You will not be disappointed

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C

Expectations are hard to live up to. One moment you are feted as a hero, the next as a “zero,” a total let down, when you don’t meet up to the initial expectations of others. The tag line emerging from the latest addition to the Spider-Man franchise has this quote from MJ, the love interest of the current incarnation of the eponymous protagonist, “if you expect disappointment, then you can never really get disappointed.” Cynical sounding, but let’s be honest - it has a certain ring of truth to it. As the new Parish Priest, I seem to have adopted this cautious approach, fearing that my initial warm welcome would soon expire once parishioners realise that I’m not the solution to their problems nor hardly the “hero” they had been expecting. In fact, I may turn out to be their greatest fear and regret. Well, let’s see as the drama unfolds.

This was the fate of our Lord. Today’s episode shows that the judgment of public opinion at best is fickle, at worst tyrannical. This passage follows immediately from last week’s episode where our Lord, after reading the passage from the Book of Isaiah, was treated like the local hero. They marvelled at the wonderful things He said among them. They were beaming with pride as He was one of their own. He spoke with such eloquence and graciousness that this “won the approval of all.” He told them that the words of hope they treasured in the Scripture, were being fulfilled in their hearing. Everything was going well, until our Lord began to challenge their expectations, perception and belief system.

Our Lord takes up the attitude and role of a prophet and in so doing, begins to provoke His listeners. He ‘judgmentally’ tells His audience that His prophetic words will not be accepted or recognised “in his own country”, citing two examples of great prophets in the Old Testament who were also rejected by their own people. When the Lord shifted the tone of His sermon, the crowd’s response also moved from hospitality to hostility. We might well think the Lord was imprudent in the way He provoked His audience. It is always wise to look for allies rather than make enemies. Yet, later Christian teaching and preaching will imitate His method. The martyrs and confessors of the Church had to pay the price for it. One can tiptoe diplomatically around the sensitivities of others only for a short time before it leads to the point where one has to jump feet first into truth-telling.

This Gospel is like a microcosm of the whole story. How often this same pattern reoccurs in the life of Jesus – that people follow Him and then go off in a different direction when things don’t suit their agenda, when the Gospel He preaches is no longer “nice” but has a sharp painful sting to it with a big price tag. There is no problem when you tell people what they want to hear. The man whose message is ‘repent’ sets himself against his age, and will be battered mercilessly by the age whose moral tone he challenges. There is but one end for such a man…either rejection or death!

To be prophetic is to call sin, sin. It is to say, without apology or reservation, “The Lord says ...” and sometimes, He says things which are not very comforting or pleasing to the ear, especially when He is confronting our sinfulness. He did so, not because He was intentionally mean and wanted to hurt His listeners. Truth can often sound unmerciful, unkind and rather cold. But St Paul was right in the second reading. The prophet is motivated by love, never by spite. Love doesn’t seek to hide the truth. Love doesn’t lie. We often tell “white lies”, lies which are for the intention of keeping the peace and maintaining good relationships with others, not because we love that person but out of self-preservation.

Today’s Gospel also challenges my vocation as a priest. Being configured to Christ, which means, being called to become more and more like Christ, I find this aspect of my priestly ministry most demanding. As a human person, I would certainly wish to be liked or even loved by all. But a priest friend once told me that the job of a Parish Priest is not to be liked but to be hated. He means that if a priest is doing his job, and doing it right, there are bound to be people who would disagree with him or eventually hate him. Bishop Emeritus Anthony Selvanayagam once shared how the legendary late Monsignor Aloysius gave him this piece of advice, “A bishop must have the wisdom of Solomon, the patience of Job and the hide of a rhinoceros.” No wonder we have so few bishops and God forbid if any of us priest ever got chosen to be one.

The truth is that whether it be a bishop, a priest, or a parent, or just an ordinary Christian, our job is not to be popular. Our job is to be faithful and that’s the hardest part of our calling because being faithful earns you enemies. If you have no enemies, it means that you have no principles. My priest friend also gave me this quote which has been attributed to Winston Churchill, “You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.” The litmus test of a true Christian is best measured not by how many bouquets that have been pinned on him, but rather by how many brickbats that have been pitched at him. Prophets have been on the receiving end of mud more than medals. Popularity has killed more prophets than persecution.

The prophet’s calling is lonely, sometimes discouraging and usually misunderstood. People will either run from a prophet or try to destroy him – only the remnant minority receives the prophet and his message with gladness. But remember this - the only reason a true prophet speaks is because he is compelled by God and moved by Love, a love that “takes no pleasure in other people’s sins but delights in the truth.” The prophet may not be perfect. He often isn’t. He too is broken by sin but he desires God’s people to experience God’s best and experience what he has experienced – forgiveness and mercy at the point of repentance. And if we doubt whether we would have the gumption or the “hide of a rhinoceros” to do the job, let us be reminded that we have something far greater – the promise of the Lord to make us into “a fortified city, a pillar of iron, and a wall of bronze to confront all.” Our Lord will not disappoint us, so it’s okay to have this high expectation of Him. He assures you: “They will fight against you but shall not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you – it is the Lord who speaks!”