14th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C 2019

The mission of the Seventy Two is peculiar to Luke’s Gospel. There, Jesus sent them out like lambs amongst wolves. Whilst it conjures an image of innocence in the clenched jaws of violence, it actually fits perfectly into our liturgy: “Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world”. In other words, followers of Jesus are lambs sent to bear the consequences of their own sins and also of the world. What that means is that we embrace hatred not because we espouse or champion it but rather through our embrace, love may flow out through us. Just like Jesus did. The buck stopped with Him. If you remember last week’s Gospel, the Apostles wanted to call down fire and brimstone onto a village. But, instead of shedding the blood of others, Jesus took upon Himself the results of our sins so that we may be freed from sinning. If you like, the disciple, following the footsteps of His Master, allows himself to be a punching bag.

To allow others to walk all over you? Woah… stop it there, right?

In this day and age, it is truly a tall order. Ordinarily, discipleship is already next to impossible, how much more in a world of victims? Our class, gender, hierarchical or racial radars are already on hyper alert for the slightest scorn or snub to our honour or dignity. We are taught to oppose any forms of victimisation even as we ironically emphasise our victimhood. In other words, we may eschew victimisation (being victimised) but at the same time we celebrate victimhood by making sure that others know that we have been done to or aggrieved and demand that we be protected from hurt and harm. I am sure you recognise terms such as safe spaces and trigger warnings.

If we are such pathetic victims, then how can we bear insults or humiliation for the Lord? What is humility in such a culture? Indeed, the days of meekly accepting our station in life are long over as we inhale this competitive fume of entitlement and individual autonomy. I decide for myself what I want to be. So, in this dignified safe space of self-actualisation and self-determination, how can one be a lamb amongst wolves?

Perhaps there might be a way out of this problematic.

Let us explore another impossible task to see if it can shed light on what Jesus is asking of us. The famous but probably impossible exercise is the Franciscan encyclical “Laudato si”, which advocates the preservation of the environment. It is conceivably a Sisyphean task which is never going to succeed because our current model of meaning is based on consumption. The so-called ecological drive to avert an environmental disaster is easier said than done. For example, if everyone were to stop consuming, there would be a cessation of goods and services. If that happens, then, there will be an economic slowdown. The short of it, families will starve.

The sad reality is that our notion of meaning is trapped within the cycle of consumption. Most unfortunately the unchallenged logic underpinning our consumption is the endless supply of resources. Even the very green policies, adopted to avert the impending ecological disaster, are geared towards consumption. Why would we have biodegradable bags? If plastic is that bad, should we not just ban it? A plausible reason for our continued use is that we have successfully commercialise the tag “biodegradability”. Since it is biodegradable, we salve our guilt by hastening its breakdown. In other words, it is a worry-free consumption because the plastic bag will breakdown into is harmless starch components. This so-called “green policy” enables us to maintain the rapacious rate of consumption.

Some have ventured to query if there could be another basis for meaning besides that of consumption.

What is also devastating is that the current notion of meaning derived from devouring is not predicated on quantity but quality. It is not how much we can consume even though we are gluttons but rather the ability to consume. Hence, it implies that we must increase the opportunities of consumption. Simply translated: more money. In order to consume “quality stuff” we require a never ending supply of money. Perhaps you understand why the country skidded down the slippery slope of corruption. In general, however, the possibility of consumption is illustrated through exclusivity—first class travels to expensive vacations, haute fashion—no less than Birkin bags, exotic seafood—abalone, shark’s fins, spacious sport vehicles—Axia is a mobile Milo tin can or alternatively a moving coffin, luxurious condominiums—2000sq ft is a cramped refugee shack. If you were filthy rich, would you travel on Air Asia? This type of consumption generated by meaning is supported by the easy availability of money, lots of money or an obscene amount of wealth. It explains why JB is the second largest city. So many are living here and working in the neighbouring country. Why go through the hassle if money were not an objective? Nothing wrong with that but we must ask an important question.

In a world awash with money for consuming, can we truly find meaning therein?

Perhaps we should ask many of the elderly parishioners present what their greatest fears are? Abandonment? Poor health? Loneliness? What are these fears but merely masks for the fear of death and the beyond?

So, what lies beyond death? The pat answer is paradise but we do struggle to comprehend heaven. Why? It is because the meaning of the word meaning has changed. Once upon a time, meaning was derived from having moral causes gained through the service of others or of God alone. Ask the teachers who were trained in Brinsford and Kirkby. They embraced the vocation to educate the young. Many dedicated themselves to the endeavour without thinking of personal gains. Or, ask the contemplative cloistered nuns. The Carmelites, we know, live for God alone. Today, sadly, for many, meaning is acquired from being loved. Is it not why we want as many “Likes” for our Facebook postings? Or, meaning is obtained from the feeling of satisfaction and general contentment in oneself.

As you realise, a meaning that was once larger than the self is now narrowly confined to the self. We have personalised and “me-niaturised” everything. Miniaturised may as well not be spelt with “mini” but me-ni. Does this “selfish meaning” contribute to our fear of losing out, of being overlooked etc. Our neighbours in the south call it Kiasu.

Hopefully, you can now appreciate that the crux or the conjunction between the demands of Jesus for His disciples and the call to live Laudato si is found in where we locate meaning.

Meaning may begin with the self but it must end beyond the self. Jesus Himself showed us that pouring out His life for others was the greatest meaning He gave to His life. Ultimately, meaning must be directed to eternity. Without eternity or without heaven, we will always fear coming out as Nr 2. Nobody wants to be a loser. Hence, we are condemned to the misery of consuming but never discovering the true meaning of life. If that be the case, forget about being the “lamb led to the slaughter”. The choir over the weekend chose to sing the Prayer of St Francis Assisi’s. It does not make sense.

Why?

Be a punching bag for others? No way!

"Grant that I may never seek so much to be consoled as to console. To be understood as to understand. To be loved as to love with all my soul?" No way!

For when you fight with your husband, do you really care to understand him? No. More likely, you might be justifying your actions or behaviour and his job is to understand you.

We all crave to be consoled, understood and loved.

Finally, the saints see heaven as their destination. 

All meaning is derived from that goal. Even failures are seen in the light of heaven. As the Gospel ends, “Rejoice not because the spirits submitted to you but rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven”. Many of us live humble unassuming lives where no one sees the good that we do. In a self-referential culture, one that promotes the self, purgatory is to be forgotten and hell is oblivion. Well, recall most especially that when men cannot see, God sees. Peace comes from knowing that He alone is the guarantor that our loss, that our failure and ultimately that of our death will not be in vain. We are not condemned to an eternal cycle of over-consumption in order to find meaning. Instead our meaning is derived by daring to be the lamb that Jesus has sent amongst the wolves.

Good Shepherd Sunday Year B

Today is Vocation Sunday. It is usually the Sunday where we speak about vocation in particular to priestly or religious life. But, I would like to tackle the topic of vocation in general to help us understand why vocation in particular to priestly or religious life is not flourishing.

I am fascinated with what Rene Descartes, the French philosopher tried to do. He is sometimes called the father of modern Western Philosophy. The truth was he did not start to be that as he was actually trying to save a crumbling philosophical framework. It was during his time that the accepted pathway to knowledge was disintegrating to the point of “how do you know you really know”. It was an age of doubt; in an age where epistemology was a major concern, he thought that what could not be doubted was surely the mind’s process; “je pense donc que je suis”—his famous: Cogito, ergo sum or I think, therefore I am. This effort to shore up a regime ancien ushered in modern philosophy.

This “I think, therefore I am” of the modern age is very much characterised by an emphasis on “meaning”. Since we are not entirely sure about what is really “out there” [how do you know you really know?], at least, we can be sure about what is really “in here” [I think and it proves I am real and am not a fiction of any imagination]. Here one can discern how Descartes’ cogito in some way has ushered us onto this long lonely search for meaning. Meaning is often understood from the perspective of the subject, that is, from the perspective of “meaningful to me”. Now, if this does not make sense, perhaps this will. Some people (especially the young) find the way the Eucharist is being celebrated to be boring and therefore, meaningless to them. Observe how this “meaninglessness” is partly the reason why we choose hymns that appeal to our feelings etc. Note that young people will often be frustrated because they have come searching for meaning whereas the purpose of the Eucharist we celebrate is not entirely devoted to this search for meaning.

It would seem that Descartes’ cogito has condemned us to this insatiable search for meaning. Since our contact with the outside world is tenuous at best, it would seem that “meaningful to me” is the only available validation of who we are. This long lonely search for meaning is also marked by the road towards science especially technology as the tool to reorganise the world according to the simple criterion of “I, me and myself”. Descartes’ cogito is markedly analytical and as such carries the seed for an aggressive transformation of the environment according to the measure of the subject—the “I, me and myself”.

However, I am not dismissing this “I, me and myself” as simply selfishness. Instead, let’s take a look at how it impacts on vocation in general. From the perspective of this “I, me and myself in search of meaning”, there is a tendency to keep one’s option open. And the world of business offers us this whole array of careers to help us keep our option open. The “meaningful for me” that we seek is satisfied by careerism and not by vocation. But, the question to ask is if we are not sometimes paralysed simply because there are too many options. We dare not make a choice because we are afraid that we may make a wrong choice. Thus, we keep our options open. Amongst other reasons like financial security or career, I suspect keeping one’s options open is a reason why people marry older.

The truth is that meaning is not the only definition of who we are. If it were only so, why are successful movie personalities trapped in a world of drugs. They have money to go to the moon and back, enough booze to light up a July 4th fireworks and enough sex to populate an entire continent of Australia. They have everything—in other words, their lives should be meaningful—and yet they enter a world of further make-believe.

How are we to get away from this lonely search for meaning? Firstly, to define us, we need to choose. Individuation starts when we make choices in life. [1] That is why freedom is not the choices available but the ability to choose. In a boy-girl relationship, choosing a person to be our fiancé or fiancée closes our options for other. It’s as definitive as that. Thus, we are drawn to a conclusion that the funny thing about meaning is that it does not always reside in the self—the “I, me and myself”. “Meaningful to me” is a Cartesian enterprise of the lonely self; a modern gospel which is translated into self-congratulation or self-protection.

The truth about meaning is found not within the Cartesian enclosed self because the human heart is meant to be given away. Meaning is found when you choose to give yourself away, that is, when you have given your heart away to a larger enterprise, you will find meaning... So, marriage is meaningful not because of what you can get out of it: satisfaction etc... Marriage is meaningful because you choose to give of yourself to whom you pledge your life to... And that’s what vocation means.

I started out with Descartes because I think we need to understand how we are to deal with this Cartesian search for meaning before we can really talk about vocation and in particular to priesthood. When John the Baptist said, “He must increase and I must decrease”, it wasn’t the pronouncement of a person who had no self-esteem, a loser; in short, a person who has no meaning in life. It was the authoritative annunciation of a person who was an individual strong enough to allow himself to be used as how God was pleased. A true or genuine individual is never afraid of losing himself or herself because that act of letting go is the beginning of life. When meaning is paramount, you will always be afraid that there is nothing left for you... and that is why the keeping options open.

Let me invite the many young men and women here to give themselves away to an enterprise—in our case the enterprise is not “justice” but a person for meaning is to be found in the service of truth. And, we know what truth is. It is not a thing but a person—Christ—the way, the Truth and the life. Do not allow yourself to be trapped by this search for meaning. Otherwise, it is very hard to hear the call of Christ because your vocation will be a struggle to find meaning. On the contrary, I think, when we answer God’s call, we will find meaning. So, to all you young men and women out there who are keeping your options open, trying to make sense of your life, trust me, put out into the deep and there you will find that Jesus is there waiting for you. He says to those who answer the call to serve as priests or religious: “Do not be afraid for I am with you”.

FOOTNOTE:
[1] Not only are we afraid to choose but also our fear is compounded by a mistaken notion of freedom. Some of us may have this mistaken notion that the more choices available, the greater will our exercise of freedom be. In a conversation with altar servers I asked whom they think have greater freedom, the man with 25 different types of shampoo to choose from in a supermarket or the man with 2 different types of shampoo in 7-Eleven, inevitably, they will point to the man in the supermarket. The fact is both may be unfree as far as their faculty to choose is concerned. The man in 7-Eleven has fewer options to choose from and that makes the choosing easier but does not equate to freedom to choose.