Gospel Reflection 2021/2022
Entitlement mentality in us and around us.
It is not uncommon for us to say or to hear people say, “I deserve it,” or “I am entitled to this.” These may sound like harmless day-to-day sayings. However, upon further reflection, what lies between the lines is ‘the sense of entitlement’. This sense of entitlement can be more deeply rooted than we think – in our minds, in our hearts, in our lives and in our communities.
A child throws a tantrum when the parents refuse to buy him toys.
A young graduate thinks the company owes him a high-salary and high-ranking office job.
A parent thinks it is perfectly fine to park indiscriminately – even if it causes standstill traffic – to pick up his precious child from school.
A hotel guest blasts the air-conditioner in the hotel room, wastes the water supply and messes up the room because he pays for the room.
An employer manipulates, exploits or abuses his workers.
Such are some examples of the mindset of entitlement, deservingness and superiority. A person with an entitlement mentality tends to have a self-absorbed worldview, thinks everyone owes him something (or everything), and feels he is more superior than everyone else.
Entitlement mentality in the Church.
Such ugly entitlement mentality has even infected the Church. More often than not, we tend to think that we are entitled to be served in the Church and that Mother Church is at our beck and call.
Very often, we think that:
The Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Communion are ‘my rights’ and ‘my entitlements’: the Church must not defer or deny my Baptism, Confirmation or Holy Communion.
The hymns, homilies, liturgies and worships must be lively, entertaining and exciting: I deserved to be entertained. If I am bored or distracted, it is the fault of the Church.
I am rich and famous, drive a luxurious car, contribute much to the building and maintenance of the church: I can park everywhere I want, sit anywhere I like, and behave however I want.
Entitlement mentality with God.
The entitlement mentality has even crept into our relationship with God. We treat God as Santa Claus, or a fairy godmother, or worse still, as an inanimate vending machine.
(1) Lord, I will follow You if You …
I will follow Jesus if He guarantees a life of peace and comfort for me and my family… if He grants me great health, abundant wealth and infinite power… if He works signs, miracles and wonders for me… if all the items on my wish list are satisfactorily fulfilled… my needs and expectations are met… and if and only if Jesus changes His way and His teaching to suit me...
(2) Lord, I have followed You so You …
I have been baptised, I am a child of God, I go to Mass every Sunday: I am entitled to special treatments, unique privileges and exclusive rights from God. How can God not give when I ask, reveal when I seek, open the door when I knock?
The painful reality: God owes us nothing!
In as much as we feel entitled and in as much as we feel everyone owes us, the painful reality is that NO ONE OWES US ANYTHING!
As Fr Michael Chua in his homily [Your Grace Is Sufficient | 1 Oct 2014] puts it, “Our parents don’t owe us an inheritance or even our future wellbeing. The government doesn’t owe us a subsidy for every commodity. God doesn’t owe us a blessing or even an answer to our prayer. No one owes us kindness, love, recognition, empathy, apologies, or understanding. In fact, NO ONE OWES US ANYTHING AT ALL…’
Indeed, GOD OWES US NOTHING!
God does not owe us a life of peace and comfort… He does not owe us great health, abundant wealth or infinite power… He does not owe us a sign, a wonder, a miracle, an answer, or an open door… And He definitely does not owe us the salvation of our wretched souls and the eternal life with Him.
Faith in God, salvation of our souls and the eternal life with Him are not unique entitlements or special privileges for the selected few but they are God’s gifts to everyone!
The warning: many are called, few are chosen, even fewer are saved.
It is Jesus who warns us [Lk 13: 24], “Try your best to enter by the narrow door, because, I tell you, many will try to enter but will not succeed.” This is shocking: many will try but fail to enter heaven!
Even if we boast of our special ‘connection’ with God – we can claim to have wined and dined with Him at the Eucharistic table and listened to Him at the Liturgy of the Word – when we are at Heaven’s gate, Jesus could still possibly turn us away saying [Lk 13: 25], “I do not know where you come from.”
We – who think that we are saved – may be denied entry into Heaven [Mt 7: 21], “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.”
Our consolation and response: look at the gifts and the Giver.
With every hard truth lies a treasure. Even though God owes us nothing, but He has given us so much: His gifts, graces, His blessings – and the greatest Gift of all gifts – the Gift of His Only Begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Fully human and fully divine, Jesus is the narrow door – the Gate – to the Father [Jn 10: 9]: “I am the Gate. Whoever enters by Me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.”
We are not the final products but only the works-in-progress. And the salvation of our souls is not a one-off event but a lifelong marathon towards God. Our entitlement mentality and our pride can be the stumbling blocks towards heaven. Let us, therefore, strive to overcome our entitlement mentality and our pride with the antidotes of:
(1) Humility: To humbly acknowledge from our hearts that we are mere sinners and we are nothing before God: ‘a humbled and contrite heart, God will not spurn’ [Ps 50: 15].
(2) Gratitude: To be grateful for all the graces and gifts given by God for the salvation of our souls. The practice of gratitude helps us better appreciate and treasure God, life, persons and creations.
(3) Diligence: To cooperate with God’s grace through the Scriptures, Sacraments, prayers and good works, and diligently work out our salvation with fear and trembling [Ph 2: 12].
Let our fervent prayer be:
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
Let us also pray that God’s justice, peace, truth and love may prevail in Ukraine, Sri Lanka and Nicaragua.