20160912 ARE YOU A PAGAN CATHOLIC?
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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1 Corinthians
11:17-26,33 ©
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On the subject of
instructions, I cannot say that you have done well in holding meetings that do
you more harm than good. In the first place, I hear that when you all come
together as a community, there are separate factions among you, and I half
believe it – since there must no doubt be separate groups among you, to
distinguish those who are to be trusted. The point is, when you hold these
meetings, it is not the Lord’s Supper that you are eating, since when the time
comes to eat, everyone is in such a hurry to start his own supper that one
person goes hungry while another is getting drunk. Surely you have homes for
eating and drinking in? Surely you have enough respect for the community of God
not to make poor people embarrassed? What am I to say to you? Congratulate you?
I cannot congratulate you on this.
For this
is what I received from the Lord, and in turn passed on to you: that on the
same night that he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread, and thanked
God for it and broke it, and he said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do
this as a memorial of me.’ In the same way he took the cup after supper, and
said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this
as a memorial of me.’ Until the Lord comes, therefore, every time you eat this
bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming his death, So to sum up, my dear
brothers, when you meet for the Meal, wait for one another.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 39:7-10,17
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Proclaim the death
of the Lord, until he comes.
You do not ask for
sacrifice and offerings,
but an
open ear.
You do not ask for
holocaust and victim.
Instead,
here am I.
Proclaim the death
of the Lord, until he comes.
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.
Proclaim the death
of the Lord, until he comes.
Your justice I have
proclaimed
in the
great assembly.
My lips I have not
sealed;
you know
it, O Lord.
Proclaim the death
of the Lord, until he comes.
O let there be
rejoicing and gladness
for all
who seek you.
Let them ever say:
‘The Lord is great’,
who love
your saving help.
Proclaim the death
of the Lord, until he comes.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Ps118:27
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Make me grasp the way
of your precepts,
and I will muse on
your wonders.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Jn3:16
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Alleluia, alleluia!
God loved the world
so much that he gave his only Son:
everyone who believes
in him has eternal life.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 7:1-10 ©
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When Jesus had come
to the end of all he wanted the people to hear, he went into Capernaum. A
centurion there had a servant, a favourite of his, who was sick and near death.
Having heard about Jesus he sent some Jewish elders to him to ask him to come
and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus they pleaded earnestly with him.
‘He deserves this of you’ they said ‘because he is friendly towards our people;
in fact, he is the one who built the synagogue.’ So Jesus went with them, and
was not very far from the house when the centurion sent word to him by some
friends: ‘Sir,’ he said ‘do not put yourself to trouble; because I am not
worthy to have you under my roof; and for this same reason I did not presume to
come to you myself; but give the word and let my servant be cured. For I am
under authority myself, and have soldiers under me; and I say to one man: Go,
and he goes; to another: Come here, and he comes; to my servant: Do this, and
he does it.’ When Jesus heard these words he was astonished at him and, turning
round, said to the crowd following him, ‘I tell you, not even in Israel have I
found faith like this.’ And when the messengers got back to the house they
found the servant in perfect health.
ARE YOU
A PAGAN CATHOLIC?
In the gospel, we cannot
but be inspired by the faith of the Centurion. He is a true model of a
believer in God and in Christ. The Church even asks us all to
repeat his words to the Lord at every Eucharistic celebration, “I am not worthy
to have you under my roof but give the word and let my servant be cured.”
Besides this centurion, it is quite significant that the bible gives us a few
examples of other centurions who could inspire us in our faith life. We
have the conversion of the Roman Centurion Cornelius who received the Holy
Spirit even before he was baptized. (cf Acts 10) Then we have the
confession of faith of the centurion at the foot of the cross. “Now when
the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the
earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, “Truly this man
was God’s Son!” (Mt 27:54
)
)
What is the reason for the
gospel giving us so many examples of centurions who were supposedly pagan and
enemies of the Jews yet very much Christian at heart? The answer is
clear. This is to provide a scandalous contrast between so called pagans,
whom we think are not saved, and ourselves, so called believers and baptized
Christians when in truth our hearts and minds are pagan, unconverted, selfish
and inward looking. And there are many of these baptized pagans in our
Christian communities!
Let us examine how the
Centurion showed himself to be a real Catholic and Christian at heart.
Firstly, he was a true
Christian because we read that he was a man of great compassion and love,
especially for those who were suffering. He had “a servant, a favourite
of his, who was sick and near death. Having heard about Jesus he sent some Jewish
elders to him to ask him to come and heal his servant.” He was only a servant;
yet he treated him the way he would have treated his own son. For him,
the servant was not a worker or a machine or a slave. The servant was a
human being with feelings and needs like everyone, for food, lodging, respect,
love, security, acceptance and good health. The centurion regarded him as
a human being worthy of being loved as his own. Such was the great love
of the centurion, like the way our Heavenly Father loves us and calls us all
His children. (cf 1 Jn 3:1f
)
)
Secondly, he was a true
Catholic because his love was all embracing. Although a Roman soldier, he
had deep love for the Jews as well. He did not behave like a conqueror
and the Jews as prisoners or subjects. His love extended beyond the confines of
his household, his own country, to all. He regarded all of them
well. He even built for them a synagogue when he was not a Jew or a
believer! Such was his all-embracing love for all, regardless of race,
language or religion. His love was universal and this is what it means to
be Catholic!
Thirdly, he was a man
filled with the Holy Spirit because he exhibited the gifts of the Holy
Spirit. The gifts of humility, faith, hope, tolerance, kindness,
generosity and love were found in him. He was truly humble. He
sincerely felt that he was not good enough to have Jesus come to his
house. This was what he said to Jesus, “for this same reason I did not
presume to come to you myself.” He did not feel that he was worthy to
even approach Jesus directly. His love for his servant was so great that
he did not mind lowering himself to ask his friends to approach Jesus for help.
He was a man of great
sensitivity and respect for others. He was very conscious of the rituals
and customs of the Jews. Instead of doing what he liked in his position
of authority and power, He was sensitive to Jesus and considerate of the
culture and sentiments of the Jews. He did not wish to oblige Jesus to
enter into his house because he was fully aware that Jews could not enter the
house of pagans.
Most of all, he was a man
of great faith in the Lord. He told the Lord, “For I am under authority myself,
and have soldiers under me; and I say to one man: Go, and he goes; to another:
Come here, and he comes; to my servant: Do this, and he does it.” Thus,
the centurion was saying to Jesus, because of the divine authority vested on
you, just say the word and it would be done. The evangelist remarked,
“When Jesus heard these words he was astonished at him and, turning round, said
to the crowd following him, ‘I tell you, not even in Israel have I found faith
like this’. And when the messengers got back to the house they found the
servant in perfect health.”
In the light of what we
have said about this centurion, we can appreciate why he endeared himself not only
to the Jews and the synagogue leaders but especially to Jesus. Even
though he was not a believer, or a Christian, or a Jew, yet his life reflected
one who knew God and had deep faith in Him. Indeed, he puts us all
so-called believers of Christ to shame. We do not possess his virtues of
humility, faith and display the kind of unselfish, inclusive love and
compassion he had for others. Many of us behave like the early Christians
during the time of St Paul in the first reading. We behave like pagan Christians
because what we believe and celebrate is not how we live. We are a
contradiction and a counter witness to the Lord.
In what ways are we
betraying the Lord today, just like Judas at the Last Supper? The words of the
institution should challenge us to examine ourselves in the way we live out the
Eucharist that we celebrate. “For this is what I received from the Lord,
and in turn passed on to you: that on the same night that he was betrayed
…” In what ways are we guilty of making a mockery of our faith,
especially in the Holy Eucharist, which is the summit of our faith in Christ,
celebrating His passion, death and resurrection.
Firstly, on the ecclesial
dimension, if we are true believers of the Lord and true worshippers of the
Eucharist as the Real Presence of our Lord, His body and blood, then all the
more, we should have special reverence for members of His body the
Church. Jesus is the Head and we are His mystical body. There
can be no head without the body and there can be no body without the head
because Christ and man are one. So if, like the early Church, we live a
life that has no thought for our fellow brothers and sisters, then we are not
truly worshipping our Lord in the Eucharist. Our brothers and sisters,
baptized or otherwise, are our brothers and sisters in the Lord because they
are children of God. So if we truly love the Lord in the Eucharist, then
we must revere the Lord in the members of His body, the Church.
Each human being is as sacred as the Eucharist we worship.
The love for the Eucharist
is always very much related to our compassion and love, especially for the poor
and the marginalized. We cannot worship the Eucharist apart from the
community and apart from love. This was what St Paul was reprimanding the
early Christians, especially those were rich and better off. Those
who were labourers had to work late, and by the time they came for the
Eucharistic meal, there was no more food left. Those who were rich did
not bother to wait for the rest to turn up before breaking bread, or even leave
some food for them. This could be the case for us as well when in our
policies or decisions we do not take into consideration those who are not as
fortunate as others.
Compassion and love also
means sensitivity. Like the Centurion, we need to be sensitive to each
other’s culture and sentiments. In each community and more so today, we need to
live with each other and embrace each other’s culture. But this has to be
done in a sensitive manner, taking into consideration the feelings of
others. There are different levels of sensitivity where it pertains to
religious preferences, culture, social status, intellectual capacity, language,
etc. So we must be careful that we do not impose our culture and
preferences on others; or be intolerant of them, especially those who are in
the minority. Those in the minority must equally be sensitive to
the larger interests of the community and hence be discreet in promoting their
own culture and religious inclinations. At the end of the day, we need to
exercise tolerance, patience and accommodate each other as no community is
perfect.
Christians must always
remember that we are a community. Parochial-mindedness is always a threat to
the unity of the Church at every level. Church organizations often
operate as if they are independent of the entire parish. They are only
concerned about their members’ interests and the name of their
organization. They do not work with other organizations and together with
the parish as one body with many parts. Such factionalism is still
prevalent in our churches. This is also true on the archdiocesan level
where parishes function independently of the archdiocese and do not support
archdiocesan programs and organizations which are meant to serve the larger
interests of the entire Christian family, regardless whether it is youth,
family, schools, media, migrants, administration.
Indeed,
if we truly want to be Christian and live out the exemplary faith of the
Centurion, we need to take the Eucharist seriously; not just as a perfunctory
ritual we go through. Such an attitude towards the Eucharist cannot save
us. We are called to conduct our lives in accordance with the example the
Lord has set for us.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights
Reserved
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