religions. However, men always enjoy playing God and make consequential decisions. Take Christianity as an example, some people think that the Demiurge described in the Old Testament is too cruel and bloody. He kills (Exodus 12:29, 14:28) and orders the Israelites to commit genocides (1 Samuel 15:3). This Demiurge is entirely different from the merciful Father preached by Jesus Christ (Luke 6:36). Therefore, the Old Testament should be excluded from the Holy Bible. Similarly five centuries ago, in order to condemn the corruption arising from the sale of Certificate of Indulgence, Martin Luther removed books from the Old Testament which have Greek renditions only and do not have Hebrew texts in order to uproot the theological basis of selling Indulgence Certificates. Consequently, the Protestant Bible has seven books less than the Catholic Bible. Now fast forward to the early twentieth century, the Hebrew version of one of the deleted books was unearthed but it can no longer be restored in the Protestant Bible! Religion is such a colourful phenomenon and a manifestation of human nature! Describing religion as an opium of the people is at best an oversimplification because of ignorance or perhaps more accurately a political smear.

Adaptation is essential for survival and growth. Though Christianity emerges from Judaism, it is radically different and flourishes. Both of them accept the Ten Commandments as their guideline for living but they practise them in different manners. For example, Jews keep the Sabbath on the seventh day of the week because the Torah says that the Lord rested on the seventh day after six days of Creation (Exodus 20:11). On the other hand, Christians rest and make holy the first day of the week because Jesus Christ resurrected on the first Easter Sunday to liberate us from the bondage of sin (Deuteronomy 5:15)!
Even within Christianity, different denominations disagree to suit their agendas. For example, Protestants take an iconoclastic stance and split the First Commandment into two, the second being “You shall not make for yourself an idol or a likeness of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth” (Exodus 20:4). In order to do away with abusive priests, they insist on the memorial nature of the Holy Communion. Jesus is not present in the bread and therefore they don’t need a class of priests to consecrate the bread! They quote, “Do this in memory of me” (Luke 22:19c) to argue. Incidentally, Catholics insist that Jesus is God and what He says is true. Catholics make use of the same quotation, “This is my body, which will be given for you” (22:19b) to argue! Jesus is present in the Sacrament and therefore, we need a class of priests to consecrate the bread! This choice of stance is clearly done after efforts of deliberation and no longer a consequence of ignorance! It is a matter of political agendas. The question becomes whether those decisions follow God’s will!

In the first reading today, we admire the wise choice of King Solomon. He asks for a listening heart to judge Israelites and to distinguish between good and evil (1 Kings 3:9). Biblical scholars are unable to come up with a definite age at which Solomon became king. His age ranges from twelve to thirty! Don’t be surprised by the number twelve because Jehoash was seven years old when his reign began (2 Kings 12:1)! Thus Solomon was sincere when he says, “But I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act” (1 Kings 3:7b). His wisdom was manifested in the story immediately follows: that Solomon ordered to cut a contested baby into halves and give to the two prostitutes claiming to be the mother (3:16-28). Three thousand proverbs and one thousand and five songs were ascribed to King Solomon (5:12). He spent seven years to build the first Temple dedicated to Yahweh and his fame attracted the Queen of Sheba to visit him and test him with subtle questions (10:1)! Thus Jesus says, “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike” (Matthew 11:25)

However, his riches and prosperity sowed the seeds of his downfall in his later years. In order to maintained peace with nations and tribes around, King Solomon practised political marriages. “He had as wives seven hundred princesses and three hundred concubines” (1 Kings 11:3). With stability and peace, he managed to make the legendary six hundred and sixty-six gold talents a year (10:14). However, those wives turned his heart to follow other gods … (11:4). After his death, the kingdom was divided into two! What can we learn from the biography of King Solomon? Perhaps we can find the answer in one of his proverbs. He says, “The beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord” (Proverbs 9:10a). He lost his fear of the Lord when he allowed his concubines and wives of political marriages to worship their idols in the Temple! It is a pity to see the legendary king lose his listening heart of youth when he set his eyes on power, riches and perhaps lust which make him age quickly.

Brethren, the merciful Lord tells us to let go of worldly desires in exchange for eternal life in the parables of Hidden Treasure and Precious Pearl. He will not force us to give up all we have to buy the treasure or the pearl. We are free to choose. Let’s pray to the Holy Spirit to inspire in us the Fear of the Lord so that with a childlike and listening heart, we will be able to discern God’s will and make the right choice. Amen.
God bless!
2020 Reflection
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