20170527 ZEALOUS BUT MISGUIDED
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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Acts 18:23-28 ©
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Paul came down to
Antioch, where he spent a short time before continuing his journey through the
Galatian country and then through Phrygia, encouraging all the followers.
An
Alexandrian Jew named Apollos now arrived in Ephesus. He was an eloquent man,
with a sound knowledge of the scriptures, and yet, though he had been given
instruction in the Way of the Lord and preached with great spiritual
earnestness and was accurate in all the details he taught about Jesus, he had
only experienced the baptism of John. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him speak
boldly in the synagogue, they took an interest in him and gave him further
instruction about the Way.
When
Apollos thought of crossing over to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and
wrote asking the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived there he was able by
God’s grace to help the believers considerably by the energetic way he refuted
the Jews in public and demonstrated from the scriptures that Jesus was the
Christ.
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Responsorial
Psalm
|
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Psalm
46(47):2-3,8-10 ©
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God is king of all
the earth.
or
Alleluia!
All peoples, clap
your hands,
cry to
God with shouts of joy!
For the Lord, the
Most High, we must fear,
great
king over all the earth.
God is king of all
the earth.
or
Alleluia!
God is king of all
the earth,
sing
praise with all your skill.
God is king over the
nations;
God
reigns on his holy throne.
God is king of all
the earth.
or
Alleluia!
The princes of the
people are assembled
with the
people of Abraham’s God.
The rulers of the
earth belong to God,
to God
who reigns over all.
God is king of all
the earth.
or
Alleluia!
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Jn14:16
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Alleluia, alleluia!
I shall ask the
Father,
and he will give you
another Advocate
to be with you for
ever.
Alleluia!
|
Or
|
Jn16:28
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Alleluia, alleluia!
I came from the
Father
and have come into
the world,
and now I leave the
world
to go to the Father.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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John 16:23-28 ©
|
Jesus said to his
disciples:
‘I tell you most
solemnly,
anything you ask for
from the Father he will grant in my name.
Until now you have
not asked for anything in my name.
Ask and you will
receive, and so your joy will be complete.
I have been telling
you all this in metaphors,
the hour is coming
when I shall no longer speak to you in metaphors;
but tell you about
the Father in plain words.
When that day comes
you will ask in my name;
and I do not say that
I shall pray to the Father for you,
because the Father
himself loves you for loving me
and believing that I
came from God.
I came from the
Father and have come into the world
and
now I leave the world to go to the Father.’
ZEALOUS
BUT MISGUIDED
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [
ACTS 18:23-28; PS 46:2-3,8-10; JOHN 16:23-28 ]
A majority of
Catholics are “nominal” Catholics. They call themselves “Catholics” but are
rather complacent in their faith. They do not attend mass
regularly. They might say a few prayers now and then, asking the Lord for
help and protection but living a life that is contradictory to Catholic values
and teachings. They run the risk of losing their faith especially in
times of tragedy. These half-baked Catholics would be the first to be
drawn away from their faith when they are challenged by non-Catholics. They are
easily swayed to evangelical and fundamentalist viewpoints. As a result,
we have an ironical situation where, from lukewarm disinterested Catholics, they
become staunch and even fanatical evangelical Christians, or even of another
religion.
We have another group
of very zealous but ill-informed Catholics. We are happy that they take
their faith seriously and more, that they will fight tooth and nail to defend
the faith and will apply their energy to spread the gospel. But as much
as drawing many people to Christ, they could also be a cause of confusion and
division among the faithful. Some of the views they hold are not part of
the official teachings of the Church. They can be one-sided, slanted and
distorted. Some can become fanatical in their views, promoting some
devotions that have expressly been condemned by the Magisterium.
It is these two
groups of people that the scripture readings seek to address. Those of us
who are handling these complacent or zealous but ill-formed Catholics must
learn from the patient, caring and loving approach of Priscilla and
Aquila. Instead of condemning or even marginalizing them, we must see the
positive side of such people. Those who are complacent had not yet
encountered the living God and found Christ as their personal savior.
Hence, their relationship with God remains distant and impersonal.
Christ is not real to them in their lives. Their faith is merely an
intellectual assent to some truths without experience. Those who are
zealous sincerely believe in Christ and the Church. They seek to spread
the Good News about Him. Unfortunately, sometimes, their knowledge is
incomplete, distorted and lob-sided.
Indeed, as a bishop,
I regularly receive letters inquiring on matters of doubt or disagreement
regarding some tenets or practices of our faith. Those who make these
queries or seek clarification are usually goodwill people who are open to the
faith, are searching or deepening their understanding of the faith.
Often, they come from a particular viewpoint or spectrum in reading a doctrine
or biblical text. This narrow reading of a doctrine, biblical text or
even magisterial teaching can cause much confusion and heated debate.
Such an apologetic reading of sacred texts from the scriptures, magisterium or
some theological books can breed more division. It can lead to the
hardening of certain theological positions. It can lead to fundamentalism
and a fixated view of Church and doctrines.
The simplicity of
such naïve but good and sincere Catholics is that they do not realize that the
development of doctrines is much more complicated than just quoting a text of
scripture or Church document. To fully appreciate a doctrine or a
biblical text, we need to study hermeneutics, that is, the rules of
interpretation. We also need to interpret a particular text within
the whole context of the bible, a doctrine in the context of all the other
doctrines of the Church, as faith must be consistent and integral.
Otherwise, for every text in favour of a position, we can also find other texts
that are not in favour. The biblical text or the Church doctrines cannot
contradict each other.
Furthermore, we need
other theological and scientific tools, such as Church history, the consistent
teachings of the Fathers of the Church, the development of a doctrine since the
first century, the constant teachings of the Church and the changing contexts
of how such doctrines are interpreted. Biblical texts and Church
doctrines explain a truth according to a defined parameter, depending on the
questions that they are addressing. With the change of context, because
of the study of social sciences, like psychology or sociology, the interpretation
would need to be re-contextualized, as such information were then not available
for consideration. Only when we haven taken into account the faith of the
Church over the last 2000 years, what was taught, the issues involved, the
integrity of our doctrines, can we then really understand and appreciate what
the Church wants to say.
For this reason, when
such theological questions are addressed, what people seek is a one or two-line
answer to an apparently simple question. But in truth the more simple the
question, the more complex is the answer. One could give a simplistic
answer but we will end up with more questions. But if one were to give a
complete answer, it would take much time just to answer one question adequately
and systematically. Unfortunately, not all priests and bishops have the
luxury of such time to sit at the computer to write long theological treatises
to every question asked, without neglecting their other pastoral duties.
Indeed, this was the
case of Apollos when he arrived in Ephesus. He was certainly not just a
good and convicted Christian but he was also very intelligent and knowledgeable
as well. Coming from Alexandria which was the second biggest city in
Greece and a place known for its scholarly research and studies, he was
certainly a great intellectual. We read that “he was an eloquent man,
with a sound knowledge of the scriptures, and yet, though he had been given
instruction in the Way of the Lord and preached with great earnestness and was
accurate in all the details he taught about Jesus, he had only experienced the
baptism of John.” We have many of these Apollos in our Church today
as well, and they are useful for the work of evangelization.
Unfortunately such
people, like Apollos, lack a fuller understanding of the faith although they
have a lot of goodwill and conviction. Although he knew intellectually
that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Testament, he, being a great Jewish
scripture scholar himself, “had only experienced the baptism of John.” In
other words, he still did not receive the Holy Spirit or even knew about the
Holy Spirit. His faith in the Lord was merely cerebral and his knowledge was
incomplete. All he needed was further refinement and formation.
The great thing about
Priscilla and Aquila was their patience and tact in helping Apollos. Instead of
dismissing him or reprimanding him, “they took an interest in him and gave him
further instruction about the Way.” They helped him to come to the
fullness of truth. Of course, credit must go to Apollos too, for although
erudite, he was humble and open enough to learn from them. He did not
allow his theological views to get in the way of new learning. As a result, we
read that he became even more effective in his preaching. “He was able by
God’s grace to help the believers considerably by the energetic way he refuted
the Jews in public and demonstrated from the scriptures that Jesus was the
Christ.” Surely we need people like Apollos today, to articulate
our faith to our people who are highly educated in the sciences and require an
intellectual credibility in what they are asked to believe. Truly, many young
people have left the Church because they could not make sense of the Church’s
doctrines and practices as there is no one to explain to them.
For this reason,
today, our Catholics must wake up to this call to undergo on-going formation in
their faith. They cannot remain complacent in their basic knowledge of
the faith received during their catechism or RCIA journey. If they want
to retain or grow in their faith, much less to evangelize, they must first be
humble to learn from other Catholics who can help them to increase in
understanding of their faith by joining faith-sharing groups. It is
within the Catholic Community that such help could be found and not outside the
Catholic fold.
In the gospel, Jesus
lamented that the disciples had not asked sufficiently. He said, “Amen,
amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.
Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so
that your joy may be complete.” If we want to seek the fullness of
joy, we must come to know Christ more and more so that we can live His life and
find happiness. But more than just knowing Him, we need to come to know Him
personally in us through the Holy Spirit. When we are conscious of the
Holy Spirit in us, on that day, Jesus said, we will no longer know Him in
figures, parables or just in words but the Holy Spirit will reveal to us
clearly about Jesus and the Father. “On that day you will ask in my name, and I
do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you. For the Father himself
loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from
God.” When the Holy Spirit dwells in us, we know for certain that God is
love and He will look after us and all our needs. Most of all, we
will know for certain that Jesus is the Son of God and our Savior because He is
“leaving the world and going back to the Father.”
Written by The Most
Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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