Gospel of 7 July 2020
Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Matthew 9:32-38
The harvest is rich but the labourers are few
A man was brought to Jesus, a dumb demoniac. And when the devil was cast out, the dumb man spoke and the people were amazed. ‘Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel’ they said. But the Pharisees said, ‘It is through the prince of devils that he casts out devils.’
Jesus made a tour through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness.
And when he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.’
Reflexion
Two of the most lethal psychological weapons which modern people use against others are, blame and playing the victim.
Blaming is often projecting our own problems, faults and sins unto others because we are not able to own and acknowledge them. We see demons in others because we cannot be reconciled with our own inner demons.
Usually blame comes packaged with another psychological weapon - playing the victim. By portraying ourselves as the victim, the underdog, we not only seek sympathy from others but we use this as the basis of accusing or blaming others for putting us in this disadvantaged position.
It’s quite easy for people who are psychologically or emotionally insecure to rely on these two methods to attack others and to deflect criticism when the criticism is heaped against them. The best way of hiding the fact that you are bias and a racist is to accuse someone else of being that.
Today, we see the enemies of Jesus projecting unto Him their own inner demons. They accused Him of being possessed. Nothing our Lord does is good enough. In fact, everything He does, including healing the sick and liberating the possessed from demonic affliction, is now used against Him. It’s hard to defend yourself when you are accused of being possessed by demons. The modern equivalent would be - it’s hard to defend yourself or use reason to argue your point when your detractors accuse you of being a racist and a bigot. Today, labels, even though unfounded in reality, are sufficient to cancel out your right to speak or hold a different position from your critics.
But the amazing thing here is that St Matthew doesn’t record our Lord descending into some form of victimhood mentality. Jesus does not moan nor does He groan about how He has been unfairly treated. Instead, He pays no attention to this toxic vitriol and turns His attention instead to the crowds who were “harassed and dejected.” That’s simply amazing.
Our Lord had every right to play the victim. He had every right to say that He felt “harassed and dejected” and use this as a psychological ploy to gain sympathy from others. But immediately, with the heart of a Shepherd, He directs His attention to those who are suffering and in need, and then springs into action. That is the difference between being a real Victim who gives Himself sacrificially to others, and “playing the victim” by seeking pity for oneself.
As Christians, Christ gives us the most wonderful model of authentic victimhood. We need not repay vitriol with vitriol. We do not need to play victim to elicit sympathy from others. We do not need to blame others for our predicament. But like our Lord, we need to work for the salvation of others in a most generous and uncalculative way because “the harvest is rich but the labourers are few”. We need labourers in the Lord’s vineyard, not whiners.