Our Own Masters?

Each of us are aware of people who are completely full of themselves. They are so concerned about their own cares, their own ideas, their own thoughts, their own dreams and goals that there is no room for anyone or anything else. I am sure that as I am saying this, all of you here can think of someone who fits the bill, and we ourselves may have been or maybe still are that person.   If we are that person, or if we know that person, the characteristics are instantly recognisable: self-centredness, conceitedness, being always right, a disregard for others views or inspirations and many others. Sometimes this is hidden behind a stated desire for the independence of self or others, or maybe in terms of freedom fighting, but it is thinly veiled. However, probably the most insidious and damaging characteristic is that of self-sufficiency, to the detriment of community.

Traditional societies, such as aboriginal culture that we here in the Kimberley are so privileged to live in or near, values the community dimension of life. The major events, decisions, joys and pains of life are laid bare by individuals so that they are shared by the community. There is not one single person in control. This does not destroy the person, but reassures the individual that they are not alone.

On the other hand many modern societies like to emphasise the cult of the individual. In these societies, and we can count our own in this group, nothing is able to get in the way of the desire or aspiration of the individual. This can often lead, of course, to an exalted view of our own importance and a disordered understanding of the attainment of our own desires. Put simply, we are limited and finite beings, we are not capable of everything, and we are not our own gods and masters.

That is where our Gospel parable chimes in so eloquently. Israelite society was strictly organised but had God as its centre of its law. Over its history there had been times when they disregarded God’s place at the centre and as a result completely lost their way.  The greatest crime of the tenants was not to hold back the rent (this is not an economic parable), but to reject the place and their need for God claim for themselves something they had no right or capability to hold. They rejected the prophets (the messengers) and then God’s own Son, and then are not able to produce the fruits of the kingdom, as they have put themselves above it. I think that is where this parable challenges our society and the direction that it seems to be going at great speed.

Faith is the antidote to rampant individualism that sees oneself as the centre of the universe.

Any society that has put itself at the centre of the universe has ultimately fallen amid an avalanche of human rights violations and totalitarianism. The history of the twentieth century is littered with examples of violent atheistic regimes.

This is not the society envisaged by Jesus as he told this parable. It is not the society that the church strives to build on this earth to prepare for the perfect society in the next. Our task is to allow ourselves and others to recognise the place of Christ at the centre of our world, the fact that as individuals we cannot be and do everything, but as a group with Christ at our head we are able to achieve things of which we can hardly dream.

Homily OLQP Sunday 2nd October 2011, 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time