God knew Adam and Eve had already sinned. Yet, He allowed them both to take responsibility for their sins. And of course what happened is really the classic experience that we are familiar with and this is even carried into the Confessional. It is the phenomenon of blaming. Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed Satan.
Who is to blame is not the point of Genesis but it is rather a way of owning up to our sins. When Adam and Eve hid from God, it is also a form of “lying” as they do not want God to see them for who they truly are. It shows that perception appears to be a crucial criterion of being who we are and it has become prevalent, so much so that we may have forgotten that our true image is to be a reflexion of God. In a manner of speaking, to be an image is vocationalbecause it is a calling to shine with the face of God.
This Sunday, we are provided with the themes of family, perception, fabrication or lies and doing the will of God. What does it entail to be God’s image in every circumstance of our life?
In today’s Gospel, Jesus was living out His vocation, that is, to do the will of the Father. Here comes the family. Our families sometimes know us too well and sometimes they do not. In fact, they are “familiar” (no pun intended) so much so that they would like us to take a certain trajectory, a certain pathway to what we are supposed to be. For example, in some families, the only paths open for them are doctor, engineers, accountants and lawyers. In the case of Jesus, after His baptism in the Jordan, His first act was the preach the Kingdom of God. The family must have felt that He should have continued with Joseph’s trade. To be a carpenter possibly. The family probably thought they were doing Him a favour and they did so out of concern for Him. What would people think of an itinerant preacher with no proper income?
Then we come to the slightly larger family and they are the villagers, the towns’ people and those who might have heard and encountered Him. In general, we form our idea or perception based on our experiences. What we do not know is often supplied by our imagination, either we fabricate or we use whatever we are best familiar with in our personal situation to complete the narrative. It is easier to think less of others than to think better of them. They adduced evil origins for Jesus’ ability to cure and heal the sick. It is not unreasonable for them, given their ignorance and prejudice, to assume half-truths. For example, when we hear the word politician, particularly in this country, even the good he or she tries to promote, we almost always have the sneaky prejudice at the back of our heads that this is just “another corrupt politician”.
One of the reasons for such a dismal view of man is social media. Whether we like it or not, we wear many lenses today and one of the most coloured lenses is “wokeism”. We are expected to be sensitive to social and political injustice, that is, to be well-informed and up-to-date with issues affecting society. Whether or not it is fashionable to be “woke”, the fact is that we may have become possiblya bit over-sensitive. Everything seems to be viewed through the optics of gender or sex, race or colour, victim or oppressed. These lenses are powerful if we live in a bubble, an echo chamber which serves to herd or hive our minds into seeing the same thing again and again, only to reinforce what we want to believe.
Nobody sets out to lie but when we have no filter we often will echo whatever lies we have received. Group thinking profits no one. In this era of hypersonic speed, an outrage observation can easily deteriorate into a riot of cancellation and rejection. Think of the socks with the word Allah in it. The truth is never served but what can help us is to follow a principle. Whatever we want to proclaim, it must be true. But not everything true needs to be proclaimed. It calls for prudence and this comes from a wisdom of praying and begging the Lord for this profound wisdom.
Jesus got His image tarnished by those who may have unwittingly spread lies about Him. Today we call it optics and optics provide perception. Or as they say, “The medium is the message”. Every organisation feels the need to provide the proper optics but nothing can ever outshine Truth, no matter how dark it is. Truth here is not a thing but holding on to Christ. The one thing any public figure or even a private person has no control over is perception. People will say what they want even if one is doing good. It is the norm today and we should never be surprised.
This episode in Jesus’ life illustrates that God’s will is always a tough vocationto embrace. The good news is that Jesus has done it and many countless saintshave likewise followed. The one reminder to help keep us on the straight and narrow is to know the difference. It means that when we are doing God’s will, there will be opposition. Satan will definitely throw obstacles into the path of what we are supposed to do. As long as we embrace the Truth, who is Jesus Christ Himself, lies will appear. But not every opposition we face is proof that we are doing God’s work. Opposition could arise because we are sinners with our pride and blindness. It is wisdom to know the difference and the humility to change course when we recognise that what we are doing is not God’s will. This humility is wisdom at its best and it is a strength and a gift from God which we need and must pray for, if we intend to follow Christ closely.
