20141203 THE MISSIONARY SPIRIT OF THE LOCAL CHURCH
Readings at Mass
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First reading
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1 Corinthians
9:16-19,22-23 ©
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I do not boast of
preaching the gospel, since it is a duty which has been laid on me; I should be
punished if I did not preach it! If I had chosen this work myself, I might have
been paid for it, but as I have not, it is a responsibility which has been put
into my hands. Do you know what my reward is? It is this in my preaching, to be
able to offer the Good News free, and not insist on the rights which the gospel
gives me.
So though
I am not a slave of any man I have made myself the slave of everyone so as to
win as many as I could. For the weak I made myself weak. I made myself all
things to all men in order to save some at any cost; and I still do this, for
the sake of the gospel, to have a share in its blessings.
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Psalm
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Psalm 116:1-2 ©
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Go out to the
whole world; proclaim the Good News.
or
Alleluia!
O praise the Lord,
all you nations,
acclaim
him all you peoples!
Go out to the
whole world; proclaim the Good News.
or
Alleluia!
Strong is his love
for us;
he is
faithful for ever.
Go out to the
whole world; proclaim the Good News.
or
Alleluia!
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Mt28:19,20
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Go, make disciples of
all the nations.
I am with you always;
yes, to the end of time.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 16:15-20 ©
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Jesus showed himself
to the Eleven, and said to them: ‘Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good
News to all creation. He who believes and is baptised will be saved; he who
does not believe will be condemned. These are the signs that will be associated
with believers: in my name they will cast out devils; they will have the gift
of tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and be unharmed should
they drink deadly poison; they will lay their hands on the sick, who will
recover.’
And
so the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven: there
at the right hand of God he took his place, while they, going out, preached
everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the signs
that accompanied it.
THE
MISSIONARY SPIRIT OF THE LOCAL CHURCH
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: : 1 CORINTHIANS 9:16-19,22-23; MARK 16:15-20
The temptation of the
local church and the parishes within the diocese is to think of themselves as
only parishes and not as a diocesan Church and the Catholic Church. There is always this danger of falling
into parochial mindedness. When that happens, protectionism becomes the
order of the day. One ends up building a feudal kingdom in the
diocese. When we only think of “my parish” we forget that we belong
to a larger community of faith which we call “Catholic” and of which we are all
brothers and sisters.
Hence, it is important to
remember that we have a role in the universal mission of the Church.
Although we are not sent out on missions to proclaim the gospel to those who do
not know Christ yet, our work in the parish is to support the missions and the
evangelical activity of the local Church abroad and at home. We are not
here to build and extend our kingdom or to make life more comfortable for our
parishioners. Nay, the sign that signals whether a parish is doing well
is not how many organizations and activities there are in the parish but how
many priests and religious and lay missionaries are being produced. Our
task is to form people for mission in the world wherever they are, in their
homes, schools and offices; and those who have been called by God to go abroad
to those lands that have not yet received the gospel.
St John Mary Vianney,
although a diocesan priest, was missionary-minded in reaching out to his
parishioners. He
was not sitting on his arm chair in his office directing others like a
CEO. Instead, he was on the ground most of the time, unless he was in the
confessional. He was, as St Paul says, “all things to all men.” He
wrote, “For the weak I made myself weak. I made myself all things to all men in
order to save some at any cost; and I still do this, for the sake of the
gospel, to have a share in its blessings.” He was not only reaching out
to lapsed Catholics but those who had no faith. His parochial mindedness was
uniquely missionary in spirit.
Pope Francis reminds us
of the two-fold proclamation of the gospel, the pastoral and the missionary
role of every priest. He wrote, “The Synod reaffirmed that the new evangelization is
a summons addressed to all and that it is carried out in three principal
settings. In first place, the “ordinary pastoral ministry seeks to help
believers to grow spiritually so that they can respond to God’s love ever more
fully in their lives. A second area is that of “the baptized whose lives
do not reflect the demands of Baptism”,who lack a meaningful relationship to
the Church and no longer experience the consolation born of faith. Lastly, we
cannot forget that evangelization is first and foremost about preaching the
Gospel to those who do not know Jesus Christ or who have always rejected him.
We would realize that missionary outreach is paradigmatic for all the
Church’s activity. Along these lines the Latin American bishops stated
that we “cannot passively and calmly wait in our church buildings”; we need to
move “from a pastoral ministry of mere conservation to a decidedly missionary
pastoral ministry”. (EV 15)
In the light of this,
what kind of diocesan missionary spirituality must parishes cultivate?
Firstly, a diocesan
spirituality must begin with a parochial perspective, but always in view of the
larger mission of the Church. We must feed our own Catholics, strengthen the weak and feed the
strong as well. We need to reach out to Catholics who have lost their
faith but we must not forget to nurture those who are growing in faith.
At the same time, we must not lose the sense of the urgency of spreading the
gospel to all of humanity. Jesus showed Himself to the
Eleven and said to them, “Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to
all creation. He who believes and is baptised is saved; he who does not believe
will be condemned.” This command to proclaim the gospel remains valid and
relevant even in our times.
Secondly, a diocesan
spirituality entails that we must identify ourselves with our people,
especially the
spiritually and materially poor. We must feel with our people and
empathize with their needs. We need to live among them and walk with
them. For that reason, we need to go out into the world and be with
them as Pope Francis invites us.
This gospel must be
proclaimed by words and deeds, through preaching and charity, as these are
signs of His presence and love. Whilst we must preach the gospel directly and enlighten
people to know Christ as their savior, we also need to express our faith and
preaching in ministering to the sick and the poor. This includes
charity to the poor, but we also must not lack faith in exercising the ministry
of deliverance and healing, as such works are also exercised as a service to
charity.
Thirdly, a diocesan
spirituality requires us to support the universal Church and the
missions in the world so that others can know Christ. Since we have
freely received the gospel through the generosity of others who sacrificed
their lives for us, we must also give freely as well our time, resources and
gifts. We have a duty and responsibility to ensure that the universal
mission of the Church is supported by our prayers, sharing of resources and,
most of all, our collaboration.
This also means that we
must work in communion with the diocesan bishop and with the Holy Father. The Lord has chosen the Twelve
as a college of bishops. Necessarily, a priest’s ministry is never an
individual ministry but also at the service of the local bishop and the local
Church. He does not build his own parochial kingdom. Indeed,
we read, “Jesus showed himself to the Eleven and said to them, ‘Go out to the
whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation.’” Our mission is a
common mission and never an individualistic mission of an individual priest or
a parish. Our task is to serve the local bishop and the local Church; and
the diocesan bishop’s duty is to support the Holy Father and the College of
Bishops for the universal mission of the Church.
What does it take to
live out this spirituality?
A diocesan missionary
spirit must spring from the gratitude of being called and chosen. Like St Paul, to know that we are
chosen by the Lord is a great gift. We are unworthy and great sinners,
yet the Lord has chosen us. Only with a grateful heart, could we
give ourselves to the Lord. So long as we come from a position of
strength, of one who is giving oneself to the Lord for service as if the Lord
is our debtor, we cannot serve Him effectively. We will become proud, arrogant
and demanding. Rather, we must always consider our lowliness and in
humility accept this call graciously, never making us proud. Only then
can we become generous and humble in service. Instead of talking about
our rights, we talk in terms of freedom of service and being slaves of Christ
since having received freely, we give freely as well. This is what St
Paul wrote, “If I had chosen this work myself, I might have been paid for it,
but as I have not, it is a responsibility which has been put into my hands. Do
you know what my reward is? It is this: in my preaching, to be able to offer
the Good News free, and not insist on the rights which the gospel gives me.”
Most of all, the key to
a diocesan spirituality is that we work with the Lord. “And so the Lord Jesus, after he had
spoken to them, was taken up to heaven: there at the right hand of God he took
his place, while they, going out, preached everywhere, the Lord working with
them and confirming the word by the signs that accompanied it.” Above
everything else, in order to be sure that the Lord is with us and accompanying
us in our ministry, we must pray and be always in union with Him through our
bishop and superior. Without fervent prayer, there is no ministry or
mission. Without Him, we can do nothing!
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV
WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP
OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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