CHRISTIAN DIPLOMACY

20160429 CHRISTIAN DIPLOMACY

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: White.

First reading

Acts 15:22-31 ©

The apostles and elders decided to choose delegates to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; the whole church concurred with this. They chose Judas known as Barsabbas and Silas, both leading men in the brotherhood, and gave them this letter to take with them:

  ‘The apostles and elders, your brothers, send greetings to the brothers of pagan birth in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia. We hear that some of our members have disturbed you with their demands and have unsettled your minds. They acted without any authority from us; and so we have decided unanimously to elect delegates and to send them to you with Barnabas and Paul, men we highly respect who have dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accordingly we are sending you Judas and Silas, who will confirm by word of mouth what we have written in this letter. It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and by ourselves not to saddle you with any burden beyond these essentials: you are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols; from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from fornication. Avoid these, and you will do what is right. Farewell.’

  The party left and went down to Antioch, where they summoned the whole community and delivered the letter. The community read it and were delighted with the encouragement it gave them.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 56:8-12 ©

I will thank you, Lord, among the peoples.

or

Alleluia!

My heart is ready, O God,

  my heart is ready.

  I will sing, I will sing your praise.

Awake, my soul,

  awake, lyre and harp,

  I will awake the dawn.

I will thank you, Lord, among the peoples.

or

Alleluia!

I will thank you, Lord, among the peoples,

  among the nations I will praise you

for your love reaches to the heavens

  and your truth to the skies.

O God, arise above the heavens;

  may your glory shine on earth!

I will thank you, Lord, among the peoples.

or

Alleluia!

Gospel Acclamation

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!

Or

Jn15:15

Alleluia, alleluia!

I call you friends, says the Lord,

because I have made known to you

everything I have learnt from my Father.

Alleluia!

Gospel

John 15:12-17 ©

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘This is my commandment:

love one another,

as I have loved you.

A man can have no greater love

than to lay down his life for his friends.

You are my friends,

if you do what I command you.

I shall not call you servants any more,

because a servant does not know

his master’s business;

I call you friends,

because I have made known to you

everything I have learnt from my Father.

You did not choose me:

no, I chose you;

and I commissioned you

to go out and to bear fruit,

fruit that will last;

and then the Father will give you

anything you ask him in my name.

What I command you is to love one another.’

CHRISTIAN DIPLOMACY

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ACTS 15:22-31; JOHN 15:12-17     ]

There will always be conflict and misunderstanding in this world, in our homes, among friends, colleagues and within the Christian community.  The great challenge of every leader and individual is how to mediate in times of disagreement and anger.  The task of diplomacy is to find a way to resolve these tensions so there will be peace and mutual understanding. In political diplomacy, each country enters into negotiation with another country based on national interests.  Each party will try to get the best deal for his country.  This is understandable because the task of the government is to protect the interests of the citizens before others.

Christian diplomacy is different from political and worldly diplomacy because the starting point is not to protect one’s interests but the others’ interests.   It is motivated by love for others, not for self.  Instead of seeing the other party as the opponent, competitor or enemy, Christians see them as their friends.   More than that, because everyone is his or her friend, Christians are willing to die for them, putting and sacrificing their own interests before theirs.   And this is done not spontaneously, that is, as a mere emotional outburst or response, but rather a deliberate choice to make everyone his or her friend, brother and sister.

Indeed, this is the way Jesus loves us. St Paul wrote, “While we were yet helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man – though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die. But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”  (Rom 5:6-8)  Only because He loves us in this manner, He could command us to do likewise. In the gospel, He said, “This is my commandment: love one another, as I have loved you. A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you.”

Jesus considers us not as His servants, and less still His enemies, but His friends. “I shall not call you servants anymore, because a servant does not know his master’s business.”  It is already a great thing to be called a servant of God.  It is just like in the modern world when we are elected to hold public office or appointed by the President or Prime Minister to serve in some body, council or organization.   We consider it a great privilege to be a servant of the country.  This is true for those in priestly and religious life.  We are grateful that the Lord has called us to be His servants in the Church, the Holy Father being the servant of servants.  But a servant simply obeys the master without questioning and even without understanding.  The task of a servant is simply to obey and carry out the master’s will faithfully and efficiently without questioning.

To be a friend of Jesus is to know and understand His mind and heart.  He said, “I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father.”  Friendship speaks about mutual understanding and mutual will.  This comes about through intimacy. So we are called to be the friends of Jesus because He wants to share His whole life with us so that when we know and understand Him and feel His love for us, we will also want to love the way He loves.  Indeed, this is the reason for His love.  He loves us not just for our sake but for the sake of all.  Being loved by Jesus does not mean that we abandon the world and exclude others from lives.  On the contrary, we want to reach out to the world in love.  That is why He said, “You did not choose me: no, I chose you; and I commissioned you to go out and to bear fruit, fruit that will last.”  He loves us so that we in turn can love others by bearing fruits of love, compassion and forgiveness in our lives.

Accordingly, when He said, “What I command you is to love one another”; He is not expecting us to love with our own strength.   We are to love one another, not with our own understanding and our capacity to love but to love with the love that Jesus has loved us with.  So the measure, the means and the capacity of Christian diplomacy is very much rooted in the love of Jesus for us.  Without first encountering the unconditional love of Jesus in His sacrificial death for us even when we do not deserve that love, we cannot love our brothers and sisters, especially our enemies and opponents, with charity and compassion.

It is within this context that we can appreciate the Christian diplomacy of the primitive Church when they had to deal with internal disagreement and division.  The atmosphere was not one of anger and hostility but the sincerity of wanting to find the best solution for the greater good of the community and the future of the spread of the Gospel and the growth of the Church.  It was all done in the spirit of mutual love. So instead of allowing the whole matter to deteriorate, the leaders, Paul and Barnabas were quick to act by suggesting that the matter be brought to the leaders in Jerusalem to decide.  So we read how they gathered together and heard the different testimonies and interventions.  Finally, after the process of discernment and prayer, a decision with the consensus of the leaders was made.

But it is also very edifying in the way the transmission of the decision was done.  In life, it is not enough to make the right decision; one also has to manage the communication well.  We might have made the right decision but often it is miscommunicated or not properly communicated, giving rise to greater misunderstandings. In this area, many of us fail quite miserably because often we deal with such matters on the logical level, forgetting that we are speaking to human beings.  So it is very edifying to read how sensitive and thoughtful the early Christian leaders were towards those who were hurt and confused.

Besides writing the letter, they also appointed the best and senior leaders of the Church to go with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch to convey the decision. We can learn the importance of giving a personal touch to such sensitive matters.  Quite often, letters do not help much because the personal element is missing.  When we are dealing with ideas and words, we forget to consider the feelings of the other party.  And quite often, the feelings are not taken into consideration but merely the logical facts and argument.  A personal touch helps the other party to know that they are not perceived as enemies and that their feelings are being considered as well.  Furthermore, it was important that the Christian community in Antioch knew that they were taken seriously by the leaders.

There was also a need for transparency; that the decision as communicated was truly from the leaders of Jerusalem.  By sending emissaries from Jerusalem, it lent weight to the letter that they carried with them. Hence, they took pains to underscore this fact to them when they said, “Accordingly we are sending you Judas and Silas, who will confirm by word of mouth what we have written in this letter.”  They also reiterated, “so we have decided unanimously to elect delegates and to send them to you with Barnabas and Paul, men we highly respect who have dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”   St Luke made it clear that Barsabbas and Silas were “both leading men in the brotherhood.”

Thirdly, examining the letter, we find the utmost courtesy and respect for the community.  They began by sending them their greetings.  Then they acknowledged their pain when they said, “We hear that some of our members have disturbed you with their demands and have unsettled your minds.” Then they made it clear on whose side they were on. “They acted without any authority from us.”  Next, they made it clear that the decision was the work of the Holy Spirit in the community after prayerful discernment.  “It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and by ourselves.”   It was not simply a decision of the Council but they represented the mind of Christ and spoke in His name and on His authority.

Fourthly, with regard to the decision itself, they did not deal with the theological problem of whether the Gentile Christians were saved or not, because they did not imbibe the Jewish customs, but rather the charity and sensitivity all are called to respect.  Hence, the decision was that they did not wish to saddle them “with any burden beyond these essentials.”  Indeed, what they were calling for is mutual understanding and consideration for others’ sensitivity, especially the Jews.  This is the fruit that Jesus spoke about in the gospel.  We are called to bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit, which are kindness, gentleness, long-suffering, patience, love and self-control. (cf Gal 5:22)  Bearing such fruits is the best witness of loving like Christ.  Such fruits will indeed last because the only language that is understood by all, the only language of true diplomacy is the language of love.  Indeed, when we ask everything in the mind of Jesus, in His name and always for the bigger interests of others rather than for ourselves, the Lord will hear our prayer.

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