20140823 BE GOD’S INSTRUMENTS IN MAKING THE EARTH THE SANCTUARY OF
GOD
Reading 1, Ezekiel 43:1-7
1 He took me to the gate, the one facing east.
2 I saw the glory of the God of Israel
approaching from the east. A sound came with him like the sound of the ocean,
and the earth shone with his glory.
3 This vision was like the one I had seen when I had come
for the destruction of the city, and like the one I had seen by the River
Chebar. Then I fell to the ground.
5 The Spirit lifted me
up and brought me into the inner court; I saw the glory of Yahweh fill the
Temple.
7 He said, 'Son of man, this is the dais of my throne, the
step on which I rest my feet. I shall live here among the Israelites for
ever; and the House of Israel, they and their kings, will never again
defile my holy name with their whorings and the corpses of their kings,
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 85:9-10, 11-12, 13-14
Gospel, Matthew 23:1-12
3 You must therefore do and observe what they tell you;
but do not be guided by what they do, since they do not practise what they
preach.
4 They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on people's
shoulders, but will they lift a
finger to move them? Not they!
5 Everything they do is done to attract attention, like
wearing broader headbands and longer tassels,
7 being greeted respectfully in the market squares and
having people call them Rabbi.
8 'You, however, must not allow yourselves to be called
Rabbi, since you have only one Master, and you are all brothers.
9 You must call no one on earth your father, since you
have only one Father, and he is in heaven.
10 Nor must you allow yourselves to be called teachers,
for you have only one Teacher, the Christ.
11 The greatest among you must be your servant.
BE
GOD’S INSTRUMENTS IN MAKING THE EARTH THE SANCTUARY OF GOD
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: EZ 43:1-7; PS: 84: 9-14; MT 23:1-12
http://www.universalis.com/20140823/mass.htm
Ezekiel was a prophet
before and during exile. He saw the disastrous destruction of the temple
by the Babylonians. But he was asked to give hope to the Israelites in
exile. He prophesied the return to Jerusalem and the restoration of the
Temple of Jerusalem. He had a vision of the Temple of Jerusalem filled
with the glory of God where God lived.
However, the restored
temple could not be compared to Solomon’s glorious temple. This brought
them great sadness. Hence, the prophet spoke of a greater temple which
is in the hearts of man. God wants to dwell in our land. That
is the prayer of the responsorial psalm, “The glory of the Lord will dwell in
our land.” The message is that God lives in all. He will give us a new
heart and pour His Spirit in us. But before God can live in us, we need
to repent, like the Israelites in exile. God can only live in hearts that
are ready to accept Him. Only when God is worshipped can God also dwell
in our land.
Today, the Church as the
Body of Christ is the New Temple of God. And as individuals, because
His Spirit lives in us, we are also the Temple of the Holy Spirit. It is
from this perspective that we are called to be the sign and sacrament of God’s
presence in the world, a world that is becoming fragmented and divisive,
godless and valueless, because of secularism. In such a secularized climate,
all the more, priests and Church leaders, lay or religious, are called to communicate
the presence of God to the world.
However, if the Church
lacks power in the work of evangelization today, it is because many of us
priests, religious and lay leaders are lacking in holiness and apostolic zeal.
Indeed, Jesus’ condemnation of the religious leaders of His day could well
apply to us all in different ways. Like them, consciously or
unconsciously, we are not living examples of holiness. We might be doing
“church work”, but more as an activity or a duty, rather than consciously doing
it for the love and glory of God. Quite often, instead of glorifying God
together, we scandalize the world with our inner division and power play to
control and dominate.
We live lives of
contradiction because what we say is not what we do. We teach forgiveness but we do
not want to forgive. We talk about unity and communion, but we cannot
live in communion with each other. We speak of humility but we want
honour, recognition and acknowledgement. We speak of vulnerability, but
we are easily hurt by the remarks of others. We talk about service, but we are
concerned with controlling others and being served.
Indeed, the words of Jesus
to His disciples could well apply to us. “You must therefore do what they tell
you and listen to what they say; but do not be guided by what they do: since
they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy burdens and lay
them on men’s shoulders, but will they lift a finger to move them? Not
they!” Isn’t this reprimand of Jesus applicable to all of us, regardless
whether we are priests or lay? We all are leaders in our own
fields. We are hard on those under our care who fail in their
duties. We give them the dos and don’ts. Yet we do just the
opposite ourselves. We cannot live up to what we tell others. How sad
indeed when we are reduced to this state, for words without actions lack
power! Yes, Pope Paul VI reminds us that what the world needs is not
teachers but witnesses! If our teaching has not changed lives, it is
because we lack credibility. In a word, the glory of God is not radiating
from our very beings.
For this reason, we all
need a renewal in holiness of life. This is what the Holy Father, the
late John Paul II in his apostolic letter Millennio Ineunute, asks of us
all. He wrote that if we are to be ready for the work of evangelization,
then the starting point is to train ourselves in holiness. Holiness is
intrinsic to the ministry and presupposes the ministry. Without holiness, all
that we say will sound hollow and hypocritical. Unless others see that
what we say is working and transforming our lives, why should they even bother
to try?
If we are lacking in
holiness, perhaps the root cause can be traced to formation. Our
Catholics are not taking their formation in spiritual life seriously. How
many of our Catholics, after completing their RCIA, are making time for
spiritual formation by attending talks or enrolling in courses? Can one
grow in spiritual life without ongoing formation or spending time to do a
personal retreat? Worse still, many of us do not even make time for
prayer and meditation on the Word of God. Yet we are serving the Church
in different ministries, often holding important and critical positions in the
Church. How can our clerical and lay leaders be discerning and be exemplary
in Christian life if they are not filled with the glory of God?
Today, we are called to
turn to Christ who is our true teacher and master. We are not the teacher but only
the servant of Christ. We cannot call ourselves “Father” unless we show the
face of our Heavenly Father in our lives. All that we do must lead people
to Jesus, and through Him, to the Heavenly Father. Without enrolling in
the school of our Lord, learning from Him our sole Teacher, we cannot be
teachers to others, whether at Church, in the offices or to our children.
We are called to look
towards Him as our exemplar in humility in service. Jesus said, “The greatest among
you must be your servant. Anyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and
anyone who humbles himself will be exalted.” This is the only acceptable
reason for leadership. We seek to be a humble servant for Christ and His
people by being the servant of the Gospel both in word and deed, as the Prophet
Ezekiel was in his prophetic words and actions. Thus, it is necessarily
to be purified of our motives. Let us ask for the gift of humility today
so that, aware of our own inadequacies, we will come to the Lord for
inspiration and guidance. We must turn to Christ our teacher and
master in prayer, asking for that grace to grow in holiness, zeal and most of
all, in humility and charity.
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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