11th Sunday Year A
Exodus 19:2-6
Romans 5:6-11
Matthew 9:36-10:8
Offering and receiving spiritual mentorship.
My brothers and sisters, this week, we reflect on the question of spiritual mentorship. So we reflect: On my faith journey, have someone helped me? Have I helped another?
In the First Reading, God saved the Israelites from the Egyptians, and gave them freedom from slavery. Through a miracle, the people walked dry shod through the Red Sea while the pursuing Egyptians drowned. Then, as the people emerged from the other end of Red Sea a freed people, God reminded them of His mighty deed: “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.” (verse 4). In return, He called the people to obedience: “obey my voice and keep my covenant” (verse 5). If the people can do that, they will be blessed with priesthood, kingship and holiness: “you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.” (verse 6)
But in spite of the mighty deeds and call to obedience, soon, the people would fail God. This story of the Israelites is also our story. Like the Israelites being enslaved to the Egyptians, we are enslaved to sins. Many of us know our sins. We know that our sins destroy our relationship and our happiness. Yet time and time again, we would succumb to sins and commit acts of evil. Like the water of the Red Sea freeing the Israelites, the water of Baptism free us from our slavery to sins. But in spite of having been freed, the Israelites would reminisce of their times in Egypt (Ex 16:3). And in a great act of defiance, they fashioned a golden calf (Ex 32:4) – likely an image of the Egyptian god Apis – and worshipped the calf as their god. Like the Israelites, in spite of our Baptism, we too would reminisce the times when we could do anything without moral impediments and often would turn back to sins once more.
Hence, to bring us back to Him once more, God gives us a powerful sign: God came down to earth and offered Himself as a sacrifice to soften our hardened hearts. In the words of the St Paul in the Second Reading: “Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person – though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” (verse 7-8) This is how the sinful can become holy again. This is how, in spite of our faults, we can be reconciled to God again: “we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” (verse 11)
But reconciliation is not some magical procedure. Reconciliation must come from the heart. There is no magic word, no magic hand gestures that would wave sins away. It needs a genuine contrite heart, like that of the tax collector at the temple, coming to God “beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!'” (Lk 18:13) And most of us cannot do it by our own strength and wisdom. We need constant spiritual guidance and reminder. This is why, for anyone serious about living a life of holiness, freedom and contentment, we need a spiritual mentor. This can be a priest, a pastor, or any devout person who knows us and willing to assume that role. The reverse is also true. For anyone of us who can do so, we must also be willing to offer spiritual mentorship to our brothers and sisters who need spiritual help. Such is an act of love and compassion.
Such compassion is a hallmark of Christian living. In the Gospel, we read how Jesus’ compassion was aroused when He saw the crowd: “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (verse 9:36). In another text, we read how Jesus’ compassion led Him to offering spiritual mentorship to the people, “and he began to teach them many things.” (Mk 6:34) As Christians, we bear the name of Christ. We called to be not just Christians in name. We are called to become Christ to others; in this example, offering spiritual mentorship when we are in a position and have the spirituality to do so. This is one of the reasons Jesus appointed the 12 Apostles in the Gospel (verse 10:1-4), to act in His name, to offer spiritual directions and to bring about reconciliation. For this was Jesus’ commands to the Apostles: “go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.'” (verse 6-7)
My brothers and sisters, while we are all on the same spiritual journey, each of us has a different level of spiritual maturity. This means that while we are more spiritually mature than others; there are others who are more spiritually mature than us. So, who do we go to for spiritual direction? Our willingness to seek spiritual help is a sign of humility and that we are constantly seeking to grow in our faith. On the other hand, are we ready to offer spiritual help to others who are less spiritually mature than us? Our willingness to do so is a sign of our love and compassion for our brothers and sisters, just as Jesus had when He saw the crowd in this week’s Gospel. The truth is, the journey to salvation is a communal journey. We help each other along the way. Let us journey alongside each other, lifting each other up as we journey. Amen.