20160409 LOOKING FOR THE RIGHT LEADERS
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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Acts 6:1-7 ©
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About this time, when
the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenists made a complaint against
the Hebrews: in the daily distribution their own widows were being overlooked.
So the Twelve called a full meeting of the disciples and addressed them, ‘It
would not be right for us to neglect the word of God so as to give out food;
you, brothers, must select from among yourselves seven men of good reputation,
filled with the Spirit and with wisdom; we will hand over this duty to them,
and continue to devote ourselves to prayer and to the service of the word.’ The
whole assembly approved of this proposal and elected Stephen, a man full of
faith and of the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon,
Parmenas, and Nicolaus of Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these
to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
The word
of the Lord continued to spread: the number of disciples in Jerusalem was
greatly increased, and a large group of priests made their submission to the faith.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm
32:1-2,4-5,18-19 ©
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May your love be
upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you.
or
Alleluia!
Ring out your joy to
the Lord, O you just;
for
praise is fitting for loyal hearts.
Give thanks to the
Lord upon the harp,
with a
ten-stringed lute sing him songs.
May your love be
upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you.
or
Alleluia!
For the word of the
Lord is faithful
and all
his works to be trusted.
The Lord loves
justice and right
and fills
the earth with his love.
May your love be
upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you.
or
Alleluia!
The Lord looks on
those who revere him,
on those
who hope in his love,
to rescue their souls
from death,
to keep
them alive in famine.
May your love be
upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you.
or
Alleluia!
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Rm6:9
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Christ, having been
raised from the dead, will never die again.
Death has no power
over him any more.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Christ has risen, he
who created all things,
and has granted his
mercy to men.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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John 6:16-21 ©
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In the evening the
disciples went down to the shore of the lake and got into a boat to make for
Capernaum on the other side of the lake. It was getting dark by now and Jesus
had still not rejoined them. The wind was strong, and the sea was getting
rough. They had rowed three or four miles when they saw Jesus walking on the
lake and coming towards the boat. This frightened them, but he said, ‘It is I.
Do not be afraid.’ They were for taking him into the boat, but in no time it
reached the shore at the place they were making for.
LOOKING
FOR THE RIGHT LEADERS
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ ACTS 6:1-7; PS
32:1-2, 4-5, 18-19; JOHN 6:16-21 ]
The
mission of the Church is vast and complex. The Church is not only just concerned
with the proclamation of the Word of God but also with works of mercy and
charity. The gospel is both words and deeds. Right doctrines and
worship alone is not yet the full gospel that Jesus came to offer us. He
Himself proclaimed the Good News by His words and by His works. As such,
right from the beginning, the Church never failed to carry out works of
charity. True faith, as St James tells us, is seen in good works.
Otherwise, it is a dead faith. (cf Jms 2:18-20) St John also repeated
this message when he spoke of the need to love our brothers and sisters.
“Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars;
for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot
love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is
this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.” (1 Jn 4:20f)
Hence,
in the early Church, one of the preferential projects is to assist and help the
poor, especially the widows and orphans. The Church began with the poor and for the
poor. Before the Catholic Church is what it is today, it was but a poor Church.
It was because of the witness of love for the poor, the marginalized, the
outcasts and the sinners that the Church grew in strength and in numbers, as we
read in the first reading. “The word of the Lord continued to spread: the
number of disciples in Jerusalem was greatly increased, and a large group of
priests made their submission to the faith.” There was nothing more
convincing that Jesus was alive and that their faith was real than the love of
God in their hearts.
Consequently,
when there were complaints of partiality between the Greek-speaking Christian
Jews and the Hebrew-speaking Christian Jews with regard to food distribution,
the apostles took action immediately. They needed to settle the misunderstanding quickly, lest
their preaching of the Word of God became a contradiction. Indeed, this
is what is always happening in the Church, especially among Church
leaders. Many people lose their faith, not because the Word of God was
not proclaimed eloquently, but because leaders do not practise what they
preach. In fact, we all get scandalized when we hear a preacher speak so
beautifully about justice, forgiveness, humility and caring for the poor when
in their lives, they contradict their teaching in whatever they do. When
that happens, whatever the preacher says in future, we listen with skepticism
and cynicism. Indeed, if the Word of God spread so quickly, it was not
simply because the apostles preached with eloquence and conviction but because
they lived out the Word of God in their own lives as they gave themselves to
the people.
In
the light of what we have read, we must therefore be selective and serious in
choosing leaders for the service of the People of God, whether priests, deacons
or lay leaders. The
choice we make must be taken seriously and with prayerful discernment. In
truth, most of our leaders are picked today because of their expertise, their
skills, sometimes because of friendship or the need to fill a position.
More often than not, the leaders that we choose to serve are not like the Seven
deacons, people filled with the Holy Spirit and with wisdom. This is the
greatest mistake of the Church and the authorities because bad shepherds
produce bad sheep and make the strong ones weak and disillusioned. We
lack seriousness in the way we pick and choose leaders for the Church. Our
criteria are worldly, in terms of fame, influence, knowledge, wealth and power.
It is not based on spiritual criteria, whether the person is full of faith,
spiritually mature, doctrinally well founded and a deep love for the Church and
respect for the magisterium. We do not look at a person’s other
qualities, like humility, generosity, integrity and the Christian virtues.
But St
Paul reminds us, “Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of
you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of
noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the
wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the
strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that
are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might
boast in the presence of God.” (1 Cor 1:26-29) The
early apostles were uneducated people, but they were people full of
faith. And as we saw yesterday in the miracle of the multiplication of
loaves, the Lord can make use of the little we have for His greater glory.
Thus,
for the apostles, in looking for leaders to help them in their mission, the
criteria given were, “men of good reputation, filled with the Spirit and with
wisdom.” Indeed,
they needed people not simply of great intelligence, knowledge and skills, but
they must be passionate about the gospel, convicted by the Word of God and most
of all, share in the wisdom of God that is given to those who are
God-fearing. This is what Sirach says, “To fear the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom; to fear the Lord is fullness of wisdom; the fear of the Lord is the
crown of wisdom (Sir 1:14,16,18) When a man does
not fear God or revere Him, he will not be able to submit to the power of God
and walk in His ways.
Accordingly,
if we were to find such men and women to assist us in the ministry today,
whether in preaching the Word, administration in the Church or serving the poor
and the needy, we need to ensure that our people are formed in the Word of God. This explains why, between the
works of charity and catechesis, the apostles chose the Word of God over works
of mercy. It is not because the latter is unimportant, but unless all who
proclaim the gospel, whether in works of mercy or otherwise, are founded on the
Word of God, they will not be able to effectively contribute to the mission of
the Church. They said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the word of God
so as to give out food.”
The
weakness of the Church is that some of our Church workers are not seeing their
work as a vocation for the service of God and the spread of the gospel but
merely as a job to make a living. With such mercenary attitudes, they cannot go far.
This is true even with volunteers who often think highly of themselves; how
generous they are in wanting to give their time and resources to the poor and
the service of the Church. Instead of employing the gospel values in the
work they do for the Church, they use the values of the corporate world,
measuring everything in terms of numbers, efficiency, productivity, reward and
punishment. Christian work and excellence must always be tampered by compassion
and forgiveness. For the Christian, the person is more valued than his or
her work or performance.
Indeed,
if, like the apostles who were struggling in the storms at the Sea of
Galilee, we want to ensure that we are able to withstand the challenges
of the world and ward off the attacks from within and without the Church,
we must center everything in Christ. He must be the foundation of all
that we do and say. When Jesus is at the center of our life and our work,
there will be peace and calmness because fear has been overcome. Indeed, like
the psalmist, we know that “the word of the Lord is faithful and all his works
to be trusted. The Lord loves justice and right and fills the earth with his
love. The Lord looks on those who revere him, on those who hope in his love, to
rescue their souls from death, to keep them alive in famine.”
For
this reason, before we choose leaders to work with us, we need to follow the
example of the apostles who devoted themselves “to prayer and to the
service of the word.” When the leaders were presented to them, they chose
those who were “full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” and then “prayed and laid
their hands on them.” Leaders must be discerning and prayerful
themselves, full of faith and the Holy Spirit; otherwise those whom they choose
to serve will end up like themselves, worldly minded and serving themselves.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore
© All Rights Reserved160409
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