CALLED TO BE COMPASSIONATE AND MERCIFUL LEADERS

20160124 CALLED TO BE COMPASSIONATE AND MERCIFUL LEADERS

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Green.

First reading

Nehemiah 8:2-6,8-10 ©

Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, consisting of men, women, and children old enough to understand. This was the first day of the seventh month. On the square before the Water Gate, in the presence of the men and women, and children old enough to understand, he read from the book from early morning till noon; all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.

  Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden dais erected for the purpose. In full view of all the people – since he stood higher than all the people – Ezra opened the book; and when he opened it all the people stood up. Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people raised their hands and answered, ‘Amen! Amen!’; then they bowed down and, face to the ground, prostrated themselves before the Lord. And Ezra read from the Law of God, translating and giving the sense, so that the people understood what was read.

  Then Nehemiah – His Excellency – and Ezra, priest and scribe and the Levites who were instructing the people said to all the people, ‘This day is sacred to the Lord your God. Do not be mournful, do not weep.’ For the people were all in tears as they listened to the words of the Law.

  He then said, ‘Go, eat the fat, drink the sweet wine, and send a portion to the man who has nothing prepared ready. For this day is sacred to our Lord. Do not be sad: the joy of the Lord is your stronghold.’

Psalm

Psalm 18:8-10,15 ©

Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.

The law of the Lord is perfect,

  it revives the soul.

The rule of the Lord is to be trusted,

  it gives wisdom to the simple.

Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.

The precepts of the Lord are right,

  they gladden the heart.

The command of the Lord is clear,

  it gives light to the eyes.

Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.

The fear of the Lord is holy,

  abiding for ever.

The decrees of the Lord are truth

  and all of them just.

Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.

May the spoken words of my mouth,

  the thoughts of my heart,

win favour in your sight, O Lord,

  my rescuer, my rock!

Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life.

EITHER:

Second reading

1 Corinthians 12:12-30 ©

Just as a human body, though it is made up of many parts, is a single unit because all these parts, though many, make one body, so it is with Christ. In the one Spirit we were all baptised, Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as citizens, and one Spirit was given to us all to drink.

  Nor is the body to be identified with any one of its many parts. If the foot were to say, ‘I am not a hand and so I do not belong to the body’, would that mean that it stopped being part of the body? If the ear were to say, ‘I am not an eye, and so I do not belong to the body’, would that mean that it was not a part of the body? If your whole body was just one eye, how would you hear anything? If it was just one ear, how would you smell anything?

  Instead of that, God put all the separate parts into the body on purpose. If all the parts were the same, how could it be a body? As it is, the parts are many but the body is one. The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I do not need you’, nor can the head say to the feet, ‘I do not need you.’

  What is more, it is precisely the parts of the body that seem to be the weakest which are the indispensable ones; and it is the least honourable parts of the body that we clothe with the greatest care. So our more improper parts get decorated in a way that our more proper parts do not need. God has arranged the body so that more dignity is given to the parts which are without it, and that there may not be disagreements inside the body, but that each part may be equally concerned for all the others. If one part is hurt, all parts are hurt with it. If one part is given special honour, all parts enjoy it.

  Now you together are Christ’s body; but each of you is a different part of it. In the Church, God has given the first place to apostles, the second to prophets, the third to teachers; after them, miracles, and after them the gift of healing; helpers, good leaders, those with many languages. Are all of them apostles, or all of them prophets, or all of them teachers? Do they all have the gift of miracles, or all have the gift of healing? Do all speak strange languages, and all interpret them?

OR:

Alternative Second reading

1 Corinthians 12:12-14,27 ©

Just as a human body, though it is made up of many parts, is a single unit because all these parts, though many, make one body, so it is with Christ. In the one Spirit we were all baptised, Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as citizens, and one Spirit was given to us all to drink.

  Nor is the body to be identified with any one of its many parts. Now you together are Christ’s body; but each of you is a different part of it.

Gospel Acclamation

Lk4:18

Alleluia, alleluia!

The Lord has sent me to bring the good news to the poor,

to proclaim liberty to captives.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Luke 1:1-4,4:14-21 ©

Seeing that many others have undertaken to draw up accounts of the events that have taken place among us, exactly as these were handed down to us by those who from the outset were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, I in my turn, after carefully going over the whole story from the beginning, have decided to write an ordered account for you, Theophilus, so that your Excellency may learn how well founded the teaching is that you have received.

  Jesus, with the power of the Spirit in him, returned to Galilee; and his reputation spread throughout the countryside. He taught in their synagogues and everyone praised him.

  He came to Nazara, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day as he usually did. He stood up to read and they handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written:

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me,

for he has anointed me.

He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor,

to proclaim liberty to captives

and to the blind new sight,

to set the downtrodden free,

to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour.

He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the assistant and sat down. And all eyes in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to speak to them, ‘This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.’

CALLED TO BE COMPASSIONATE AND MERCIFUL LEADERS

SCRIPTURE READINGS: Neh 8:2-6.8-10; Ps 18:8-10,15; 1 Cor 12:12-30 (or >< 12:12-14.27); Lk 1:1-4; 4:14-21

In the gospel, we have the inauguration of the mission of Jesus when He described His ministry, citing from the prophecy of Isaiah.  He is called to proclaim the Good News to the poor in all its dimensions.  So right from the outset, it is clear that the gospel is Good News only because it proclaims the mercy of God for humanity through the forgiveness of sins and the restoration of a wounded and broken humanity suffering from injustices, hurts, bondages, blindness and weariness in the struggles and trials of daily life.

The Universal Church is certainly in line with this thrust of Jesus’ mission as we celebrate the Jubilee Year of Mercy.  All of us, regardless of our mission, therefore share the same common mission of proclaiming the Good News to the poor, revealing to them the mercy of God.  Whether as priests, teachers, principals, doctors, lawyers, nurses, social workers, etc, we are all carrying out the work of mercy through our compassion and our love for the poor, which goes beyond the materially poor.  The poor in our context would include the intellectually poor because of ignorance and falsehood, affectively poor because of loneliness and abandonment, spiritually poor because they are deprived of the Word of God and His love; and those who are suffering psychologically and physically. 

How can the work of mercy be truly accomplished by us all?   In our local Church, whilst aligning ourselves to the Universal Church in the work of mercy, we have an added dimension, which is the need to work together in communion, especially the leaders of the Church, whether they are clerical, religious, lay, volunteers or paid workers.  The theme of communion is one of the tenets of the mission and vision of the Archdiocese.  The other tenets of the New Evangelization are Word, Worship and Witness.   This work of mercy must be carried out together and not individually.   The need for teamwork is more and more important in today’s time than ever.  The days of a hierarchical, top-down approach is over.   In those days, few were educated and hence the way of hierarchy worked well.  But in these days, most of our people are well educated and they have much to offer.  Work is also so specialized that none of us could say, he or she knows everything.  Consequently, we must be humble to admit that we cannot do the work alone, or undertake the mission of the gospel alone, without the help of others.

This is what St Paul urges us.   He speaks of the unity of the Body of Christ.  He wrote, “Now you together are Christ’s body; but each of you is a different part of it. Are all of them apostles, or all of them prophets, or all of them teachers? Do they all have the gift of miracles, or all have the gift of healing? Do all speak strange languages, and all interpret them?”  Of course, the answer is NO.  We do not have all the gifts of the Spirit.  We need each other’s help to fulfill the mission of the Church.  God has blessed us with different talents but all for the service of the Body of Christ, the Church, and for the service of humanity so that all can be formed in the perfect manhood of Jesus Christ.

This means that leaders, and all of us, cannot work alone, independent of each other.  There is only one mission and there is only one Church.  Within the Church, we all have different roles and responsibilities in this entire mission.  Every organization, every religious order and congregation, every society, every school, every charitable body and every ministry is essential to the work of carrying out the mission of proclaiming the gospel of mercy to all.  It is therefore within this context that every level and every strata of the Church must be aligned with the archbishop’s vision and mission for the Church.   Divided we fall but when we stand together, we will be strong.

We must work with fellow leaders, consulting, collaborating and helping each other out because more than anyone else, as leaders we understand the difficulties we are facing.  The more experienced and seasoned leaders can show us the way and encourage us on.  That is why we must create more opportunities for leaders of the same trade, ministry and profession to come together to support each other, to net-work, as it will help us all to be better leaders. Indeed, St Paul says, “In the one Spirit we were all baptised, Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as citizens, and one Spirit was given to us all to drink.”   We are called to be one in the Spirit.

We must be wary of those leaders who choose to remain independent and autonomous of others.  This is dictatorship!  A leader who wants to monopolize and control is a weak leader, because he or she is more interested in retaining power than to be in the service of others.  Even the diocesan bishop is required to work in union with Rome.  No one is above accountability and authority.  A leader who does not consult, who does encourage teamwork, who makes all decisions by himself or herself without learning how to delegate is doing a grave disservice to the Church.  A true leader is one who remains humble in office and in his position, and who empowers his subordinates to work with him and with the rest of the team for the greater glory of God and for the good of the Church and humanity.

Communion among leaders, and leaders with the Church, is not the only aspect of communion we are speaking about.   Most importantly, leaders must be imbued with the Spirit of the gospel, that same Spirit that empowered Jesus in undertaking the mission of proclaiming the Good News to the poor.  Before we can lead others to Christ and show them His mercy and compassion, we need to acquire the Spirit of Jesus, the compassion of Jesus and the heart of the Good Shepherd.  We too must be able also to say with Jesus with conviction and passion, “The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me.”  Unless anointed by the Holy Spirit, we only have ourselves to depend on!

How, then, can we as leaders be filled with the Spirit of the Good News, the compassion and passion of Jesus for others, especially for those under our care?  We must be identified with them.  Jesus came for the poor by being poor Himself.  He reached out to those living in the fringes of society and those considered sinners and outcasts by the so called “righteous people.”  Jesus lived and worked among the poor, feeling with them, identifying Himself with them and suffering with them.  Indeed, Jesus carried our infirmities upon Himself and our sins too, even though He knew no sin.  He is the compassionate High priest and the most merciful Shepherd.   As leaders, therefore, we cannot just sit in our offices, but we need to go out and be with the grassroots.  We need to be with our children and our leaders so that we can feel their pulse, their aspirations, challenges and struggles.  Only then, can we truly find the right solutions to help them.

Most importantly, we must be imbued with the Word of God, as the first reading and the psalmist invites us.  We cannot walk in the truth and lead others in the truth if we are not first listeners of the Word of God.  It is necessarily therefore that leaders are familiar with the Word of God, the teachings of the Magisterium, the direction and vision of the local Church and their own organizations if they are to be effective leaders.  Unless they are convicted of what they are called to do, they can never lead the organization to the next level of progress.

Cultivating a love for the Word of God and a deep prayer life is essential for Christian leaders, priests, religious, social workers, principals and teachers, for they are not simply doing human work but the work of God and work for God.  They need to seek guidance from the Lord to see how best they can serve their members, staff, and the public.  The Word of God not only guides us but inspires, especially when we are discouraged.  We read how the Israelites wept for joy after hearing the Word of God.   Indeed, the Word of the Lord gives us joy in our work and ministry.   Without first receiving the Word of life, we cannot be life givers.

So let us take up with joy, passion and conviction the work of mercy, the work of restoration, the work of education and the work of liberation.  We are called to set free those under the bondage of fear, anxiety, obsession and unforgiveness, and to give sight to the blind and ignorant, freeing those under the weight of injustices and the burdens of daily living. Most of all, we are called to empower everyone, especially the young, to become instruments of God’s mercy in the world by offering themselves as servants of the gospel of mercy in whatever vocation the Lord has given to them.

Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved