20170703
LONELY CATHOLICS AT RISKS
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Red.
|
First reading
|
|
Ephesians 2:19-22 ©
|
You are no longer aliens or foreign visitors: you are citizens
like all the saints, and part of God’s household. You are part of a building
that has the apostles and prophets for its foundations, and Christ Jesus
himself for its main cornerstone. As every structure is aligned on him, all
grow into one holy temple in the Lord; and you too, in him, are being built
into a house where God lives, in the Spirit.
|
Responsorial Psalm
|
|
Psalm 116(117):1-2 ©
|
Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good
News.
or
Alleluia!
O praise the Lord, all you nations,
acclaim him all you peoples!
Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good
News.
or
Alleluia!
Strong is his love for us;
he is faithful for ever.
Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good
News.
or
Alleluia!
|
Gospel Acclamation
|
Jn20:29
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
Jesus said: ‘You believe because you can see me.
Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.’
Alleluia!
|
Gospel
|
John 20:24-29 ©
|
Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with
them when Jesus came. When the disciples said, ‘We have seen the Lord’, he
answered, ‘Unless I see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put
my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side,
I refuse to believe.’ Eight days later the disciples were in the house again
and Thomas was with them. The doors were closed, but Jesus came in and stood
among them. ‘Peace be with you’ he said. Then he spoke to Thomas, ‘Put your
finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand; put it into my side.
Doubt no longer but believe.’ Thomas replied, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said
to him:
‘You believe because you can see me.
Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.’
LONELY CATHOLICS AT RISKS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ EPH 2:19-22; JN 20:24-29]
The Catholic
Church as a Church is the largest Christian Church in the world. We have more
than a billion members. In Singapore, as Church, we are also the
largest in terms of numbers and presence. Is this a boon or a bane?
Our community is big. Our churches are packed to the brim every weekend
even when many have more than six services. The parishes seem to be
vibrant with activities. But in truth, hardly 10% of our Catholics are
really involved in the parishes.
The stark
reality is that many of our Catholics are lonely Catholics. They hardly know the
priests of the parish or even have a chance to speak to them. Because the
services are packed and are held close to each other, they need to leave the
church immediately after mass. There is no fellowship or communion with
other Catholics. The celebration of the Eucharist is reduced to a ritual
rather than a celebration of the Church as the Body of Christ. It becomes
an individualistic and personal devotion rather than the worship of the whole
Church.
Lonely
Catholics are at risk. When they do not know other Catholics, their faith will not
last. Like St Thomas, he lost his faith in Christ because he withdrew
from the rest of the apostles. He must have been very sad at the death of
his master whom he was willing to go up to Jerusalem to fight for. He was
the one who told Jesus, “Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we
know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the
truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me. If
you had known me, you would have known my Father also; henceforth you know him
and have seen him.” (Jn 14:5-7) Many Catholics too are confused about their
faith. With so much conflicting information in the mass media and the
attack on the Catholic teachings, they do not know what is right or wrong
anymore. This is particularly so when they are challenged by those who
disagree with our moral and doctrinal teachings.
Otherwise, in
times of bereavement or sickness or personal, family or work problems, many
Catholics are left alone to fend for themselves. Inadvertently, with
no Catholic friends to support them, they have to turn to those of other faith,
or no faith, to seek advice and consolation. When we are going through
difficult times like St Thomas who was disillusioned, we become easy prey to
others who can mislead us. Even if not, we would have lost our faith in
God because He appears to be indifferent to our suffering. Like St
Thomas, we would honestly say, “Unless I see the holes that the nails made in
his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put
my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.” In other words, unless
I see that this God is real, how can I believe?
Consequently,
today we must learn the lesson of St Thomas. It is not because God is not
real or cannot be seen, it is because we are absent. Christ is
present when the Christian community gathers, as in the celebration of the
Eucharist or when we are at prayer. Jesus said, “For where two or
three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Mt 18:20)
Thomas was not with the community and hence when Christ appeared to the
disciples, he missed encountering Him. It was only when he joined the
community the next time that he could see the Risen Lord. This is what
Jesus meant when He remarked, “Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.”
Unlike Thomas, we have not seen the Risen Lord but we believe because we have
seen Him in His body the Church. This is true as well in the early
Church. Many were converted because they saw the Christians loving and
caring for each other. “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if
you have love for one another.” (Jn 13:35)
The message of
today’s scripture readings is clear. The Risen Christ is seen
today in the Christian community, which is the Body of Christ. That
is why the Church is called the Sacrament of Christ. The Risen
Christ is both head and body. The Church is the body of Christ. So
if we want to see the Risen Lord today, we must encounter Him in the Church,
the body of Christ. This is what St Paul wrote in the first
reading. He said, “You are no longer aliens or foreign visitors: you are
citizens like all the saints, and part of God’s household. You are part of a
building that has the apostles and prophets for its foundations, and Christ
Jesus himself for its main cornerstone.” We are all members of God’s
family. No Catholic is alone. We are baptized into a
community. We are not strangers or aliens in this household. All of
us are brothers and sisters, sons and daughters of our heavenly Father.
Hence, no Catholic can live his or her faith isolated from the rest of the
community.
Secondly, our
faith is dependent on the faith of the apostles and of the Church. Faith, although
personal, is not individual. Our faith is communitarian. Faith is
imparted through the apostles who give us the foundation of our faith in Christ
as they were the first direct witnesses. This apostolic faith is
preserved in the Church by the successors of the apostles, namely, the Pope and
the Bishops. By staying away from the Church, our faith will not be in
continuity with the faith of the apostles. It would be our own
imagination and creation. Our faith must always be in line with the
apostolic faith if we want to be sure that we worship and know the right
Christ. St Paul reminds us, “As every structure is aligned on him, all
grow into one holy temple in the Lord; and you too, in him, are being built
into a house where God lives, in the Spirit.”
For this reason,
it is important that Catholics must always come together to pray, to
worship and to share the Word of God like the early Church. “And
day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes,
they partook of food with glad and generous hearts, praising
God and having favor with all the people” (Acts 2:46)
We need to belong to the larger community of Catholics on Sunday during the
Eucharistic celebration but we also need to belong to a basic Christian
community as well so that we can find not just fraternal and moral support for
our faith. It is also an occasion to discuss and form each other in faith
as we read, pray and reflect on the Word of God together. Above all,
through spiritual sharing of mind and heart, we will also be more united in
love, care and concern for each other. Only in the presence of a loving
community that accepts us and cares for us, is the Risen Christ seen today.
Catholics
must form themselves into small communities whether at the workplace, in
offices, in church or at home. They must come together weekly to pray and share the Word
of God together. This explains why the author of the letter to the
Hebrews urges the persecuted Christians saying, “Let us hold fast the
confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful; and
let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not
neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one
another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Heb 23-25)
We cannot blame Catholics from straying from the faith because they are often
alone, misguided and ill informed. They lack the support of the mother
Church. It is our duty as brothers and sisters of the family of God to
encourage such small Christian communities to be formed.
Let us be
honest like St Thomas who was true to himself. He refused to believe
unless he saw. We cannot be deceiving ourselves as true believers in the
Lord by being contented with a routine and nominal faith. A faith that is
not alive and evangelical is a dying faith. The responsorial psalm tells
us to “Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News”, about how “strong is
his love for us; he is faithful forever.” Only with a discerning and
growing faith rooted in the community, can we also make the leap of faith of St
Thomas who upon seeing the marks of the Risen Lord came to faith that He is
God. St Thomas too needed to have faith to proclaim Jesus as “my Lord and my
God”, for seeing the Risen Christ is no indication that He is God.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment