We must bear in mind the historical situation in the writing of the Torah. The fragmentary materials might have existed for a long time. One or several redactors compiled them during the Persian Kingdom. The memory of Babylonian Captivity was still fresh and naturally the presentation of the materials showed a certain theological bending. To lend authority to this compilation of traditional materials, Moses was made the author.
Sometimes, we might read of a certain piece of prophecy which in fact was only a reporting of certain historical events. For example, the exiles which began in 721 B.C. up to 536 B.C. When the reporting was put in the mouth of Moses who lived in 1250 B.C., these historical events became prophecies. Therefore, we have the following warnings from Moses.
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you are going over the Jordan to possess; you will not live long upon it, but will be utterly destroyed.
And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you.
And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of men's hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.
When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice,
for the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not fail you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers which he swore to them (Deuteronomy 4:26-31).
A historical-critical reading of the text would tell you that this is not a prophecy, but a retelling of historical events. They had sinned. They had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They had been conquered and humiliated. At last, they repented. The Lord is a merciful God. He would honour the covenant He made with their ancestors. This is their theology.
Or take another piece of text as an example. The Jews had been conquered, sent into exiles and humiliated in front of their captors, the Gentiles. These memories were still fresh while the redactor wrote the following.
Keep them (the statues and ordinances) and do them; for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.'
For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him?
And what great nation is there, that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day? (Deuteronomy 4:6-8)
These words fly in the face of reality. The redactors must have been day-dreaming of another world. Had they been a great nation of wise and understanding people or had the Lord been so near to them, they would not have been conquered and sent into exile. Historical-critical reading would cast doubt upon these words. At most, the text is a psychological compensation for their defeat.
Therefore, it is not enough to employ the historical-critical method to the exclusion of other perspectives. Even so, we should take a longer time-reference and see the contribution of Jews throughout human history, especially in the last century. The Jews are really an admirable people.
From the spiritual perspective, Paul had already demonstrated the importance of faith over the Law which is inadequate without the former. "Inadequate" means keeping the Law alone does not guarantee salvation. Therefore, there is nothing to boast about in having the Law and keeping it.
Moreover, the text above affirms the superiority of Christianity over other religions in her more direct access to God. In an age of pluralism and mutual respect, it is a pity to see many Christians fail to share/uphold and insist their positions when they enter into dialogues with other religions.
In conclusion, historical-critical method helps us broaden the reading horizon and understand the text better. But it is wrong to employ it exclusively. We need to keep an open mind and allow a text to be reread in the light of modern contexts. The meanings of a text can never be exhausted in one go.
Dear Lord, Your Law is sweet and cheers up my heart. Your Law is wise and brightens up my eyes. May it guide me to come closer to You. Amen.
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
Monday, 14 March 2011
Making sense of God's decision
Over glasses of whiskey, we talked about local politics and the Bible. I encouraged everybody to read the book of Deuteronomy during this Lent season because Jesus answered Satan's temptations with quotations from it. Therefore, we should follow the footsteps of our Saviour to know this Law book better. Meanwhile, I brought up the question of why God did not allow Moses to enter the Promised Land. I myself was not able to think up a reasonable enough reason to convince myself.
Erminia is always better than me in her faith in God and men. Without any effort, she immediately came up with the view that God had exempted Moses from extra efforts and troubles in the Promised Land and took him directly into heaven. It was not bad at all for Moses, though he might not appreciate God's good will in his earthly life. In view of all the murmurings, disputes and challenges over his leadership during Exodus, life would not be easy for Moses once the Israelites had entered the Promised Land. To spare him from the anticipated toil in the Promised Land, God denied Moses his entry for his good. Our faith tells us that God will always arrange the best things for us. Therefore, denying him entry into Canaan was the best for Moses.
But that doesn't reason well. Moses had faced a lot of troubles during Exodus. With God's supports, Moses weathered through them all. The same should apply in the Promised Land. There was no good reason for God to withdraw His supports for Moses once the Israelites entered Canaan.
Another idea popped up while I was eating my BigMac before the workshop tonight. Since Moses is a pre-figure of Jesus, perhaps his dying outside the Promised Land can find a correspondence in the life of Jesus. Let me explain a bit about this typology. There are many parallel elements between Moses and Jesus to qualify him to be a pre-figure of Jesus. First of all, Moses was brought up in an alien place, the Egyptian court. Jesus was the Word made flesh, living in an alien place. Moses was "betrayed" by a fellow Hebrew and Jesus was betrayed by Judas. Consequently, Moses returned to deliver his fellow Hebrews and Jesus redeemed us all. In Transfiguration, we see clearly that Moses represented the Old Law and Jesus is the giver of the New Law. Therefore, we can say that Moses and the Joseph in Genesis are "types" of Jesus in the Old Testament. Thinking along this line, I may argue that Moses dying outside the Promised Land pre-figured Jesus dying outside Jerusalem. I wonder if I have read too much into the text.
Verbum Domini #37 discusses the literal and spiritual sense of a piece of text. The literal sense is clear. God did not allow Moses to enter Canaan. What about the spiritual sense? According to The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church II, A, 2 and Verbum Domini #37, the spiritual sense is subdivided into 3 senses which deal with the contents of the faith, with the moral life and with our eschatological aspiration. I suppose the interpretation Erminia proposed belongs to "our eschatological aspiration". I don't know to which sense my typological interpretation belongs. By elimination, it is not the moral sense. Can it be the content of Christian faith? I am not sure. Anyway, enough is enough. It is impossible to exhaust the meanings of a piece of Biblical text in one go. I think I should proceed to Deuteronomy 4.
Dear Lord, who can fathom Your wisdom? I pray that You continue to illuminate my senses and make my heart glow. Amen.
Erminia is always better than me in her faith in God and men. Without any effort, she immediately came up with the view that God had exempted Moses from extra efforts and troubles in the Promised Land and took him directly into heaven. It was not bad at all for Moses, though he might not appreciate God's good will in his earthly life. In view of all the murmurings, disputes and challenges over his leadership during Exodus, life would not be easy for Moses once the Israelites had entered the Promised Land. To spare him from the anticipated toil in the Promised Land, God denied Moses his entry for his good. Our faith tells us that God will always arrange the best things for us. Therefore, denying him entry into Canaan was the best for Moses.
But that doesn't reason well. Moses had faced a lot of troubles during Exodus. With God's supports, Moses weathered through them all. The same should apply in the Promised Land. There was no good reason for God to withdraw His supports for Moses once the Israelites entered Canaan.
Another idea popped up while I was eating my BigMac before the workshop tonight. Since Moses is a pre-figure of Jesus, perhaps his dying outside the Promised Land can find a correspondence in the life of Jesus. Let me explain a bit about this typology. There are many parallel elements between Moses and Jesus to qualify him to be a pre-figure of Jesus. First of all, Moses was brought up in an alien place, the Egyptian court. Jesus was the Word made flesh, living in an alien place. Moses was "betrayed" by a fellow Hebrew and Jesus was betrayed by Judas. Consequently, Moses returned to deliver his fellow Hebrews and Jesus redeemed us all. In Transfiguration, we see clearly that Moses represented the Old Law and Jesus is the giver of the New Law. Therefore, we can say that Moses and the Joseph in Genesis are "types" of Jesus in the Old Testament. Thinking along this line, I may argue that Moses dying outside the Promised Land pre-figured Jesus dying outside Jerusalem. I wonder if I have read too much into the text.
Verbum Domini #37 discusses the literal and spiritual sense of a piece of text. The literal sense is clear. God did not allow Moses to enter Canaan. What about the spiritual sense? According to The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church II, A, 2 and Verbum Domini #37, the spiritual sense is subdivided into 3 senses which deal with the contents of the faith, with the moral life and with our eschatological aspiration. I suppose the interpretation Erminia proposed belongs to "our eschatological aspiration". I don't know to which sense my typological interpretation belongs. By elimination, it is not the moral sense. Can it be the content of Christian faith? I am not sure. Anyway, enough is enough. It is impossible to exhaust the meanings of a piece of Biblical text in one go. I think I should proceed to Deuteronomy 4.
Dear Lord, who can fathom Your wisdom? I pray that You continue to illuminate my senses and make my heart glow. Amen.
1st Week of Lent 2011 (Year A)
If man does not have to satisfy his needs, there is no temptation. As long as we remain human, we have needs to satisfy and thus, temptation is inevitable.
Abraham Maslow proposed a hierarchy of human needs: physiological, security, belonging, self-esteem and finally self-actualization. His model is intuitive and widely adopted in the business sector. Managers want to know how to motivate their subordinates to work harder. If there is anything we can criticize it, it fails to account for the spiritual dimension of men. Besides those physical, psychological and social needs, there are spiritual needs as well.
Applying Maslow's model, we can understand Jesus' temptations from an alternative perspective. World hunger and poverty are realities of human life. The causes are many. At present, it is estimated that there are 6.91 billion mouths to feed. To compound the problem, there is an uneven distribution of food and wealth around the earth. In short, world hunger and poverty are rather inevitable. No wonder Jesus defended Magdalene's anointing him in Bethany with the following comment.
But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me.
For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me (Matthew 26:10-11).
Which means God will not solve the problem of world hunger for us because we can solve it by ourselves without God's intervention.
Now, return to Jesus' temptation. Though he is the Son of God, Jesus refuses to abuse his omnipotence to solve the hunger problem. After 40 days of fasting, Jesus was hungry. Satan took this opportunity to test Jesus.
And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread."
But he answered, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.' " (Matthew 4:3-4)
Jesus' answer is a paraphrase of a verse from the Deuteronomy.
And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know; that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but that man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD (Deuteronomy 8:3).
However, the gospels were written in Greek and Jesus' answer is a direct quotation from Septuagint, word for word.
Οὐκ ἐπ᾽ ἄρτῳ μόνῳ ζήσεται ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ παντὶ ῥήματι ἐκπορευομένῳ διὰ στόματος θεοῦ.
Here, Jesus highlighted the spiritual dimension of men. Not only does man have a stomach to fill up, he also has a spirit which may rest only after it has found God, its Creator.
Remember. Man was created in the image and likeness of God. We are created in such a way that we are able to communicate with Him. We are enabled to enter into a dialogue with our Creator. If this spiritual craving is denied, man suffers unspeakably.
In the Eucharistic liturgy, the Word of God and the Body of Christ are both emphasized. We may unite intimately with Christ when we receive his Body. But even if you are a sinner or just a catechumen waiting to be baptized, you can still be able to unite with Christ by listening to his words. Both his Word and his Body satisfy our hunger and quench our thirst.
Let's imagine what would happen if Jesus turned the stones into bread to satisfy his own hunger and that of the world. Such an intervention would surely disrupt the economic order of the world with dire consequences. Immediately, man has no incentive to work to earn his bread. What is there to motivate man to work? When bread (actually stones) were freely available like air and sunshine, man would return to his primitive stage of civilization.
Admittedly, the global economic order is not fair, nor is it healthy. Still, it would even be better to leave it alone, allowing it to run its full course than to meddle with it. Raining manna from heaven was an extraordinary means to handle an extraordinary situation. There was no market in the Sinai desert. Such is not the case in the modern world. There is economic wisdom in Jesus' spiritual answer.
Dear Lord, it is difficult to defend Your position in natural disasters such as the earthquakes and subsequent tsunamis. May we contemplate on Your Word and draw strength from it. Amen.
Abraham Maslow proposed a hierarchy of human needs: physiological, security, belonging, self-esteem and finally self-actualization. His model is intuitive and widely adopted in the business sector. Managers want to know how to motivate their subordinates to work harder. If there is anything we can criticize it, it fails to account for the spiritual dimension of men. Besides those physical, psychological and social needs, there are spiritual needs as well.
Applying Maslow's model, we can understand Jesus' temptations from an alternative perspective. World hunger and poverty are realities of human life. The causes are many. At present, it is estimated that there are 6.91 billion mouths to feed. To compound the problem, there is an uneven distribution of food and wealth around the earth. In short, world hunger and poverty are rather inevitable. No wonder Jesus defended Magdalene's anointing him in Bethany with the following comment.
But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me.
For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me (Matthew 26:10-11).
Which means God will not solve the problem of world hunger for us because we can solve it by ourselves without God's intervention.
Now, return to Jesus' temptation. Though he is the Son of God, Jesus refuses to abuse his omnipotence to solve the hunger problem. After 40 days of fasting, Jesus was hungry. Satan took this opportunity to test Jesus.
And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread."
But he answered, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.' " (Matthew 4:3-4)
Jesus' answer is a paraphrase of a verse from the Deuteronomy.
And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know; that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but that man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD (Deuteronomy 8:3).
However, the gospels were written in Greek and Jesus' answer is a direct quotation from Septuagint, word for word.
Οὐκ ἐπ᾽ ἄρτῳ μόνῳ ζήσεται ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ παντὶ ῥήματι ἐκπορευομένῳ διὰ στόματος θεοῦ.
Here, Jesus highlighted the spiritual dimension of men. Not only does man have a stomach to fill up, he also has a spirit which may rest only after it has found God, its Creator.
Remember. Man was created in the image and likeness of God. We are created in such a way that we are able to communicate with Him. We are enabled to enter into a dialogue with our Creator. If this spiritual craving is denied, man suffers unspeakably.
In the Eucharistic liturgy, the Word of God and the Body of Christ are both emphasized. We may unite intimately with Christ when we receive his Body. But even if you are a sinner or just a catechumen waiting to be baptized, you can still be able to unite with Christ by listening to his words. Both his Word and his Body satisfy our hunger and quench our thirst.
Let's imagine what would happen if Jesus turned the stones into bread to satisfy his own hunger and that of the world. Such an intervention would surely disrupt the economic order of the world with dire consequences. Immediately, man has no incentive to work to earn his bread. What is there to motivate man to work? When bread (actually stones) were freely available like air and sunshine, man would return to his primitive stage of civilization.
Admittedly, the global economic order is not fair, nor is it healthy. Still, it would even be better to leave it alone, allowing it to run its full course than to meddle with it. Raining manna from heaven was an extraordinary means to handle an extraordinary situation. There was no market in the Sinai desert. Such is not the case in the modern world. There is economic wisdom in Jesus' spiritual answer.
Dear Lord, it is difficult to defend Your position in natural disasters such as the earthquakes and subsequent tsunamis. May we contemplate on Your Word and draw strength from it. Amen.
Friday, 11 March 2011
Has God been unfair to Moses?
God had prepared Moses for his mission to deliver the Israelites from Egypt. Since his birth, Moses was well taken care of despite the hostility imposed by Pharaoh (Exodus 1:16). He was able to survive and brought up in the Egyptian court by the daughter of Pharaoh, learning all the skills and crafts of the Egyptians. He was truly an Egyptian prince (Exodus 2:10).
Exodus does not explain why Moses was sympathetic with the Israelite slaves. How did Moses know of his Hebrew origin? Exodus is silent about it.
The contradiction of God's character appears for the first time after He had picked up Moses to deliver the Israelites (Exodus 3:1-4:17). There is a mysterious verse leaving behind by the redactor of Exodus. It reads.
At a lodging place on the way the LORD met him and sought to kill him (Exodus 4:24).
Why did the Lord want to kill Moses after choosing him to be the Saviour of Israelites? The following text suggests that it was because Moses had never been circumcised (Exodus 4:25-26)! What a legalist! However, what Zipporah had done was sympathetic magic! Either way, this piece of text is really troublesome! Nobody is perfect and God should make do with the shortcomings of Moses. Furthermore, isn't God good at making good things out of bad things?
When Moses spent 40 days on Mount Sinai to get the 10 Commandments, the Israelites had become impatient and built a golden calf to lead them. Of course, God was angry and wanted to destroy the Israelites. God proposed to make Moses a great nation instead. But Moses did not seek his personal glory. He successfully dissuaded God from destroying the Israelites. Indeed, Moses had saved God from doing evil (Exodus 32:11-14). Moses should have scored high in staff appraisal. Why then was God so petty as denying Moses from entering the Promised Land?
And I besought the LORD at that time, saying,
'O Lord GOD, thou hast only begun to show thy servant thy greatness and thy mighty hand; for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as thine?
Let me go over, I pray, and see the good land beyond the Jordan, that goodly hill country, and Lebanon.'
But the LORD was angry with me on your account, and would not hearken to me; and the LORD said to me, `Let it suffice you; speak no more to me of this matter.
Go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and behold it with your eyes; for you shall not go over this Jordan.
But charge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him; for he shall go over at the head of this people, and he shall put them in possession of the land which you shall see.' (Deuteronomy 3:23-28)
Numbers gives an account why the Lord was angry with Moses. It was the story of extracting water from the rock in Meribah. God told Moses to tell the rock to yield water. But Moses struck the rock instead. God was displeased. He said that Moses did not believe in Him (Numbers 20:8-12). Exodus tells the same story but God told Moses to strike the rock. Therefore, there was no mention of the anger of God over Moses (Exodus 17:5-6). The Numbers verse better explains why Moses was denied entry into the Promised Land. Was the redactor of Exodus unaware of this conflicting story line? This is another piece of problematic text to explore.
If I were Moses, what would I do? I had played my role but all my efforts and loyalty seemed to have gained me nothing. Worst of all, there would be no higher authority to appeal.
My God, are You doing me any good in denying my entry into the Promised Land? It is not fair!
Exodus does not explain why Moses was sympathetic with the Israelite slaves. How did Moses know of his Hebrew origin? Exodus is silent about it.
The contradiction of God's character appears for the first time after He had picked up Moses to deliver the Israelites (Exodus 3:1-4:17). There is a mysterious verse leaving behind by the redactor of Exodus. It reads.
At a lodging place on the way the LORD met him and sought to kill him (Exodus 4:24).
Why did the Lord want to kill Moses after choosing him to be the Saviour of Israelites? The following text suggests that it was because Moses had never been circumcised (Exodus 4:25-26)! What a legalist! However, what Zipporah had done was sympathetic magic! Either way, this piece of text is really troublesome! Nobody is perfect and God should make do with the shortcomings of Moses. Furthermore, isn't God good at making good things out of bad things?
When Moses spent 40 days on Mount Sinai to get the 10 Commandments, the Israelites had become impatient and built a golden calf to lead them. Of course, God was angry and wanted to destroy the Israelites. God proposed to make Moses a great nation instead. But Moses did not seek his personal glory. He successfully dissuaded God from destroying the Israelites. Indeed, Moses had saved God from doing evil (Exodus 32:11-14). Moses should have scored high in staff appraisal. Why then was God so petty as denying Moses from entering the Promised Land?
And I besought the LORD at that time, saying,
'O Lord GOD, thou hast only begun to show thy servant thy greatness and thy mighty hand; for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as thine?
Let me go over, I pray, and see the good land beyond the Jordan, that goodly hill country, and Lebanon.'
But the LORD was angry with me on your account, and would not hearken to me; and the LORD said to me, `Let it suffice you; speak no more to me of this matter.
Go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and behold it with your eyes; for you shall not go over this Jordan.
But charge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him; for he shall go over at the head of this people, and he shall put them in possession of the land which you shall see.' (Deuteronomy 3:23-28)
Numbers gives an account why the Lord was angry with Moses. It was the story of extracting water from the rock in Meribah. God told Moses to tell the rock to yield water. But Moses struck the rock instead. God was displeased. He said that Moses did not believe in Him (Numbers 20:8-12). Exodus tells the same story but God told Moses to strike the rock. Therefore, there was no mention of the anger of God over Moses (Exodus 17:5-6). The Numbers verse better explains why Moses was denied entry into the Promised Land. Was the redactor of Exodus unaware of this conflicting story line? This is another piece of problematic text to explore.
If I were Moses, what would I do? I had played my role but all my efforts and loyalty seemed to have gained me nothing. Worst of all, there would be no higher authority to appeal.
My God, are You doing me any good in denying my entry into the Promised Land? It is not fair!
The Biblical Israelites as a showcase
The Israelites were chosen to showcase how God and men proceed in their dialogue.
I always fancy how God had tried to rebuild His contact with men once the first family has fallen. God must have travelled around the globe, reaching out to different civilizations until at last, a man responded positively with Him, Noah and his descendants. Then entered Abraham who was able to demonstrate many facets of the interaction between God and man. It is not necessary to be an impeccably virtuous person to find favour in God. Abraham was important because he showed us the importance of faith, rather than virtues, in the interaction with God. Faith, rather than personal moral achievements, is the key element for the salvation of man.
God is faithful and keeps His promises with Abraham. Firstly, God moved Jacob's family to Egypt to multiply it. Then He sent Moses to deliver them out to settle them in Canaan. This is the story of Exodus. Deuteronomy 1 retells, summarizes and highlight the crucial events in this journey. It should not take more than a few months for even a large crowd of 600 thousands (Exodus 12:37) to move from Egypt to Canaan. In the end, the journey took 40 years, all because of their lack of faith in God. In Deuteronomy 1, at the end of their journey, Moses explained to the new generation of Israelites why they took so long to reach the Promised Land.
Soon (11 days) after they had received the 10 Commandments in Mount Horeb, they reached Kadesh-barnea (Deuteronomy 1:2). God instructed them to attack the hill country of the Amorites to occupy it (Deuteronomy 1:20-21). The Israelites hesitated (Deuteronomy 1:27-28). God was angry and swore that none of them might enter the Promised Land, not even Moses (Deuteronomy 1:34-40).
The Israelites knew their mistakes. They were willing to go up to fight just as God had commanded them (Deuteronomy 1:41). But it was too late. God did not give them a second chance. God told them that He would not fight this battle for them. Without God in their midst, they would not succeed. But they did not listen to God again. They fought and lost (Deuteronomy 1:43-44). They wept before the Lord but the Lord would not listen to them (Deuteronomy 1:45).
From then on, they wandered in the wilderness, passing through different places without conquering or occupying them until the stiff-necked generation had died out.
And the time from our leaving Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the brook Zered was thirty-eight years, until the entire generation, that is, the men of war, had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them (Deuteronomy 2:14).
When the time came, God began to fight battles for them. The first to fall was Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon (Deuteronomy 2:24-25). This event is sung Psalms 135, 136.
So, what have we learnt?
Following the instructions from God is the safest bet. But before we listen to Him, we must build up our faith in Him first. To build up our faith in Him, we must turn/return to Him first and when is the right time to turn to Him if not now?
For he says, "At the acceptable time I have listened to you,
and helped you on the day of salvation." (quoting Isaiah 49:8)
Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2).
Dear Lord, give me one chance more. Amen.
I always fancy how God had tried to rebuild His contact with men once the first family has fallen. God must have travelled around the globe, reaching out to different civilizations until at last, a man responded positively with Him, Noah and his descendants. Then entered Abraham who was able to demonstrate many facets of the interaction between God and man. It is not necessary to be an impeccably virtuous person to find favour in God. Abraham was important because he showed us the importance of faith, rather than virtues, in the interaction with God. Faith, rather than personal moral achievements, is the key element for the salvation of man.
God is faithful and keeps His promises with Abraham. Firstly, God moved Jacob's family to Egypt to multiply it. Then He sent Moses to deliver them out to settle them in Canaan. This is the story of Exodus. Deuteronomy 1 retells, summarizes and highlight the crucial events in this journey. It should not take more than a few months for even a large crowd of 600 thousands (Exodus 12:37) to move from Egypt to Canaan. In the end, the journey took 40 years, all because of their lack of faith in God. In Deuteronomy 1, at the end of their journey, Moses explained to the new generation of Israelites why they took so long to reach the Promised Land.
Soon (11 days) after they had received the 10 Commandments in Mount Horeb, they reached Kadesh-barnea (Deuteronomy 1:2). God instructed them to attack the hill country of the Amorites to occupy it (Deuteronomy 1:20-21). The Israelites hesitated (Deuteronomy 1:27-28). God was angry and swore that none of them might enter the Promised Land, not even Moses (Deuteronomy 1:34-40).
The Israelites knew their mistakes. They were willing to go up to fight just as God had commanded them (Deuteronomy 1:41). But it was too late. God did not give them a second chance. God told them that He would not fight this battle for them. Without God in their midst, they would not succeed. But they did not listen to God again. They fought and lost (Deuteronomy 1:43-44). They wept before the Lord but the Lord would not listen to them (Deuteronomy 1:45).
From then on, they wandered in the wilderness, passing through different places without conquering or occupying them until the stiff-necked generation had died out.
And the time from our leaving Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the brook Zered was thirty-eight years, until the entire generation, that is, the men of war, had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them (Deuteronomy 2:14).
When the time came, God began to fight battles for them. The first to fall was Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon (Deuteronomy 2:24-25). This event is sung Psalms 135, 136.
So, what have we learnt?
Following the instructions from God is the safest bet. But before we listen to Him, we must build up our faith in Him first. To build up our faith in Him, we must turn/return to Him first and when is the right time to turn to Him if not now?
For he says, "At the acceptable time I have listened to you,
and helped you on the day of salvation." (quoting Isaiah 49:8)
Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2).
Dear Lord, give me one chance more. Amen.
Wednesday, 9 March 2011
Ash Wednesday 2011
It is my habit to reflect on the daily readings during the Lent season. This year, I have other plans. At first, I intended to read some papal encyclicals, such as the latest Apostolic Exhortation, Verbum Domini. On Monday, after attending the Biblical Formation workshop in which we did Lectio Divina on the Temptation of Jesus, I changed my mind. I decided to spend time reflecting on the book of Deuteronomy first. And if I am able to finish the book before Palm Sunday, I will switch back to the reading of Verbum Domini.
Deuteronomy begins with the setting of the location and time.
The location was:
These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah over against Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.
It is eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea.(Deuteronomy 1:1-2)
The time was:
And in the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel according to all that the LORD had given him in commandment to them,
after he had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and in Edrei (Deuteronomy 1:3-4).
Moses retold what they had gone through, how the Israelites had multiplied and it became too heavy a burden for Moses to settle their disputes alone so that Moses appointed "heads" to share his administrative work (Deuteronomy 1:9-17).
Now that they had arrived at the hill country of the Amorites which the Lord had given them to take possession of and that they had sent spies to inspect the terrains and found that it was a good land (Deuteronomy 1:19-25), yet they hesitated and thought up stupid reasons not to go ahead to occupy the land.
and you murmured in your tents, and said, 'Because the LORD hated us he has brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.
Whither are we going up? Our brethren have made our hearts melt, saying, "The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there."'(Deuteronomy 1:27-28)
The Israelites had come all the way there after spending 40 years. Why then did they still doubt the promises of God? While the readers should feel sorry for this people, we don't need to go too far to find one modern day example. My boss.
We organized an Ash Wednesday Prayer Service and Hunger Meal today. The Supervisor would come to celebrate with us and would impose ash on the foreheads of the Catholic students and teachers who presented themselves in this activity. Due to the "unhappy" experience of the blessing of the renovated staff room and school library, my boss doubted very much whether a nun had the authority to impose ash. Today, he did not go out to receive the imposition of ash from the Supervisor, his boss!
What a pity! Why should he doubt and lose this opportunity to receive the blessing from God? Of course, he has no obligation to go out to receive the ash. He is free not to receive, just like everyone else who has the freedom not to receive God's grace. He has a doubtful conscience but it is his responsibility to clarify. Of course, he might have a certain, but wrong conscience. He wrongly believed that a nun did not have the authority to impose the holy ash and he acted accordingly.
What a pity! The ash is not a sacrament, like the Holy Communion. In that case, even a layman, an extraordinary minister can give the consecrated Holy Communion to people who cannot attend masses in the Church. Our Supervisor did not bless the ash in our prayer service. She brought the blessed ash from the parish. Even if the Bishop's approval is required, we don't need to query our Supervisor. It is her responsibility to obtain the approval and if she has done it before, she has already obtained the approval. We should give her the benefit of doubt. What is the problem of receiving the ash from a female? Bigotry is truly disabling and unfortunate.
Dear Lord, may we keep our hearts open to receive graces of which we dare not to dream. May the reflections in Lent purify our souls so that we shall be able to receive Your blessings more fully. Amen.
Deuteronomy begins with the setting of the location and time.
The location was:
These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah over against Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.
It is eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea.(Deuteronomy 1:1-2)
The time was:
And in the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel according to all that the LORD had given him in commandment to them,
after he had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and in Edrei (Deuteronomy 1:3-4).
Moses retold what they had gone through, how the Israelites had multiplied and it became too heavy a burden for Moses to settle their disputes alone so that Moses appointed "heads" to share his administrative work (Deuteronomy 1:9-17).
Now that they had arrived at the hill country of the Amorites which the Lord had given them to take possession of and that they had sent spies to inspect the terrains and found that it was a good land (Deuteronomy 1:19-25), yet they hesitated and thought up stupid reasons not to go ahead to occupy the land.
and you murmured in your tents, and said, 'Because the LORD hated us he has brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.
Whither are we going up? Our brethren have made our hearts melt, saying, "The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there."'(Deuteronomy 1:27-28)
The Israelites had come all the way there after spending 40 years. Why then did they still doubt the promises of God? While the readers should feel sorry for this people, we don't need to go too far to find one modern day example. My boss.
We organized an Ash Wednesday Prayer Service and Hunger Meal today. The Supervisor would come to celebrate with us and would impose ash on the foreheads of the Catholic students and teachers who presented themselves in this activity. Due to the "unhappy" experience of the blessing of the renovated staff room and school library, my boss doubted very much whether a nun had the authority to impose ash. Today, he did not go out to receive the imposition of ash from the Supervisor, his boss!
What a pity! Why should he doubt and lose this opportunity to receive the blessing from God? Of course, he has no obligation to go out to receive the ash. He is free not to receive, just like everyone else who has the freedom not to receive God's grace. He has a doubtful conscience but it is his responsibility to clarify. Of course, he might have a certain, but wrong conscience. He wrongly believed that a nun did not have the authority to impose the holy ash and he acted accordingly.
What a pity! The ash is not a sacrament, like the Holy Communion. In that case, even a layman, an extraordinary minister can give the consecrated Holy Communion to people who cannot attend masses in the Church. Our Supervisor did not bless the ash in our prayer service. She brought the blessed ash from the parish. Even if the Bishop's approval is required, we don't need to query our Supervisor. It is her responsibility to obtain the approval and if she has done it before, she has already obtained the approval. We should give her the benefit of doubt. What is the problem of receiving the ash from a female? Bigotry is truly disabling and unfortunate.
Dear Lord, may we keep our hearts open to receive graces of which we dare not to dream. May the reflections in Lent purify our souls so that we shall be able to receive Your blessings more fully. Amen.
Sunday, 6 March 2011
Action speaks louder than words
What makes idolatory attractive?
Many of the hand-made idols look monstrous and scary. Shouldn't idolatory be repulsive? Many of these cults engage in morally debasing practices such as sexual orgies and even human sacrifices. We find in history and archeology, records of temple prostitutes and King Ahaz burned his children after Canaan deities (2 Chronicles 28:3). Shouldn't idolatory be despised?
I think idolatory meets the human needs of security and autonomy. That explains why it is wide-spread even though it is repulsive.
Mother nature is unpredictable and our God is elusive. Therefore, we cannot blame ancient people for engaging in idolatory because those deities were more controllable and manageable than our God. Those fertility deities appear to answer our needs, give us abundant harvest though the harvest comes from God.
On the other hand, deep down in man's psyche, there has always been a denial of his being a creature. Man wants to take full control over his destiny. He wants autonomy. That is why man works hard to drive God out of his world and wants to become a god himself.
Well, like it or not, it is a price God and man must pay to honour the free will God gives us. God does not want to force man to worship HIm. He paid a heavy price by sending His Son to die on the cross for us. Man is free to choose. He pays a heavy price if he chooses the wrong way of life. This cosmic game is played out in human history, in the salvation history recorded in the Bible.
God helped man by making his life more manageable and controllable. Through Moses, God lay down the rules of the game: keep the commandments and do not worship idols.
Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse:
the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day,
and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods which you have not known (Deuteronomy 11:26-28).
Nothing can be simpler. But why then did man continue to turn to idols? Were the commandments too difficult to observe? Men were able to do more challenging and heroic feats. So, what's wrong with man?
Man has created a new kind of idols. God intended man to turn to Him through keeping the law. However, man went to the extreme and wrongly believed that by working hard himself in keeping the law, he would be blameless and justified before God. He turned the law into idols and forgot his Creator. St. Paul pointed out that this was an illusion. Justification is not achieved through hard work. Rather, it is through our faith in Jesus, in his death and resurrection.
they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus,
whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith (Romans 3:24-25a).
Many were not convinced. They still cling to something tangible. They are insecure and need to hold on to something more concrete. They hang on to the idols they create. Miserable, isn't it?
If Paul's message has not driven home, Jesus' stunning words should.
On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?'
And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.'(Matthew 7:22-23)
Working miracles, driving out demons and prophesying in Jesus' name. Aren't these what every Christian should be envy of? Yet, Jesus called them evildoers! What's wrong with these miraculous works? Without God's blessing, who could do these feats? Yet, Jesus called them evildoers! What is missing?
Jesus does not want these spectacular and popular feats. He wants something else.
Well, we need to know the context. The gospel reading today is the summary of the Sermon on the Mount. Therefore, when Jesus told his listeners to put what they had heard into practice (Matthew 7:24), it was putting the whole of chapters 5 to 7 of St. Matthew into practice. We cannot be selective and do things that are convenient, those that make us look good in front of the others. Often, the Sermon on the Mount turns the ethical positions upside down. It is a very demanding way of life, a life of those who are strengthened with God's grace, whose life has been touched by God's love. Otherwise, it would be too easy to resign into impossibility.
Dear Lord, for Your greater glory, give us the grace to practise what we have heard from You. Amen.
Many of the hand-made idols look monstrous and scary. Shouldn't idolatory be repulsive? Many of these cults engage in morally debasing practices such as sexual orgies and even human sacrifices. We find in history and archeology, records of temple prostitutes and King Ahaz burned his children after Canaan deities (2 Chronicles 28:3). Shouldn't idolatory be despised?
I think idolatory meets the human needs of security and autonomy. That explains why it is wide-spread even though it is repulsive.
Mother nature is unpredictable and our God is elusive. Therefore, we cannot blame ancient people for engaging in idolatory because those deities were more controllable and manageable than our God. Those fertility deities appear to answer our needs, give us abundant harvest though the harvest comes from God.
On the other hand, deep down in man's psyche, there has always been a denial of his being a creature. Man wants to take full control over his destiny. He wants autonomy. That is why man works hard to drive God out of his world and wants to become a god himself.
Well, like it or not, it is a price God and man must pay to honour the free will God gives us. God does not want to force man to worship HIm. He paid a heavy price by sending His Son to die on the cross for us. Man is free to choose. He pays a heavy price if he chooses the wrong way of life. This cosmic game is played out in human history, in the salvation history recorded in the Bible.
God helped man by making his life more manageable and controllable. Through Moses, God lay down the rules of the game: keep the commandments and do not worship idols.
Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse:
the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day,
and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods which you have not known (Deuteronomy 11:26-28).
Nothing can be simpler. But why then did man continue to turn to idols? Were the commandments too difficult to observe? Men were able to do more challenging and heroic feats. So, what's wrong with man?
Man has created a new kind of idols. God intended man to turn to Him through keeping the law. However, man went to the extreme and wrongly believed that by working hard himself in keeping the law, he would be blameless and justified before God. He turned the law into idols and forgot his Creator. St. Paul pointed out that this was an illusion. Justification is not achieved through hard work. Rather, it is through our faith in Jesus, in his death and resurrection.
they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus,
whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith (Romans 3:24-25a).
Many were not convinced. They still cling to something tangible. They are insecure and need to hold on to something more concrete. They hang on to the idols they create. Miserable, isn't it?
If Paul's message has not driven home, Jesus' stunning words should.
On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?'
And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.'(Matthew 7:22-23)
Working miracles, driving out demons and prophesying in Jesus' name. Aren't these what every Christian should be envy of? Yet, Jesus called them evildoers! What's wrong with these miraculous works? Without God's blessing, who could do these feats? Yet, Jesus called them evildoers! What is missing?
Jesus does not want these spectacular and popular feats. He wants something else.
Well, we need to know the context. The gospel reading today is the summary of the Sermon on the Mount. Therefore, when Jesus told his listeners to put what they had heard into practice (Matthew 7:24), it was putting the whole of chapters 5 to 7 of St. Matthew into practice. We cannot be selective and do things that are convenient, those that make us look good in front of the others. Often, the Sermon on the Mount turns the ethical positions upside down. It is a very demanding way of life, a life of those who are strengthened with God's grace, whose life has been touched by God's love. Otherwise, it would be too easy to resign into impossibility.
Dear Lord, for Your greater glory, give us the grace to practise what we have heard from You. Amen.
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