20161027 EQUIPPED FOR THE MINISTRY
Ephesians
6 : 10-20
10
Finally, grow strong in the Lord, with the strength
of his power.
11 Put
on the full armour of God
so as to be able to resist the devil's tactics.
12 For
it is not against human enemies that we have to struggle, but against the
principalities and the ruling forces who are masters of the darkness in this
world, the spirits of evil
in the heavens.
13 That
is why you must take up all God's armour, or you will
not be able to put up any resistance on the evil
day, or stand your ground even though you exert yourselves to the full.
14 So
stand your ground, with truth
a belt round your waist, and uprightness a breastplate,
15
wearing for shoes on your feet the eagerness to spread the gospel of peace
16 and
always carrying the shield of faith
so that you can use it to quench the burning arrows of the Evil
One.
17 And
then you must take salvation
as your helmet and the sword of the Spirit, that is, the word of God.
18 In
all your prayer and entreaty keep
praying in the Spirit
on every possible occasion. Never get tired of staying awake to pray for all
God's holy people,
19 and
pray for me to be given an opportunity to open my mouth and fearlessly make
known the mystery
of the gospel
20 of
which I am an ambassador in chains; pray that in proclaiming it I may speak as
fearlessly as I ought to.
Luke
13:31-35
31 Just
at this time
some Pharisees
came up. 'Go away,' they said. 'Leave this place, because Herod
means to kill you.'
32 He
replied, 'You may go and give that fox this message: Look! Today and tomorrow I
drive out devils and heal, and on the third day I attain my end.
33 But
for today and tomorrow and the next day I must go on, since it would not be right
for a prophet
to die outside Jerusalem.
34
'Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kill the prophets and stone those who are sent
to you! How often have I longed to gather your children together, as a
hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you refused!
35 Look! Your house will
be left to you. Yes, I promise you, you shall not see me till the time
comes when you are saying: Blessed is he who is coming in the name of the
Lord!'
EQUIPPED
FOR THE MINISTRY
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ EPHESIANS 6:10-20; LUKE 13:31-35 ]
The
Catholic Church is large. We have many who have volunteered to be
soldiers for Christ. Many are happy to serve in the ministry. There are
also many who have decided to give themselves fully to the service of the
Church, whether as priests, religious or lay volunteers. Unfortunately
our soldiers are ill-formed and ill-prepared for the spiritual warfare ahead of
them. Like an innocent lamb, they are led into the slaughter house.
They are not fully trained for the battle ahead of them.
St Paul makes it clear that
the battle that is being fought is a spiritual battle. This battle is not just
with ourselves or even with our enemies from without. St Paul says, “For
it is not against human enemies that we have to struggle, but against the
Sovereignties and the Powers who originate the darkness of this world, the
spiritual army of evil in the heavens.” We are fighting against the Evil
One and his angels. From within, we fight against the sin of the flesh,
from without, we fight against the temptations of the world and from above,
we fight against the Devil and his angels who are out to deceive and
divide us.
This accounts for the high
casualty of wounded parishioners and ministry members, including priests and
religious. Many of our ministry members are not mature enough to serve in the
ministry. They are not formed and trained for service as they are still
infants drinking the milk of the Lord. Many need healing from their past
hurts. Fresh from a conversion experience or from RCIA, they give
themselves generously for the service of the Church. Little do they
realize that the community they are serving is an imperfect community.
They are easily scandalized by the sins of the community and the imperfection
of their leaders and fellow members. But it is equally true that many
serve with motives that are less than noble and pure, at least
unconsciously. Even in serving the Lord and the Church freely, they
bring into their service their ego, pride and unconscious desire for power and
recognition. Often they fall into jealousy resulting in competition for
honour.
For this reason, St Paul
urges the Christians to “grow strong in the Lord, with the strength of his
power.” We cannot serve the Lord in the ministry using merely our own
strength, ingenuity and wisdom. But that is what many of us do. We
employ the same resources we use in the corporate and secular world for our
service in the ministry. Of course we should use whatever talents and
resources the Lord has provided us with. But we cannot simply think that
by our efforts and wisdom alone, it is sufficient to be fruitful for the
ministry. We need to rely on the Lord. This is what the psalmist
says, “Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my arms for battle, who
prepares my hands for war. He is my love, my fortress; he is my stronghold, my
saviour my shield, my place of refuge. He brings peoples under my rule.”
How, then, should we tap
the power of God for this ministry since we are dealing with supernatural
forces as well? St Paul urges us to “put God’s armour on so as to be able
to resist the devil’s tactics.” Most likely, St Paul was
inspired to use the analogy of the soldier who was guarding him day after day
when he was under house arrest. Looking at the soldier’s attire, St Paul
drew inspiration for what it meant to be a warrior for the Lord. Like the
soldier, we must rely on God’s armour or “you will not be able to put up any
resistance when the worst happens, or have enough resources to hold your
ground.”
What does this armor
consist of? Firstly, St Paul said, “So stand your ground, with truth
buckled round your waist and integrity for a breastplate.” Walking
in truth is the way in which we can move freely like the soldier who hangs his
sword over the belt for free movement. Living a life of integrity is the
only way that we do not get hurt when others accuse us of things that are not
true. Our breastplate as integrity protects us from harm that is caused
to us by others because our conscience is clear.
Secondly, St Paul asks us
to wear shoes on our feet with “the eagerness to spread the gospel of peace and
always carrying the shield of faith so that you can use it to put out the
burning arrows of the evil one.” Faith is the only way to overcome
discouragement of our foes and enemies. Very often in the ministry, we
have many who would oppose us and put a wet blanket over whatever initiatives
we have. We should not allow our detractors to dissuade us from
pursuing what we know is good for the Church. With faith in God and the
passion to spread the Good News, we can overcome such discouragements.
Thirdly, St Paul says, “And
then you must accept salvation from God to be your helmet and receive the word
of God from the Spirit to use as a sword.” Salvation ultimately is
from God alone. We receive it as a free gift and so we have nothing
to boast. Humility is our helmet because it prevents us from being proud,
as if we earned salvation on our merit. But trusting in God, we remain
grateful for what we have received. But salvation is not a one-off
reality. We need to protect the gift we have received by growing in the
Spirit through the Word of God. This is the sword that God has given to
us, to protect ourselves from our enemies and to destroy our enemies. The
Word of God is critical to our growth in the Spirit and especially to withstand
the onslaught of our enemies. Without the Word of God as our sword, we
could easily fall prey to the temptations and the false ideology of the world.
Finally, there is the call
to constant fervent prayer. Without prayer, there can be no fruits in the
ministry because this is the work of God, not the work of man. St Paul
wrote, “Pray all the time, asking for what you need, praying in the Spirit on
every possible occasion.” Indeed, we need to pray unceasingly to the
Lord, keeping ourselves in touch with Him since we are acting on His
behalf. But most of all, we must pray for the work of evangelization. St
Paul pleaded the Christians to pray not so much for him but for his
ministry. “Never get tired of staying awake to pray for all the saints;
and pray for me to be given an opportunity to open my mouth and speak without
fear and give out the mystery of the gospel of which I am an ambassador in
chains; pray that in proclaiming it I may speak as boldly as I ought to.”
In the gospel, we have
Jesus as our example of what it means to be prepared for the battle. Even
though He was warned by some good Pharisees that Herod intended to kill Him,
Jesus was courageous in His mission. He did not allow Himself to be cowed
by authorities and powers. Instead, He told the Pharisees, “You may go
and give that fox this message: Learn that today and tomorrow I cast out devils
and on the third day attain my end. But for today and tomorrow and the
next day I must go on, since it would not be right for a prophet to die outside
Jerusalem.” Jesus was focused on His mission. He trusted in
His Father.
But we can join Him in this
mission only when we come to Him first. That was the prayer of Jesus,
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kill the prophets and stone those who are sent
to you! How often have I longed to gather your children, as a hen gathers her
brood under her wings, and you refused! So be it! Your house will be left to
you. Yes, I promise you, you shall not see me till the time comes when you
say: Blessings on him who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
Unless we turn to the Lord of our salvation, we cannot find salvation nor can
we be of effective service to the Lord and His Church. The Lord is
appealing to us to come to Him and grow strong in Him. Without His
Spirit, we will be weak soldiers, putting not just our lives at risk but those
under our charge as well.
Thus, it is urgent and
necessary to give priority and emphasis on the formation of our Catholics, both
doctrinally and spiritually. Today, most ministries spend too much time
forming their members on the skills needed to perform their work. But they
are not giving their members the most important foundation, which is to grow in
their faith and love for God; and in the maturity of the spirit. We need
mentors and we need to form disciples. Discipleship never
stops. The day we stop becoming disciples, we can no longer lead
because there is only one teacher, that is, the Christ. Even as we serve
Him, we must always avail ourselves for spiritual formation, faith sharing and
most of all, personal and communitarian prayer.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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