You are of my tribe

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A

Whether consciously or unconsciously, we often fall into the act of setting up barriers between ourselves and others. I think,  if we’re honest, we have to admit that we are basically ‘tribal’– we belong to ethnic and linguistic groups, families and classes; and each ‘tribe’ to which we belong has its own boundaries and limits, rules and expectations–and quite honestly, "we like that"! There are many alluring benefits of our ‘tribalism.’ We find strength and safety in our ‘tribe:’ we know exactly where we stand. It’s good to know there are people who think and believe as we do. However, there are some problems: We get pretty defensive about our ‘tribes’. We believe we’ve got it right, we’ve got it all figured out, we’re convinced that God is on our side and we can’t imagine anyone not thinking or seeing things the same way we and our ‘tribe' do! So, we refuse to open our ‘tribe’ to include anyone outside. You are welcome to be part of us – but, only on our terms!.

When God was setting up a people for Himself that would transmute to the universal community of God’s people, He began with the twelve tribes of Israel. This universal dimension was part of the promise made to Abraham: “by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves” (Genesis 12:3); “by your descendants shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves” (Genesis 22:18). Israel was supposed to be a light to the nations. However, history shows that they failed in this. Because of their special undeniable election as God’s chosen, Israel as a people had developed an aura of uniqueness and distinction. They began to think that they were the only favoured ones and that God does not care about other people.

Today, the readings serve as an important reminder that we should not confine and limit God to our myopic vision of things. He cannot be placed into a pigeonhole of our making. Though, man often draw boundaries, put up barriers, and group themselves into ‘tribes,’ God refuses to be limited in like manner. He crosses the line. In the First Reading, the prophet Isaiah attempted to explode and expand the insular and parochial mentality of the Israelites by reminding them that God extended salvation and deliverance to foreigners and indeed to all who would come to Him in worship on His holy mountain, in His house of prayer. In the Second Reading, St. Paul takes the discussion further by assuring the Gentiles of God’s mercy which is open to everyone. He does this by reminding both Jews and Gentiles that all have sinned, all have been guilty of turning against God, and therefore, all are in need of salvation. God’s divine activities, His justice and mercy, His gift of salvation are not exclusively reserved for a privileged few, but for everyone irrespective of race or religious background. You are part of His tribe as long as you acknowledge that you are a sinner in need of His saving.

In the gospel, we find our Lord Jesus Christ crossing such man-made boundaries and divides. He moved away from the Jewish region to the region of Tyre and Sidon; the ancient Phoenicia (present day Lebanon), an area outside Jewish boundaries. The questions asked could be, why and what did He go there to do? Well the answer can be found in the Gospel story. The story reinforces the point that though Our Lord’s mission had come first for the people of Israel, it was not confined to them. He came as a Saviour for the entire world. The Lord who is not limited by barriers and boundaries encounters another – a woman who also looked beyond the boundaries. She saw beyond the limits. There is crossing of a great divide taking place here: from the chosen people of Israel who have a sense of entitlement to God's favour, to this woman of no standing, now showing faith in the Lord by paying Him homage.

Altering St Mark’s story of the Syro-Phoenican woman, Matthew depicts the story of a Canaanite woman, Israel’s ancient archenemies. It is an understatement to say that Canaanites were despised by Jews.  The Canaanites actually returned the favour and despised them right back. What is it that would make a Canaanite woman reach out to a Jewish Messiah? In a word, desperation. In her torment and desperation, this woman no longer cares who helps her daughter as long as someone helps her! She is able to see beyond her tribal prejudices and hate. But she does more than that. She behaves as someone who has radical faith in the Lord. She called upon the Lord by His messianic title, “Son of David,” the very man and king who had fought with her ancestors, deprived them of their ancestral land and reduced them to landless refugees.

The gospel about the Canaanite woman sounds unusually harsh. At first, the Lord appears not to want to acknowledge that He hears her imploring request; then He says that His mission has to do only with Israel. His third statement underlies the second: the bread He offers belongs to the children, not to the dogs. Now comes the marvellous phrase from the woman: “Ah, yes” or to paraphrase it, “Yes, you are right.” She sees the point of the Lord’s argument and even concedes to it, but she adds, “but even the house dogs can eat the scraps that fall from their master’s table.” This, the Lord cannot resist, any more than He can resist the Gentile centurion of Capernaum: this humble, trusting faith in the Lord conquers His heart and her request is granted. In Capernaum, it was “Lord, don’t trouble yourself; I am not worthy”. Here, it is a willingness to occupy the lowest position, under the table. In each case there was faith, and so Jesus pronounces His judgment: “Woman, you have great faith. Let your wish be granted.”

In speaking about God’s universal plan of salvation, it is easy to overlook the fact that the earthly mission of Our Lord Jesus Christ really has to do with Israel: He is the Messiah of the chosen people, Israel, around which the Gentile nations are to flock, after it has been made whole and come to true faith. The first reading says this clearly. The Lord cannot make an end run around His messianic mission; He can act only by fulfilling it. This mission is accomplished on the Cross, where rejected by Israel, He suffers not only for Israel but for all sinners. Yes, the Lord came to save everybody. He is the Jewish Messiah as foretold, but He had come to offer salvation to everybody. The Messiah was to be a “light for the Gentiles” (Isaiah 42:6). He died on the cross as payment for all our sins, and He rose from death in resurrection, and He was the Good Shepherd and He predicted that His flock would be greatly expanded: “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd” (John 10:16). He is the Messiah of the Jews, but He is our Saviour too.

We are living in times when there is an even greater fear of those who are different. There is a great impatience with those who do not speak our language; with those who have fled their country and sought refuge here without going through the proper channels. There is no denying that we live in a world marked by boundaries, and we cannot pretend that it is otherwise. And yet, we recognise that we worship a God who lives across boundaries, a God that does not belong to any tribe, and with no barrier, save except man’s wilful rejection of His offer of love that can keep Him from His goal of saving us.  The good news that Jesus brings to us again in this Eucharist, does not erase all of the distinctions that we find in our world. But it introduces a new principle—faith in the God who desires “to have mercy on all”, who desires to save us — that unites us across all our human divisions. It is now faith in God’s goodness and mercy, not any ethnic or national identity, that makes one an “insider” in His kingdom. It is our common faith in His abundant providence, that when we gather around the altar of the Lord, we can honestly look each other in the eye and say, “You are my brother. You are my sister. You are of my tribe.”

不要在这里过得太舒服

乙年常年期第15主日     

    作为早期马来西亚南洋华侨的日子并不怎么好过。我们的祖先当年是以移民的身份来到这个国家，他们在这块土地上艰苦地生活，努力谋生，协助了国家的发展。可是，纵然他们付出了许多汗血，今天作为子孙的我们，还是时常被看作是移民、被看成不属于这个国家的第二等公民，更糟糕的是我们又是天主教徒。作为华人的情况已不是很好，更何况是作为一个穆斯林占大多数国家的天主教徒。

    不过事实上，天主教徒既不属于这个国家，也不是这个世界上任何地方的公民。基督徒都像入境者，我们是外乡人和难民。我们不是地上的公民，而是外来者。我们的身份是：照亮黑暗的光。可是这光时常使世界感到不舒服，因为世界并不想让藏在黑暗中的污秽被暴露出来。我们被召叫成为先知，所以一定要逆流而行。我们被召叫成为真理的灯塔，有责任去揭发导致社会罪行的谎言。

    在今天的读经一里，我们听到以色列南国亚毛斯先知的宣讲。其实，天主可以召选以色列北国里的任何一位先知，但祂却不这样做，偏偏选中一位南国的先知。北国的人民向来看不起较为落后的南国。更何况亚毛斯先知根本没有先知的专业资格，他不曾受过正规训练。他只是一个牧羊人，一个修剪无花果树的普通人。然而天主却拣选了他，要他去唤醒整个以色列北国的人。以色列北国已习惯于他们的贪腐、偶像崇拜和罪行；他们急切需要“外来者”提醒他们和天主的关系。

亚毛斯提醒我们，先知的任务既不是要常常对人们的成就歌功颂德，也不是鼓励人们继续为所欲为。不然的话，就等于认同了当时社会的情况。作为先知，更重要的是应该果敢及充满希望地大声呼吁人们谴责罪恶、指责各种谎言和欺骗的手段。就好像在福音中，我们看到十二门徒被派遣出去传教，并过着先知使命的生活，最后将导致他们被社会所拒绝。

     

    耶稣的跟随者并不在这世上累积财富，因此他们的贫困提醒我们，我们不属于这个世界。简朴的生活提醒我们要依赖天主，而不是依靠我们自己的财富和财产。同样的，教会也不能背负种种沉重的包袱。我们应该弃绝处于安逸状态的诱惑，不再眷恋我们所拥有的钱财和权势。当我们能摆脱了物质财富的束缚后，就会记起我们真正的宝藏是在天上，不是在地上。

    我们生来就是这个世界的外乡人。可是借着圣洗圣事，我们得以重生，并进入了新的故乡——我们是为天堂而造的。为履行先知的使命，我们要帮助人们，使他们的眼光超越世俗的职业、志向、学位、房屋和财富。我们有责任使他们看透这一切，以便能窥见天堂——我们永恒家乡的面貌。所以，别太眷恋时世上的一切，不要在这里过得太舒服，因为我们只是世界的过客，这里不是我们的永恒居所。

We were not meant to "Fit In"

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B

In many parts of the world, Christianity is often deemed a foreign imported religion of European origin. This has often been the basis for discrimination, state control and even persecution. Discrimination and persecution is conveniently easier when you are a foreigner, because foreigners have fewer civil rights, if any. Many have attempted to resist this unflattering label by attempts to create a more indigenous Church through efforts of social and cultural accommodation, assimilation and mainstreaming. But whether we like it or not, the label has stuck. Perhaps, there is greater truth to it than we would care to admit.

You see Christians are not meant to fit. In fact, we should naturally feel out of place in any larger society. Christians are like immigrants, foreigners, and refugees. We do not belong. We do not have the rights of citizens. We are outsiders. We are living on the edge of the culture. Therefore, we were never meant to “fit into” society. We were meant to shine as lights in the darkness. And being lights, the world would often feel the discomfort of being around us, as lights tend to reveal the cobwebs and dusty corners that are in need of cleaning. We are called to be prophetic witnesses swimming against the current, denouncing deception and false prophets. This is where we belong – right where God has placed us – fitting into God’s plans rather than that of man.

In case of prophetic ministry, being a foreigner isn’t a disqualifying factor, as we can see in the example of the Prophet Amos in the first reading. In fact, it may be an essential credential. The Prophet Amos lived and exercised his prophetic ministry in the Northern Kingdom of Israel during the long reign of King Jeroboam II. There was one slight problem. Amos was a Southerner. The prophet hailed from Tekoa, a small town about thirteen miles south of Jerusalem in the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Relationship between the North and the South was anything but harmonious. The North held members of the Royal family of Judah as hostages to ensure that the southern neighbour would make no trouble. Not only was the South subservient and a vassal to the North, but also was economically poorer and less sophisticated than their northern counterpart.

Under the reign of Jeroboam II, the northern Kingdom of Israel enjoyed one of its most happy and prosperous periods. He recovered lands lost by his forerunners. He subdued neighbouring nations. Together with success on the battlefields came economic prosperity. Israelites became very wealthy and began living luxurious and comfortable lives. Unfortunately, this prosperity was not matched by a growth in moral standards. On the contrary, Israel was in the moral gutter, wallowing in the filth of her sins. Ignored were the great ideals and commandments of the Torah to help the poor, and to practice justice and loving kindness. Hand in hand with this degeneration of the morals of the people went growing interest in idolatry. People built many altars on mountains to serve the Canaanite gods. The cult surrounding the Golden Calves, which Jeroboam I set up in the north and south of the country to rival the Temple cult in Jerusalem, were promoted with greater fervour. Indeed the prosperity and power of Israel had led them to a false sense of security.

After a while of living in the midst of sin or having been exposed to immorality for too long, we no longer feel outraged—the unthinkable becomes commonplace. This is the consequence of the process of normalisation, naturalisation, and “fitting in.” While the Israelites accepted their lifestyle as normal, the prophet Amos, a foreigner, recognised it as a perversion and an abomination to God. “Amos” means “burden-bearer,” and his message to Israel, one of continuous judgment and denunciation, was indeed a heavy burden.

Amos, of course, faced certain rejection and persecution for his message, yet he denounced the Israelites from the beginning to the end of his book. His lack of credentials did not help - he was not a professional prophet or belong to the school of prophecy called “brotherhood of prophets,” neither was he a priest or religious scholar. To compound matters, he was a foreigner. At a time, when prudent people were afraid to speak up for fear of retribution, Amos unflinchingly didn’t turn away from his ministry, for he feared no one but God. Even when confronted by Amaziah, the priest of Israel, Amos refused and continued to describe the sins of the people. The prophet, undaunted by Amaziah's threats, declares that he does not practise prophesying as a profession or to gain a livelihood, but in obedience to the voice of God. Tradition holds that Amos finally died a violent death at the hands of Jeroboam II. In censuring Israel, Amos would have been misunderstood as a bitter merciless pessimist. Nothing could be further from the truth. Amos was truly a compassionate shepherd who cared enough to confront, one who did not compromise the truth for the sake of preserving his own reputation and livelihood. He reminds us that a prophet’s duty is not always to infuse people with confidence and optimism. He has a greater responsibility to raise his voice, with courage and hope, to denounce sin, falsehood, lies and deception. In this he shows true mercy.

Likewise, we see in the gospel, the Twelve being sent out on mission and called to live a prophetic life that would ultimately lead to their estrangement from society. Being his followers would mean that they would now be at the margins of society. The dispossession and missionary poverty that they were to observe did not merely point to the believer’s transitory life on this earth, but also defined the relationship between a Christian and the unbelieving society. It was going to be prophetically counter-cultural. If our materialistic society preaches that possessions are necessary for security and guaranteeing one’s future, the Christian way of life points to something altogether different – radical dependence on God.

The conditions imposed by Jesus on travelling lightly stresses the importance of always being on the move. We are to steer away from the temptation of growing roots, hanging on to what we possess, holding onto relationships we have established, keeping a firm hold to positions we have acquired. Christians need to be always on the move because we are a missionary people called to proclaim the kingdom of God to furthest ends of the earth. When Christians choose to “fit in” and accommodate to the larger culture, they not only become overly parochial and insular, but also end up losing their missionary edge. Radical dependence means freedom from enslavement to sin, material possessions, false securities, self-sufficiency and pride. Interestingly, the four items required of the Twelve in today’s gospel are identical to that which God told the Hebrews to take on their flight from Egypt in the Exodus (Ex. 12:11). The Hebrews were rescued by God from their condition of slavery in Egypt. But eventually, they found themselves enslaved to new masters – to the things which they brought as additional security. This radical rejection of those items point to a second Exodus which all Christians must take. In order to be free, one must not only be free from external masters but also from the tyranny of self.

We are foreigners and exiles because we have been born anew into a new homeland. We are prophets who are tasked to provide a vision that goes beyond the horizon of this world. But being members of another kingdom makes us outsiders here on earth. We have become strangers because we have become strange. Our values, lifestyle, and priorities will always be radically different from the surrounding culture. Our faith makes us strangers in our own land. We do not fit in. We are not meant to. We are on the margins, just like the poor and the weak. But that will be our redemption!