3rd Sunday Ordinary: The Jonah complex

Last Sunday I talked to you about listening to that invitation and call coming from God. If you answer the call, you will have to face its consequences – every call has a risk.  You see, although we hear an authentic call clearly, many times we simply do not want to respond or follow that call to greatness and greater goodness.

Look at many young people today, they’d rather aspire to be nurses rather than doctors, employees rather than entrepreneurs. In class, they would prefer to sit and study by themselves than face a couple of bullies who disturb the lessons. In the parish, they’d rather be sitting on the bench rather than doing just a bit more in the service of their fellow brothers and sisters. Instead of committing a lifetime to be priests, brothers or nuns, they’d rather be volunteers for a week or a year. Instead of wanting to be the next Einstein, they would just rather be casted with Sheldon and Amy Farah Fowler in “Big Bang Theory.” Don’t get me wrong all these are good, I’m just questioning the dynamics – the “why are we afraid of greater goodness and of facing our destiny?”

Today in the gospel we are introduced to the calling of Peter, Andrew, James and John whom Jesus named apostles. “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of people. (Mk.1.17)” Wow that’s a tough order! Yes it’s true, they immediately followed Jesus thinking he’ll just go fishing and without knowing the consequences of this call. But right after the transfiguration, right after they saw the preview of the glory that awaits them, Jesus invited them to follow him to his impending death in Jerusalem: “for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Mt.12:40) The Son of Man must suffer many things and be killed, and after three days rise again (Mk 8:31). Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you! (Mt 16:22)" So why were Peter, James, and John afraid to scale new heights of glory with Jesus? And why prevent Jesus from fulfilling his destiny?

There is greatness trapped in every one of us. We are all born with the potential to be great and to contribute something special to the world. There is no one born without a purpose and no one without a destiny to fulfil. But the hard fact is many of us are afraid to learn what this purpose or destiny is. Because if we did, then we’ll have to endeavour to fulfil it. And that entails a difficult path and we are afraid we will not succeed. This is what Peter, James, and John felt. They had a “Jonah Complex.”

Our first reading describes this “Jonah complex” clearer. The Lord calls Jonah: “Get up, go to Nineveh and tell everyone to repent from their wickedness; forty days more and Nineveh will be wiped out (Jon.3.1).” First we must understand that Nineveh was the great capital of Assyria and the Assyrians were the mighty archenemy of the not-so-powerful Jews. So tell me, If I were Jonah, why would I, a Jew, go to Nineveh alone and tell them to change their ways. For one, I am not going there to tell them: “Hello, you know God loves you and cares for you.” No - God wants me to go there and preach against them- “Hey all of you, your evil is a dirty stench to the Lord. Your judgment has come!” They will definitely gang up, torture and kill me. And two, well if I don’t go, they don’t repent, it would be better for God to wipe them out, that way, we have one enemy less, right? But deep down inside Jonah’s heart, he knows that if he does go and succeed, then he could go down in history as a great prophet who followed God and in doing so managed to sway the mighty enemy to good. But Jonah would rather do the former- the status quo. So Jonah flees from God. Instead of going to the direction of Nineveh, he takes a ship to the opposite direction. That my friends, is the “Jonah complex.”

The “Jonah complex” is a psychological term first proposed by Frank Manuel and Abraham Maslow (hierarchy of needs). The “Jonah complex” is the fear of success which prevents one’s growth, or the realization of one’s potential. It is the fear of one’s own greatness. It is when a person evades of his or her destiny, and avoids of exercising his or her talents. It is when one has the opportunity and he chooses to escape and turn back in fear.  In simple terms, it is the fear of growing up. This was what Jonah felt and so did the apostles in the middle of their journey. We all have some degree of this Jonah Complex. We all try to some extent to divert our attention, to look the other way, and to cotton our ears to the call of God in our lives. No wonder there are fewer who would dare follow Christ’s call to be priests, brothers, or nuns.

Robert Frost has a poem: “The road not taken.” It starts with: “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both.” The first was a grassy road, familiar to many. The other was a narrow pathway filled with leaves, a road less travelled. The poem ends with: “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference.” That road is destiny. That road will lead to greatness. And yet for us, we fear that road because we will find ourselves isolated. And that is frightening- to be in the minority, to be all alone. That is why many of us would rather take the familiar road… we’d rather spend our life staying away from being brilliant, from reaching our potential, and from achieving our destiny. The Jonah complex!

Abraham Maslow would ask his university students: “Who is going to write the next great psychology textbook?” No answer. No one would dare raise a hand.  So Maslow tells them a secret. A phrase to lead them out of the Jonah complex: “If not you, then who?”  When Jonah was doubting why he should go to Niniveh, God must have told him: “If not you, then who?”  When the apostles were asking themselves on that fateful day why they were chosen as part of the twelve? Jesus must have told them: “If not you, then who?”  And when today, you come face to face with that giant whale that will swallow you to bring you to your destiny, in fear you might ask it: “Why me?” The whale will answer: “If not you, then who?” And don’t you dare tell that whale: "There, eat Fr Gigi first."

References:

O’Brien, J. (2014). “The Jonah Complex.”

https://writerjobrien.wordpress.com/2014/01/24/the-jonah-complex/

McInerney, L. (2014). “The Jonah Complex: Why We Are Afraid Of Being Brilliant.” http://lauramcinerney.com/2014/01/30/the-jonah-complex-why-we-are-afraid-of-being-brilliant/

McKone, G. (2011). “The Jonah Complex.” http://EzineArticles.com/6665827

Jiale. How to Overcome the Jonah Complex. http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/How-Overcome-The-Jonah-Complex-/4014434#.VMFnJ_nF-So

Frost, R. (1916). “The Road Not Taken.” Mountain Interval.

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173536

2nd Sunday Ordinary- Listen, come, see, stay, love!

“Speak Lord, your servant is listening.” Jesus answers: “Come and see.” Priests usually start their homilies with a scripture passage like this.

A few days ago, Pope Francis in his Mass to the Philippine bishops, priests, and religious wanted to start his homily by quoting the gospel of John 21:15 where Jesus asks Peter: “Do you love me… tend my sheep.” So the Pope begins with: “Do you love me?”  And the priests and nuns shout: “Yes!” The Pope was shocked, he laughs and answers: “Uh Ok, thank you very much. But I was referring to the words of Jesus” – They did not get it initially that he was referring to the passage. 

Those words: “Do you love me?” spoken by Jesus is an invitation he extends to all of us in the liturgy of today and because he asks it in a different way, sometimes we just do not get it.

In the first reading, the Lord calls the boy by name: "Samuel, Samuel." And Samuel mistakes the voice for the priest Eli. Samuel just did not get it thrice. He only gets it the fourth time when Eli tells him when you hear the voice again say: Speak Lord, your servant is listening. 

It is only when Samuel listened well, that he was able to follow God’s personal invitation. The same is true with us. Listen to his invitation and you can hear your name if you are silently waiting. Otherwise you just won’t get it.

In the gospels, the disciples of John the Baptist, among them Andrew and John, were preparing for the coming of the Messiah. And then Jesus walked by and they didn’t even recognize him, until John the Baptist pointed out: “Behold, here is the Lamb of God.” So the two disciples follow Jesus curiously but they still did not get it. And so Jesus asks them: What are you looking for?  Let me ask you this same question today in this Mass. Why are you here? Do you have an answer?  

Back to the gospel, Jesus was inviting them, and yet they did not get it. Instead they ask: Teacher, where are you staying? What a question! You do not answer a question with another question, right? And so Jesus continues his invitation: “Come and see.”   

Many times Jesus asks this of us. And we answer him with: “No thanks, I’m fine this way. Let me just continue praying my rosary, going to my mass and don’t bother me with getting involved in the parish.” Pope Francis tells us in his Joy of the Gospel: “Some people want a purely spiritual Christ, without flesh and without a cross. The Gospel tells us constantly - run the risk of a face-to-face encounter with others, with their physical appearance which challenges us, with their pain, and their pleas, with their joy which infects us in our close interactions."(EN.88)  “Come and see” is a call for us to do things differently from what we are used to. It is an invitation for us to get out of our comfort zones.

So what happens next in our gospel story: “They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him.” And as they stayed with him, they became closer to him, and they began to love him. The “invitation principle” is simple: the more you listen, the more you will come; the more you come, the more you will see; the more you see, the more you will stay; the more you stay, the more you will love Him. 

Our Christian calling is as a personal invitation to come to Christ, to see the truth as revealed in Jesus, and to stay forever faithful to him throughout life. And this is possible, this we can do only if we can answer “Yes” to the invitation of Jesus today: “Do you love me?”

(Then mass goers shouted “Yes” so I replied: Thank you very much!)

References:

Pope Francis. (2013). Evangelii Gaudium. No. 88.

http://www.vatican.va/evangelii-gaudium/en/files/assets/basic-html/page72.html

GMA News. (January 16, 2015). ‘Do you love me?’ Pope Francis takes on a lighter note during his first Mass in PHL.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/popefrancis/story/406490/do-you-love-me-pope-francis-takes-on-a-lighter-note-during-his-first-mass-in-phl

Sanchez, P. (2000 ). “Here I am.” Sanchez Archives.  Celebration Publications. Kansas, USA. http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/sanchez/locked/cycleb/ordinarytimeb/sunday0297b.htm

Lord's Baptism - Moment of Pain, Lifetime of Glory

Today we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus Christ. This feast is similar to that which we celebrated last week. In fact, this feast is also called: “The second epiphany or Epiphany according to St Mark.” Throughout this year of Ordinary time, we shall be reading from St. Mark’s Gospel, and here we can find three great moments of revelation. At the beginning, Jesus is baptized, and the Father’s voice declares to all, “You are my Son, the Beloved: with you I am well pleased.” (Mk.1)  Half-way through, Jesus is transfigured, and the voice tells the disciples, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him.”(Mk.9) At the end, Jesus dies on the Cross, and the centurion declares, “Truly this man is the Son of God.”(Mk.15)  What then does Jesus want to tell us today through this feast when he is revealed by God- this feast of his baptism?

http://one-hand-clapping.blogspot.ca/2012/03/art-in-lent-baptism-of-christ.html

One day there was this drunk who was walking home very late in a very dark street. Because of his tipsiness, he did not realize a big hole ahead of him. So obviously, he fell into it. When he came into his senses after a bit, he realized that the hole was too deep and he would not be able to get out by himself. So he started shouting for help.  Luckily another man was coming along that same street and heard his call for help. The man shouts back: “Hello… are you the one shouting for help. What happened to you?”  And the drunk replies: “Yes, yes, you see my friend, I was walking home and fell into this hole. And it’s too deep for me to get out by myself, so I shouted for someone else to help me.” And you know what the other man did? He jumped straight at the hole and now finds himself beside the drunk man. The drunk says: “Oh ok, I may be drunk, but I’m not crazy, why do you have to jump to be with me in this hole?” The man said: “You see my friend, I heard your shout for help which was not so much heard up there. So now I’m here to help you. I will now shout together with you so we can be louder and people will hear us better.” Ok you may call this man crazy.

But you see, that is the same thing Jesus Christ did for us when he decided to be human like us. Jesus jumps into this hole where we are all need of saving in order to join us- to shout out in prayer to the Father together to save us. “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us”- he stayed with us. A beautiful image is that which Isaiah gives us today: “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the one who eats.” That is what Jesus shows us today. He comes from above to this hole called earth and stays with us to give us life. That my friends is the effect of being baptized in Him.

Whenever I do the Saturday baptisms, I always remind the assembly that for the Baptism to be truly efficacious, there has to be faith. That means the one being baptized must believe in this sacrament. But then if you ask the babies: “Hey, do you believe in one God?” they would just stare at you with those big googly eyes as if saying: What in heaven is this guy asking? 

www.pinterest.com

And so the burden now falls on the godfather and godmother to answer the questions for the child. So whenever I ask that question: “Do you reject Satan and all his works?” I am always amazed at the resounding “I do’s” of the godfathers and godmothers. But then as the children grow older they have to answer that question themselves. And today, sometimes when we ask young people the question: “Do you believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church?” It’s met with half-hearted answers like: “whatever? or “seriously?” or “ask it in facebook and I’ll just like it.” We complain that being in the Catholic Church gives us so many obligations to do and so many things to comply with. We find it too hard especially when it inconveniences us and many times we give up those promises we made in our baptism. We have forgotten that Jesus came and became man for us bearing that limitation, those accusations, and those sufferings at the cross, just to save us and to have our sins forgiven- all because we were baptized in Him.

There is this film “Unbroken” which tells of Louis Zamperini, an Italian immigrant who came to America as a boy. He almost gave up on life until he found a passion in running. At 19, he represented the US and ran the 5000 meter in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. There he won the hearts of the people because not only was he the youngest qualifier in this event, but also because at the last lap of that long 5K race he was at the end of the line but he didn’t give up, and ran the fastest lap ever to reach 8^th place. But you see, this final lap of 56 seconds was record-breakingly fast to catch the attention of Adolf Hitler, who insisted on a personal meeting and shook his hand. Remember Hitler only congratulated the German medalists – he didn’t even congratulate American Jesse Owens who won 4 golds.

Three years later World War II erupted, he became a soldier and was captured by the Japanese. For almost three years he was beaten up without a reason by the Japanese camp commander, he suffered the torture, yet he never gave up until the war ended and he was able to go back home. And after more than 50 years, at 80 yrs of age, he was invited to run again in the Olympics – this time to bring the torch in Japan near the place where he suffered his captivity. And there he met with his former captors and forgave them all.

When asked how he survived those years in the prison camp, he says: “A moment of pain is worth a lifetime of glory.” If you interview Jesus why he bore all those things to save us, he would have said the same thing. And as baptized Christians Jesus challenges us to keep our own baptismal promises- to say no to Satan and all his false promises and to say yes to God even unto death because “a moment of pain is worth a lifetime of glory.”

As we celebrate today the baptism of our lord Jesus in the Jordan, let us thank God for the gift of salvation through the grace of baptism. Let us also ask him for the grace to keep us faithful to our baptismal promises.

Resources:

Hila, Duds. (2009). “Feast of the Baptism of the Lord , Year B.” Kiliti ng Diyos website (Filipino).

http://kiliti-ng-diyos.blogspot.ca/2009/01/reflection-feast-of-baptism-of-lord.html

Munachi. (2010). “The Grace of Baptism.” Munachi.com.

http://munachi.com/c/baptism_ep.htm

Unbroken (2014). Movie review and summary.

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/unbroken-2014