Who is the Boss?

A "colony" of ants gathered together to move a piece of chicken from the corner of a kitchen back to their nest. It was a tremendous amount of work to be done for these tiny little creatures but with so many of them, they pulled together all their energy and collectively, they seemed awesomely formidable. Yet, a blow of air from my mouth sent them scurrying in all directions, in the fastest speed possible. They panicked and ran for their lives because they knew the truth of how small they are and that with one step of my foot on them, the whole army, in all its might, will be wiped out.

At Mass yesterday, Fr. Chris focused his homily on the question, inspired by the sitcom, "Who's the Boss?" And what a blessing this question is for those who find it tough to trust in God in difficult moments, when our problems or impending problems seem too much for us to prevent and solve. The gospel reading (Lk 7:1-10) was telling about the Roman Centurion who asked Jesus to heal his servant, whom he cared very much for. The Centurion acknowledged his unworthiness as a pagan and did not dare hope for Jesus to enter his house but he also acknowledged the power of Jesus, recognising Him as the Son of God, as "The Boss". And so, the humble and trusting Roman pleaded with Jesus for His mere words, just words that conveyed His Will, and which would be the "command" for healing grace to be poured out upon his dying servant. He knew that that was all that was needed for his servant to be cured.

The story of the Roman Centurion strikes us hard on the head that we need also to know the answer to the question, "Who's the Boss?" And indeed, who is OUR boss? The ants knew that I am their cruel "boss" who would wipe them out and so they ran for their lives upon the slightest threat of danger. If God is our Boss, then we need to know, too, who this Boss is. He is not One who waits to pound on us or crush us under His feet for the slightest fault we make and neither is He without compassion that He will sit back and watch us struggle through life alone.

In the slightest threat of danger, for instance, something happened that threatened the peace and security of our career or family, how do we react? Do we panic and run for our lives like the ants do? Do we set out to deceive like a lizard losing its tail in flight? Or do we hold fast to our God, our Boss, who sees all, knows all and controls all in His hands? Can we trust in Him even in moments where we see no hope, where we cannot look ahead and think of a way out? Can we submit to our Boss and let Him do the fire-fighting for us? Can we let go of our pride, and like the ants, acknowledge how small we are before God and then, like the Centurion, let go of our fears and place all hope and trust in Him? As Father wisely pointed out, if we do not live our daily lives when all is calm and peaceful with the disposition that God is our Boss, then there is no way we can trust in Him when we are faced with a crisis situation.

I love the challenge that concluded the homily yesterday; the question posed to each of us present and now, to each of you. "Who is YOUR boss?"

13 September 2011, Tuesday
11.57pm