20170122 FORMING FISHERS OF MEN FOR THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Isaiah 8:23-9:3 ©
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In days past the Lord
humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in days to come he
will confer glory on the Way of the Sea on the far side of Jordan, province of
the nations.
The people that
walked in darkness
has seen a great
light;
on those who live in
a land of deep shadow
a light has shone.
You have made their
gladness greater,
you have made their
joy increase;
they rejoice in your
presence
as men rejoice at
harvest time,
as men are happy when
they are dividing the spoils.
For the yoke that was
weighing on him,
the bar across his
shoulders,
the rod of his
oppressor –
these you break as on
the day of Midian.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm
26(27):1,4,13-14 ©
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The Lord is my
light and my help.
The Lord is my light
and my help;
whom
shall I fear?
The Lord is the
stronghold of my life;
before
whom shall I shrink?
The Lord is my
light and my help.
There is one thing I
ask of the Lord,
for this
I long,
to live in the house
of the Lord,
all the
days of my life,
to savour the
sweetness of the Lord,
to behold
his temple.
The Lord is my light
and my help.
I am sure I shall see
the Lord’s goodness
in the
land of the living.
Hope in him, hold
firm and take heart.
Hope in
the Lord!
The Lord is my
light and my help.
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Second reading
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1 Corinthians
1:10-13,17 ©
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I appeal to you,
brothers, for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, to make up the differences
between you, and instead of disagreeing among yourselves, to be united again in
your belief and practice. From what Chloe’s people have been telling me, my
dear brothers, it is clear that there are serious differences among you. What I
mean are all these slogans that you have, like: ‘I am for Paul’, ‘I am for
Apollos’, ‘I am for Cephas’, ‘I am for Christ.’ Has Christ been parcelled out?
Was it Paul that was crucified for you? Were you baptised in the name of Paul?
For
Christ did not send me to baptise, but to preach the Good News, and not to
preach that in the terms of philosophy in which the crucifixion of Christ
cannot be expressed.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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cf.Mt4:23
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Jesus proclaimed the
Good News of the kingdom
and cured all kinds
of sickness among the people.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 4:12-23 ©
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Hearing that John had
been arrested, Jesus went back to Galilee, and leaving Nazareth he went and
settled in Capernaum, a lakeside town on the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali.
In this way the prophecy of Isaiah was to be fulfilled:
‘Land of Zebulun!
Land of Naphtali!
Way of the sea on
the far side of Jordan,
Galilee of the nations!
The people that
lived in darkness has seen a great light;
on those who dwell
in the land and shadow of death
a light has
dawned.’
From that moment
Jesus began his preaching with the message, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven
is close at hand.’
As he was
walking by the Sea of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter,
and his brother Andrew; they were making a cast in the lake with their net, for
they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you
fishers of men.’ And they left their nets at once and followed him. Going on
from there he saw another pair of brothers, James son of Zebedee and his
brother John; they were in their boat with their father Zebedee, mending their
nets, and he called them. At once, leaving the boat and their father, they
followed him.
He went
round the whole of Galilee teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good
News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness among the
people.
FORMING
FISHERS OF MEN FOR THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ ISA 8:23 – 9:3;
1 COR 1:10-13.17;
MT 4:12-23 ]
All of
us have different callings in life. Every vocation is important in the
unfolding of God’s plan for humanity. We must respond accordingly.
Yet among the vocations, one of the most fulfilling and important calling in
life is the work of formation and specifically the area of education. We
must not restrict education in the narrow sense of the word to that of
intellectual and academic formation. Rather, it entails the whole process
of transforming someone, helping him or her to grow in emotional, affective,
moral and intellectual capacity. It also involves the cultivation of
skills and knowledge for the work they do. Education is more than getting
good grades for work done but forming people holistically where they are balanced
in life, realize their potentials and become happy people who have good
self-esteem, and are positive and proactive. The work of formation is
therefore not restricted to teachers or catechists but it extends to all,
whether as parents, guardians, superiors, in government, ecclesial and in
society.
Education is to form people
with wholesome and right values so that they can help to build
humanity. Education, in the final analysis, is to form young people
for their vocations. No greater gift can we give to someone than to form
him or her to be leaders for tomorrow in society and the Church. We can
give many things to young people, but all these will be used up, discarded or
worn out. It is just like the gifts we received at Christmas. Some
of these are already thrown aside. But the gift of education is one gift
that is cumulative and remains not always just with the recipient but grows
from strength to strength. Most of all, the kind of formation they
receive will determine their happiness in life, now and in the future.
Today, the apostles were
asked to change their vocation from fishers of fish to fishers of
men. What does it mean to catch men, if not to form people to
become what they are called to be in the plan of God? In other words,
they were asked to go beyond simply making a livelihood for themselves.
They were called by the Lord to help form men and women who could live their
lives to the fullest by being disciples of the kingdom and proclaimers of the
Good News in words and deeds. By so doing, each person will realize his
or her potentials as he or she gives himself or herself to service.
How, then, should we form
young people for their vocation? What kind of formation can see them
through life? Obviously, they must be grow in knowledge and acquire new
skills. This is the academic and practical part of formation.
Without knowledge and skills, we cannot be of use to anyone. This aspect
of formation cannot be under emphasized, yet it is not everything because they
are only tools for service and for work. Instead of focusing on skills,
we must focus on the person who uses the skills. If the person is not
well formed or motivated rightly, he will not give his heart and soul to the
learning process.
Over and above the
intellectual component of formation is the cultivation of character.
Without a good character and good virtues, leaders will end up serving
themselves and using others for their glory and interests. They must be
men and women of justice and integrity. Without integrity and honesty, we
cannot entrust our lives, wealth and power to them because they will use them
to destroy people and to enrich themselves only.
Consequently, moral
formation is of critical importance for leadership. We must
enlighten our future leaders to know what is right and what is wrong.
Today, many of our leaders are pragmatic and are ambivalent to justice and
truth. When leaders do not have a good grounding for morality and right
conduct, we can rationalize everything we do. We can justify all our
decisions when they are made principally for self-gain and not for our people.
Indeed, as leaders we are
called to lead the world in darkness out of slavery because of ignorance and
sin. The prophet says, “The people that walked in darkness has seen a
great light; on those who live in a land of deep shadow a light has
shone.” As leaders we are called to set our people free from slavery,
addictions, suffering and ignorance. “You have made their gladness
greater, you have made their joy increase, they rejoice in your presence as men
rejoice at harvest time, as men are happy when they are dividing the
spoils.” Leaders therefore must be enlightened if they are to enlighten
and lead others.
Among the most important
virtues for leaders is the desire to serve God and humanity. We read in
the gospel that Jesus went about doing good. “He went round the whole of
Galilee teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom
and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness among the people.” They must be
people of humility and the aspiration to serve. They must be people who have
compassion for the suffering. They must be leaders where the greater good
of the people transcends their needs. They must work for something
greater than themselves, which is for Christ, for God and for others.
This is why leaders must sacrifice their own interests for the greater good of
the community. Leaders must not work for themselves but for the greater good of
all. St Paul warns the different factions who were taking sides with
leaders. He wrote, “it is clear that there are serious differences among
you. What I mean are all these slogans that you have, like: ‘I am for Paul’, ‘I
am for Apollos’, ‘I am for Cephas’, ‘I am for Christ’.”
Forming leaders today also
means forming them to be leaders of communion. The task of a leader is to
foster unity in the organization they lead. A leader must be inclusive
and seeks to bring real unity among all the members. Unity is
founded on truth. Unfortunately, today’s unity is superficial because it
is not founded on common values or on truth. The unity of the world is so very
fragile as it is based on relativism, pragmatism and subjectivism without any
objective truth. We must avoid the division that existed in the
Corinthians Community when the members began to take sides with leaders.
St Paul said, “I appeal to you, brothers, for the sake of our Lord Jesus
Christ, to make up the differences between you, and instead of disagreeing
among yourselves, to be united again in your belief and practice.” We
must help our people to agree on the fundamental values. If we cannot even
agree on basic values of life, like service, honesty, justice and integrity or
the importance of our sexual identity, marriage and family institutions, we
cannot agree on anything else. Without common values accepted by all, we
cannot build real unity.
To form them in this manner
requires that we form them in Christ. This means that we must first walk
in the light ourselves. Unless we know Christ and the gospel, we cannot
lead them to where they are called to be. Leaders therefore must be
familiar with the gospel and the teachings of the Church so that they can
understand the mind of the Church and the mind of Christ in the gospel.
As leaders, we take our direction from the Word of God. With the psalmist, we
say, “The Lord is my light and my help; whom shall I fear? The Lord is
the stronghold of my life; before whom shall I shrink.” Catholic educators,
parents and leaders must take their faith seriously if they are to be leaders
after the heart of Christ our teacher.
But we need not travel this
journey alone. We need to align ourselves and collaborate with others in
the work of formation for the greater good of everyone. In today’s world,
everything and everyone is inter-dependent. So too, in forming our
children, we cannot work in silo. There needs to be greater coordination
with parents, teachers, catechists, Family Life, Youth Office and those who are
involved in forming young people to be holistic people and leaders.
Today, it must be made clear that no single person is responsible for the
formation of the young people but all of us in different capacities have a part
to play. Hence, all formators and educators must work together as a team
for a common goal. Unity is strength. We must work and travel
together so that we can form the best people for the next generation, leaders
who are wise, compassionate and who serve with integrity, honesty and selflessness.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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