TEMPTATION TO ACTIVISM AND FUNCTIONALISM

20160113 TEMPTATION TO ACTIVISM AND FUNCTIONALISM

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Green.

First reading

1 Samuel 3:1-10,19-20 ©

The boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli; it was rare for the Lord to speak in those days; visions were uncommon. One day, it happened that Eli was lying down in his room. His eyes were beginning to grow dim; he could no longer see. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying in the sanctuary of the Lord where the ark of God was, when the Lord called, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ He answered, ‘Here I am.’ Then he ran to Eli and said, ‘Here I am, since you called me.’ Eli said, ‘I did not call. Go back and lie down.’ So he went and lay down. Once again the Lord called, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am, since you called me.’ He replied, ‘I did not call you, my son; go back and lie down.’ Samuel had as yet no knowledge of the Lord and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. Once again the Lord called, the third time. He got up and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am, since you called me.’ Eli then understood that it was the Lord who was calling the boy, and he said to Samuel, ‘Go and lie down, and if someone calls say, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”’ So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

  The Lord then came and stood by, calling as he had done before, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ Samuel answered, ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.’

  Samuel grew up and the Lord was with him and let no word of his fall to the ground. All Israel from Dan to Beersheba came to know that Samuel was accredited as a prophet of the Lord.

Psalm

Psalm 39:2,5,7-10 ©

Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.

I waited, I waited for the Lord

  and he stooped down to me;

  he heard my cry.

Happy the man who has placed

  his trust in the Lord

and has not gone over to the rebels

  who follow false gods.

Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.

You do not ask for sacrifice and offerings,

  but an open ear.

You do not ask for holocaust and victim.

  Instead, here am I.

Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.

In the scroll of the book it stands written

  that I should do your will.

My God, I delight in your law

  in the depth of my heart.

Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.

Your justice I have proclaimed

  in the great assembly.

My lips I have not sealed;

  you know it, O Lord.

Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.

Gospel Acclamation

cf.Col3:16a,17

Alleluia, alleluia!

Let the message of Christ, in all its richness,

find a home with you;

through him give thanks to God the Father.

Alleluia!

Or

Jn10:27

Alleluia, alleluia!

The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice,

says the Lord,

I know them and they follow me.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Mark 1:29-39 ©

On leaving the synagogue, Jesus went with James and John straight to the house of Simon and Andrew. Now Simon’s mother-in-law had gone to bed with fever, and they told him about her straightaway. He went to her, took her by the hand and helped her up. And the fever left her and she began to wait on them.

  That evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were sick and those who were possessed by devils. The whole town came crowding round the door, and he cured many who were suffering from diseases of one kind or another; he also cast out many devils, but he would not allow them to speak, because they knew who he was.

  In the morning, long before dawn, he got up and left the house, and went off to a lonely place and prayed there. Simon and his companions set out in search of him, and when they found him they said, ‘Everybody is looking for you.’ He answered, ‘Let us go elsewhere, to the neighbouring country towns, so that I can preach there too, because that is why I came.’ And he went all through Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out devils.

TEMPTATION TO ACTIVISM AND FUNCTIONALISM

SCRIPTURE READINGS: 1SM 3:1-10. 19-20; Ps 39:2, 5, 7-10; Mk 1:29-39

In the work of New Evangelization, there is much to be done.  Indeed, the harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few.  Conscious of the need to get so many things done, we tend to be overly involved in Church activities, whether as priests, religious or laity, so much so, our faith is reduced to nominal religious services and activities.  As a result, many of us suffer from burn out.  We are tired, stressed up, impatient, irritable and easily upset.  We get angry easily and resentful of the amount of work allocated to us; the endless requests from people, demands and expectations from our bosses, not forgetting that we have our responsibilities at home to our spouse, children and family.  At the end of the day, we might even feel short-changed and made used of because it seems that we are available to everyone but no one is available to us; we help everyone, but no one is there to help us. We give all our time, but no one has time for us.  We are there to console everyone, but there is no one to console us.

Jesus too felt the demands in the ministry.  Today’s gospel speaks of the ordinary routine of the life and ministry of Jesus.  He spent His day preaching and teaching.  Over and above His teaching, He healed and exorcised.  He had to also attend to His disciples’ needs and their loved ones, just like us priests.   We do not only serve those who belong to our charge, or our collaborators, but extend our ministry to their loved ones as well, as Jesus did when He went straight to the house of Simon and Andrew after His preaching engagements to heal Simon’s mother-in-law who was in bed with fever.  Even for such minor ailments, the Lord was called upon to assist.  Then we read that after the Sabbath, that is, sunset, He continued His work of healing all evening till late into the night, as “they brought to him all who were sick and those who were possessed by devils.”  We read that “the whole town came crowding round the door, and he cured many who were suffering from diseases of one kind or another; he also cast out many devils.”  So we can imagine how tiring and demanding the ministry of Jesus was.  He was there responding to every situation, big or small, day and night.  He must have been mentally, emotionally, psychologically and physically exhausted.

What is the real danger in allowing ourselves to be tired out by our work? The temptation is to reduce ourselves to being functionary rather to live out our being and be the very presence of God to others.  As priests and active Church workers, we are often seen as service providers and therefore expected to perform some functions.  We are not there for people to simply relax with, to talk, share or enjoy our company and our presence.  We are always on the rush that sometimes, people feel bad that they are taking up our time.  And so we often forget our being; who we are and what we are doing.  Many of us forget to attend to our personal needs, our emotional, affective, psychological and especially spiritual needs.  The trouble is that the effects are not felt immediately but gradually they sap our energy, enthusiasm, passion and joy in service.

We need time for ourselves.  We need time to recharge.  We cannot just keep on giving and giving, as if we are the Sun.   When we are always stretching ourselves like a drawn bow of an arrow, very soon, the string will no longer be elastic and will lose its power to stretch.  When that happens, we lose our effectiveness and power.  We are no longer fresh, positive, creative and energized.  We begin to do repetitive actions and over time, we lose our dynamism.  Worst of all, we become jaded and what we do becomes a chore, a burden and a sacrifice performed perfunctorily without joy and purpose, no longer life-giving.

Aware that He was losing His focus and perspective, Jesus always felt the need to go back to His Father to be recharged and to re-orientate Himself.  And so regardless of how tired He was, we read that again and again, “in the morning, long before dawn, he got up and left the house, he went off to a lonely place and prayed there.”  Indeed, it was Jesus’ practice to withdraw to be alone with the Father in deep prayer and intimacy.  It was in prayer that He basked Himself in the love of His Father and imbibe new energy from Him.  Prayer was a time to examine His motives for service, check that He would not fall into the temptations of the Evil One, especially for power, glory and self-serving actions.   He had to be sure that He was building the kingdom of His Father and not His.

How often do we, consciously or unconsciously, find ourselves building our kingdom? Although it is embarrassing to admit the fact, it is natural for us as human beings to seek security and familiarity.  So most of us would like to settle in a particular place where we are comfortable, where we know the people and are loved, accepted and even adored by them.  We all desire to have a sense of belonging, to find our niche.  This accounts for why some people never like to resettle in another place or switch organizations or jobs.  As leaders, we too get comfortable after some time and are reluctant to give up our secured position and office.  We want to hold on for as long as we can as we fear change.

When that happens in Church life, then the Church becomes a maintenance Church; not a missionary Church.  However, the Church by nature is not a domestic Church but a visionary and missionary Church.  Jesus was first and foremost a missionary pastor! He was neither just a missionary nor just a shepherd, but a missionary-shepherd.   Pope Francis too invites the Church to go forth in his encyclical, Evangelii Gaudium.  “The Church which “goes forth” is a com­munity of missionary disciples who take the first step, who are involved and supportive, who bear fruit and rejoice. An evangelizing community knows that the Lord has taken the initiative, he has loved us first (cf. 1 Jn 4:19), and therefore we can move forward, boldly take the initiative, go out to others, seek those who have fallen away, stand at the crossroads and welcome the out­cast. Such a community has an endless desire to show mercy, the fruit of its own experience of the power of the Father’s infinite mercy.” (EG 23)  So we must heed the call of the gospel to go out and not stay in our comfort zone.  We must remember that Jesus Himself had said, “”Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” (Mt 8:20)

How is it that many of us begin well in wanting to serve the Church and the poor but end up unconsciously serving our own needs?  We become inward-looking, protective of our turf, calculative and see others as our competitors or even enemies.  This is because we lack humility and self-awareness.  We are not conscious of our hidden motives in service and ministry. We are more concerned about building our parish, ministry and organization than seeing ourselves as playing our part in the bigger mission of the Church.   We tend to act in silos.  Our focus is on ourselves and what we are doing; not on the universal mission of the Church and empowering others in our common mission.  Not surprisingly, members are often fault-finding, petty, competitive, envious and insecure.  Quite often, they let success get into their heads.  They created an aura of self-importance and indispensability.

If we lack consciousness of our hidden motives, it is because we lack an authentic prayer life.   We work and work without silent, meditative and contemplative prayer.  We are afraid of silence and being alone with the Lord.  We escape from confronting our true selves by involving ourselves in activities and having people around us all the time.   One who is afraid of silence cannot hear the voice of God and cannot know himself.   That is why we are confused, unsettled and lack peace in our hearts.  We are worried about success, not fidelity to the will of God.

Today, we must learn from Samuel.  He was very attentive to the voice of God.  Three times the Lord called Him, he responded.   Indeed, if Samuel became recognized as a great prophet, it was not because he was eloquent, but because they knew him as one who first and foremost listened to the voice of God.  This was what we read in the first reading, “Samuel grew up and the Lord was with him and let no word of his fall to the ground.  All Israel from Dan to Beersheba came to know that Samuel was accredited as a prophet of the Lord.”

We will do well if we, like Samuel, also hang on to every word that comes from our Lord.  This can happen only if we are willing to make time for Him in the silence of our hearts in intimacy and contemplation.  Without meditation, reflection and prayer, we can be sure that our zeal and passion for ministry will run dry and we suffer burn out.  No ministry member must serve without prayer, both individual and community prayer.   No one should serve without first being in contact with the Lord Jesus, otherwise, we will not be able to make Him loved and known.  At any rate, we will not have the strength, the capacity, the wisdom and the love to do what He did.

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