20161107 GOD’S REPRESENTATIVE
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Titus 1:1-9 ©
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From Paul, servant of
God, an apostle of Jesus Christ to bring those whom God has chosen to faith and
to the knowledge of the truth that leads to true religion; and to give them the
hope of the eternal life that was promised so long ago by God. He does not lie
and so, at the appointed time, he revealed his decision, and, by the command of
God our saviour, I have been commissioned to proclaim it. To Titus, true child
of mine in the faith that we share, wishing you grace and peace from God the
Father and from Christ Jesus our saviour.
The
reason I left you behind in Crete was for you to get everything organised there
and appoint elders in every town, in the way that I told you: that is, each of
them must be a man of irreproachable character; he must not have been married
more than once, and his children must be believers and not uncontrollable or
liable to be charged with disorderly conduct. Since, as president, he will be
God’s representative, he must be irreproachable: never an arrogant or
hot-tempered man, nor a heavy drinker or violent, nor out to make money; but a
man who is hospitable and a friend of all that is good; sensible, moral, devout
and self-controlled; and he must have a firm grasp of the unchanging message of
the tradition, so that he can be counted on for both expounding the sound
doctrine and refuting those who argue against it.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm 23(24):1-6
©
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Such are the men
who seek your face, O Lord.
The Lord’s is the
earth and its fullness,
the world
and all its peoples.
It is he who set it
on the seas;
on the
waters he made it firm.
Such are the men
who seek your face, O Lord.
Who shall climb the
mountain of the Lord?
Who shall
stand in his holy place?
The man with clean
hands and pure heart,
who
desires not worthless things.
Such are the men
who seek your face, O Lord.
He shall receive
blessings from the Lord
and
reward from the God who saves him.
Such are the men who
seek him,
seek the
face of the God of Jacob.
Such are the men
who seek your face, O Lord.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Ph2:15-16
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Alleluia, alleluia!
You will shine in the
world like bright stars
because you are
offering it the word of life.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 17:1-6 ©
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Jesus said to his
disciples, ‘Obstacles are sure to come, but alas for the one who provides them!
It would be better for him to be thrown into the Sea with a millstone put round
his neck than that he should lead astray a single one of these little ones.
Watch yourselves!
If your
brother does something wrong, reprove him and, if he is sorry, forgive him. And
if he wrongs you seven times a day and seven times comes back to you and says,
“I am sorry,” you must forgive him.’
The
apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith.’ The Lord replied, ‘Were your
faith the size of a mustard seed you could say to this mulberry tree, “Be
uprooted and planted in the sea,” and it would obey you.’
GOD’S
REPRESENTATIVE
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ TITUS 1:1-9; LUKE 17:1-6 ]
The
first reading from the letter of St Paul to Titus speaks about the
responsibilities and qualities of a representative of God. Although this
letter speaks about the elders of the Church, pastors and bishop, it is
applicable to all insofar as we exercise the role of elder in our family,
community and place of work. Indeed, all of us as parents, teachers,
seniors, mentors and leaders are called to be the representative of God.
More than ever today, we
need to underscore the grave responsibility of leaders.
Unfortunately, leaders today are reducible to corporate leaders where their
responsibility is basically to bring in business and profits. Government
leaders are expected to ensure peace, law and order in the country and economic
progress. However, political and corporate leaders are no longer seen as
mentors for others in how they live their lives. Focus is on what they
can produce; not about their lifestyle and moral character. This is a sad
and tragic reality of society. Our leaders are no longer exemplary in
their life and conduct. Those who stand for office in government may be
criminals and liars. Yet they are elected because they have influence,
power and money. What happened to those candidates with high moral
values?
Indeed,
in the gospel, Jesus reminds us that as leaders, parents and elders, we can
either inspire those who are under our charge or cause them to lose faith in
people and society. Quite often, because of the behavior of our parents
and leaders, we lose faith in them as they are not credible. When we do
not trust in the integrity of our leaders, they have lost the moral authority
to govern. This also explains why taking advantage of children,
especially abusing them, physically, emotionally and sexually, is a serious
crime against humanity. In cases of pedophilia, the penalty is severe
because they ruin the future of those children they abused. Many of us
continue to lick our wounds from our upbringing by our parents, grandparents
and relatives. Those under our care should see us as their mentors and as
representatives of God.
Consequently,
Jesus urged the disciples to “Watch yourselves!” How can we be alert to
the dangers of being counter-witnesses to the love of God? Firstly, we
need to remember who we are. St Paul from the outset called himself
“servant of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ.” He was very clear that he
was a slave of our Lord and therefore his entire life belonged to God, not to
himself. His desire was to serve God his master by doing everything in
accordance to His will. As an apostle of Jesus Christ, he was also
aware that he had been sent. An apostle is one who is sent. So his
messages did not come from him but from Christ who sent him. Because he
was sent, he depended and relied only on our Lord Jesus Christ.
We too are called to be the
servant of God and to be His apostle. We are called to give our lives
entirely to the Lord for His service to His people. As such, our concern
is to do the will of God and to please Him our master. We must not think
highly of ourselves, as if we are our own masters. Christ is our master
and we are only His servants. All prophets, priests and kings in the
scriptures understood that they were servants of God. As apostles, as
sent, we should therefore remember that we are ambassadors, acting on Christ’s
behalf. We take our guidance from Him and we do not proclaim
ourselves but our Lord and His message. We are only deputized and we are
to draw people to Christ and not to ourselves.
Secondly, we must be
conscious of our mission. We are called to be God’s representatives, “to
bring those whom God has chosen to faith and to the knowledge of the truth that
leads to true religion; and to give them the hope of the eternal life that was
promised so long ago by God.” As leaders, we must inspire faith so
that they too will have faith in God. In what we do, we need to let our
faith shine through us not just by our words but also by our actions so that
others will be drawn to faith in the God whom we worship. We are also to
help them grow in the understanding of the truth. As God’s
representative, we are to instruct those under our charge in the truth about
God and about life. Christ, for us, is of course the truth in
person. Leading a person to Christ through the study of the Word of God,
scripture and tradition of the Church helps a person to grow in faith.
And finally, the ultimate goal of faith and instruction in the ultimate truth
is to lead others to the fullness of life in Christ. We must never forget
that our life does not end here on earth but continues into the next
life. The fullness of life is when we share in the life of God. To
that extent, this hope of humanity is fulfilled.
Thirdly, to fulfill our
mission as God’s representative, we need to work on our character. This
is where St Paul instructs us on the virtues that we need to acquire as God’s
representative. Without leaders with high moral standing, those in power
and in authority will not succeed. Indeed, the greatest challenge of
leaders is to walk the talk before they can lead others. Leaders teach
ultimately by their being, by their examples and by their lives.
Accordingly, St Paul gave the essential qualities of an elder.
Twice he reiterated that
leaders must be of irreproachable character. They need to be people with
integrity and honesty. This is the first quality of a good elder.
Otherwise, people will not respect him. What we need today are witnesses
and mentors, not teachers who tell us what to do when they themselves cannot do
them. This also explains why St Paul demanded that elders should be
exemplary in managing their own families and household if they were to manage
the family of God. “He must not have been married more than once, and his
children must be believers and not uncontrollable or liable to be charged with
disorderly conduct.” If he cannot manage his own family, how could
he manage the family of God?
Secondly, the
representative of God must learn how to practice self-control and
self-discipline. Again, if we cannot manage our own lives, how can we
help to manage the lives of others? St Paul says that he must not ever be
“an arrogant or hot-tempered man, nor a heavy drinker or violent, nor out to
make money; but a man who is hospitable and a friend of all that is good;
sensible, moral, devout and self-controlled.” Indeed, leaders and parents
who shout at us, threaten us with violence or lack humility in dealing with
people of lesser status often put us off. The leaders that inspire
are those who even in their greatness remain humble, polite, courteous,
respectful and considerate. These are the real inspiring leaders because
they project themselves as servants of God, not as masters of man.
Thirdly, a representative
of God cannot afford to be materialistic and money-minded. When he is
“out to make money” or to make a name for himself, he is not truly serving God
or His people but himself. A true leader is always thinking of others’
interests and well-being. He does not seek to elevate or increase his
wealth and power but to bring about a greater good for all. For that
reason, one who is truly the representative remains indifferent and detached
from money and status, seeing them as means for him to exercise hospitality to
all and to do works of mercy for those in need of assistance.
Fourthly, a true leader
must know his work well. A religious leader must know the doctrines and
the teachings of the Church well if he were to guide his people. He must
be ever ready to defend the truth and to stand up for Christ. Unless, we
leaders are well versed in what we should know and be ready to give a reason
for our hope and our passion, we cannot lead others to share in our vision and
mission. This calls for ongoing formation and reflection each day.
Leaders must always be forming themselves so that they can form others.
We need to grow in our faith each day. Leaders must seek to strengthen
their faith in the Lord more and more each if they are to lead.
Unfortunately, leaders often tell people what to do but never practice what
they teach others. The irony is that they save the souls of others and
lose their own!
Of course, as leaders we
know that we are far from perfect. We must be ready to seek correction
and forgiveness. None of us is ever worthy to be a leader. So
long as we are striving to become the servant leader and the apostle that He
wants us to be, we should be ready to learn and grow. “He shall receive
blessings from the Lord and reward from the God who saves him. Such are
the men who seek him, seek the face of the God of Jacob.” Those of us who
are followers need to be realistic and not have high expectations of
impeccability in our leaders. Hence, Jesus invites us to seek forgiveness
from each other. “If your brother does something wrong, reprove him and, if he
is sorry, forgive him. And if he wrongs you seven times a day and seven times
comes back to you and says, “I am sorry”, you must forgive him.’” So long
as leaders are sincere in serving God and people, we must be forgiving and
tolerant. We should not lose faith too easily just because our leaders
fail us as God’s representative. God is greater than His human and
fallible representatives. But if we have faith just “the size of a
mustard seed” we could do great things for the Lord who works through us in
spite of our inadequacies.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights
Reserved
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