Wisdom 2:12, 17-20 / James 3:16 – 4:3 / Mark 9:30-37
There was a recent survey about which are the world's most fatigued cities. The survey was conducted based on the number of hours spent sleeping, the number of hours spent working and the number of hours of screen time, i.e. on the computer and looking at the screen.
According to that survey, right at the top of the most fatigued cities in the world is Singapore!
Would we find that surprising? Can it be true that the world's most fatigued city is Singapore?
If that is true, it means to say that we Singaporeans sleep lesser hours, work longer hours and spend many hours in front of the computer screen.
So compared with the peoples of the other bigger cities, we are more busy, more tired and more stressed out. In short, we are the most fatigued people in the world, at least according to the survey.
Well, we may be tired, we may be busy, but are we happy? Can we say that we are happy?
Well, happiness can be quite elusive. So, we can be happy for a few moments and then be miserable for quite a long while.
And if we honestly admit that we are stressed and tired and miserable, then the gospel has a message for us.
Jesus was instructing and telling His disciples this: The Son of God will be delivered into the hands of men. They will put him to death, and three days after he has been put to death oh, he will rise again.
Jesus was, or could be feeling, stressed and anxious about that. And it didn't help that His disciples did not understand what He said and were afraid to ask Him.
Instead, His disciples had other concerns in mind. They were arguing among themselves which of them was the greatest.
We may think that it was some petty argument, but it was causing problems and maybe even serious problems.
The 2nd reading sheds some light into those problems when it said: Whenever you find jealousy and ambition, you find disharmony and wicked things of every kind being done.
So, the disciples were not just arguing over some petty and trivial matters. They were arguing about which of them was the greatest, and in order to show who is the greatest, it would mean that the greatest would have to be the loudest.
Their argument was loud enough to reach the ears of Jesus, so much so that He had to address the matter.
Very often in an argument, a lot of shouting happens. No argument is ever done softly or gently.
And when the decibels go higher, the anger grows hotter, and so the 2nd reading asks this question: Where do these wars and fights between yourselves start?
And the 2nd reading goes on to point this out: Isn't it precisely in the desires fighting inside your own selves? You have an ambition that you cannot satisfy, so you fight to get your way by force.
So the 2nd reading reveals the reason why we end up shouting in an argument and even end up fighting.
But shouting in an argument is not just a jarring noise. Because no one is listening.
Only the noise is heard and the anger is felt. All that ends up in stress, anxiety and fatigue. We get tired and drained out by all that heated argument.
In all this noisy and heated arguments, let us be silent so that we can listen.
We need to listen to the voice of God that will give us the wisdom that comes down from above.
It is that Divine wisdom that gives us peace, and that makes us kind, considerate and compassionate, and enables us to do good.
When there is peace in our hearts, we will sow seeds that will bear fruit in holiness.
To be holy is to be silent in order to listen to the wisdom of God.
To be holy is to be silent so that we will listen to the cries of those in anguish and to be with them and to console them so that they will eventually be at peace.
When we and others are at peace, then we will be able to receive the blessings from God.
With God's blessings, we will be given the strength of eagles’ wings, and when faced with the fatigues of life, we will not be weary or tired.
In fact, with God’s blessings, we will be at peace and we will be happy.